Thank god for friends

Walking to school from the training center pre-crutches :)

​Having mobility issues in a 3rd world country is very difficult.

Yesterday afternoon I rolled my ankle, an injury I’ve had before. I heard it pop and felt the pain surge, along with the thought “really?” Down I went into the dirt. I was able to scoot myself to some cement and wait for Jake to come help me access the situation. As I waited my vision became dark and then bright. I thought it was from the pain, but I’m now thinking it was dehydration.

Jake quickly decided I should move inside. As I began to limp I started to fall, apparently I was blacking out. Just before I hit the ground a second time I felt the strong arms of our cook, Mama Gohoti, catch me. She and Jake quickly swooped me up and carried me to my bed.

I spent the next several hours drinking almost 4.5 liters of water, laying in my mosquito net bed, wondering how this will effect the team and how in the world I was going to use a squattie pottie?

Crutches arrived some time later (w/o handles I might add), and it was time to attempt to hobble over steps, uneven bricks, tree roots, dirt and then try to navigate a tiny room with a whole in the ground aka squattie pottie (oh with another step)! (This was probably about 100+ feet away from our room.)

Lucky for me Harold Knepper made me my very own toilet (a large bucket with a whole in the bottom w/ a random toilet seat). This bucket sat precariously over the hole in the ground. One wrong move and it would all come down!

The struggle hobbling to the restroom was only multiplied by the fact that I had drank 4.5 liters of water!!! This required multiple trips! Later Jake gave me piggy back rides. (What great marriage therapy!)

Walking to the school is now out of the question-crutches or no crutches. The dirt road is not flat, many rocks, ditches, and garbage will make that path difficult.

Recognizing this made me very sad.

That very morning Dee, the children and I had enjoyed our walk to the school with 100’s of other children. Children dressed in different school uniforms, all staring at us in confusion. (We kind of stand out!) The HoN’s children, recognizable by their uniforms, would run by us and smile! And what beautiful smiles!

While at the school, the children and I have been playing all sorts of games with the students. We also get to teach Bible lessons and help in the classes. Meanwhile, Dee is busy preparing and teaching music classes. You can hear her flute being played through the school. It is quite beautiful!

And early in the morning I’ve had the privilege of teaching counseling skills and devotionals to the teachers. They are the main support systems for these students; students whose lives are very very difficult.

What a privilege it is to serve at the school for our families!

I hope you can see why I was so sad to miss out. Even for a single morning. Which is this morning. I’m writing this letter at the Bible college. From where I sit I can hear Jake and Bible College students go back and forth over the meaning of a particular scripture; Jake is so good at teaching! And Tony is under a palapa (large hut) training 14 security guards. They have made comments on how different Tony is than the American movie cops bc he teaches from the heart, loves God and seems to genuinely care for them. (Local police are corrupt and brutal.)

As I sit here and reflect, I have a new respect for the story of the Paralytic man who was lowered through a roof to the feet of Jesus for healing. This man must have been carried by friends. Friends who carried him to Jesus and we’re willing to rip a large whole in the roof top, hoist the paralytic man to the top of the roof, only to lower him back to the floor. That is no easy task!

What hope they had in Jesus and what love they expressed for the paralytic man.

As humans (local teachers, students or our team) we have needs and we simply can’t make it through this life without our friends, reliable support systems and Hope in a loving God.

I am grateful for our friends Tony & Dee, the children, Harold & Coni, the cook, the guards, and especially my husband for helping me when I simply could not help myself.

Thanks for praying!

Love,
Alison

PS-I now have a walking boot which will grant me mobility! Coni Knepper has the same reoccurring injury and was prepared!
AND it’s Tony’s Birthday!


Alison McGregor

The girls having fun with their new friends!