Monday, September 3, 2018

It was shopping day.  Eric drove.  Dorothy rode in back.  I took the front passenger seat.  We went here, there, and everywhere.  And when the car was fairly bulging with stuff for the month (food and otherwise) and our stomachs were growling, we headed to a new place in Bastos to get a bite to eat.  We sat around a table, studied the menu, and put in our orders.  And then while we waited for the food to arrive I started a conversation.

"Did I ever tell you the story of two houses?"  

They had not heard that story.  So I prattled on about how long about the mid-90s missionaries began building houses for their domestiques.  And all the problems that ensued.  Nothing good came of it.  Seriously.  We cannot think of one success story.  Oh sure, people got houses that otherwise would never have owned their own.  But at what a cost.  They were bitter and angry.  Their patrons were bad people.  And on and on it went.  Jim Tucker declared that he would NEVER build a house for a Cameroonian.  As in never ever.  Period.

The years rolled by and then about two years ago he brought up a surprising topic.  He declared that since we have no plans to retire to the U.S., we therefore have no use for our small (minuscule) retirement fund. So we should give it away.  He wanted to build houses for both Guy and Francis.  Each had worked for us for ten years or thereabout.  Each had proved themselves to be godly and faithful.  He wanted them to be able to live when we get too old or maybe even die out here.  They should at least have a house.  So he gave them each enough to buy some land and build the beginnings of their houses.  Guy moved in over a year ago.  Francis hopes to occupy his house in October.  

Eric and Dorothy were very moved by the story of two houses.  They saw God's hand at work in an amazing way.  They talked about how it is not necessary to be jealous because another person gets something that they do not receive.  So we gave God the glory, our food arrived, and we enjoyed a good meal. And then we went back to Shiloh to put all the food away.

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