LC's whereabouts

Hi,

Here we've had our busy weeks, as usual . It never ends. I guess that's a good thing.

Last week, we had a team of 4 here that we really enjoyed. Except they weren't really a team - more like friends returning, since 3 of them had been here last fall. Mark was here for a few months, and Travis and Amy had come to visit him during that time. They brought Paul this time, who grew up in Turkey, and that was an interesting subject of conversation for a lot of us here. He even sang a chorus in Turkish on Sunday.

Sat. was Canaan's 18th birthday, and it's a day they take to celebrate what God has and is doing here. True to form, there was a lot of work prior to it. A lot of the buildings got a facelift - the chapel inside and out (for those that know it, it's no longer pink!), the Shikoon, the kitchens, admin building, etc. In the morning, EVERYBODY went down to the road, and everyone got to meditate on why they're here, whether they really want to be here and why. So everybody had to say something, if they wanted to go up to Canaan again. It was a good reminder.
Then in the afternoon/evening, we had a service where a lot of other people were invited. It's suppose to be a time of celebration, and they had like different singing competitions, and solos, etc. (I got to be a music judge for the first time in my life!) Throughout the weekend there were other competitions, like sports, etc.

That night another team came in - our second biggest ever - 28 people (I think). I didn't know it before but they had a doctor and some nurses in the group so I had help at the clinic today. That was great because we broke the record again today (probably third Monday in a row) with 62 patients.

This week we're doing camp!! A lot of kids are here from neighboring churches, etc, (probably 30 -40) and the Canaan kids are doing wonderful taking care of them. This is a new thing for Canaan, but we wanted to do more to teach the kids to reach out to other people too. The team from the US is also helping with activities. They're a great team for that, since they have a camp for kids themselves (Bear Lake Camp).

This week we've gone over to Chris and Leslie several times. They both came down with fever. Friday afternoon we went and I did a malaria test, and that's what it was! Both of them at the same time! So to give them a free night to be sick together, Bobi and I brought Olivia (14 months) home with us for the night. She's such an easy child to babysit. Went to sleep with no problem. Was sitting and chattering at 5 a.m. though, but I ignored it and next thing I knew I awoke and she was sleeping soundly. I think she needs to come over more often. She didn't want to go with us when we said we were going home. And once there, she didn't want anything of mommy and daddy, and cried when we left. Maybe she needs a bigger social life too. :)

Tomorrow we're doing a little special for our Medika Mamba people - we're serving them a lunch, and with it we want to take a little time to share the gospel. Please pray that things will go well. It's a bit hard to organize something like that here.

OK, and if any of you are still skeptical of our Medika Mamba, look at these pictures of the same child. Guess how many weeks different??? 2 WEEKS! Yes, this difference is after two weeks of Medika Mamba, and loving care. Note the difference in his arms and chest! A missionary couple that just started a small orphanage took him in.

OK, I have other things to do yet online tonight. We came to Club Indigo, and it's getting late. I haven't been able to get online for several days, so it's catch up time right now.

God bless!!

Elsie