After Tobago

On Saturday, Hope Mennonite Church had their Christmas program. We also didn't have water at our apartment that day. So, we went and showered at some people's house who weren't there at that time. The youth leaders had told us that we should come around 4:30, so we could practice before it started at 6:00. They also asked us to do a special, so we decided to do "Mary's Boy Child" again. Well, we were just about to leave when they said that actually we should come around 5:30. So, we waited and got there around 5:30. Most of the youth were there by then, but the leaders still weren't there. Anyways, it didn't start until around 7:00. We were planning to have the program first and then the meal, but since it was so late and everyone was hungry, we had the meal first. After a nice meal, our family did "Mary's Boy Child". But, since our water jug was now full, my mom had to use my flute case to do percussion. After we were finished, Roxy and I had to hurry and get into our costumes for the Christmas program. They didn't have enough staffs, so I was the only shepherd without a staff. I liked how they had the meal, so people were able to talk more and spend time with each other. We were a little disappointed we didn't get to see the Charlieville Christmas program, though, which was going on at the same time. But, we still made it to 3 out of the 5 Christmas programs, and we were planning to go to the 6th but it got canceled.
~Olivia

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! It seems like so much more than only 4 days!! Yesterday after church, our family drove up a VERY winding and narrow mountain road to get to a place called Lopinot (but the t is silent). We took a picnic lunch to the savanna there and ate and (some of us) played on the tyre swings. (Tyre is the British spelling, so that's how it's spelled here, but it took some getting used to!) Then we took a little walk around the Lopinot historical site. There was a self-guided walking tour that we did. We had heard that we could hear good parang music up there, but the parang festival there had just ended. Parang is a type of music you hear around Christmas that comes from a Spanish background. Although we have been hearing parang on the radio for literally the last 100 days, we have only heard it once in person. So we were looking forward to hearing more, but as it turned out we didn't get to. But then we talked to one of the men in charge, and he said that he wouldn't disappoint us, and then he opened this cupboard and took out a quatro (what I would call a ukulele) and two rhythm instruments: a chak-chak (maracas) and a tock-tock (a block of of wood with a mallet). He gave the chak-chak to Olivia and the tock-tock to me. So instead of just listening to parang, we actually got to participate!
~Roxy

The girls have made reference to several events of the weekend. Let me fill in a few details. In our last blog we told of our lovely, lovely 3 nights in Tobago. It was such a sunny, relaxing time for our family. Unfortunately, when we returned we were greeted with a series of difficulties. Late on the night we returned we found a message that the other Mennonite missionary has been experiencing health problems that have become serious enough that he and his familiy needed to travel back to the states today for him to receive some tests. Richard Keeler called to ask if one of us could fill in for him on Sunday. Richard agreed to bring the sermon that day. We continue to hold Richard and spouse Margaret in our prayers and were happy to be of help in a small way as they prepared to leave.
The next item to deal with was our car. While we had successfully gotten the fender repaired while we were gone, we returned to find that the fan had gone out. After a hot weekend of travel without air conditioning, we got it fixed today. The issue was so small that the mechanic refused to even charge us, which was nice.
Later on Friday we again lost water. We've spent a fair amount of time trying to get someone to repair another leak in our line that prevents water from getting to our house and will probably need to spend more. The latest word is that they are hoping to get someone to assess the situation before Christmas, but can't promise anything.
On Saturday we learned that our neighbor Jameel's brother had died. Actually he had been murdered. Trinidad has an extremely high murder rate. It is 10:00 pm as I write this and Richard is with him, having given him a ride to the funeral home. We will attend the funeral tomorrow morning.
Our lives are very full indeed. We are grateful to know that we can be of service to those around us. We even found a little time today to begin (yes, I did say begin) our Christmas shopping. It is hard to believe that it is only a few days away.
~Barb