Francois’s visit to the new Maindo Church Planting team went very well. His trip was very interesting, as I wrote before. Here then, are some photos of the trip and visit. We praise God for the two couples that are settled in and now in the process of getting the paperwork done and materials ready to start building their houses.
Early Monday 2h30am Francois left home on a motorcycle to town. An hour later he arrived in time for the minibus taxi to the city. He arrived 7 hours later, still in time to get paperwork done for our translation office property. Francois says that this process was a miracle! We’ve tried for years now to register the property, but always find one more thing to do that stalled the process. However, just in a few hours, through the right people in the right places at the right time – and some persistence thrown in there! – Francois was able to get everything done and in time. Praise the Lord!
Next morning, Francois caught a bicycle taxi (yes! That’s right, a bicycle taxi 🙂 to the river where he was to cross over with a ferry boat. However, he arrived just in time to see the ferry leave! So, he hopped on a wooden boat (passenger and bicycle carrier) over the river.
On the other side he had to wait for an “open truck taxi” that took 2 hours to cross an island where he had to wait for the boat up river to the next town. (On this picture you can see one of the bicycle taxis in the foreground).
It this boat, without shade, it would have taken them from midday to late afternoon to reach their destination…
However, three hours later the engine broke down. They found themselves paddling into the sunset… Great was the relief when another boat passed by and was able to tow them to the next town. Still, he has not reached our team. To get to where our team is, he still needed an hour’s drive on another open truck. Fortunately, someone there had a car and gave Francois a lift!