Sunday late morning..the 28th

We listened to a good sermon this morning.  But it's really weird...no traffic noises, no people noises (except the beggars in the yard).  The law is that no vehicles can move on election day.  Only those tap-taps that have a special sticker in the window.  And we have heard nothing, so those must be VERY limited this time.

Have NO idea how the voting is going, or what people are doing.  In town may be different than here, but we are enjoying the peace and quiet.  

Update on cholera...it is not slowing down at all, in fact we have heard it is escalating.  How true is that?  We have no idea.  But the health officials we have talked with, and in talking to other missionaries...it seems to be really bad.  Yes, there are some cases in this area, but they are confined, PTL.   We may have some problems doing the final work on the gate, since no one is willing to go into the river to get sand and gravel...they are afraid the rivers all over are infected.  We know many are...but not exactly which ones or where those are.  We are praying, along with many others, that the meds keep coming in and will be sufficient for the situation.  And we are specifically praying for the medical personnel.  They are all so overworked and worn out.  

We are dealing with so many who come and say they either have someone with cholera in their family or someone in the family had died from it.  It takes a LOT of discernment to separate and find out the truth.  Some are using it to simply get money.  Pray for that situation here.

I'll try to post some more positive photos soon.  We have the decorations up and it's a daily struggle with Abbie now about Christmas.  She keeps saying TODAY is Christmas.  (She wants some presents).  Minor things, like a LIVE eagle (who won't bother grandpa's birds), and other way out things.  Then things scaled down, and she said a doll.  I told her she has 4 already.  She said she has enough love for more dolls.   She has a soft bunny who she named "Puney", she said he needs some friends, so we should get him a present, too.  She does love to GIVE AWAY things to others, too.  And we have a box of toys she is packaging up to give to other kids who don't get anything.  She does share and we are happy about that.  

For today, that's about all the news.  We will keep you informed as things progress with the election..although it will take days to hand count the ballots. 

We pray you will keep this season a Christ centered one.  Don't let the gifts and glitter overshadow the real reason we celebrate.  Someone had told us it's wrong to have a specific day for Christmas since no one REALLY knows when Jesus was born.  My feeling on it is that no, we don't know, but having a day set aside to HONOR Him and His entrance into the world via human form is fine.  The specific day is not what is important, it's the REASON He came that should be what we celebrate.  I have a song on a CD that I like.  The chorus is "He had the birthday, we got the gift..."  And that is so true...yes he was born FOR US...and He died FOR US...we need to focus on His coming, that it was all done ~ FOR US!!  If you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, it's time to sit down and learn what this season is all about...Jesus Christ came to this earth to live and die in OUR PLACE, so we can have eternal life!!!!  So....CELEBRATE Jesus this season!!