18 July 2008

Traveling -Third World Style

We left Wednesday to travel through the rest of the country. The country is beautiful. The major mode of transporation for long distances is train. The trains aren't bad at all - you can get up and move around if you wish, meet lots of new people, and there is even a guy with a beverage and snack cart if you get thirsty or hungry. The worst thing is how hot it gets. The cars are "air conditioned" - it said so on the sign with a pretty little snowflake on it. What that means is there is a tiny bit of air that blows out from below the window. When the natives here are so hot they are fanning themselves, you know it is hot. So far we've had 2 train rides each about 4 hours. We have 1 more long one, and one short one before we leave.

The other thing about going somewhere for 6 weeks is luggage. I'm a self-professed heavy packer. Wow does it get heavy after walking down the street for 10 minutes. The wonderfully amazing guys on our trip lift our suitcases onto the train, into the overhead storage, and even up stairs. I have to give credit where credit is due - they have been a HUGE blessing.

We are in a major tourist area in the country for the next few days. It's very close to the desert and therefore hot. Our hotel is close to the plaza where all the snake charmers, dancers, and fresh squeezed oranged juice booths are. We ate a late dinner on the roof. It was breezy up there, but even the breeze was very warm. We got into our hotel room and looked above the window and there was a beautiful white rectangular box that produces cool air! I think I almost cried. To get back to the hotel and go to bed with the window closed (no mosquitoes!!!) and cool air - it was amazing.

On the spiritual side of things, this is the 3rd city that we have visited here. We again see so many people who live here who do not know Christ. We were supposed to meet with a contact who is the pastor of a church, but our leader could not get in contact with him. This man pastors perhaps the largest evangelical church here we know of - about 30 people. Compared to a bustling city the ratio is not very good. Pray for this pastor and his church. They meet Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, AND Saturday night - wow do I feel lazy! There is a great work to be done - pray that the Lord will send more laborers into His harvest.

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