Pictures from the wedding

The Ladies gathered under the tent

The men enjoyed the shade of a tree

A surprised "selfie" with the older ladies (one jumped away before I could take the picture)

These were just a few of the pictures from the wedding a few weeks ago. Sorry it took so long to share them.
Hope you are having a good week (or at least better than ours)!

A week in the Wright household

Last Sunday night we came home and found people waiting for us. One little boy who knew us from the old neighbourhood told us his father couldn't pay the rent and was being threatened with eviction. The mother from the wedding a couple of weeks ago showed up with her little brother to say that her father was ill. I had taken the old man to the clinic a year ago (his medical file says he's 98). I spent the morning at the clinic with him at the clinic. He apparently lives on sheep and goats milk and refuses most other food. We had skype meeting scheduled with our boss but discovered that afternoon that half the outlets on the main floor were dead but none of the breakers were tripped. Thus began three days of visits with the electrician trying to troubleshoot the problem working through bad wiring in couple of places to finally find a faulty breaker. Thursday the dorm kids arrived for the weekend because Friday was a PD day for Jennifer and three are staying with us so the dorm parents can have a weekend off.  One was still recovering from some kind of illness going around the dorm (slight fever, sore throat and cough). Friday we took them into the school to eat with the teachers because I had luncheon meeting provided by the Canadian embassy. The school sent home leftovers from their lunch which we had had for supper (spring rolls/nems and Cantonese rice). The school had an all night lock in starting at 7 pm. Jennifer and I were looking forward to a quiet evening at home but she had an upset stomach and decided to go to bed. I decided to work on my sermon for Sunday. Around midnight I got a call from the school saying Cole wasn't feeling well and wanted to come home. He ended up vomiting out the window several times on the way home. When we got home Jennifer informed us that she also had started exploding at both ends. Cole was sure it was supper so I called the school to warn them  and waited awhile lest another call should come. This morning I brought the rest of the boys home and half way one of them said I think I might be sick. He was sitting in the middle of the back seat so I quickly pulled over so he could leave his breakfast on the side of the road. Jennifer is still running to the toilet but I think I'm only having sympathy pains so far....

This was Dave's recounting of our week only he neglected to add the situation on the home front: His sister-in-law lost her brother (I believe the funeral is sometime today) and we were told that the tenants in our town house maybe leaving (just when we had a new furnace installed for them). Through it all God has been so good to us, I am totally amazed! It must have a lot to do with your prayers for us. Thanks for keep us in your prayers.

A wedding

This week we had something of a new experience. We were invited by a friend and neighbour to participate in his daughter’s wedding. We had actually been invited almost a month in advance but weren’t really clear on the date (it had to do with how long it took the groom to get the bride price together).  This was a unique wedding in many different ways. Instead of the bride being housed in the most luxurious family member’s house, she was at home in her families hut. Instead of there being lots of musicians around looking to “patronize” the wedding participants (singing their praises until they are given money to quit)—there were none. This could have been a reflection on the wealth of the family (or not) or  (if we understood correctly) may have had something to do with the fact that this was the third attempt for the bride to marry.  It is sometimes difficult to sort some of these things out since we don’t share a common language. This was a Tamajek (Touareg) wedding and our Tamajek doesn’t get beyond a few greetings; our friends don’t speak French and only a little Zarma. We enjoyed sharing in the celebration despite the difficulty with communication.

 I (Jenn) had fun taking pictures. The kids were trying to teach me how to count to three in Tamajek, but unfortunately I think I may have forgotten as quickly as I learned. It was also great fun to see the reaction of the older ladies when I showed them how my ipad could take a reverse photo. The oldest lady there jumped back with surprise when she realized that she was seeing her own reflection in the camera. I don’t think I have had that much fun taking a “selfy” before.

Tonight when we went to deliver copies of some of the pictures they tried to give us a lesson in who was related to whom. I am not really sure that I followed it all but it clearly brought them a lot of joy to have pictures of their family members. Please pray for this family that they might discover the truth about Jesus. Pray for the bride who is young.

Thanks for all your prayers for my back they have really made a difference. I am moving much better these days and it seems like the spasms are much less frequent.

 Please also continue to pray as we make decisions about the property and the re-building. Things have slowed down in the clean up a little as there is less demand for the bricks and debris with the rains slowing down. On that note, you can pray that the rains will continue long enough for the crops to make it to maturity and provide a good harvest.

Unexpected Rest

I have given the special blessing this week of time to rest, reflect and pray. It wasn’t really of my own choosing and I really wasn’t expecting it. Unfortunately it wasn’t an all expense paid vacation to a mountain top (or coastal beach) retreat centre (maybe that will come some day!). I simply put my back out and was having a really hard time functioning. So, I spent a few days rotating between laying on my back, walking oh so carefully and sitting in the best chair in our house trying to give the anti-inflammatory drugs a chance to take the swelling down and hopefully get me functioning better. The end result was I got to take lots of naps (although I am not really sure how well I was sleeping at night) and I spent a good deal of time praying and praising. I have had to learn to ask for help with things and I might be driving my family crazy because I haven’t been able to do a whole lot, but maybe they are coming to a better understanding of what I usually do (although sometimes whether they even see half of the things that drive me crazy). The doctor here has switched the anti-inflammatories that she has me on and I seem to be a bit better in the mornings for a bit longer, so hopefully it will resolve itself soon. I am grateful for the rest and the time to refocus on God, but it would be really nice if it didn’t come at such a cost.