Hope House and Ndjole

I have about a week to catch up on so hopefully I'll remember everything! Last week we worked on the house for a couple of days. We're trying to get it ready for when teams start coming out at the end of June. I used a drill and a chop saw! I love power tools (just like my mother:])! Last Thursday afternoon we went to the Hope House in Libreville. It's basically like an orphanage. We sang a few songs and did a skit for them. Then we just hung out and played. They were the sweetest kids.
















Friday, we left to go to Ndjole for the weekend. It's a village about 3 hours away that we are partnering with this summer. We went to scout out places to sleep and shower for the teams when they come out. We stayed at Pastor Phillip's house that was attached to the church. Friday we went to church as soon as we arrived...funny story: we were seated on the stage and after the preacher finished, a lady stood by the stairs and told me to come down. I was the first in line. I started to go out the door but she pointed near the offering plate up front by the band. I had no idea what to do, so I just walked up there and starting dancing with the singers. They looked at me like I was a MORON! Tim quickly informed us that we were supposed to walk around the plate and go sit back down. Talk about embarrassing moment...After church, we ate ANTELOPE! It was pretty weird...like beef I guess. The pastor and his wife were very hospitable and gave us their room to stay in. We slept in mosquito nets which was very strange. When I asked to go to the "toilet" they showed me a little wooden shack in the back (see picture below). Little did I know that it was just a hole in the ground haha! The next morning I went to take a "shower" (which, by the way, was in the same shack that the "toilet" was in, only separated by a wall)and there was 3 buckets with water. It was intense haha. By the way-the Pastor's son Arnold was the cutest little kid EVER...he is the little boy in the pictures. Saturday we toured the village with the pastor and saw the different places to get food and supplies. Meredith bought some fresh grapefruit which were DELICIOUS! (I basically ate that for every meal after:]). We went to the Ogooue River that runs near Ndjole and found a place for teams to wash off. When we got back, we watched the women prepare for dinner. We each got to help crush the manioc leaves that they cook and eat. Saturday night they had another church service...which might I add lasted for FOUR HOURS. We did some "special music" (Mighty to Save by Hillsong)..Zach played guitar and the girls sang. Sunday we had another church service and did special music again. I played guitar and sang along with Hannah and Torey(Sing to the King by David Crowder Band). They liked our special music a lot. Zach gave his testimony, too. After eating lunch, we made the long journey home and FINALLY got a good shower! I have never been so happy to see a shower and a real toilet in my life...Oh, Africa:)