We had a 2 hour meeting with Estevao
Saturday evening, laying out issues, the work that yet needed to be
done in Lendem and Bissau, and what would be left undone. My list
had very few items for Lendem and a long list for Bissau. True to
form, Estevao added new items to the list that we feel we might be
able to do.
The plan is to spend two days in
Bissau, the first being Tuesday (tomorrow). That meant that, as long
as I was prepared for hitting the ground running tomorrow, then
today's workload should have been very light, almost to the point of
my twiddling my thumbs.
That was not to be...
There was a network device called a
switch that the director thought was partially defective. I had
replaced it with a larger switch over a week ago but wanted to
determine if I should bring it back to the US for warranty
replacement or just toss it. As I tested it more, I found that
nothing was broken so now it is sitting on the shelf as a spare.
And as I tested it, I found that the
other three similar switches were not configured according to
current documentation. I spent a couple
of hours correcting this so that we should now be able to log into
these from JAARS and change the network
remotely without the time (which could be up to a year) and expense (thousands of dollars) of coming back to Lendem.
Access to our new wireless network was
also causing some people problems, keeping them from connecting to the
internet. A workshop started today. A consultant and several national
workers were reading recently translated text and determining if it was
accurate and understandable and wanted access to the internet. Unable to find the cause, I used a small device
called MagicJack to make a call to a manufacturer's support team in
California. It's always interesting to get a reaction when you start
the call saying “I'm calling from west Africa.” With a couple of suggestions, I was able to
work through the problems and get the workshop team back onto the internet.
Corey and I also spent time preparing
to bring back items that are either no longer needed in Guinea-Bissau
(because of upgrades) or need to be repaired back at JAARS. In my
case, I'm bringing back relatively small components for the fiber
optic system that isn't working and an outside wireless router that
we've replaced.
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| The black item is the inverter |
Poor Corey, however, has to bring back
an electrical device called an inverter (converts DC battery power to
AC). It is shorter but wider than a sewing machine and weighs about 5 times
as much. Since all we brought is soft-sided luggage, we have no idea
how to get this home.
As I come closer to the end of this
trip, my first to an area where English is hardly spoken and that
reveals how bad I am learning a language, I read 1 Peter 1 in several
versions the past two days. The Contemporary English Version says
“To God's people who are scattered like foreigners in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.” The word “foreigners”
struck a cord with me. Foreigners almost invariably talk, dress,
act, and think differently. They stick out. That's certainly me.
As Christians, we are supposed to talk,
dress, act and think differently. On the other hand, a foreigner
usually works very hard to not look like a foreigner.
I could never blend
into another culture (especially where skin color comes into play)
except perhaps Canada.
I would pray, though, that I would never succeed or even try blending into the world so that they would never see
Christ in me.
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