Life in the Rainy Season (and a Time for Everything)

Ecclesiastes 3 talks about how there is an appointed time for everything and for every event under the sun.  These past few months (and the start of rainy season) have brought many changes here to us in Mukamba.

A time for fire                                                                                  As always during the dry season, in October and November we encountered multiple bush fires.  Most are caused by locals trying to burn away the old dry grass to make way for the new but this year it was all hands on deck to help fight the fires crawling (and raging) towards the orphanage, orchard, and our house.  Jakob even got in on the action shooting the fire with a water gun and then beating it with sticks and leaves local style.  

 And a time for rain

When the rains did start coming it made an immediate difference not only to the landscape in making all things new but also to the roads as well.  Local flooding on our “main” dirt roads makes traveling fun and Amber and Alyssa are having to quickly learn how to manage true 4 x 4 bush driving in all types of difficult conditions.  Out here right now it’s definitely sink or swim!  Amber even had to drive back to camp one night during a rain storm with the water being so deep that the headlights went underwater 5 times!  Praise God that the ground underneath was still pretty hard so they didn’t get stuck.

A time to kill

One of the many dangers that comes with the rainy seasons is the snakes.  We praise God for his provision and protection of us because in less than 1 week Jako with the aide of Travis, a metal rake (now in pieces), and a shotgun for backup killed 2 Mozambique spitting cobras.  We had heard that they mated for life and in this case it appears to be true.

And a time to retreat

Like from our outdoor kitchen after hours when the flying ants like to swarm and invade like a scene from a horror movie.  The locals (and children here) love eating these delicacies but we instead prefer to just try to adjust our schedule around them and retreat to the safety of our home to the other insects that the rainy season brings out there.

A time to be creative

One of the blessings of the rainy season here is that it teaches us to be thankful in all situations and appreciate all that we take for granted in the dry season – one of which is laundry drying on the line. While the sun can be bright and shining one moment the heavens can open the next so it forces us to be a bit creative with the indoor space that we have and shows us how we can do nothing to control the forces of nature.