Deaf Church Progress

Note: The Internet has been very poor this week. I uploaded pictures for this post many times over the last 4 days but they never would download into this post. Tonight is Sunday night. My last night in air conditioning. I feel much better. 

On Friday, April 15th, I went over and found Pastor Ruth Ulea, the first Ordained Deaf Lutheran Pastor in Africa, at her office at the LCCN Deaf Center. She took me for a tour of the Deaf Church construction. 

The Construction of the Jimeta Deaf Church on the Jimeta Mission Compound has been complicated by the Chairman of the Construction Committee, the Vicar of the Cathedral, who was also supervising the construction has moved to Jos, Nigeria to attend the Theological College of North Nigeria and he has also been reassigned to another church. The records were not handed over the and a new committee chairman has not been assigned. In spite of the administrative problems, work has continued. The floors have been completed. Most of the electrical is installed and wiring installed. There is confusion over the next step as the electrician wants to do his final install of fans, sockets and switches after the painter finishes the walls and there are others that want the electrician to install before the painting. My personal preference is to have the painters do their work first and then the electricians. Of the projects I have been on so far the painters have been the least skilled and seem to be able to drop paint most everywhere.

On my way back to the house from the Deaf Centre I passed through an area that women had set up their kitchens and were selling food. The Yola Diocese Women's Fellowship was having their annual convention at the Cathedral. Some women cooked for themselves and their churches and other cooked and sold food to the participants. I went to the house and got a plate and bought food. No reason to heat up the house cooking when food is available. I am poor at remembering the names of the dishes. The white ball is pounded white corn and the sauce or soup is various greens with some peanuts  I also bought 5 packages of peanuts from her so she did not have to make change for me. I ate less than 1/2 of food and one package of the peanuts. I put the food away in a plastic container and put it in the freezer of the refrigerator. The Project House I am staying in has a full size refrigerator. With the Women's Convention going on the Cathedral runs their big generator when the women need the loudspeakers and when their is no power on the local grid. So the freezer was actually making ice. Currently, the power grid seems to provide power for a while each morning for several hours and more on the weekends. Usually the freezer will keep water cold but not frozen.

On Sunday I attended the English Service at Jimeta Cathedral up through the offering. I then went to the old nursery school building that is being used for Sunday Services by the Deaf congregation. After their service I went with Pastor Ruth to the LCCN Deaf Centre and met with various members of the congregation for pictures and conversation. One man had a shirt made from the 50th Anniversary wrapper for the Christian Mission for the Deaf and Andrew Jackson Forster. He told me the tailor was and idiot. I told him he just had to stand on his head. I also met his wife and new baby. They hope the church will be finished soon so their baby can be the first to be Baptized. Another young lady I met could be the bride in the first wedding of the new church.