[Sanford News] A little update...

I thought I would update you all on some recent happenings here in the village.  We have had a few busy days this last week and this week we hope to get back into the normal routine again and make some progress. 

 

A few days ago Chris and I went down to a village south of us for 2 days where a huge death ceremony/feast was taking place.  It was a great opportunity for us to see this very significant event and talk with many older men that explained a lot of the meaning and purpose of the ceremony to us.  The basic importance of the feast is to satisfy the dead so that everyone will be ok.  It is a time to settle all debts and/or hard feelings between the living and the dead.  It is traditionally a long process that requires the building of a special meeting house for men, planning for the feast (this one involved the killing of 26 pigs), and hearing the spirits of dead people screaming and crying in the nearby jungle (people of course acting like spirits, but at least the children believe they are the spirits of the dead).  It was a good time for us to learn and see this part of their belief system lived out.  We got back at night and the next day had to go out to town for a supply run. 

 

After arriving back home here, we were told the news that a new baby was born the night we were out in town.  It was the baby of my village brother and good friend to all of us on our team.  Everything seemed to be ok until this afternoon (a day and half after he was born) my village brother called Chris over and showed him that the baby didn’t have a rectum.  Of course we about flipped and immediately pulled our boat and sent them out to town to take the baby to the hospital.  Our prayer is that it already isn’t too late for him and that there will be a qualified doctor in town to perform the surgery.  If you think about it, please be praying for them as they go thru this challenging time.  He and his wife, like so many of the Siar that we live with here, have become dear friends to us, and we hurt with and for them as they go through hard times.

 

Other than that, life is normal here and we are doing well.  We got a particularly good boost when we got the news that the mighty Steelers have returned again to the Super Bowl!  I trust that all of you fans of other teams will root for the Steelers just on my account! 

 

Thanks so much for your prayers and support of us out here.  We are always thankful for your part in this ministry. 

 

Lane