Day 7 (Tuesday)

Sorry this one is a couple days late. I've had some Internet issues out here.

It was another village day today. We had a slight change in plans and decided to go out and visit with some of the guys I used to spend time with in villages. One of the guys I used to go see lives way out in a tucked away valley. Joie and I used to have to take a bus out there, get off at a random spot, hike out to his house, and then hitchhike back home. We had the truck today, so it was much easier (and, contrary to popular belief, I wouldn't make Lindsey hitchhike).

The guy we went to see is probably in his early 60's and not a believer. His wife and daughter used to be strong believers and used to go out and share all the time. A few years ago, his wife was killed in a rockslide. His daugter also had to move away. Her husband did not like her going out and sharing so he would beat her when she would go out. One time he broke her leg. Since then, they had to move out of the village and left our friend by himself out there.

We would go out to our friend's house every few weeks and he was always excited for us to spend time with him. There were many times when I'm sure we were the only people to go out to see him each month. Since I left, people have lost track of him. We didn't have his phone number this morning when we left, so the entire trip out we hoped that he would be home.

When we showed up at his house, no one was there. We were also worried about him because there was trash everywhere and his house looked abandoned. (Side note: houses here have open courtyards in the middle of them and the rooms are in the walls around the courtyard. Most village houses don't have gates on them, so you can basically walk right in.) My first reaction was that he might have died over the past year and a half; however I looked into his kitchen, and saw some fruit that wasn't rotten, so I wasn't sure if he was there or not.

We walked around the village and asked an old man if he knew where he was, and he said that sometimes he will go and visit his family down the road at a fruit stand. I'd been there with him before and knew where it was, so we drove down to try and find him. We arrived at the fruit stand and the girl working there didn't know where he was. She told us that maybe he went to town for the day, but we could ask his daughter because she worked at the shop up the road. So we went up there and found his daughter and she told us that he was inside.

Since we left our friend had gotten a job working at a shop on the main road and would spend five days a week there selling things and then go home for two days. It was good to get to see him and catch up with him. He seemed like he was doing much better than before. He was able to spend time with his daughter every day and wasn't lonely like he used to be. He still isn't a believer, but he said he would sometimes pray with his daughter and some of the others. We spent about an hour talking to him and encouraging him and then we headed back to town.