A Mouthful

I know I haven’t posted for a while, we are in the midst of the busiest season of the year. However, I have a moment to catch my breath and thought I would share this cute story. On Wednesday night I was introduced at a church as “Reverend Brother Curtis Scott”. I thought that was a bit of a mouthful until they introduced Amanda as “Sister Reverend Brother Curtis Scott”!

The Doctor or The Vet?

Yesterday I traveled to another city in the country. There I met with a missionary from another country who is visiting us for a couple of weeks. He had a “bug” and we bought a few tablets from the pharmacy to ensure it didn’t get worse. When reading the package the missionary noted that the dosage instructions written on the label were” “Adults: Take 2 tablets. Chickens under five years of age: Take one tablet.”

Classic misprint!

Off ro A Great Start

Convention season has begun and so far it has been great! I’ve done three services and have about 25 more to go this month! God gave me a great promise for these conventions and so far he has not disappointed. On Thursday night I preached a meeting with an inexperienced interpreter. He did not do so well. I don’t speak much of the local language but I knew he wasn’t getting the point of my message. They  people were like statues, just sitting and staring. However, we did not put our trust in the interpreter, we put our trust in Jesus and he never fails us! At the end of the service we saw many notable miracles, some of which I will mention in our newsletter. At the end of the service we had people come to the platform and testify of what God had done for them. Six people who had not been able to walk climbed up on to the platform on their own, including one man who had been carried to the service because he had been completely paralyzed for many years! We have also received testimony of a deaf girl being healed and a mute lady who began to speak! God is SO GOOD! And these are just a taste of the miracles we have seen so far! Stay tuned to hear more about what God is doing in this part of the world!

Culture Shock?

I don’t really think I’ve experienced culture shock the way we normally think of it. However, yesterday I had an incident that did shock me. I was working with some locals when one man started to repeatedly call me fat. He was very blunt. Pointing, laughing, making hand gestures that indicated my plumpness. He was unrelenting. I don’t pay much attention to people like that. In this culture, many people don’t have enough money to eat a proper meal. Millions spend 80% of their incomes on food and still can’t afford to eat meat of any kind! So, when people talk about me being fat, they are referring to how blessed I am. Yesterday was a little different. After about 15 minutes of constant, “I can’t believe how fat you are” comments, the man speaking told me he could not pay his children’s school fees. He then asked if I would pay for them. Again, begging the white man for money is part of the culture! 

Then it hit me! This man called me fat for 15 minutes to “butter me up” for when he asked for money! I laughed! Can you imagine going to ask your boss for a raise and starting with, “Boss, you are sooooooooo fat.” I don’t think this man quite realized that to a Canadian, calling someone fat is not the best way to win them over.

A Time Of Restraint?

We recently finished the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting on the Muslim calendar. The Muslims do not eat or drink during daylight hours during this month. It is a month marked by temperance and restraint. The local paper has reported that: “to celebrate the month of fasting and restraint a chef has built a replica of a mosque made from 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of Chocolate.” Is it just me or is that an odd way to celebrate a month of fasting? 

Test

Hi All, I’m trying a new blogging program and this is a test post.

Say That Again

A recent article in the newspaper told a sad tale. The headline read “17 Year Old Boy Shot Dead”. The article reads as follows: “A 17 year old boy was killed by unidentified killers over unknown reason. The victim was identified as A.A., 18, a resident of C-town.” This is a fine example of the editing in the local papers.

Convention Season

Well, October means that things here will start to get busy. In the first four days of this month I preached three meetings. Already we have seen God do some amazing miracles! Please pray for us this month. We need a covering in three main areas: 1) Preaching – I need to be anointed if I am to see the results I desire this month. 2) Protection – convention season will take me to many areas of the country and I need protection as I travel. 3) Patience – most of the pastors are not used to having international guests and they do not understand how to properly honor a foreigner. I love the people here but convention season is the one time that my patience is pushed. In my meeting on Friday the pastor said he understood the value of my time and the meeting would start at one and everything would be completed by 4. When we arrived at 1:15 they were still setting up the tent for the meeting! The first note of a song was played at 3:30. Needless to say it wasn’t over by 4! So for over 2 hours we just sit and wait. I try to be prepared to preach and it drives me mad when I am prepared and ready to preach and then have to sit in a dark room (mostly alone) for 2 hours! Anyway, pray for my patience, I know the Lord (and his people) will really be testing me this month. I will be posting the results of this month’s meetings in my monthly newsletter. If you do not receive the newsletter but would like to, just send me your e-mail address and we will be sure you get a copy.

Covering All Bases

We recently drove by a building which was advertised as a “PCO/Mosque”. A PCO is a Public Call Office, a place where people can go to make phone calls. It’s basically a guy who owns a phone charging other people to use his phone. A mosque is the gathering place of Muslims, similar to what a church is to the Christian. With a quick wit that Bro Shalm would be proud of, Amanda said “They are covering all the bases, if someone wants to talk to friends or if they want to talk to god, they can do it there.”