This week we travelled back to Banta to complete some updates for our sponsorship program. I was recently telling a friend that every trip to Banta is unique unto itself. And this one was not without its own "uniqueness." We left for Freetown at about 8:00 in the morning. The first breakdown happened at the first police checkpoint(this is less than an hour into the trip). The alternator was not working correctly and so our battery was completely dead. They tried to charge the battery using a generator but after an hour of charging, it was still dead. So at about 11:00 we boarded a Public Transport vehicle which was to take us to Freetown! These vehicles are basically the frame of the vehicle with benches welded into them, not the most comfortable way to travel over bumpy, dirt roads. It's actually a miracle that these vehicles work at all. We had to stop numerous times with this vehicle too, the springs which are attached to the wheel came unattached(these are the shocks), the gas tube was blocked, the engine was over-heating, just to name a few! Let me tell you, I learned a lot about vehicles and how to "gerry-rig" them!!

So we finally made it back to the outside of Freetown at about 6:00. At this point the driver informed us that he actually wasn't going all the way into Freetown. So we boarded another vehicle that was supposed to take us all the way into town. But because of traffic this vehicle also said that he wasn't going to take us all the way to the destination. We ended up walking to the junction where a COTN vehicle was waiting for us! What a relief to finally reach! At about 8:00 we made it back to our house, tired and completely covered in red dust. But you know God's grace is amazing, here we are in this situation where we really should be frustrated and ready to just leave the country, but He gave me the extra patience and flexibility I needed to make it through the day. There have been many times this year when I have felt that I have reached the end of what I can handle, and God takes us a little bit further, but His grace is sufficient.

Also, I didn't mention, but we were also bringing back a child who we are taking into our home. So along with all these problems, we were dragging this poor child along with us! However, it was good initiation into the organization(we are always having car trouble)! She was exhausted and hungry by the time we arrived in Marjay Town.