A day in their week
Kent and Jenny Schafer say they usually wake up and make a run to the outhouse about 5 a.m. This is the signal to their Maindo hosts that they are up and that it’s time to start warming water for their showers.
Eating breakfast and reading their Bibles happens while waiting for the warm water. The water is finally ready about 6:30 a.m.
Often that means a frantically hasty dipper shower, since their language session begins at 7 a.m.
And if one of the language co-workers happens to show up 20-40 minutes early, as he is prone to do, sometimes showers must be cancelled for that day, Jenny says.
In their language sessions, they are currently working mainly on learning objects and actions. “We listen as our language co-worker tells us the names of various animals and objects. Then he drills us to see if we remember. … Or sometimes he tells us what we are doing. Then, after hearing him describe our actions in Maindo for awhile, he commands us to do various things. It is amazing how much we have learned already,” Jenny shares.
There has been a slight delay in arranging for a house of their own. The Maindo villagers are still discussing this. The happy problem is that they all want Kent and Jenny for their neighbors. At first, this delay in having their own place seemed to be a setback to them.
But God has turned it into a huge blessing, Jenny explains, because the couple they are staying with makes lunch for them, giving them more time in the middle of the day—time that they focus on their ministry.
After the language session, at 11:30 a.m., Jenny processes their videos and recordings, organizing and naming the files.
At noon, it’s time to eat lunch with their co-workers and visit about how the language session went and where they plan to visit in the afternoon. After lunch there is time for chatting a bit with their hosts while they wait again for water to warm—this time for their co-workers’ showers. And language listening and planning are once more incorporated into these hours.
Then, about 3 p.m., Kent and Jenny head out to visit people in one of the local villages to gain glimpses and deepening perspectives of their lives. The important task of understanding Maindo culture begins with this building of relationships.
When the visiting is finished for the day, they return, and Jenny says they visit again with their hosts and then head to their little room to cook a quiet supper on their gas burners there. Once the dishes are washed, it’s time for more Maindo language listening and reading before they fall asleep.
Saturday, Kent says, is a catch-up day. For one thing, there’s the laundry. He says that Jenny washes everything by hand in basins and washing it all takes 2-3 hours. Saturday afternoon, there is time for relaxation with their hosts and visiting or playing games with their co-workers.
“On Sundays,” Kent writes, “We try to spend the morning listening to a sermon with our co-workers and then talking about it together. With our daily time in God’s Word, this helps keep our focus.”
And Kent and Jenny’s focus is all about the reason they made the choice to live with and love the Maindo people. This investment of these days of their lives, Kent says, is in the hope that the Maindo people might hear God’s Word and come to know and worship Christ.