“Most people who become missionaries have an adventuresome streak in them, a fascination with the unknown, a readiness to undertake things they were not prepared to do. It’s good that they have, because very few missionaries know beforehand what they are actually getting into. In one way, missionaries end up doing much less than they are trained to do; that is, they usually are not able to use all their technical skills in the countries to which they are sent. On the other hand, they frequently end up doing much more than they are trained to do, usually outside their own fields” (from Don’t Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees by missionary surgeon Thomas Hale who tells about serving Jesus in the rural mountains of Nepal in the 1970s. Quote on pg 140 in case you want to read the book).
Today was one of these days for me. My freshman year of college I took two semesters of physics. It was blast, but I have to admit I don’t remember a lot of the particulars, especially second semester, but I recall do recall that we did a unit on circuits and electricity and stuff. What’s my job title in Helene? I have none. It’s simply joining Jesus in whatever’s on his agenda for the day. Today it was working on the generator. Who’d of thought!
There is no city water or electricity or anything of that sort in Helene. We pump water from a well and run a series of generators so we can make clean drinking water, run the medical clinic and school and keep groceries cold in the sometimes 3-4 weeks between shopping trips on another island. It’s also very nice on very hot and humid nights to have a fan. We have been very blessed this year, and while the guys have put in countless hours to keep us up and running, overall, the generators haven’t been down too much. There’s a big one and a smaller one. The idea is to always have a backup. Yesterday both were down which is a bummer, but thankfully the main one was functioning by the end and so today the project was diagnosing the back-up one. I really appreciated Larry’s reminder that we turn our hearts to the Lord and enjoy and glorify him in the midst of whatever we’re doing. That even fixing generators can be a time of worshipping Jesus.
I really don’t understand much of it, though I’m learning; something about needing to create a DC field on the output side so it would put out voltage...so we fabricated a 3 volt charger and went out to the generator house. Larry had just been on the phone with a tech in the states who stressed connecting the fields correctly. The right wires could save us from buying a new generator; the wrong ones and the thing is toast. At first we can’t even find a marking anywhere on the two wires coming out..then we find out that the wires are marked in Chinese! Thanks for working internet connections and google! Never would have thought that I’d been looking up Chinese translations while working on a generator in Honduras. Oh the possibilities! Well, it eventually got very dark and we are still trying to find out what else is wrong. But since we did need power, it was time to turn on the other, main, generator (I refer to it as “the beast”).
Now, giant engines that make awful noises and are full of combustible materials make me nervous. At this point though Larry said he’d like me to start the beast. I’m thinking flipping the switch like before. Oh no. Basically the thing needs to be hot wired. He hands be an old oil-covered long screwdriver with a rubber handle and points to a little spot where a series of connectors and wires are in close proximity. Instructions: put the tip of the metal in a small hole-like space to make contact with the positive, then “intentionally” tilt back the shaft of the screw driver till it makes contact with the other connection, being sure not to ouch the shaft of the screwdriver,....no one mentioned that sparks that would fly and the great ruckus that would follow. It took two tries as I was caught a bit by surprise on the first go, but proud and relieved to say that the beast was up and running on try #2 and nothing blew up, or was zapped in the process.
Well, more fun to be had, but once things were powered up for the night we settled in on the deck with the kids and laughed our way through a showing of Tangled before calling it a day. Now all that’s left is a trip out to see the stars, rest in the provision and love of Jesus and say “good night”.
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