It is one those cloudy, cool days more typical of Victoria in the Fall then Central Africa in the summer, not that I am complaining. In fact, I have received so many e-mails lately that I have been praying for a rainy afternoon that would jail me in the house in order to sit down and write, a cup of tea at my side. We have had lots of guests the last few days including the return of Dr. Tim and Ann, missionaries from the USA. They are back from furlough for a three (?) year term at the hospital here. We have been providing them their first week's worth of meals to help them get settled. We have had other missionary visitors from villages in CAR show up this week as well so Darren and I have been eating far too well the last few days. Funny how you always eat better when there are guests! We also celebrated Clarisse's thirty-sixth birthday yesterday with a big, yummy chocolate cake. Just because I had to remind her of her own birthday doesn't mean it wasn't a special day, but on the whole, birthdays go by completely un-noticed, for those who even know their birth date. However, we could not let the day go by without some mention of it and some tasty treat. She was rather lucky actually as, for those who want to celebrate their birthday, it is up to the celebrant to fix their own food for their party and do their own clean-up. Her sister's kids are already having kids so this makes her a grandmother at the age of thirty-six. Amazing really when I have friends who are only beginning to have their own kids at the age of thirty-six.
In the on-going saga of the search for justice, Constant's trial is now over and the verdict of 'pretty much not guilty' was handed down this past Monday. While he is technically not guilty, they couldn't quite say this as his vehicle was involved in an accident and as accidents can never just be accidents someone living must be at fault. To this end, he was released from custody and is back in Gamboula but remains on probation for two years. This means that he cannot get into any trouble of any kind for two years otherwise they are able to send him back to jail or something, we are not sure what. As far as the project is concerned, he will not be allowed to drive any of our vehicles for that two year period, lest we get into further trouble with another accident. The judge also said that the families of the deceased are free to sue our insurance company for loss of life of a loved one, even though the accident wasn't Constant's fault. Since the other vehicle wasn't carrying insurance I guess they have to have the ability to sue someone. The other stipulation is that if the families don't succeed in suing the insurance company they are then allowed to sue Constant and the EEB church directly. My interpretation of the ruling then is that it pretty much wasn't Constant's fault.
While he is back in Gamboula he is not yet back at work. Roy would like the family to meet with the pastor first to try and work out the accusations of black magic that are coming from Constant's family, which happen to be all over the place. We can hardly have him come back to work when he still thinks that two of our workers cursed him into having his accident. Somehow I don't think there would be a lot of love floating around between the workers. Since Constant is the head it would also make it difficult for those under him to respect him. Please continue to pray for a spiritual resolution to the problems of the heart that are going on here. Things to do with magic are so much beyond our experience and our understanding but they are very real for those we work with. Help us to be able to communicate freedom and truth from the darkness that so entangles the lives of those we love here.
Be on the look out for my next blog detailing the plan for the rest of our lives. Well, perhaps not the rest of our lives but at least the road we'll be travelling on for the next 12 months or so.
Still on the war path for truth and justice,
Angela
