Our Last Day in Tarutung.....

We went out to the farm for the last time :-(  We gathered more soil  and water for testing in Medan. 

'T' will take it back with her tonight.  We checked on the cow - she is doing much better.  Still avoids us, but is not as skinny and eats well.  The fencing looks good and the shed floor, trough and cattle chute look great.  Steve did try to explain to Turbo and Sihite the need for two gates/panels for crowding a cow into the chute.  As before, Turbo seemed to understand exactly what Steve wanted.  Time will tell :-)  Most of the workers are laid off as the fence, shed, and chute are done. 

We were only able to see Turbo and the two boys who cut grass for the cows.  Sihite will drive us to the airport tomorrow morning, so we will say goodbye to him then.

'H' left this morning for Medan after being awakened by the police calling at 6:30 am.  They were just checking to make sure we were leaving today.  'H' told them that was the plan, as that was the original plan (when I had my dates mixed up :-) ) and the one they still have.  No one gave them the corrected dates and 'H' felt it would be better to leave well enough alone.  Sure hope we get out of here tomorrow before they find out differently!!  'H' will meet us and Ron tomorrow around noon and take us to the hotel.  Then it's off to the 'feed store' for farm supplies.   I don't think I can post from there (wasn't able to on the way over, anyway), so will try from KL and/or Taiwan.  I never mentioned that 'H' is a civil engineer.  He designed the water system they use for the farm and has offered his services free to the 'governor' for the community water project.  He spent 5 years in Aceh after the tsunami, designing various building projects.  He worked very closely with Samaritan's Purse.  We have so enjoyed our week with him.  He is a fascinating man.  He speaks at least 6 languages.  Talk about a gift of tongues!!

It sure felt like home today.  SOMEONE was preparing us for our return.  There was a torrential downpour starting about 3 pm and ending about 9 pm.  The power went out about 3:30 and didn't come back on until 7:30.  Because of this, all night classes at the nursing school were cancelled.  So, we were not able to speak to the students.  Interestingly, the young lady we met over a week ago, who was supposed to come over to interview us last Sunday, the 22nd, showed up tonight to interview us.  We ran into her again this morning when we went to the store.  She never came last Sun. because she couldn't find the house.  We told her we were leaving in the morning, so she asked if she could come tonight.  We told her to come after 8 as we were scheduled to speak to the students.  She showed up at 7:10.  Our half an hour interview lasted almost 2 hours.  She is going to college to become an English teacher.  She is paying her tuition by teaching English to elementary and high school students at a private school.  She brought one of her classmates along.  So we were actually interviewed twice.  The classmate she brought along knew very little English. 

The most interesting part was when she asked if we had been to the big cross outside of Tarutung and if America had any big crosses for people to go to.  When we told her 'no' she was amazed as America is a Christian nation.  Steve then explained how being born in America does not make you a Christian and asked her if she was Batak.  She said 'yes'.  Then he asked if that made her a Christian and she said 'yes'.  This gave him the opportunity to explain that being a Christian means believeing in and following Jesus Christ.  She agreed and admitted that there probably were some Batak that were not Christian :-)

When we were done, and while she waited for her ride, I showed the crowd in the living room pictures of my kids and grandkids and pics. I had taken in Indonesia.  They seemed to really enjoy themselves.  We were invited to visit her house and to meet her parents the next time we come to Tarutung.

 I sure hope we sleep tonight - we are not looking forward to the next two days!  Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf.