While we were at the SIL Centre, Dave was meeting with the
Mapping Team at the office everyday and I volunteered at the Boutique
most days. But it wasn’t all work; we had some time to
play too. Here are some of our stories, in no particular order.
Eating
We went out as a group for a few meals and had a taste of
Texan BBQ, southern chicken fried steak, and Mexican.
|
Chicken fried brisket doesn't mean there's chicken AND brisket. Sides of black-eyed peas, fried mushrooms and gravy.
|
The most adventurous meal though was when about half of us
went out. Mitchell, who had spent some
time in Tanzania, wanted to find some Swahili food. We drove to Irving and finally found the
address. It was closed. Now what?
Mitchell suggested another place and now it was off to Arlington. It was labeled as a grocery store, but when
we entered, it looked like a restaurant, of sorts. It looked a bit sketchy, but hey, we were up
for an adventure! We were the only whites.
It looked more like a Somali hang-out, with a bit of food service on the
side (and a bullet hole or two in the windows).
After trying to order rice and goat – not on the menu today – we got a
large platter of spaghetti, chicken and fish with jalapenos and onions as
garnish, and a side salad. It was quite
delicious and there was more than enough for the five of us. The staff were very friendly, making us feel
quite comfortable. Suddenly, rugs were being rolled out in half the place and
we realized it was time for prayers.
That might be our cue to leave.
Shopping
I was only at the Boutique part-time, and I didn’t want to
stay at the trailer all the time so I ventured out to do some shopping. We were on the edge of Dallas so if I didn’t
go on the Interstate, and headed to the smaller centres away from Dallas, the
traffic wasn’t any worse than around Edmonton!
I found another Hobby Lobby and stocked up on some crafting
supplies. Then I went to an outdoor
shopping mall, if you will, which was wonderful for browsing and sitting
outside with an American-style iced tea (unsweetened).
 |
| The Americans honoured the passing of the Queen with flags half-mast. |
On our last afternoon, Dave and I decided to explore the
historic downtown districts of Duncanville and Cedar Hill. The first one didn’t amount to much, other
than a fun stop at a 50s diner for a sarsaparilla in the Ben Franklin store.
Cedar Hill’s downtown also wasn’t a very large district. “Why are you here?” some one asked. I guess the implied meaning was that, coming from Canada, little Cedar Hill wasn’t the typical tourist destination. We just don’t do big city tourist attractions, I guess.
Sunday
It was my nephew who mentioned that Dallas is a city of
mega-churches and did I know that Chuck Swindoll of Insight for Living’s church
was there. Since he mentioned it, why
not go there.
It was almost an hour’s drive all the way through, or I
should say over, the downtown of Dallas to the opposite side of the city, in
Frisco.
Stonebriar Church was very welcoming, despite it being very
big. We were shown to a seat near the
front of the sanctuary. What a wonderful
morning worship service. The music was
so good, with a pipe organ, choir, and orchestra. One song they sang was “Holy is He”,
partnered together with the congregation singing “Holy, Holy, Holy”. I had tears of joy. This is what heaven will be like. The rest of the service and message, with
Chuck Swindoll preaching, was about the great commission which fit in so well with
what SIL is also doing. We are to share
the Word of God to all the world and it’s wonderful to hear from other
organizations with the same mission.
In the afternoon we went to meet Angeline, Jerry’s
wife. She was at her church’s Fall
Festival. It was a multi-cultural
event. There were food booths with
Nigerian, Kenyan, Indian, and other cuisine.
There were carnival activities for the kids, ethnic dances outside and a
bake sale and trade fair inside. We
chose the Kenyan dish of goat and rice, and as it was so very hot outside, we
were glad to go inside to eat it. Angeline had a Mary Kay table at the trade fair,
so it was just a quick visit while we were eating our meal.
In the evening was a sing and share time on campus. It was great to gather with some of the older
members of the community and hear their heart for missions through prayer
requests and one woman sharing of her ministry in Brazil.
The Promise
On Saturday a group of us drove an hour out into the country
to Glen Rose to see The Promise. We
arrived just before sunset and entered a large outdoor theatre with the stage
under a huge canopy.
The Promise is the life of Jesus from birth to resurrection
to ascension, done as a musical. The
storyline was from the perspective of a shepherd family, first reminiscing
about the birth, and then getting involved in the passion week as
bystanders. It was very well done. What struck me as most unique in this
retelling of the familiar story was adding the character of Satan who was
lurking in the shadows whenever there was a time of temptation or the plotting
of Christ’s death.
It was a long performance, and then another hour-long drive
into the night to get home.
Nature
No one told us that there’d be spiders and snakes to watch
out for! Thankfully we didn’t meet any
spiders, but we did see a tarantula.
Those guys are big and can move fast!
Knowing this, we still ventured out on the trail around the
campus. There are quite a number of
trails, but the swimming pool called us more often than hiking in the woods!
One afternoon, the whole team went to Joe Pool Lake, a large
man-made lake that could be seen from the campus. Texas has had a very dry summer. The lake
level was lower than normal, and the trees and grasses were also
suffering. On the positive side, we
encountered many different butterflies, and had a wonderful time hanging out together as a team before everyone went their separate ways.
 |
| I'm not sure what insect creates these holes. |
Farewell
The Mapping team had a very productive two weeks of meetings,
and many memories were made after work hours too with shared meals, outings and games nights. I felt blessed to be
included in much of the socializing too.
It was time for everyone to fly home – to the UK, Florida,
California, Michigan, and Colorado. And
for us to continue on the road trip for the rest of our adventure.
