“One, two, go! One, two, go! One, two, go!” Nine people grunted and strained as we pulled the heavy dugout canoe out of the water and dragged it up the bank, moving it about six inches with each heave. I hadn’t realized how difficult this was going to be.

We had announced in church that we would be having a work bee to cut grass on the new parcel of land recently donated for our house. The five church members who showed up and I were all going to paddle our canoe across the swamp south of Kotale out to the Aramia River and over to our new property, cut the grass, eat some food and return. Unfortunately, our canoe was on the north side of the isthmus in Kotale with a hundred yards of land to portage over. This was no Kevlar or aluminum canoe that could easily be transported by one or two people. It was about 20 feet long, carved out of a single rosewood log, and it weighed at least 500 pounds.

After about half an hour of straining every muscle we had, we slid the behemoth into the water on the south side. I was ready to take a break, and the trip hadn’t even started yet. Just the thought of standing up and paddling a canoe for the next 40 minutes exhausted me. But as we slipped silently through swamp grass, gliding past pools of giant water lilies in full bloom, my fatigue melted away in the fragrance and serenity of the setting.
Since some in our group had other things to do that day, someone suggested that we see how much we could get done in an hour and return early. We would focus on the grass along the ridge and then return another day to finish the rest.
Half of the 1.5 acres was overgrown with elephant grass eight to ten feet tall. Cutting elephant grass with machetes is hard work, almost like cutting through bamboo. The task seemed daunting even for five muscle-bound Gogodala and one tall, skinny American. Before starting, we paused to ask God for strength, energy and protection. (Some of the world’s deadliest snakes live around here.)
After an hour, we stopped working and looked around. Amazingly, we’d been able to cut all the elephant grass. We could see clearly from one side of the property to the other. Someone remarked with surprise at how much we’d accomplished. Another said this truly was a miracle. In spite of the blisters and cuts on my hands, I smiled as I agreed with them. God is good.

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