My Missionary Venture to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sunday, September 25, 2011

SUNDAY 9-25-11

UP AT 6:35 AM
IT IS TO WINDY TO GO OUT AND SIT ON THE PORCH
I READ MY BIBLE AND PRAY IN THE LIVING ROOM/KITCHEN
BREAKFAST IS CHILI WITH BEANS AND CORN REALLY QUITE GOOD (MRE)
AT ABOUT 8:10 DIDIER COMES WITH MY HOT WATER
HE IS RUNNING LATE SO HE DOES NOT SIT DOWN, HE PLANS ON BEING BACK BETWEEN NINE AND NINE FIFTEEN
I HAVE COFFEE AND THEN WASH MY FACE AND SHAVE WITH THE LEFT OVER WATER, I HAD A HOT SHOWER THE NIGHT BEFORE
DIDIER HAS TO LOAD HIS FAMILY PLUS QUITE A NUMBER OF OTHER BEFORE WE LEAVE, PROBABLY ABOUT 9:35 BEFORE HIS VAN BEGINS TO MOVE
AS SOON AS IT BEGINS TO MOVE I GO TOWARD THE VAN AND GET IN IT
CHURCH STARTS AT 10:00 SO THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE
ON THE WAY TO CHURCH, WE HAVE TO CROSS A ONE LANE BRIDGE
THE BRIDGE IS BLOCKED BY A PUSH CART WHICH IS BROKEN DOWN—THE DRIVER, PUSHER, OWNER WHATEVER IS WORKING ON WHEEL, (I THINK THREE MEN COULD CARRY OR PUSH THE CART OFF THE BRIDGE BUT I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING) AVOIDING BEING A KNOW IT ALL AMERICAN
DIDIER SAYS “IF WE TURN AROUND WE WILL BE LATE, SOMETIMES IT IS VERY BAD TO LIVE IN THE CONGO.”
HE TURNS AROUND AND WE TAKE A DIFFERENT ROUTE TO CHURCH, ARRIVING AT 9:55
I PREACH FOR ONE HOUR, PASTORS DIDIER AND MICKEY EXHORT THE CONGREGATION FOR ANOTHER 15-20 MINUTES, WISH I COULD UNDERSTAND FRENCH OR SWAHILLI—MAYBE THEIR EXHORTATION IS BETTER THAN MY PREACHING
FOLLOWING CHURCH I PRAY FOR A SICK LADY, DIDIER SPENDS SOME TIME COUNSELLING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
THIS SUNDAY I AM SPENDING A LOT OF TIME TREATING MOSQUITO BITES AS I GOT 12 BITES ON FRIDAY NIGHT
SATURDAY NIGHT I USED REPELLENT AND GOT NO BITES, BUT I MUST PAY THE PRICE FOR NOT USING THE REPELLENT ON FRIDAY NIGHT—PREVIOUSLY HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH MOSQUITOS/HAVE SOMETHING CALLED AFTERBITE WHICH TAKES AWAY THE ITCH.
AFTER CHURCH THERE IS A SMALL AMOUNT OF FOOD SHOPPING, QUITE AN EXPERIENCE, MAYBE MORE ABOUT THAT LATER
HOME ABOUT 2:30 HAVE LIGHT LUCH, THEN DIDIER COMES WITH ROUND BALLS OF FRIED SWEET BREAD CALLED DOUGHNUTS—DELICOUS
DIDIER SPENT ABOUT AN HOUR EXPLAINING TO ME THE INTRICAIES OF CONGO ADOPTIONS.
NAP TIME FOLLOWED BY FISH, FOO FOO, VEGETABLES AND RICE.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Yesterday I was so tired that I went to bed before Didier brought me hot water and turned off the generator. He woke me up about 8:45 to tell me that there was hot water and the power was going off. I told him that I would use the hot water before going to bed, but after he left decided to just go back to bed. I am glad that I went back to bed, because I slept so well and got up feeling good even though the price was a cold bath.

I had cold, dry cereal and an apple for breakfast. At 8:00 Didier came with my quart of so of hot water which made possible my Starbuck’s Via. I used the left over water to shave and wash my head.

We had our third conference with the leaders of the Church. I am not sure, but I believe there were fourteen people attending. Three of them were women, one pleaded for the last three free books and she got them. We have now given away sixty books.

For lunch we had rice and beans cooked with sardines and some unknown vegetable. I took only a small portion not knowing whether I would like the meal or not. The combination was so good that I got extra sauce to season the rice. I have paid a hefty price for meals that did not compare to this one.

I was amazed to see how much food some of the young women were eating, but then I realized that this was probably their breakfast, lunch and dinner. As I thought of this my eyes must have gotten dust in them as they filled with tears. I must admit that my heart is broken over such a beautiful people who suffer so much.

While we were waiting for the food to arrive one man began to speak freely about the problems the Congo is facing. I will not recount the problems. His solution and appeal to the Church of America: send us more Missionaries, have more Bible Conferences and bring more Christian books. I am looking out my open door and I can see a man sitting in a plastic chair reading one of the books.

On arrival I was able to give Didier money with which to conduct the conference. I was only thinking about each person having a good meal at least once a day. After the conference we always haul a load of people back to their houses. I noticed that as we arrive in the general location of home and the person gets out of the van, Didier give a small amount of money to some of them. He told me today that without the gift they would not be able to afford to ride the bus back for the next day.

I asked him about the feeding of hungry people in the Church. He shared with me that he buys beans and Pastor Peter keeps them in storage to feed those who come with empty stomachs.

I am at the internet cafe and must send this. The net is terribly slow, could hardly down load my mail today.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

SUNDAY 9-18 CHURCH SERVICE AND THE FIRST PASTOR’S CONFERENCE 9-19-2011

SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICE

Pastor Didier asked me to preach at his Church which is known as Church 1. The service began at 10:00 am. The music was outstanding. How I wish I could share it with you. The African culture is different, sometimes at night the last sounds I hear are the beat of drums. I have noted that little children seem to be born with rhythm in their bones. I see them walking around singing and clapping their hands in tune with their song.

The Church had a choir of university students; all had identical blouses or shirts. A girl in the group just started singing about three minutes till 10:00, the group followed her and I can only say it was incredibly beautiful though I understood not a word they sang.

I don’t know exactly when I got to the pulpit, but I am fairly certain that the sermon went for two hours. I have never preached so long, but the people seemed to draw the sermon out of me. Also the sermon was preached by me in English and then Pastor Didier gave it to the Congregation in French and Pastor Mickey in Swahili. After the Service everyone shook hands with one another and visited.

On the way home we did some light shopping in what I would call a bazaar or a flea market. But it was a permanent market. You could tell by looking that some of the items had been on display for some time by dust on them –white clothing was beige. Didier needed some electrical supplies. As he selected and paid for items a small crowd gathered around. It seems that buying is something to draw attention. I assume that not much purchasing takes place with 80% unemployment.

After church it was nap time for about an hour. Didier came to the guest house to try to get some sleep, but his nap was interrupted by someone needing something or another.

We did some electrical work, I ate with Didier: chicken and greens, foo foo and rice. It was all very good. About 7:00 pm I came back to the guest house to read, take my bath and get ready for bed as the generator is turned off at 9:00 pm.

I was up at about 6:30 am on Monday. I think I am becoming adjusted to the African time. My hot water for my Starbucks Via (instant coffee) was delivered by Didier. I felt so rich this morning because I had powdered creamer and sugar from my Meals Ready to Eat. I get a pot (standard coffee pot size)of hot water almost boiling hot; I have learned to not only make the coffee, but also to have enough left over to shave with. Cold water shaving is no fun in my estimation. The last bit of hot water is used to wash my face.

THE PASTOR’S CONFERENCE

Sixteen people attended the first session today. I asked the attendees if any of them owned a Christian book other than their Bible, none did. Thanks to the generosity of some Christian donor and the International Ministry of Desiring God, each one attending now has three books in the French Language. Thanks to the people who donated to my Congo Fund each one attending the Conference gets to share in a common meal at no personal expense. I shared with those at the Conference that the meal was a gift from God, but it was an expression of some American Christian’s love for the leaders of the Church in the Congo.

For lunch we had cooked cassava leaves for greens, foo foo for carbohydrates, and fish for protein. Being a guest and the speaker, I was offered the first place in line for food, but declined. I waited until all had been through the line then I picked up one piece of fish –cooked weight was probably about two ounces. We were out of forks and plates before I got my fish. I knew that for some and maybe most of those attending this would probably be their only meal. After we ate, I took a picture group picture.

My Living Space was Getting Dirty

Filthy is a better word. The dust is blown by the wind all day long. Little children are grey with the dirt after playing outside. Didier keeps his doors and window closed all the time even though they have been cooking with charcoal and the house has that added heat. He does not allow his children to play outside on a windy day.

I told Didier that I need someone to clean the house and that I was willing to pay assuming that one of the ladies in the Church would want to earn some money. I came back to the guest house and here was dear Annie mopping the floor or more accurately using a squeegee on it. She had such a big beautiful smile on her face.

Later we were in the supermarket shopping. I needed toothpaste and deodorant. I told Didier that I wanted to get his wife something for her excellent work of cleaning. He was to pick it out and I would pay. I told him to get something which she would not get for herself. He said, “She would very much like to have deodorant.” I was very surprised. I thought that was a necessity. Needless to say…

THE SECOND CONFERENCE IS NOW OVER.

Sixteen in attendance
Chicken, foo foo, fried cabbage, and a coke like drink.
After an hour and a half, I wanted to stop for a break and they pleaded for 15 more minutes before we break.
Now off to town and the land of internet.

SATURDAY MORNING

I had some difficulty sleeping last night. You know how it is, tossing and turning, looking for a better spot in the pillow and then finally you drift off. I used earplugs because I share a roof with a new born baby and at least one mouse both of whom can wake me up. The baby (Pastor Peter and Dorcas’s child) sometimes wakes me up by crying. The mouse can wake me up by chewing.

I was awakened by daylight at 6:30. One of first thought was, I did not get a shower last night due to Church Services. Each Church has a Friday night service. Didier had gone to one and I to another. Apparently in all the busyness, my hot water had been forgotten. To heat a couple of gallons of water, someone must be active. Charcoal must be purchased, lighted, water drawn from the well, placed over the hot charcoal. Then the water must be carried to my room. This process surely must take two to three hours before I get the water. At home it is so simple.

I am thankful that some one left some Baby Wipes here. They work.

I have eaten a Mandarin Orange and will probably have some Trader Joe’s Granola without milk. Some kind soul left the cereal behind. I appreciate it very much. Not only is it good but it reminds me of home. Who would ever have thought that I would find Trader Joe’s food in Africa?

I am typing this as I await hopefully having some hot water brought to me for my Starbuck’s Via. I really appreciate it even without sweetener and milk. I could have gotten milk when Didier and I were shopping, but the milk was not refrigerated in the store and would have had minimal refrigeration here as the power is generated here for two hours a day.

Yesterday morning Pastor Peter and I were conversing. I was struggling trying to understand his use of the English Language.

His vocabulary is limited. In Swahili, mine is not existent. He told me that he was going to call on people from his Church. I think he was inviting me to go with him. What he said, came across to me as, do you want to shower? Now I am sure that he meant do you want to share my day’s activities with me? I was already committed for the day.

Didier came just a few minutes after 8:00 with my container of hot water and clean clothing. Again I am so thankful. I have eaten my dry cereal, three dried apricots and have had a wonderful cup of coffee. I am alive mentally.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I will preach in Pastor Didier’s Church; he will interpret for the congregation. He asked me if I had nice clothing for Church. I explained to him that I had not packed a suit as everything I brought was in a duffel bag. I knew that I should have a white shirt and a tie, but knew that everything in the bag would be wrinkled. He said, “That is alright because we have a saying that people are dressed like Americans in our country, because they do not care how they look.” We laughed over that.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

IMPRESSIONS.....

1. The women are all so beautifully attired.

2. The people speak so softly that you can be next to two people who are talking and it sounds like a murmur.

3. There is an incredible amount of dust. As we approach the Mission, the streets are not paved; dust is inches thick. The car stirs up a lingering cloud. You can see footprints in the dust where people have walked. It is about like our snow, it is inches deep.

4. Children in the Christian community are highly prized as they should be. The five little ones in our orphanage will not be taken out to be seen publicly until their health is improved. When they go out they will be beautiful.

5. Even though the adults eat very lightly, the children in the orphanage get three meals a day and medical care.

6. Didier told me that if they hung out a sign letting the community know that we have an orphanage there would be children on the door steps daily.

7. Lubumbashi has an unemployment rate of 80%. Yet people are smiling and appear to be very happy.

8. I was very impressed with Ethiopian Airlines. The company is very service oriented. Excellent food to the point of being overfed. In the evening, sandwiches—bread and turkey—along with drinks were available all night long.

9. At your seat, movies, music, and flight detail were available on your private screen continually.

10. At Addis Abba there were number of helpful employees available to help me as an obvious foreigner. I appreciated this so greatly as one of my greatest fears was not knowing where I was going when in the airport.

11. The people are multi-lingual. Pastor Didier told me that he converses in five languages.

12. Our guest house has no running water, electricity only when the generator is running, about two hours a day, but is very clean.

13. The Congo is a definitely a cell phone country. I see some children with them.

14. Everything including cement can be moved by bicycle; I saw three bags on one bicycle.

15. Yesterday I saw a bike loaded with bricks. The owner was walking beside the bike keeping it balanced.

16. In the division of household labor, carrying water seems to be a woman's work. This morning I sat on the porch and watched a woman trying to carry water with her left hand and keep a baby balanced on her hip with the right hand. She finally put the water down and headed home with the baby. I am sure she came back later for the water. By the way water is carried in five gallon containers so the full container will weight approximately 40 pounds.

17. I noted that in the Christian community that men left the house and went for water this morning.

18. I wondered why our well is completely enclosed in a locked brick structure. I was told that if it was not enclosed, the pump would be stolen.

Foo, Foo Tonight…

Tuesday I left Washington D. C. at noon. We flew North to someplace along the Canadian coast and then headed in a South-Easterly direction and dropped down into Africa missing Cairo and paralleled the gulf of Suez. We stopped long enough to change planes in Addis Abba. Then we were off to Malawi which is the smallest and poorest country in Africa. I am glad that I did not have to get off the plane there.

The ride from Malawi to the Congo was little more than an hour long. As I exited the plane my eyes were searching for Pastor Didier. Pastor Didier was at the door awaiting my arrival, but was not allowed to enter the Customs area but just seeing him and knowing he was there made my heart rejoice. I knew that if he was not there I would be a lamb for at least one hungry wolf. At Customs, my passport and shot card were checked with no problems. Clearing Customs probably took all of ten minutes.

Two of my bags were military duffel bags so they had to be opened and inspected before they were released. I gave permission and Pastor Didier was there vouching for me—no problem. Didier has a way of dissolving problems with his innate honesty. He was used to wash away the official’s fears.

About 3:30 we left the airport and headed back to the Mission Station. I am in the guest house awaiting a meal of Foo Foo which Didier and his family are going to graciously share with me. It is made from the Manioc root and leaves. It is a favorite source of carbohydrates for many Africans. I am sure that I will like it. It reminded me of grits if you are familiar with that taste. It was good and filling. We had delicious chicken, a mixture of green beans and carrots, and rice. It was all very good and very satisfying.

By the way I did get a shower, what a joy after spending about twenty-seven hours on the plane. My shower consisted of taking a plastic pitcher of cold water, pouring it over my head, then body, soaping down and more cold water. It was wonderful.

There is a well fed mouse in the house. I woke up during the night to hear something chewing on paper. I just dumped things on the floor of my room last night being to tired to unpack. I had purchased some Cliff Bars at the Folsom Costco. One of them was chewed into and the evidence was left on the floor of my room. It is 10:00 am and I need to go to the Internet Café.
I am going to post this as the access is slow: Didier will soon be back to pick me up.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Simple but Tiring

Today: I took Hannah to school which is always a delight. I walked her to her classroom and visited with her teacher for a few minutes.

Then Hannah took me to visit with her kindergarten teacher; this woman is such a delightful Christian lady. (She was Hannah’s teacher two years ago.)

Next was a stop as Starbucks, not for coffee, but to do some work on the computer which was messing up royally. (Got it taken care of.)

I needed to get my glasses adjusted before I leave the country tomorrow, got that done at Costco.

I went to a sporting goods store to buy a lantern for the orphanage so the workers will not have to work in the dark. I got a battery powered lantern which while using four D batteries is supposed to give off light for 120 hours. I bought a dozen batteries.

Received an email from Ann, she has arranged to have me picked up at the house at 9:15 am to be taken to the airport. My plane is scheduled to leave at 11:45 for Ethiopia.

I went back to the school to see Hannah and to help take of children while they are eating. It is amazing how many bottles need to be opened during one meal. As tables emptied, I sprayed them down and wiped them thoroughly.

Back to the house and rested for one hour and then off to get Hannah again. She is resting while I am finishing this.

Tonight I take my first malaria pill and weigh up bags—50 lbs in each bag.