A day of rest

Jim said that the travel to CAR was incredibly smooth. A dinner had been prepared for them to eat that evening, but they arrived so early it was served for lunch.

Here is part of an email he sent today:

We have been eating very well here in Bangui. I am concerned that I am going to gain back some of the weight I lost in the Congo. We had such unusual food in the Congo that many of us have been eating even when we are not hungry because we are so excited about the flavors.

It has been raining all day and I am actually quite chili. Tom is very grateful. Normally it is an extremely hot process to get ready to travel. Although our flight leaves sometime around 11:30 PM tonight, this morning we had to go and check in our bags with customs and Air France. They did check our bags through to Geneva which is great. So all I have with me right now is my carry-on bag. We will leave for the airport at about 8:30 tonight.

We had some time of debriefing this morning as well. Please pray for Jared and I as we prepare to come home. Pray that we will not forget the lessons we have learned here and that we will have minimal reverse culture shock. I am actually a little more concerned about that than I was before I left. The Congo was very different from what we are used to at home and I have been quite surprised how different I see the Central African Republic on the return trip than I did when I first arrived here. On the way here I was really surprised by what a step down it is here from the US and what they don’t have here. After being in the Congo, I am surprised at what a step up this is from the Congo. Rather than noticing what they don’t have I have been noticing what they do have. The first thing I noticed was that many of the roads are paved. The entire time in the Congo we did not drive on concrete or any type of pavement even one time. They also have cars which I never saw in the Congo. The only vehicles I saw in the Congo were either motorcycles or 4x4 trucks.

Often after a trip like this people come back and are quite critical of the materialism in America and/or the ignorance of the plight of the poor in other countries and/or all of the things we take for granted in the US. And there is certainly much truth in that and that is a big part of what I am feeling. However, I have also left this experience with even greater pride and appreciation for my home country. I have been thinking about how much our country has achieved and changed in the last two to three hundred years and I am amazed. Basically I feel that the Lord has given me a greater appreciation for both the strengths and weakness of our country/culture.

As we re-enter the US pray that:

1. We will not be overwhelmed by the cultural differences.
2. We will not become depressed or feel like we don’t fit in.
3. The Lord will provide us with individuals who are willing to spend time to hear about our experiences.
4. We will have a greater appreciation for what we have in our country, but that we will not be judgmental of others.
5. That we can effectively communicate what we saw and experienced.
6. Please also pray that we can sleep well on the plane ride to Paris.

Overall we are very thankful for how smoothly things have gone for us on this trip. We have really been blessed. As one of our team members put it, “Figuratively speaking, we have had very few bumps in the road. Speaking literally, we have had many, many bumps in the road.”