The weekend in Africa

We received several emails from Jim this afternoon. We had been looking forward to a phone call, but that is not working out for today. So we have settled for a few emails with some more information.

Friday night:

The two hour drive from Tendala to Gemena went fine, but travel on the roads is so hard. Even with the cushion I brought my butt is so sore when we arrive. I am not looking forward to the long drive from here to the border town of Zongo.

Pray for my time at Elikya. I will be the only non Lingala speaker and that is often hard and lonely. The main prayer however, is that I will learn a great deal about Elikya and about the people who have been helped there.

Saturday:

Yesterday we passed out layettes at Tandala Hospital. There were three Moms there with babies. They dressed each of the babies in the kimono and wrapped them in the blankets. Jared and I held the babies and took lots of pictures. We gave out our layette, Betty Wimers and an unnamed one.

I spent some time at Elikya this morning and early afternoon. Normally there would not be any activity there on a Sat, but 3 of the orphan boys were working on a project. They are the first graduating class of Elikya and they are soon going to be presented with their own set of tools to take with them when they leave. As one of their final projects they were instructed to build a wooden toolbox for their tools. They were so excited to finish their toolboxes that they asked if they could come on Sat to work on them. When the first one finished they loaded the full set of tools into the toolbox to see how heavy it was going to be and if they would be able to carry it for long distances. The young man then successfully picked up the toolbox and placed it on his shoulder and continued to walk around the room with a huge smile on his face. It was the smile of a young man whose life has been changed.

I had another very interesting experience today that few team members rarely experience. As you know, I left Tandala earlier than the other team members so that I could have some more time at Elikya. That means that it is just myself and Thelma and Jim Snyder from ReachGlobal. I told Thelma that I wanted to have some dresses made for my wife and daughters. I was supposed to be busy all afternoon so Thelma said that she would purchase some material for me that we could then take to the seamstress later on. However, my schedule changed (not uncommon here) and Thelma said that I could go with her and two local girls to the market. It was getting time for the market to close so we ended up taking a taxi to the market to get there before the vendors left. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that we each took a taxi to the market because a taxi ride here means climbing on the back of a motorcycle and holding on to the waist of the driver in front of you. (At least I hope the protocol involves holding on to the guy’s waist).

When we arrived at the market it was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. I was expecting about a dozen produce stands based on some markets we drove by earlier. This, however, was huge. There were thousands of people there tightly packed together and rows and rows of booths selling all kinds of food, clothing, etc. All of the booths are crude constructions of wood and misc building material. The roads and paths were all dirt and mud. In addition to the booths many people walked around carrying their wares on their head. Many of the food and animals for sale I could not recognize. The girl we were with bought several live fish that I had never seen before. The fish were all still alive and they placed them into the cooler she brought with her. Out of the thousands of people, only two were white Americans and we were the center of attention where ever we went. I was quite nervous the entire time we were there. Party because when we first got there and I climbed off of the “taxi” some guy came up to me and grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. The young girl we were with (the President of the CECU’s daughter) had to give him some money to let me go. I was way out of my element and I knew it and they all knew it. I was quite relieved when we climbed back on the “taxis” and arrived back at the mission.

Unfortunately, it was not a good place to take any pictures. I do have a picture of me on the motorcycle and of the lady selling us the fish, but that is it. I am so glad I had that experience, but I wouldn’t want to repeat it.

I believe that Jared arrives here tomorrow (Sunday). Tomorrow should also be my first and only visit to a local church. It should also be quite any experience.

Sunday:

I went to church today. The service went from about 9:30 AM to about 1:30 PM. It took about 20 minutes to do the announcements and an hour to do the offering. There were about 500 people and everyone of us had to come down to the front and put money in one of the two buckets (one for men and one for the women). I didn’t have any local currency so Jim Snyder slipped me some to put into the offering. After they went through the entire congregation (by the way they are standing and singing the entire time) then they still encouraged the people to make an extra trip down and put in some more. They had a specific dollar amount they were trying to raise. I believe all of the money was going to the equivalent of the national office/district. It was a special Sunday and they trade pastors as part of this annual event. Many of the songs they sang before the offering were about the importance of giving so they were really going out of their way to get people to give on this particular Sunday. They even said the specific amount that they were trying to raise. They hit and slightly exceeded their goal and they were thrilled. The women raised more than the men and when they found that out they were cheering like it was a sporting event. How much did 500 people raise with all of that extra effort and emphasis this Sunday? About $120.

At the beginning of the service they asked all visitors to stand and introduce themselves. After one of the visitors introduced himself, Jim or Thelma told me that he is the former ambassador to Tanzania and one of the sons of Pelendo. I’m not sure why, but I started to cry when I heard that. It was so amazing to realize that Pelendo was a very big part of the reason I was sitting in a church of over 500 Congolese people who were singing praises to Jesus. I did later meet him and was able to tell him that we read the story of his father to our children. I then had my picture taken with him. That was really the extent of our conversation. He did shake my hand again later when he left, but that was it. It was one of the highlights of my trip on a personal level.

Jared and the two girls on our team returned to Gemena this evening. It was great to have them back and to eat dinner together. We prepared our own dinner of tuna mixed with noodles and we served bread with peanut butter. It has been somewhat lonely and boring without them. Because of the pulpit exchange program this Sunday and the Elikya grand opening last Sunday, Jared was not given the opportunity to preach while here.

Tomorrow is big day at Elikya. Pray that we get lots of great stories and pictures.

Got a good video tonight of Jared killing a large spider for one of the girls.

I believe we leave Gemena Wed morning at about 3:30 AM (you should still be up). We have to make it to the border before it closes around 4:00 or 5:00 PM.