How Missionaries Really Want to Travel

I hope you had a very merry Christmas! We did! The power went out for several hours, but we didn't let it ruin our fun. We read the Bible together, gave our gifts to eachother, called family, and watched movies. David loved the rug I made for him and Josh loved the sock monkey. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can see photos HERE. It was so nice just to be together! I am going to be a mess when Josh goes back to college, I can see it now.

There are very few advantages that I've found thus far to having my first-born attending college 6,000 (not a typo, it's really that far) miles away. With no dishwasher and a washing machine roughly the size of a blender, it is a plus that we have fewer dirty dishes and less laundry. Possibly the biggest advantage, and still not big enough to outweigh how much we miss him, is that when he came to visit for Christmas he was able to bring us stuff we can't get here - like Christmas presents! We were able to shop online and have items sent to Josh. Josh then became the Burton version of Santa, flying Brussels Airlines instead of a sleigh, and carrying suitcases instead of a magical weightless and bottomless red bag. But wait! What if I could find a magical weightless and bottomless bag? I would be willing to pay a fortune for one! Imagine the possibilities! Missionaries and other world travelers would line up to buy them like people waiting for the stores to open on Black Friday. Anyway, David bought "The Pioneer Woman Cooks!", by Ree Drummond. Then Santa - I mean Josh - brought it to me. I love this book! Nevermind that I can't get all the ingredients here for all the recipes - I can definitely get some of them. I really enjoy her writing style and she wrote her cookbook in much the same style that she uses on her blog. Just a few days ago I read her post "All I Wanted Was A Doughnut". Oh! How I miss doughnuts! If I just had a weightless, bottomless bag I could bring a whole term's worth of doughnuts back with me every furlough. I could bring enough doughnuts back to give one to every cop in Kinshasa. Gasp! I read Ree's story aloud to my family because I thought they would enjoy it. They did enjoy it, but after I finished reading it my youngest asked "What is a doughnut case?" I never, ever, ever, thought in a million years that one of MY children would not know what a convenience store doughnut case is. I shall remedy this when we go on furlough in 2013, and I shall do it well. Read Ree's doughnut post to end your year with a smile!
Happy New Year!

A Pastor Explains Poverty Theology

My friend Marcia from Little Pink Rose (see link in sidebar in blogs I enjoy) shared an article with me that really hit home. The author, Pastor Mark Driscoll, wrote a parable of "poverty theology." He explains it much better than I could so I hope you'll read his post. I have been guilty of this type of theology and I believe missionaries in general are especially susceptible to this temptation. Most of us have to raise ministry support in order to stay on the field. We feel a deep responsibility to our supporters to be good stewards. The trap is in worrying about what others will think of us and what we have or don't have instead of thanking God for all we have. James 1:16-18 says "Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. While He uses people to support our ministry, the support is from Him. We are not the only missionaries who have lost supporters. We know that we are not here in our own strength and each member of our team is crucial. Losing even one is significant. Pray for your missionaries, that they will not fall into a trap of living in fear of the opinions and actions of others. Pray that they will not be prideful or prejudge others, but that they will enjoy all that God gives them and trust Him to meet their needs. Pray for those who are the backbone of missions: the prayer partners and the financial supporters. Thank God for their sacrifices and ask Him to bless them and meet their needs, known and unknown! I do. You can read Pastor Driscoll's post HERE.

Cookies Worth Blogging About - Seriously!

Some time ago, long enough ago for me to forget who my wonderful benefactor was, someone gave me a bag of Heath toffee bits. I went googling for recipes that use toffee chips and found a recipe called "Nancy's Decadent Heath Bar Cookies." Well, if you were browsing recipes and found one that had both your name and the word "decadent" in the title, wouldn't YOU feel compelled to try it? I sure did. These babies are amazing! And - when people try them and ask what they are called, I get to truthfully call them "Nancy's Decadent Heath Bar Cookies" - hee hee. She doesn't say when to add the butter so I added it with the shortening. Her recipe calls for 12oz of chocolate chips, but after measuring I had about 1/3 cup left over so I just dumped them in. She also calls for 6oz of toffee chips. I had an 8oz bag. Knowing that 2oz is not enough for another batch of cookies, I dumped it all in. I had pecans so that is what I used for the nuts. I did have a lot of trouble with the cookies sticking to the pan (possibly too many chocolate and toffee chips? nah!). I tried letting them cool for different lengths of time, spraying the pan, etc but they stuck every time. I didn't want to try her foil trick because I was afraid I would end up with little pieces of foil stuck to the cookies. The foil here in Congo is tissue thin and doesn't really have a "shiny" side. Finally in exasperation, and after making myself sick from eating all the broken cookies that stuck to the pans, I tried the foil. It is imperative that you use the foil! It makes a world of difference. To view the recipe click THIS.

Something Old, Something New, Something Baked, Something Blue

Something Old:
Over a year ago I was shopping and found fabric with a snowflake pattern, in Africa, so I bought some with the intention of making a wrap skirt. Finally, I have gotten around to actually doing it. Red and yellow are kinda strange colors for a snowflake theme, but then again, this is Congo.

Something New:
When I asked my oldest if there was anything special he wanted for Christmas, I told him to keep in mind that I can't just run to Walmart or the mall to buy things. He asked for "a sock monkey with a rasta hat." Ok. Sure. I happened to have the socks leftover from one of Emily's school projects. I begged yarn off my friends and went to work to make a monkey with dreadlocks. The rasta hat is made from a black sock and I stitched it with yarn to make the stripes. I hope I never have to make a sock doll with hair ever again, but I don't think this one turned out too bad. Hopefully Josh will like it. Don't tell him I posted this on my blog. He's been instructed not to look until after Christmas.

Something Baked:
I baked cookies this past week to contribute to gift bags for our national staff and decided to take the rest to the commercial center in my neighborhood, along with some tracts, and give them out. I invited my friend Myndii to come along and she made up a plate of cookies for the police station. (The police station is really a metal shipping container about the size of a short train boxcar, used as headquarters and office for a small group of police officers.) We took our wares down on Thursday and were greeted warmly by the police officer and his friends, who gave up their chairs and invited us to join them in conversation for a few minutes. We made sure to give treats to Papa Joseph, Mama Lily, Papa Kabuya, Titi and TonTon - people we conduct business with regularly, then passed out goodies to everyone we could until it was gone. Sadly, there were more people who wanted one of my gifts than I could have prepared for. Pray that the gospel tracts and the gestures of Christian love are well-received and that the seeds grow.

Something Blue:
I purchased some curtains from friends of ours who were leaving Kinshasa. David really liked the blue in the fabric, so after adding a strip to the bottom of one set to make them long enough, they were hung in our bedroom. I had a bunch of the matching fabric left over so for a Christmas gift I made a "toothbrush rug" for David. Don't tell him you saw this until after Christmas either. Now my kids want me to make rugs for them. It's so easy I think I might let them make their own. If you are interested in making your own, I learned how to do it using instructions from this website: toothbrush rugs.

Why I'm Glad I'm in Congo for Christmas

Even when it isn’t in the throes of post-election mayhem, Congo is ranked near the top of the list of the world’s worst places to live. The cost of living is outrageous. Corruption abounds. It is a violent and unstable place. The infant mortality rate is high and the average life span is low compared to other nations. During the Christmas season, there is no snow. No parades. No Salvation Army bell ringers. No Christmas songs playing on the radio or over PA systems in the malls (no malls either), no decorated lawns or lights on the houses. No Charlie Brown Christmas special(I should have bought the dvd). Shopping for gifts is an exercise in futility and frustration. Toys and games are outrageously priced, mostly in other languages, and if electronic, zoned for European-made devices, not the American devices we brought here with us. A bag of m&m’s for a stocking stuffer costs $15 or more. Maybe the stores will have turkeys, but maybe not.
So what’s a family to do in Congo at Christmas? Without all the trappings and hoo-ha, we find ourselves having a lot more time and a lot more space in our thought lives to actually focus on what really matters: the incredible love that moved the God of creation to send his Son for the likes of us. We’ve learned not to take even going to church or having fellowship with friends for granted. We’ve simplified our expectations and our desires. We’ve become more grateful and less greedy. We are more keenly aware of how deeply the Savior loves us and how blessed we are. It’s a change I am not sure would have happened if our family had never come to Congo, but one that as a Christian wife and mom I am extremely happy to have observed and been part of. I struggled our first Christmas here as I learned to let go of the way I thought Christmas should be observed and open my hands to receive the Christmas God wanted to give me. My kids displayed just as much excitement and gratitude over the simple things we gave them and our little second-hand crooked tree as they used to show over more lavish gifts and fancier decor. We wished our Congolese friends a "joyeux Noël." We went to church and sang about the Son who came for all mankind with people from many different nations, including Congo – a little taste of heaven.
A Little Bit of News:
Last Sunday our oldest son arrived safely from the U.S. all in one piece and his luggage arrived Wednesday. We are extremely grateful to be reunited for two weeks and are enjoying every minute! Thanks for all your prayers for his travels!

Jesus Under the Stove (and other unusual places)

Photo: Nancy Burton coolbeans3.blogspot.com

I was able to go to the United States for Thanksgiving to visit our college aged daughter and see most of my family. We had a nice visit but OH! The trip back was so LONG and exhausting. It took me a while to get back in the groove after the time change and with all the emotions of missing my mom. Holidays won't ever be the same without her, although I do have hope that they can be good. David, Daniel and I are having a quiet family Christmas this year. Missing mom has made us more sentimental, resulting in us doing things we don't normally do here because old traditions are either very expensive or near impossible to keep here. We splurged on a new little tree. Our ancient missionary hand me down tree bit the dust last year. I brought back pumpkin from the states so there will be pumpkin pie. We bit the dust and paid the outrageous amount for a real turkey instead of the usual chicken. I used up my chocolate chip horde and baked cookies to give away. All totally worth it.

When I first wrote this blog post on Dec 18, 2011, my mom told me she really liked it, which made it a favorite of mine. I've blown the dust and cobwebs off and revised it a bit for you:

I don’t understand why, because it is often always the messiest room in the house, but our kitchen is a people magnet. Often when I am cooking, other members of the family will come in and talk to me. So we were all in the kitchen together last night when we noticed David on his hands and knees looking beneath the stove. Conversations and activities ceased as we all stared until he noticed and responded.
“I’m looking for Jesus.”
“I’m pretty sure you won’t find Him under the stove.” This was followed by much laughter.
Minutes later:
“I found Jesus under the printer.”
“Didn’t I tell you He wasn’t under the stove?” More laughter.
“He was just as likely to be under the stove as under the printer.”
“I guess you have a point there.” 

My husband was searching for Jesus in bizarre places because our cats held a soccer game while we slept during the night and scattered the pieces of Emily’s nativity scene all over the house. The other pieces were found quickly but we couldn’t find Jesus, the most important figure. Once He was found, everyone was happy. Like our cats, we humans tend to make a real mess of things. We sometimes lose sight of what the most important things are in our lives. Our nativity Jesus was never truly gone, we just couldn’t see Him because He had been moved from his place of prominence to a dark and dusty corner. I don’t want to relegate Jesus to a dark and dusty corner of my life. I want Him to be the absolute center, the focal point no matter what angle anyone sees me from so that they are shown the way to Him. And I am so, so grateful that even when I fall and lose sight of Him, He is still there.

I hope this Christmas and always that He is in a place of prominence in your heart and life.

Merry Christmas!

image created using "One Night in Bethlehem" kit by Janniscrap Designs

Food for the Stomach and for the Spirit, Times Two

One interesting difference between the cultures here and in the U.S. is the way people react when you offer them a gospel tract. I found some French and Lingala versions of the Four Spiritual Laws tracts at a Bible store downtown and while I was grocery shopping yesterday with friends, we passed one of them out the car window to a police officer who was directing traffic. He accepted it, looked into our vehicle at all the bags of food and candidly remarked that he wished he could have one of the loaves of bread. We gave him some money to buy bread for himself and his partner and told him thank you for working hard to keep the city safe. The other officer then asked us if he could have a tract of his own. We gladly gave him one. I've been told that this is a very common response. Never in the U.S. has anyone asked me for a tract. Often people didn't want them and told me so either politely or otherwise.
Today our entire team, both U.S. staff and national staff, held an outreach event at the airport. Planes were moved out of the hangar to make room for chairs and a sound system. We shared a little bit about MAF, sang in English, French and Lingala, and had a Christmas worship service. The key speaker was Fideline, who is a local pastor and the wife of Maurice, one of our national staff members. God has blessed one of our MAF wives, Sandy Francis, with amazing musical talent. She sang Jesu Bambino/O Holy Night in English and French and nearly brought the house down. It is a real treat both to hear her sing and to hear Congolese singing praises in Lingala. Several people responded to the invitation to pray and receive Christ. Everyone was given tracts, Bibles, and refreshments. Hopefully they all went home both spiritually and physically fed.
Please pray for the two officers, and those who came today. Many of them requested extra tracts. Who can say how many others might receive one? Pray the seeds will grow! Also, even though the supreme court confirmed Kabila yesterday as the winner of the election amid some controversy, things are calm here so far and we are grateful. Pray for Josh - in just a couple of hours he boards a plane to come visit us!

10 Reasons to Dislike Secret Santas

I don't care for secret santa games. In fact I don't care for any games other than the kind where everyone sits around a table and uses a board with "little men" or a deck of cards. "Ice breaker" is a phrase that instills horror and dread for me. But I always participate because I feel like a Scrooge if I don't. With the exception of my spouse, I always thought I was odd for feeling that way, until my friend TJ wrote about it on her blog and listed all the same reasons I have had in the past, at one time or another, for not liking secret santas. Now, to be fair, I must share that last year our ladies Bible study group did a "secret sister" activity that lasted several weeks. We filled out detailed surveys first, which went to everyone in the group. No matter whose name you drew, you got to read everyone's survey and we all got to know each other better. The surveys covered favorite colors, songs, Scriptures, snacks, etc; names of family members, and prayer requests. The goal was not just giving but praying, and we all were blessed by it, including me. I still groan on the inside when people start talking about secret santas, but I recognize that it can be done in a way that truly blesses someone. To see TJ's list click the link below.

TJ's Musing: 10 Reasons Why I Hate Secret Santas

The Right Place at the Right Time

Election results that were due last Tuesday were finally announced yesterday afternoon (Friday). President Kabila has been re-elected. I heard there were some violent confrontations in Kinshasa, mostly downtown and near the airport, but our neighborhood has been calm. Everyone is staying close to home for a while. We aren’t a target or anything, but we don’t want to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I imagine a lot of people think being in Congo at all right now is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there are a number of God’s people here, including us, who believe we are in the right place at the right time simply because we are where He put us. I’m not presuming to say we are “God’s gift to Congo,” but perhaps Congo is God’s gift to us. I pray He will use me here to make an impact in someone’s life and bring glory to Him, but I know He is using Congo to make an impact in my life. Several weeks ago I was reading in the Psalms and when I came to Psalm 146 I felt a heavy burden for the people here in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and also for the people of my own country. Verses 7-10 say: “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.”
In addition to the oppression you can see here, there is spiritual oppression that you can’t see, but can sometimes feel. Nearly everyday I see hungry people and malnourished children. I am certain that there is oppression and hunger in the United States also, though on a different scale or manifest in different ways. But praise God! He sets prisoners free! He heals! He lifts up those who are bowed down! Widows here are treated abominably, especially by their own families. But our Father is watching over the widows and the orphans. And how desperately we need Him to frustrate the ways of the wicked as we end an election here and prepare for one in the U.S! Being a mechanic’s wife, I’ve heard many times how important it is to have the right tool for the right job and to have tools that are of a good quality. One of the best tools we have as believers is prayer. I’m praying these Scriptures for both the Congo and the U.S.

God Knows The Unknowns

For our family and friends who are concerned about us this election season, we are fine! We appreciate and still need your prayers for us and for this country. We are stocked up in case we have to "hunker down" and stay home for a few days, but so far things have been fairly calm in our neighborhood. The election results are supposed to be announnced today, but as of 6:00pm tonight we've heard no news. We finished putting up our Christmas tree today and I came home from my ladies' Bible study group to the sound of Christmas music. It's nice to have a feeling of normalcy and a praise song in my mind and heart to keep the tension and anxiety that is in the air here from constantly preoccupying me and affecting my perspective, even my ability to make decisions. It's even nicer when our whole family is doing it together. We sure do miss Joshua though.
My friend TJ recently shared her own struggles with decision making based on God's plan versus people and circumstances around her. She wrote that she had decided to say "yes" to God in spite of the unknowns, trusting that God has a plan and is going to take care of all of those unknowns. You can read her entire article HERE.

Treasuring Trash and Trashing Treasure?

Praise God! We have a transformer! And we’ve been having power at least part of each day! Ironically, even though we had zero power for 11 days in November, when I received my bill on Thursday I noticed it is double the usual amount. This is Congo, after all. The elections results are not officially being announced until next week but already rumors are flying. Continue praying for God’s peace to reign here.

Because of the rumors and tension, I didn't get to go to the orphanage this week. Last week during our visit I went over to the Patrick House to say hello to the kids there. This is the building that houses the children with severe disabilities or with AIDS. When I arrived the foyer was empty and a staff member led us to a playroom. We were taken by surprise because this room was brightly painted. There were padded mats on the floors and colorful toys lining all the walls(This REALLY surprised us because we almost never see toys anywhere when we visit). The room was full of kids, some in wheel chairs but most of them were sitting or lying on the mats. We made a point to talk to as many as possible, though only one girl was able to reply to our questions. We just basically sat with them, held their hands or patted their shoulders, and even sang a few songs for them. It struck me that there were all these nice toys all around them, but none of the kids seemed to be interested in or even notice them. Most of them weren’t capable of actually getting to the toys, but even when I handed some blocks to one child, she rejected them because what she really wanted was my plastic grocery sack. Unbeknownst to her, all it contained was a couple of bottles of bubbles that had leaked their contents into the bag. On the same day, in the courtyard where the toddlers and preschoolers play, I saw a little guy playing with the lid part of a tomato paste can. Not wanting him to cut himself, I took it from him and threw it away. His response was to throw himself on the ground, screaming and crying in anger. I wonder how often God has incredibly good gifts for us but we instead spurn them in hopes of keeping our garbage or even grasping more garbage. How often we respond in anger when He acts to protect us or correct us. Or how often He has surrounded us with signs of his love, creativity and power but we just don’t have our eyes open to see them. Praying we all go through this week with our spiritual eyes wide open and our hearts eager to receive all He wants to give us!

Stinky Pie

We are eagerly looking forward to Christmas break when Josh comes to visit! In the meantime, kids at Emily’s school are getting a two-day break next week due to the elections. We are hoping and praying that all will go well and kids all over Kinshasa will be attending school with safety and confidence on Wednesday. The newest rumor is that we will get a transformer no later than Monday. I’m not sure how the power company will pull that off on election day but I’m trying to be optimistic. I know two things for certain regarding the elections, electricity, and everything thing else here in Kinshasa. First, there are always rumors. Second, there are lots of people praying here and around the world! Yesterday some of us met to pray and my friend Deborah shared Psalm 4:6-8. "Many are asking, "Who can show us any good? Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."
Thanksgiving Day we joined several other missionary families for a feast and a time of praising God. Hearing others tell stories of things God has done for them is always encouraging and exciting. Since we still have no electricity, I searched the internet and found a recipe for “no-bake pumpkin pie” that I could make on the gas stove and decided to try it. Pumpkin is not available here so I used a local squash that looks and tastes a lot like pumpkin. I made some whipped topping and added it in order to make my pie prettier. Here, whipped topping is called KlopKlop, which I think is funny – makes me think of horses walking on pavement. I used mini-chocolate chips to make a “P”, then decided someone might mistake the pumpkin pie for pecan pie, and added a “u.” The result: my pie was labeled “Pu”, as in “peeyew”. Oh well. There was none left, so I guess it wasn’t too bad, and I’ve included the recipe below. If you click on the photo it will enlarge so you can more easily read it.

I'm the only turkey here!

Thanksgiving is the beginning of the most homesick time of year for me. I miss my family and friends year-round, but this time of year I also miss traditions: turkey (I'm the only turkey here.); watching the Macy’s parade in our pajamas; alternating between cooking, eating, and football. When I was a kid, we went to Mississippi nearly every year and spent Thanksgiving with my grandparents. All the aunts, uncles and cousins would come. I still remember my grandmother’s kitchen, the smells of pine trees and food cooking, sounds of kids playing and adults talking, Aunt Mamie’s pound cake, and the little table where all the kids ate in the kitchen while the adults ate in the dining room. We looked forward to “going to Nannan’s” all year long and had wonderful times. This Thanksgiving, this side of my family is grieving. Last week my grandmother’s last living sibling passed away. She is in the hospital, and I received news on Monday that my uncle had died. I desperately wish I could be with my family in the U.S. right now. Tuesday one of my dearest friends here left Kinshasa permanently. Three weeks ago another dear friend left when her assignment here was completed. Lately, it seems like almost every day there is a new loss. Add to this the stress of having no electricity since November 16, a child in college 6,000 miles away, and the elections here. I have a heavy heart right now, but I also have many things to be thankful to my Savior for. My husband is my best friend and loves me so much it astounds me that God gave him to me. I have amazing friends here who love me and show it. There are many people all over the world who love us and pray for us. My family draws closer in times like this instead of withdrawing from one another. There may not be turkey on the table, but there is food in the pantry. I can’t watch the parade or the football game, but I can wear my pajamas if I want to and play games with the kids. My college student has a ticket to come home for Christmas. God’s Word is full of verses that assure me He loves me, that He heals and comforts broken hearts, and his grace is sufficient. I know this is a holiday time, so as we celebrate and give thanks together in heart if not in person, I’m being real in hope for two things. I hope that you’ll pray for my family (on both continents). I hope the knowledge that even when hurting, God has enabled me to see his grace in my life and celebrate his goodness and mercy might encourage someone. And I promise a cheerier post soon!

***I just learned that one of our MAF team members DID find turkey and she is bringing it to our team potluck on Thanksgiving Day! Yaay! One more blessing to be grateful for. If we had found them, we'd have bought one, we wouldn't have been able to cook it. So! I am not the only turkey in Kinshasa, at least not til after Thanksgiving.

A Tale of Two Transformers

It’s one thing to know I should be content, trusting that God is in control and has me in the palm of his hand. It’s quite another thing to live as though I believe it. Our electricity went off Wednesday evening and by Friday morning the rumors were flying that a candidate in the upcoming election had ordered that the transformer, probably because it is a new one, be moved from our neighborhood to one that contains more of his supporters. Whether that is true or not, a truck did come today and haul away our brand new transformer and there was nothing any of us could do about it. When the old transformer burnt out last spring, we were without electricity for six weeks until a new one was finally obtained. So, for the foreseeable future everyone in our neighborhood has to run generators for several hours a day in order to do the simplest things: take showers, wash dishes and clothing (forget running the dryer or the hot water heaters!), preserve food, cook meals, charge batteries. Fuel is very expensive here, and it's hot outside. With holidays coming it is tempting for me to feel sorry for myself until I remind myself that God has not withdrawn his presence from me, I just forgot for a moment to keep my gaze on Him instead of on myself and all the stuff around me. For a moment as I stood in the road watching the truck drive away, it felt as if my hope was on board alongside the transformer, "riding off into the sunset." Thankfully, in reality my hope and the real transformer in my life is Jesus and NOBODY can take Him from me. He is the Prince of Peace, and His Word is truth and a healing balm for our wounds.
My friend Marcia has an amazing testimony of God’s grace, transformation, and healing in her life. She has shared it on her blog because she is absolutely convinced that when we give God the credit due Him and share with others what He has done for us, He blesses them through it. Marcia has encouraged my family and me many, many times along our journey. I encourage you to read her brief testimony HERE and even share it with anyone whom you know would be blessed by it. While you are there, take a look around. God has given her a gift for transforming pieces of fabric into beautiful quilts and clothing. Marcia has also shared her story in more detail HERE if you are interested.

More Than The Sum...

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country of extremes, both good and bad. A few examples:
• The most thunderstorms and the most lightning in the world
• The world’s second largest rainforest, after Amazon
• One of the world’s richest nations in natural resources, including copper, diamonds, coltan, and the world’s largest producer of cobalt.
• The world’s second poorest nation according to the United Nations Human Development Report
• A river with potential to supply electricity for all of Africa, yet only 9% of the country’s citizens have access to electricity
• The only place in the world where the bonobo apes and the okapi live in the wild, yet the bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas are endangered here, partly because of bushmeat trade
• The world’s second highest infant mortality rate
• Ranked 164 out of 178 coutries by Transparency International for level of corruption
• The highest rape incidence in the world; approximately 48 every hour
The election scheduled to take place on November 28 is no exception to the Congo’s propensity for uniqueness. The 57 page ballot is perhaps the longest in world history. There are eleven presidential candidates. Depending on your source, some 18,000 to 19,000 candidates are vying for just 500 parliamentary positions. There are 32,500,000 registered voters, and, interestingly, 64,000,000 ballots have been printed. The election results are scheduled to be announced on December 6. Please pray for this wealthy-but-impoverished, beautiful-but-chaotic country during this election season. The Congo is more than just the sum of its statistics, it is a people who longs for peace, living in poverty amid untapped wealth. Pray for a peaceful election season. Pray that as they go to the polls to select their leaders, their hearts will be drawn to the King of Kings, who can give them peace that passes understanding and make them heirs with Christ.

Related articles

• Pray for the Congo (DRC) this week (wisecounsel.wordpress.com)

Beans or No Beans?

I’ve been asking myself this for some time. I originally named this blog “Cool Beans!” It was/is a favorite expression of mine. While we were attending language school in Québec, I changed the name. I was excited about learning French and wanted to make my blog reflect that. Somehow “Cool Beans!” didn’t sound so appealing after translation, so I went with “C’est vrai.” I still enjoy practicing and learning French, but I’m going back to Cool Beans partly because it’s just more “me” and partly because I am venturing out of my comfort zone a bit (ok, a lot). It has bothered me for a long time to know I have friends who have difficulty reading our newsletters and our blog, so I am going to start a blog for my francophone friends. Being the world’s biggest chicken, from the moment the idea came to me I had my doubts about whether I was really supposed to do it and whether I actually even could. What if I make a fool of myself? Nothing new there. What if someone comments in French and I don’t understand what they say or know how to respond? Again, nothing new. What if it’s so time consuming I can’t keep it up the way I’d like to. Oh, like that’s never happened with this blog or with any of my other projects? Well, since all I have to lose is face, I mean time, and at the least I will improve my French, I decided to try it. Translation is difficult and time consuming, so I probably won’t translate every article I write here and post it there, though I will translate some. It will be different. My goal is simply to make it easy for people to keep up with our family and all that we do here. I have a friend who has graciously consented to read my articles and help me correct them until I get the hang of it. You know who you are, dear friend. Thank you!
If you are interested, here is the address. I welcome comments and corrections, but please email corrections to me instead of posting them in the comments section.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

My mom used to tell me "Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it!" We often wish for things impulsively based on the circumstances and emotions of the moment at hand without thinking of the possible consequences of actually getting our wish. Ideally, as we grow out of our childhood, we also learn to be careful what we wish for and become less and less egocentric. However, I firmly believe that God loves us with an intensity we can't even imagine, enjoys giving us the desires of our hearts and blessing us, AND has a sense of humor. A few weeks ago, in my musings about our one year "Congoversary" here, I jokingly wished for medals, or at least hot fudge sundaes. Last week our team welcomed Doug and Ruth Harrison from MAF Member Care for a visit. Everyone got a chance to meet them and spend some time getting to know them, sharing about the challenges and blessings of living and ministering here, and just having fun. We had them over for supper on Thursday evening. Before they came, I received a message that they wanted to bring dessert. No problem there. Anyone can bring dessert to my house anytime they want to and I will never try to stop them. After our meal, Doug and Ruth pulled out medals AND ice cream with toppings, including a jar of hot fudge sauce they carried over from the U.S! To put that in perspective for our friends who have never been here, a half gallon of the cheapest ice cream is about $25, and I've never seen hot fudge sauce here. Add to that nuts, m&m's ($15 a bag) and whipped topping at about quadruple the normal U.S. prices, plus the hassle of locating everything since it's never all in the same store. Wow! We were so touched by their thoughtfulness and sacrifice! Doug and Ruth both spent their entire time here focused on all of our team, encouraging us and trying to really see things through our eyes. What a blessing! Next time you pray for us, thank God for sending the Harrisons our way for a little while. I just wish we could see them again....

Filling Holes

Our kids were given a 3-D puzzle of a world globe a few months ago, and they decided last week to put it together. The pieces all look very similar, so it is important to follow the instructions in order to be able to assemble it correctly. Daniel and Emily made a mistake or two, and eventually reached a point where they were “stuck”.  My husband inspected it, moved some pieces around, and after a while announced with a grin: “There, I’ve fixed Africa. I guess we can go home now.” We noticed a few pieces are missing and I commented, “our world still has some holes in it.” There is even a hole right at the western edge of the Democratic Republic of Congo, ironically. We know that all of us are born with a “hole” that only God can fill to make us complete, but this was a visual reminder of how many, even some who are Christians, still live each day trying to fill holes in their lives. Throughout the week I noticed holes everywhere. The electric company dug numerous holes up and down our road in search of the damaged spot in the cable, and didn’t bother filling them.  There is a hole across my road that a neighbor dug which makes the road completely impassable, so everyone has to drive out of their way to get to their destinations. Don’t we sometimes go to great efforts to avoid dealing with our holes? Or struggle needlessly because of them? People here like to fill potholes with trash, rocks, whatever is at hand, thinking they've "fixed it" when the reality is that it is likely to do more harm to vehicles than the original problem. We do that also, substituting inferior, temporal things for the satisfaction that we can have in Christ. The kids at the orphanage I visited had holes in their clothing. I decided to cut my own hair, so now it has holes of its own. I spent several minutes yesterday plugging holes in our bathroom walls with aluminum foil in an effort to bar the giant roaches from coming in. The physical holes I see bring to mind the spiritual and emotional holes that surround me in this city of 11 million people who spend their lives trying to fill them. Isaiah 55:2 says “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy: Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” A holey heart can only be satisfied by a Holy God. Pray that the people of Kinshasa will hear God calling their hearts to Him and find satisfaction and the Bread of Life!

Shady Business Dealings

Did you know MAF has a blog? They feature stories from missionaries on the field, news, interviews, and information about MAF. I have been privileged to have a couple of my stories printed. Learn about all the "shady business dealings" that go on in my neighborhood HERE .

Kimbondo Kids

Today we went back to the orphanage! We took two bags of clothing, one for the older girls and one for the babies. Some of the items were new and some were gently used but they were grateful for all of it. EmilyFaith, one of the MAF missionary kids here, had made dozens of friendship bracelets and we tied them on the wrists of the kids. They loved it! Went bonkers over them and kept showing them off. Unfortunately a few of them also decided to steal bracelets from the other kids. We helped the staff keep the toddlers corralled in one room so they could clean their playroom. Mostly we picked up the crying ones and comforted them, held babies, talked to them, etc. They love to be loved, and whenever I sat down they would swarm me, fitting as many as possible on my lap, standing behind me playing with my hair, and sitting beside me holding my hands. They kept shouting "mondele!", which is what the Congolese call white people in Lingala. While I was in the states for my surgery, some MAF friends gave me things to take to the orphanage (THANK YOU!!!), including diaper covers for the babies. As you can see from the photo, there is a lot of laundry! They have clotheslines everywhere and still have to hang clothes on the fence.

Chaos and a Congoversary

Last Friday some other MAF wives and I went shopping in a busy part of town. Busy is a nice word for chaotic, confusing, crowded, and slightly dangerous. One girl in our party is new here. She received a nice welcome when she was pickpocketed. Then as we were walking, I was bringing up the rear and a van hit me with its side view mirror. I wasn't injured, but I was a little shocked. People drive as though there are no laws here, and it isn't uncommon for pedestrians to get "bumped" by vehicles. I've seen it happen a number of times but it always happened to someone else. One of our friends heard what happened and even though I wasn't hurt she brought me a cake just to express solidarity and empathy. So my kids are thinking maybe I should go walking more often in order to keep the desserts coming to our house. Yeah, right.

Today is our "Congoversary!" We've been here one year, sometimes thriving and sometimes surviving. I think we deserve medals, or at least hot fudge sundaes. We have discovered some dear friends here and learned a lot about God and about ourselves. I find the Congo to be equal parts frustration and enchantment. The people are beautiful, friendly, hard working and resourceful. The flowers, birds and animals are amazing. The music is catchy and the fabrics are bright and colorful. Yet there is a lot of corruption here, both in government and the business community. I've already touched on the water and electricity issues. Even among the evangelized there is still witchcraft and superstition.  People who should be free in Christ are still in bondage, and there are many who still haven't heard the gospel at all yet.

 Getting angry doesn't do much good here. People don't really care if you are angry. It's a great lesson. Sometimes we are angry because we ought to be. Sometimes we are angry because we want vindication, maybe even retribution if we are honest. As a Christian, God is my judge now. It's not about me. I gave my rights to justice and vindication to Him when I gave Him my sin and asked Him to take it away. I need to trust Him. He sees all and knows all and He is just. When I don't see the results I think I should, it's because his plan is so much bigger than just me and my little sphere. Am I willing let my anger go and suffer a little injustice if it brings glory to God and leads to someone's salvation somewhere down the road?

Being Real in Whoville

Image via Wikipedia

In "Horton Hears A Who," the citizens of Whoville cried "We are here! We are here! We are here! We are here!" Many people have a prayer card on their refrigerator with a photo of a missionary family, their faces perpetually smiling. When I was a child, I looked up to missionaries. I put them on a pedestal. I even argued with God when He first called me to missions because I knew the bar was too high for someone like me. Having been a missionary for a little while, and after meeting dozens of others, I am absolutely certain that every missionary is a real human being. We deal with the same stuff everyone else deals with. We aren’t super. We make mistakes. We are fragile. Sometimes, when facing overwhelming circumstances, we begin to ask questions, though not out loud. Why am I here? What good am I doing? Am I really needed here? The questions sneak up on you. They wait until you have a moment of weakness and they evolve into accusations. When you find out your college-age child is injured or your parent is ill and you are stuck thousands of miles away. When you miss yet another milestone in a loved one’s life or they miss one in yours. When the culture defies your efforts to minister in Christ’s name. When you are sick or exhausted. When someone asks you “so, what’s your ministry?” after you’ve spent four hours just to prepare a meal that would have taken 45 minutes back home. When the questions come, they bring discouragement, doubt, and anxiety – none of which are friends of mine, though we are acquainted. Once while I was praying about this, the Holy Spirit reminded me of 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” and Philippians 4: 6-8 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” So I strive to fill my mind with God’s Word and to continuously thank and praise Him. It works, because God’s Word is true, but it’s not just a one-time deal since our enemy never sleeps. He prowls. We have to guard our minds constantly. Please pray for missionaries. We need it.

Back in Kinshasa

I'm back! The boys and I had a bit of an adventure getting from Kinshasa to the U.S., with delayed flights, missed connections, getting put on standby flights and booted off several times, lost luggage and stolen/damaged items. We finally arrived in St. Louis twelve hours late and totally exhausted after 41 hours of travel. My sister picked us up and took us home to hot showers and clean beds. My surgery went well. He removed bone spurs from both feet and bursas from the left foot. I still have the bunionette "deformity" but that is purely cosmetic and not painful now that the spurs are gone. I would however, not recommend surgery on both feet at once for anyone who has time to space it out and do one at a time. We got Josh settled in his dorm and he is enjoying college life. Knowing that Josh has lots of nearby relatives who are there for him is a great comfort to David and me. My mom and my friends took amazing care of me after my surgery! I am very grateful for all the prayers that were spoken for our travels, my surgery, Josh's adjustment, and for David and Emily while they were left behind here. Emily has started eleventh grade at The American School of Kinshasa this year. This is the first year she has not been home schooled! She and I both were ready for her to branch out and become more independent and have someone else for a teacher. She loves it and is doing well. Daniel is still home schooling and enjoying the fact that I have more time for him. It's been twelve years or more since I have home schooled only one child! It feels strange. It is good to be home again!

Projects

I finished it! And he likes it! This quilt took WAY too long and it's my fault. But it has a history that Josh appreciates. It began as a block of the month project at Hancock's in Tulsa in 2005. I started it for Josh because the theme is Lewis & Clark and in our home school, that was one of his favorite topics of study. I didn't even get to finish all twelve months in the club because we moved halfway through the year, so a friend had to mail each month's block kit and instructions to me. Since I began it, we have moved to Florida, Missouri, Canada, back to Missouri, Idaho, and Africa; went back to school, became missionaries with MAF, raised ministry support, driven all over the U.S., "learned French", and adjusted to new cultures. Emily owns the very first quilt I made. Daniel gets the next one. I told him he could choose the pattern and colors but I'm tired of appliqué!
Josh also finished a project this week. He built a fort for Daniel. He cut the bamboo himself with a machete. Our guard Jacques showed Josh how to split the bamboo with the machete and helped with the digging. He (Jacques) told me that in his village people place sticks in the ground like Josh's bamboo, then pack the walls with mud to build their homes, or they make their own bricks out of mud. The roofs are thatched, whereas Josh recycled a piece of plywood from the crate David built for our shipment over here.

Birthdays, Babies and Bubbles

This week has been busy. A few days ago a friend invited us to spend the day with her. We went to the "thieves market", to the old downtown cemetery, and to a place called "tin tin" by the riverfront. I hope to get some photos later of our outing. Yesterday was Joshua's 18th birthday. I will be taking Josh back to the U.S. for college soon. We are leaving early so that I can also take care of my feet. I've had bunionettes, or tailors bunions, on the pinky sides of my feet for over 15 years. In fact I can't really remember NOT having them. They never bothered me until we moved to the Congo. Here I am on my feet a lot. The floors are all cement or ceramic tile. There are few sidewalks so we walk on rocky, uneven dirt roads. My feet started hurting a few months after we got here, and have gotten steadily worse. I'm not sure why someone decided to name them "bunionettes". That name sounds way too cute, and having painful swollen feet is not cute. Daniel will have his birthday while we are gone, so he and Josh decided they wanted to have a joint birthday party while the whole family was still together. Yesterday was also our three year anniversary with Mission Aviation Fellowship. MAF has their own blog and they just honored me by posting something that I wrote. If you haven't checked out the MAF blog, you really should. You can see my post here. We also went to the orphanage again today. I bought some bubbles from a departing missionary and we took them with us today. The little kids loved it. We will have to make some more for the next trip. I finally remembered how to link to other sites, so here are links to our photos from the orphanage and a short video, about a minute, of the kids with the bubbles.

Kimbondo Orphanage

A few weeks ago a missionary friend here invited us to visit Kimbondo Hospital/Orphanage with her. We went on a Friday and by Monday I was pretty sick, so we didn't get to go back again until last week. There are hundreds of children there, many with serious health issues or disabilities. As soon as we approached the building that houses the babies and preschoolers, they came running with their arms up, begging to be held. It's impossible to hold them all, but we sure tried. The kids were almost all barefoot, most of the babies were laying in wet bedding, flies were everywhere. The older girls wanted to talk, to braid my hair, to hold my hand. They imitated us. If we held babies, so would they. The little ones all wanted to be on our laps at once, and they would fight about it. This place has more need than I could ever hope to meet, but for a little while we played with kids and watched them smile, heard them laugh, sang to babies, tickled toddlers, and maybe brightened their day a little. I have a couple of photos here, but there are lots more on my facebook page. I've tried multiple times to insert a link here to my photos but I can't figure out how to make it work. I do have a link on this page to my facebook though.

Emily's birthday

Tuesday was Emily's 16th birthday! She and her friend Lydia realized some time ago that since they both have summer birthdays,nearly all of their friends would be on furlough or vacation, so they had a joint birthday party two months ago! It is pretty quiet here with nearly all of the MAF families with teenagers on furlough. We had a calm, but special evening with just the family and Sam, a friend of both Josh and Emily. Emily requested "lasagna with no tomato chunks or onions" for her birthday dinner, which to me is not lasagna at all, but it was her dinner so she got what she wanted. I can hardly wait to enjoy one of her gifts with her - Fiddler on the Roof in dvd. The guys don't like it, so we'll have to plan a girl's night.

Graduation

Josh graduated from high school a few weeks ago and I thought I had already posted photos of it. Oops. Here are a few of my favorites. The ceremony was very nice, including a special by the high school choir. There were bittersweet moments. TASOK is a school of students from many countries and cultures, and the seniors are spreading out all across the world instead of across the country. Josh has had to say a lot of goodbyes. The next few posts will be short ones because now that we have electricity part of each day again, I am working feverishly on a quilt for Josh that I began back in the dark ages - 2005. It has spent more time in storage than it has on my sewing table, but I hope to be able to send it back to the U.S. with him when he goes.

Prom night

Saturday was prom night for the American School of Kinshasa here. Last year Josh experienced his first prom (two proms actually). This year Emily was asked to prom, so even though she is still home schooling until next fall, she got to attend. Emily told her dad that she wanted her very first dance to be with her daddy, so she got ready early and they shared a dance before she left for the evening. I was glad to be on the other side of the camera because I started crying, watching my daughter dance with David. Josh is a senior this year, so this prom was special for him also. I don't have any photos of them with their dates because my camera batteries died and I had to stop taking photos. But here are some I managed to capture. I had very mixed feelings that night. They were so grown-up and good-looking, inside and out, so I was proud. But I was also sad. This came all too quickly for me.
As for the rest of our week: we've now gone two weeks without electricity, long enough to make it a real drag and not just a nuisance. The electric company still has not even begun repairs. The burnt transformer is still in place. Up the hill from us, they ALWAYS have power, and we've been told that it's because the president's mother or some-such person lives there. The electric company claims there are no new transformers to be found, but if you drive by their headquarters, you can see a bunch of them through the gates, just sitting there. That's the aggravating part - knowing that something could have been done, but wasn't because of politics and money. If we were willing to pay bribes, we could have power. On the upside, I've really enjoyed getting acquainted with our newest MAF family - the Abbotts. Jennifer is a lot of fun and I admire the way she and Luke jumped in "with both feet". They have teens, so Emily is very happy to have a few friends who aren't going on furlough this summer, since almost all of our other friends are. One of my friends is leaving today. The real exodus begins after the last day of school.

Fish Tales

Two months ago, a friend and I went shopping and out to lunch to celebrate my birthday and I found this fabric at a really good price. I needed a new shower curtain and thought this would be a fun design, so I bought several yards. With our power issues being what they are (we've had zero electricity now for eight days, it took me all this time to finish when it would have been a one-day project in the U.S. But! I did finally finish it! I would have finished a little bit sooner, but I made a mistake and had to correct it. I was staying up late to sew because for a while we were only getting power from midnight to 6 or 7am. I thought I was nearly finished with my shower curtain when I took a closer look at it and realized something was not right. My fabric was 42 inches wide, so I had sewn a second panel to the bottom of the first panel in order to make the curtain long enough. I must have been a little too tired when I sewed them together, because I had sewn the bottom panel on upside down. All the fish were "belly-up." So, today while the generator was on, I stole some time for sewing and finished my curtain.

Last week Joshua travelled to Morocco with his school swim team for a meet. He came back with a medal, some new friends, souvenirs and photos, and nearly $60 in Moroccan currency. Not sure if we'll ever find a place to exchange that. He had a marvelous time and we are very grateful that he was able to go. It was a real answer to prayer because the cost was way out of our budget. The team had several fundraisers and worked very hard together. I have to brag on them because Josh was the new kid and from the very beginning the entire team has been behind him, helping him improve his swimming skills and encouraging him. They truly function as a team and I am proud of all of them. Here's a photo of them. Josh is "front row, center." Check out the TASOK pants! They were a real hit at the meet.