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....