Our Sentinels

Jacques with our boys

As a security measure, we have two sentinels who alternate 24 hour shifts. Jacques and Leopold have been with us since we arrived here two years ago and I affectionately refer to them as "my guys." In addition to keeping watch over the house, sentinels also answer the gate, run errands to purchase items or pay bills for us, do the yard work, help David work on the house and car, do cleaning, etc. They are a lot of help to me and I sure don't take them for granted. In this culture, the job of sentinel is a low paying, low status job because it does not require an education or special skills. Unfortunately, many people treat their sentinels badly. In our culture, if your boss screamed in your face or berated you in front of others, you would not stand for it. You’d go over his/her head and demand justice, or you would find another job. Here, jobs are scarce and there are few options. MAF families and other missionary families tend to pay above the average for our sentinels, and we have a reputation for being desirable employers. 

Jaques and Josh in front of the old house

Jacques is originally from the village of Semendua. I asked him once how far Semendua is from Kinshasa and he said not long at all by MAF plane but several days by boat. He is married and has five children ranging from 18 years of age to 1 ½ years. His youngest was born several months after our arrival and is named David, after my husband. Depending on the village you hail from, naming your child after someone can signify one of two things: either you are supposed to give a gift to that person and ask them to pray a blessing over your baby, or you expect that person to be a type of “godparent,” a life long benefactor for your child. It is also common practice to name a baby after someone or something significant in your life at the time of your baby’s birth. 

Leopold with two of his sons, Eric and Christian.

Leopold is from Kinshasa. He is also married and has five children, all of them boys. The youngest was born about six weeks after we first arrived here, and is also named David. Leopold is a unique sentinel because he has a trade. He is a mason and does concrete work, lays tiles, etc. Leopold took a sentinel job because he was not finding enough work as a mason to support his family and still does mason work on the side, including some jobs for MAF. He made the foundation for our water reservoir, repaired the wall for one family when a tree fell on it, and built our IT building.  

This week, Leopold’s wife fell from a porch and broke both bones in her forearm. Leopold took her to a hospital and was told that the doctors would not examine her until he paid $150 cash up front. To put that in perspective, many people don’t earn that much in a month or even two months, a pound of ground beef here costs over $5, and the average family here does not have a checking or savings account because they live payday to payday. Leopold moved her to another hospital that only demanded $70 and then came to us for help. He came by again the next night and showed us the x-rays. The doctors had only just seen them, because the power was out the day before at the hospital. So it was over 24 hours before x-rays were even available for her, and 48 hours before she finally had her arm set and in a cast. All Leopold could do during that waiting period was pay for an IV drip with pain medication. She is home and doing better now, but please keep Suzanne in your prayers as she recuperates and tries to work and care for her family.