Thank yous

I have a friend here who is about to leave for a vacation in the U.S. That means I have an opportunity to send mail back, so I have been busy writing letters. Serving as a missionary with MAF means we raise our own ministry support. We literally could not be here without the help of our partners who pray for us and give financially. A lot of the letters I write are thank you notes. 

When I was a kid and someone gave me a gift, my mom would make me write a thank you note and I would whine about it. It was a chore. Now when I look over at a stack of thank you letters that I have written, each one represents a relationship. Whether it be an individual, a business, a church or a family - all of them have invested in us not just financially but also in friendship. We are a team working together to advance God's kingdom. 

I took that photo of the church above a few years ago when we had the opportunity to visit the village of Nkara. This photo is one I took a couple weeks ago of the church in Kikongo village. They represent people in Congo who are part of the Body of Christ. 

There are more churches that have been planted and established here. There are also hospitals, seminaries, schools, ministries to lepers, and other evangelistic missions - even a Christian radio station! We are deeply grateful to be part of MAF and to be a tiny part of all that. 

I get really excited when I consider that one day, believers in Congo and believers who helped send all the Christian workers, including me, to Congo will meet one another in heaven and adore Christ together! 

I always used to think as a kid that we wrote thank you notes to show that we are grateful. As I grew up I learned that expressing thanks actually makes you more grateful. In fact I am not certain that sending a thank you isn't equally as beneficial for the sender as it is for the recipient, if not more so.

Writing thank you notes is a privilege! Each one is a reminder of God's power and provision, of a common vision He has given to us to see others come to know Him, and the incredible gift of a relationship rooted in the love of Christ. 

How cool beans is that?!?

Thank you for reading my blog, for praying, for giving and sending! 

A Fun Change in Routine

My normal Saturday routine includes working on the blog in the mornings and playing softball in the afternoons. These last few weeks, we have not had enough players in town to continue softball, so in order to stay active we've had to break that routine a bit and take walks or go swimming. Yesterday I changed up the morning blog post and afternoon softball game routine to do something different and play a different game. I've written in previous posts about our missionary friends Jim and Nancy Smith. They raised their children here in the Congo. For the past few weeks, their son in law, Rob, has been here helping them in their ministry in Nkara. This was Rob's first trip to Congo. Friday evening he returned to Kinshasa so he could fly back to the states today. So yesterday morning Daniel, Pepe, and I took Rob to the artisans' marketplace. In the photo above Pepe, my driver, is on the far right. Between Rob and me is an artist/vendor holding one of his paintings. When ever we go there to shop, this gentleman gives us good prices on his paintings and walks about with us telling the other vendors to give us good prices so that we will keep coming back and bringing our friends. Generally it works, but shopping in the market is also a game. They always start with a ridiculously high price. We always counter with a lower price than we hope to get away with. We all end up meeting somewhere in the middle and everyone is happy. It's how you play the game. Even if it is 99 degrees outside, and you are hungry and tired, and you and the vendor both know exactly what you paid for the same item the last time you shopped, and you really just want to skip to the end, you can't. You can win the game, lose the game, or even quit the game, but you can't skip the game. 

Daniel and Pepe at TASOK campus, Shawn's school

We also visited some of the old stomping grounds of Rob's wife, Shawn. He was able to see places she lived, studied and worshiped and take photos to show Shawn what has changed and what has not. I'm sure when he gets home with his photos and shares his experiences there will be some nostalgic moments for Shawn. I remember what it is like to be in a strange country trying to travel and shop when no one speaks my language, so I was glad to be able to help Rob. I had a lot of fun seeing Kinshasa through fresh eyes again and explaining things for him. I also remember the first time David took me to see the places he spent his childhood and how that felt, to have that added connection and to actually see the things he had described to me. Very cool beans.

Picture This 2

My friend and co-laborer in Christ, Nancy Smith has returned to Congo for a time. In addition to attending to their ministries here, teaching in the women's literacy center and the Bible school, seeing to repairs of their radio tower, evangelism, etc, Nancy found time to spend an afternoon with me. It is always a blessing to get time with a friend whom you don't see often. I am extra blessed this time because she and I have a little project we are working on now. I have a bunch of baby soft yarn for knitting and crocheting baby blankets. I never could figure out how to knit or crochet on my own (instructions are always right handed, ugh) and couldn't find anyone with time to teach me. The women in Nkara at the women's literacy center are trained to do both so that they can make things to help support their families. Nancy is going to leave Tuesday for Nkara - in an MAF plane that my amazing husband does maintenance on! She will take my yarn with her and have the ladies in the school make baby blankets for me to donate to the orphanage when Nancy brings them back with her. I will pay them a fair price for their labor and they will have contributed to an important ministry here in Kinshasa. I am very excited to finally see this desire coming to fruition. They should have the blankets in time for the cooler dry season. Don't look too closely at that photo. We both had been in my hot car with no a/c for a while and were both pretty tired.

We had a stressful January, lots going on back home and here, and I thought a light-hearted post of some random photos would do us all good. Here are some of our most recent odd photos.

In the "Things we eat in Congo" category:

Plop - These are actually cookies and aren't too bad if you like store bought cookies.

We also occasionally eat Smoked Russians. Wonder if the Russians eat Smoked Americans?

In the "Oxymoron" category: This made me laugh. It's a bug spray called SafeTox. Seems to me it is either safe, or it is toxic. I am not sure how it can be both.

In the "What is that and why did they put it here?" category:

Gripe Water. Shelved between the yeast and the pudding mixes in the baking section. If you don't have enough to gripe about, try some gripe water.

In the "TIA: This is Africa" category:

If you go shopping in Nairobi, Kenya, be sure to drop your toddlers and preschoolers off at the Kids Corner so they can play with all the nice breakables and power cords while you shop.

Lastly, in the "Things A Mom Just Doesn't Want to Know" category, along with why I found a straw in the litter box: What makes a child want to take a photo of himself doing this?

A God-given Connection

"Women in this country are so downtrodden. I wanted to leave them with something meaningful, but what would encourage these lovely women who face so much difficulty on a daily basis and still readily smile and laugh with me?"


Remember in my post about the school for women in Nkara (Destination Nkara: part 4) that I said I would post more later? The rest of the story is now up on the MAF BLOG. I don't know if God used me to encourage them or not, but He certainly used them to encourage me! Please check it out and read about these precious ladies that stole my heart!

Destination: Nkara, part 4

This is the fourth part of a series.  For the whole story, see PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3.  

Originally our plan for Monday was to spend the morning at "Ecole des Femmes," the school for women, and in the evening we would go with the Smiths to a village to do door to door evangelism. We had to change our plans because of Emily's school obligations, so our return flight was rescheduled for Monday. I was terribly disappointed at first, because I had been longing to learn more about the literacy center and the work that Nancy Smith is doing with the women since I first learned of it a year ago and I thought that we would not be able to go to the "school," but Nancy knew I wanted to go and she arranged for it to happen!  We would have to leave early and wouldn't get to visit for an entire school day, but we would get to go and meet the women and learn more about the ministry. I wish we could have gone on the evangelism trip, but I am very grateful that we still got to visit the school.  

After greeting the chief of the village we joined the ladies, who were already waiting for us. They began by singing a song of welcome to us. They invited Nancy and me to share a message with them. (More about that in my next post on the MAF blog!)

The school is about much more than teaching women how to read. It is not completely free. They pay a small amount by bringing manioc, which is then used to feed the students in the Bible school. In this way they are investing in their own lives as well as in the lives of others. They study the Bible and if they don't have one, they can buy one from the school with manioc. The instructor asked them review questions over what they've been studying so they could show me what they've learned. Even though most of them don't own their own Bibles and can't yet read and write proficiently, their knowledge of the Bible and their desire to learn more would put to shame many a Western Christian who has an education along with numerous Bibles and resources.

Alongside of Bible study they also learn about having a Christian home and marriage. This has had a profound effect on the families in the area. Women have told the Smiths that their marriage is happier and that their children no longer run and hide when their father comes home.  

They study basic math and how to count money so they are less likely to be cheated at the market.

They learn to cook new foods and proudly told me that they can make donut holes! 

They learn to sew, knit, and crochet. (The sewing machines are hand cranked, not electric.) This way they can make clothing for their families. They can knit baby layettes and sew things to sell to help support their families. The school is in the village, but the sewing machines are in a building nearly 8 miles away and can't be moved because the road is so bad it would tear up the machines. On sewing days, the women walk to where the machines are. Once they graduate from the school, they are still allowed to use the machines on Fridays so they can continue improving their skills and helping their families. 

From start to finish, schooling lasts for three years! 

This program reaches women for Christ, but it also gives them increased dignity and self-esteem by teaching them new skills they can be proud of and use to support themselves. It completely changes their lives in many ways. It brings God's Word and influence into the homes. The men in the villages are asking for a school for men because now they want to learn to read and write and how to be spiritual leaders in their homes! When Jim Smith's father came to this country, it was still under Belgian rule. The Belgians were ravaging the women of this village and others in the area without any consequences. When the village chief tried to defend the women he was put into prison. The people were sacrificing their babies and practicing cannibalism to "the spirits" in a vain attempt to atone for their sins. Desperate men from the village walked over 70 miles to the village where Laban Smith was ministering. They had heard that he was teaching people about a God who can forgive sins without the sacrifice of children, and they begged him to come and tell their village about his God.  What a radical difference it has made!

 All too soon, it was time to leave. David Francis flew us home in the Caravan, "Mike Oscar." We stopped in Vanga on the way and picked up Dr. Friedhelm, a missionary who works in the Vanga hospital.  

MAF encourages us to visit the interior and calls these excursions "vision trips." Being at home nearly 24/7, or in the hangar all day every day with your nose in an airplane, we usually don't see or hear how God is using MAF to make a difference here in DRC. We don't know what life is like for those who live outside of the city if we've never been outside of the city ourselves. There are missionaries, hospitals, schools and mission stations that rely on MAF and could not continue to exist here without the airplanes.  Knowing that, and SEEING it are two entirely different things, I've learned. Trips like this help us keep or renew our vision and passion for God's work here. I hope my posts have shown you the beautiful people, the dedication of God's laborers, and the amazing things God has done/is doing here. More than that, I hope you have a vision and that God will enable you to passionately pursue it.

Destination Nkara: part 3

This is part 3 of a series.  For the rest of the story, see Part 1 and Part 2.

Sunday morning we went to church in the village.  People were already singing when we arrived.  We were escorted to the front and seated facing the congregation.  That is the place of honor, and they were very happy to have Jim and Nancy in their presence again after several months in the U.S.

Nancy and Jim explained a lot to us about the culture and the way the people worship.  There are music groups, sort of like small choirs.  The day we went, there was a men’s group, a women’s group, and a young girls’ group. Each group is limited to two songs, but the processional song and the recessional song do not count, so really you can get away with singing four songs.  On the way to the front of the church (and back again), a music group will proceed slowly, regardless of how fast the beat of the song is, and they sing all the way to the front.  They told the Smiths that if a king or a very important chief came to visit, they would not dream of just walking up to him.  They would approach him with singing, dancing, and rejoicing and do their best to make him feel truly welcome in their midst.  I tried to let that really sink in and thought a lot about the way we worship in our churches.  Not that our worship style is wrong, but maybe we don’t always do our best to make God feel truly welcome in our midst.  He rejoices over us with singing, but how often do we approach Him in the same way?  

Of course the music style was also different.  The music groups stood in a circle, so some of them had their backs to the congregation.  At first we thought this was odd, but then we thought about Who are they really singing to?  Not to the congregation! All of the songs were sung from memory, which makes sense in a place where few can read or afford a song book.  There were men playing the drum (very cool!).  Some beat sticks together.  Some beat car parts together.  Some had shakers made out of carved wooden handles nailed to tin cans with seeds inside. Here is a wee sample.  It's less than a minute and I had to save it as "low-bandwidth quality" in order to upload it, but I wanted you to get to hear a little bit.  This is the group with the younger girls.

Another way the service was different for us was the way the offering was taken.  Baskets were placed at the altar and music played while people came forward to give their offering.  The men and boys sit on one side of the church and the women and girls sit on the other so there was a basket for each side.  People who did not have money brought manioc or corn.  What would happen if someone in our church placed something they had grown or made in the offering plate in lieu of money?  At this church, people sang. Giving to God was a blessing and a privilege!

The pastor introduced Jim and Nancy to the church as “our spiritual father and mother.” He invited them to share anything they wanted to with the church so each spoke for a couple of minutes.  Then our family was introduced and David and I were invited to share our testimonies.  Since we don’t speak their local language, and many in the congregation did not know French, we used an interpreter.

After church, Jim and Daniel played Frisbee with the children.  Everyone gathered around and if someone dropped it or made a bad throw, the crowd gave a collective “OH!”

Sunday afternoon we drove to the radio station to take a look around.  This is a Christian radio station out in the middle of nowhere, and people have really responded to it.  Scripture is read morning and evening, and whole groups in the villages gather round a radio to listen for their devotions.  This is a huge blessing since so many cannot read and do not own Bibles. A critical problem is that the station went off the air a few weeks ago and no one can figure out why.  It will cost a very large sum to get technicians out to look at it.  The Smith’s have had many people tell them that they miss the radio, that it is like someone died.  It’s their lifeline to hearing the gospel, getting the news, and not being isolated from the rest of the world.  We stopped and had a time of prayer for the station before returning to the house.

To be continued...   Part 4

Destination: Nkara, part 2

fence between the Smith home and the road

This is part two in a series.  For part one, see Destination: Nkara, part 1.

When we arrived on Friday and saw the lake, Daniel asked if he could go fishing.  None of us had a pole, but Avi, one of the Smith's employees, said he would see what he could do.  On Saturday, Avi presented Daniel with a fishing pole that his son had made for him.  It was literally a stick with about six feet of line tied to it and a tiny little hook.  For bait, there were several options.  At first we went out to the taller grass and caught grasshoppers for Daniel to use.  Later, Avi gave Daniel some sort of wormy critters he dug out of a dead tree.  These were gross.

Daniel fished most of the day, and finally caught a little fish just before supper.  Avi was almost as excited as Daniel was and promised to bring a larger hook on Sunday so that Daniel could catch bigger fish.

Avi has quite a story.  During the upheaval and violence after Indepence in the 1960's, Avi, like many others, hid in the forest.  He estimates he entered the forest when he was about 7 years old and spent five years in hiding.  When it was safe to come out, the UN dropped clothing from airplanes so that all the people hiding in the forests could come out.  Avi had not had a hair cut, or even a mirror and comb, in five years and had grown quite a bit, so when he came out of the forest his own mother did not recognize him and said he was not her son.

Nancy Smith, Emily, and I decided to spend our Saturday morning in the villages nearby because it was "market day." This was my first visit to a village and I noticed many differences between the villages and the city of Kinshasa.  The first one I noticed was the lack of garbage.  In Kinshasa, it is literally everywhere, strewn about the streets and sidewalks.

As you can see in this photo, the housing is also different.  Homes are constructed out of sticks, reinforced with mud, and have grass roofs.  The white stuff on the roof of this house is manioc that is being dried before it can be ground into flour.

Manioc is a staple food here.  Here it is being weighed before it goes to market.

Nancy Smith with a village chief.  The "balls" on his hat indicate that he is a chief of more than one village or group.

This is how you shop for clothing in the interior!  Certain thrift store chains in the U.S. send their surplus to African countries.  They are supposed to be free, but obviously aren't.  I could probably write a whole other article about the good and bad impacts that donated clothing has had on the economy and social structure here.

Jim found an inner tube for the kids.  We all swam in the lake during the afternoon.  These are all the photos I was able to take before a group of about a dozen naked boys from the village came to swim on the other side and I had to put my camera away, or rather chose to.  They were friendly, but completely at ease with walking about in the buff, so we were grateful that they stayed on the other side of the water.

At one point on Saturday, a fitting broke in the plumbing, causing the upstairs bathroom to flood and water went into one of the bedrooms and down the stairs.  The fitting was a new one, and had been done incorrectly.  David discovered several other newly installed fittings and sure enough, by the time we left on Monday, he and Jim had repaired nearly all of them, one at a time, as they took turns rupturing.

We ended our daylight hours with a walk up to the runway. This is actually a pretty good stretch of the road. The Smiths told me that to get to Vanga, which is roughly 75 kilometers, it is a 9 hour drive - longer if the river ferry isn't working. The road is so bad that no one can drive more than 10 miles per hour, even slower in some spots. We flew right over Vanga on our way to Nkara and it was less than 20 minutes from one to the other. That's why people like the Smiths need the services MAF provides.

To be continued...   Part 3

Destination: Nkara, part 1

We set off on Friday to visit our dear friends Jim and Nancy Smith. The Smiths have served in the Nkara area of the Bandundu province for many years and still spend a good part of each year here in the Congo.  When they are here, they live in the home that Jim's father built, and oversee a Bible school and a literacy center for women.  They also work in evangelism and operate a Christian radio station.

Friday was a day of firsts for us. For the first time since arriving here in October 2010, our family was leaving Kinshasa together.  A sad first for me was realizing that this was our first big family event without Josh there to enjoy it with us.  Emily, Daniel, and I were taking our first ride in an MAF plane. We got to experience what it is like for an MAF passenger to go through the airport - including getting weighed.  You can't lie about your weight because the scale is right there in the office!  An overweight plane is a huge safety risk. So we all had our first public weigh-in. (insert smiley emoticon here)

Before we even got on the plane, I was blessed to get to meet Miriam Noyes.  Miriam and her husband Ed are missionaries who live and work a few miles outside of Vanga.  Miriam was taking the MAF plane home, so while we waited we got to talk and get to know each other a little bit.

Here are a few photos from day one of our trip.

The Cessna 206 we flew out in, "Mike Romeo." After hearing David talk about repairs and inspections he has done on each of the planes, it was pretty cool to get to ride in one, even for a person who is not fond of flying in small planes.

I wasn't the only one who was excited to be on our way to Nkara!

The trees grow where the water collects, in the low places.  Being a quilter, this view made me think of stippling, as if the land were a giant quilt.

This house was built by Jim's dad. Jim met us at the runway and drove us to the house, where a big breakfast was waiting for us.  Nkara is a MYOE place (make your own electricity).  The Smith's have a generator for their well, another for the house, and a battery powered water pump so that they can have water inside the house even when the generator is not on.  They run the generator for a few hours each evening to charge batteries and have lights.  The refrigerator and stove run on propane, and they have a ringer washer.  Nancy Smith told us that she thinks it is easier in some ways to live in the interior because the electricity in Kinshasa is so random and at her house it is very predictable since there is none except for the generator.

After breakfast we looked around a bit and spent some time just relaxing and visiting with the Smiths.  In the evenings while the generator was on, we watched a video.  It is not as hot in Nkara as it is in Kinshasa so we slept pretty comfortably even without power, but we had battery powered fans if we needed them.

To be continued....

part 2

part 3

part 4