Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

But I managed to do it to my favorite RevereWare sauce pan. We were cooking and heard a popping noise. When we lifted the pot, the bottom had come off. I got my set of RevereWare pots for a wedding gift, twenty-three years ago this month, and have dragged them with me everywhere. I had sort of taken for granted that they would last til I died. I did not even know these pots were two pieces instead of one. Oh, well. Now it fits in better with this family of cracked pots.

Thursday was my last evening with the ladies Bible study group from Nsango Na Bomoi, Christine's church. I will miss these faithful women and look forward to seeing them again in January.

We had to order them to smile for the camera! The Congolese usually sport serious faces when they have their photos taken.

Everyone likes a good story!

Thursday, I was invited to share my testimony with the ladies from Nsango na Bomoi, the church that is pastored by our missionary friends Dan and Christine. I have been a little spoiled because each time I have shared my testimony here I have been allowed to do it in English with someone to interpret for me. This time, I was asked to share in French! Yikes! 

I only had a few hours' notice and still had to do school with Daniel so I sort of cheated. I knew I had forgotten a lot of grammar. I also was aware of the fact that when I am nervous, it is even more challenging for me to think in French. I had written my testimony in French during language school so I pulled that out and edited it a bit. Hooray for saving language school homework! 

French is the official language here, but even among the nationals not everyone speaks French. Many have not had enough schooling to be proficient in French. There was a woman in this group who only spoke Lingala so our time together involved a mix of English, French, and Lingala. I gave my testimony in French and Mama Louise interpreted it into Lingala. If she had a question about something I said, she asked Christine, who then asked me in English so that I could rephrase my original sentence back into French. 

Sharing my story with the ladies was a blessing for me not just because I got a review of some vocabulary I had forgotten, but also because it gave me a way to connect with them. As my story progressed, I could see the ladies smiling and nodding. We are very different in culture and background, but all of us had a testimony. Each of us had a story to tell about how we were burdened and empty before Christ had changed our lives. 

Stories are very popular here, so we also talked about the fact that nearly everyone likes a good story and that if a person is able to share the story of what God has done in their life, they have a very powerful tool for sharing the gospel. Then the ladies shared their testimonies, first in Lingala and then Mama Louise translated into French for my sake. Having heard these ladies' stories made me feel like I was getting to know them on a deeper level. They shared of painful experiences, of growing up in churches that did not teach the gospel so they spent years following rituals without having a true relationship with Jesus. 

Cool Lingala Beans!

Lord's Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I've mentioned in the past that my friend Christine's husband pastors a Congolese church here, and that she leads a Bible study for the women twice a month in her home. She invited me to be part of that long ago and I really enjoy being able to help in whatever way I can, even if it's just serving snacks and answering the door. Most of the women know French but a few do not speak it well. The dominant language is Lingala, so much of the time I sit listening but not comprehending. I have a special place in my heart for the women of this country and I often wish I knew Lingala so I could better communicate with them.

Now I am getting an opportunity to help Christine more, be involved with many of the same women that come to her Bible study group, AND learn Lingala! Some of the women wanted to learn English so Christine is teaching them and invited me to come. I can help them with pronunciation and since I speak French, I can also help the ladies by explaining to them what some of their strange new English words mean in French or by giving them the English word when they give me a French word. They in turn teach me the Lingala words and correct my pronunciation.

Lingala (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Over ten million people speak Lingala as either their primary or secondary language. Lingala is spoken in Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congo Republic, Angola, and Central African Republic.





I don't know how long it will take me to learn Lingala on a proficient level, nor where it might take me in the future or how God might use it. I do know I am excited about this opportunity to learn the language and to build relationships with these women and help them reach their goal to learn English.

Nsango Na Bomoi, part 3

This post is the final part of a three part story.  For the whole story, see Nsango Na Bomoi, part 1 and Nsango Na Bomoi, part 2. 

After church, we decided to visit one of the members, Mosengo.  Mosengo and his wife had a baby a few weeks ago -- a perfect excuse for a visit in any culture.  He lives very close to the church, which was nice, because we couldn't have driven to his home.  

First we had to cross the creek behind the church.  This is accomplished by walking across on a two by four that is supported in the center by a large rock.  This is a classic example of the service driven economy here.  People needed to cross the creek, so a man bought a board and made a "bridge." Now people pay him to let them cross the creek on his bridge.  He lets people cross for free to go to church, though.

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

I mentioned in part 1 of this story that this neighborhood has not had city water in over a month. Because of that, people take water from this creek, which is not healthy.  If you click on this photo and enlarge it you can see the trash that is literally everywhere.  Also the creek is downhill from sewage and a cemetery.  Some well-meaning visitors from America came once and saw all the trash all over and decided that people just needed trash cans.  So they provided some, but there was no service in the city to remove garbage. When the cans filled up, people just dumped them on the ground nearby and started filling them again.  

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

After we crossed the creek, we had to walk down this road.  This is one of the nicer, wider sections.  There were rocks, puddles, chickens and pigs to watch out for.  Usually when you see one of these umbrellas, the person attending it is selling some kind of food or supplies.

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

This yard is about the size of my living room and is shared by Mosengo's family and two others.  This is where all the kids play, where the families work, cook and eat, and where they hang laundry.  I wish I had taken a photo of the front of the "house" for you but my camera batteries were dying.

Each building has three front doors.  Each door represents one apartment and consists of two rooms, each about the size of a large bathroom in the U.S.  There are few windows, if any, for light or ventilation.  They are wired for electricity but seldom have any.  There is no indoor plumbing.  The families share a community outhouse.  This is pretty typical of the housing for most of Kinshasa's families.  Mosengo was overjoyed that we paid a visit and told us so repeatedly. In Congo one in every ten babies does not live to its fifth birthday and this family has already lost two infants.

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

Now for the creepy part of my post.  To get to Nsango Na Bomoi church, we had to navigate a crazy road that borders a very old, very large, and very overcrowded cemetery.  Years of rainy seasons have taken their toll on the road and the land around it, causing a lot of erosion.  On the way in to the church we were discussing all  this and Christine said she was surprised that no bones had ever washed out with the rains.  On the way out, we spotted a bone!  Christine took this photo from the car window!  Now we wonder how long it will be before bones are found laying in the road after each storm.









Last but not least, I have a little treat for you.  It took several hours but I managed to upload a video of one of the songs from the church service so you can hear a little bit of Lingala and see a little bit of what it was like.  I had to cut the song so it's just a portion but it's about putting on the full armor of God.  Here are the lyrics and the translation too so you can even learn the song for yourself!

Pesa satana millimetre, (Give Satan a millimeter,)

akojua kilometre (he will get a kilometer.) 2x

Keba! (Watch out!)

Senjela! (Be vigilant!)

Bondela! (Pray!)

Lata (Put on...)

bilato na bitumba ya satana. (the armor of war against Satan.)

Yango nde Ephesiens 6. (This is Ephesians 6.)

The end.

Nsango Na Bomoi, part 2

If you are new to this blog you can find Nsango Na Bomoi, part 1 HERE.

We rode to church with the Grings family and arrived early so Dan could set up tarps and sound/video equipment in order to show photos from his recent trip.  He and one of the deacons had gone to a village in the interior where a new church is being planted.  

First everyone assembled together to sing praises.

After the singing, we went to Sunday School.  Daniel went to class with his friends Timothy and Anna.  No matter how often Daniel tries to be inconspicuous here in Congo, it never works.  He is easily spotted in almost any crowd.   

David went to the men's class.  Emily and I went to the women's class with Christine.  Some of the ladies and I recognized each other from my visits to Christine's Bible study group, which was fun.  They had been inviting me to visit their church and I think they were pleased that I finally had done it.

Some of the smaller children went to class with their moms.  They were curious about the mundele visitors and watched us constantly.

The worship service was in Lingala, but otherwise it was very similar to a service in the U.S. except that it took longer.  The Congolese culture is not as time oriented as ours.  A twenty minute sermon is unheard of. 

There was Scripture reading, prayer, and music - lots and lots of music.

Dan preached, then shared about his trip.  I was wishing I knew Lingala because the congregation seemed to thoroughly enjoy his sermon and his story.  I did get part of the "English version" from Christine.  

But wait! There's more!  To be continued...

Nsango Na Bomoi, part 1

Some of the primary school students at Mayele Na Bomoi;
 photo courtesy of Christine Grings.

I started to make this just one post but I took SO many photos and want to tell the whole story, so I am going to break it up into two or three posts.

On Sunday we visited a local church called Nsango Na Bomoi (news of life).  The pastor is our good friend Dan Grings, and the church, along with a school called Mayele Na Bomoi (wisdom of life), was planted here by his uncle Mark Grings.  The service was almost entirely in Lingala with a few French words thrown in here and there, but we still enjoyed meeting the people and worshiping with them.  I recognized several ladies from the Bible study group!  Here are some highlights and photos.

building project

Currently the church meets in the school building while they are building the sanctuary.  It is slow-going because this is a poor neighborhood and the members are paying for the building themselves, but when they finish, it will be theirs. 










This shows the ground floor.  The second story will be the actual sanctuary and will stretch back to the hill side behind the project site.

There are twelve classrooms in the school building, which are also used for Sunday School.  

Classrooms

We estimated the classrooms to be about fifteen feet by fifteen feet.  From morning til noon, 800 students from kindergarten through sixth grade meet in those twelve rooms.  During the afternoon, the younger students go home and another 800 students from 7th grade though high school meet in those same rooms.

one of the classrooms

There are no textbooks. Everything is written on a chalkboard and copied by the students.  This is pretty typical of any school here in Congo because there is such a shortage of schools, teachers, and supplies. Mayele Na Bomoi is required to use the government curriculum, but at least the school is also allowed to teach the gospel.  Pastor Dan conducts chapel at the school for all the students.

Chapel
photo courtesy of Christine Grings

The community the school and church serve has not had city water in at least a month and the people have to walk a long way to get water each day.  Please keep them in your prayers.

To be continued.....