A Month in Liberia

This is a picture of our new home. We live in the right half. We have been here a month now and are adjusting well to the new home, the new culture, and to a new organization. David is the full-time aircraft mechanic for Samaritan's Purse here in Liberia. The week we arrived co-incided with the Liberian Thanksgiving so the first couple of days there was no work for David and no school for Daniel and we got to focus on just settling in. 

David jumped right in at the hangar. He has lots of experience already on Caravans so that is coming in handy. And he is learning about helicopters, both a challenge and a neat opportunity. 

There are lots of different ministries taking place here at various times. This week a Samaritan's Purse medical team is here for the cleft lip project. One of David's first tasks at the hangar was installing a new gear on the Caravan. All of the guys worked together on it in order to have it airworthy in time to fly patients in for surgery. Daniel and I got to be involved in small ways also. He and some classmates have spent time playing with the kids who are waiting for their surgeries and I got to bake cookies for the team lunches. The cleft lip project is an amazing ministry. Please pray for the surgeons and everyone else involved, and that the patients and families will not only be changed physically and socially, but also spiritually. Here is a link to a video that tells more about the project: Just click HERE. 

I've already had an opportunity to use my sewing machine. A group of us got together to sew gift bags. These will be filled and given as gifts to upcoming graduates of Project Ruth. This ministry reaches out to ebola widows and utilizes grief counseling, job skills training, and micro-loans to help them with starting over. It was a neat opportunity for me to learn a little about another ministry I didn't previously know of, and to get to know some of the Samaritan's Purse ladies better while doing something to help out. I have joined a women's Bible study group, which I really enjoy and it has helped me meet people here.

Daniel is one flexible kid. He really liked his old school in Congo. He also really likes his new school here. There are people and things he misses, but he has found and embraced things he likes about being here and has adapted well. He loves living near the coast and getting to go to the beach. He likes that school doesn't start until 8:30 am. He quickly made friends and honestly, we don't see much of him because he is too busy doing things with his new friends and youth group to sit around the house. 

Celebrating God's Greatness

I have wanted to share about this for a long time but we got so busy settling into our new  apartment and then helping Daniel transition from home school to the American School here that it is only just now happening. It seemed like whenever I had time to blog, that was also the time that Daniel needed my computer to do homework.

In August, The Women's Ministry arm of CBCO (Congolese Baptists) celebrated 50 years in ministry! I am not an official CBCO missionary or associate, but I do have the priviledge of being a volunteer, and so I was invited to attend the five day celebration. Due to transportation issues, I was only able to attend one day. That was disappointing because I had looked forward to this for a long time, but I still feel grateful that I got to be there for a small part of it and especially that the ladies even thought to invite me.

I am also especially grateful that the day I got to attend was the day of the march (parade). Getting permits to have a march is a big, expensive process in Kinshasa, so there aren't many opportunities to participate in one. This was my first. Jill and I, marching with thousands of Congolese ladies, were not. conspicuous. at. all. I had a blast!

We had a marching band, even!

The worship team. Excuse the bad photos. The lighting was terrible.

There was a special choir of women from several different churches. That's the choir in the background. This choir had many, many participants.

The congregaton. Over 5,000 women attended. Some travelled from the interior, which is no small sacrifice. 

We heard several guest speakers, including my friend Jill, but it was all in Lingala so I can't tell you much about the messages. I can tell you that there was an abundance of joy, gratitude, and enthusiasm. These women face circumstances that are unbelievably difficult on a daily basis, and they were overjoyed just to be there in God's house celebrating and worshipping together. The theme was "God has done great things for us" and the speakers recounted some of those things in their talks. 

When it came time for the offering, that too was a joyous event. There was no solemn, grave-faced passing of the plate. All 5,000 of us got up and while the worship team played music and danced, we marched and/or danced up to the front to place our offerings on the table. Most were singing. All were smiling. I realized that even for those who only had 500 francs (about 45 cents) to give, they saw it as a great privilege to show God their gratitude for his grace and work in their lives by giving to Him. It made me cry and it made me think with shame of times in my life when I have taken the privilege of meeting in God's house with other believers for granted or been ungrateful in my heart even in the very act of giving with my hands and saying thanks with my mouth.  

Thanks for Nothing!

We all have heard the expression “Thanks for nothing!” It isn’t really an offer of thanks at all. It is an angry declaration that the person speaking feels they have been treated wrongly, cheated, held out on.  This week the utility company came to my home and accused me of owing hundreds of dollars in unpaid bills dating back to four years before I moved into this house. It did not matter that I produced all the paperwork showing my innocence. They demanded money and I would not give it, so they cut my power line in two. I didn’t say anything to them, but for a while I sure wanted to say something like “Thanks for nothing. Have a nice day.” In my drippiest sarcastic tone. 

Sometimes, we look at our lives and there is so much stuff to deal with, so many problems we can’t solve. We feel like the squirrel in the movie “Over the Hedge” who runs to one end of the hedge and back and declares “It never ends!” Then he runs to the other end of the hedge and back and says, “It never ends that way too!” We feel helpless. Helplessness is not a feeling we like to experience, so then we become angry. 

We want God to fix it. Make it better. We are his children and when He doesn’t meet our expectations of what a Father should do, we act like, well, children. Children who are angry and ungrateful and say “thanks for nothing.” 

What if “nothing” IS a gift? What if we had to trust Him for everything? What if instead of taking our problems away He walked with us through them? What would we learn from that? How would it transform us? 

If He gives me “nothing,” can I in sincerity say “Thank you, Father, for nothing?” trusting that in His love and wisdom He has given me something worth more than it appears to be?

In church yesterday we sang a Keith Green song, “There is a Redeemer.” The first part goes like this:

There is a redeemer, 
Jesus, God's own Son,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, 
Holy One,
Jesus my redeemer, 
Name above all names,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Oh, for sinners slain.
Thank you oh my Father, 
For giving us Your Son,
And leaving Your Spirit, 
'Til the work on Earth is done.

"In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

We can give thanks to Him IN everything, because He has given us his Son, and that IS EVERYTHING. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

A New Project

photo by Jill Lowery

For those who've been praying for the Mitendi Center and the court case, here is an update. In last week's post, I mentioned a need for prayer for Thursday's court date. The opposition requested, and was granted, a continuance, so everything has been pushed to next Thursday - Thanksgiving Day. That is not a Congolese holiday so that date was not significant to them, but my American friend who directs this ministry now has to spend her holiday sitting in a courtroom. Please continue praying for the center and for a right and just decision by the courts. And also pray for Jill, that in all this God will strengthen her, give her wisdom, and grant her a thankful heart, encouragement, and contentment in all situations.

We have been working on a new project with the girls at Bandal. These girls are graduates of the Mitendi Center and are in sort of an internship or apprenticeship phase, continuing to build their repertoire of sewing skills and improve them while earning money to support themselves. The new project is a request for several small, lined, zippered bags.

Many of them already have experience making zippered bags but we wanted everyone to use the same technique, follow the same pattern and sequence of steps, and practice precision. So we held a couple of workshops this week and last week, showing them how to do everything from tracing the pattern and cutting to doing the zippers and corners. They did the work, we just walked them through it. Then we supervised while they made more to be sure they "got it" and to help with any problems. 

In the states, our culture equates professionalism with quality workmanship and a high work ethic. It is not quite the same here. In addition to honing their skills, the interns are also being taught the value of correcting their mistakes, that customers will pay more for quality products and take their business elsewhere if workmanship is poor, and that ultimately their success is up to them. It is sometimes a not-so-fun part of their training, but it is for their own good.




Daniel usually does school work when I am at the Center, but he tagged along this week so we put him to work, which the girls found amusing.








I have spent enough time with these young women now that they feel comfortable making jokes and sharing laughs with me. Jill and I had spent a day going through all the steps and figuring out the best way to teach them to make these bags. We even made tiny prototypes so that we could show them how the zipper and corners ought to be done and how it should look. They thought our little bags were funny and jokingly told us we earned a "zero" grade on our work, but in the end it really helped them to have a visual example to study.

Two Tuesdays

Tuesday, a friend offered to watch the home schoolers and help them with their studies while a few of us moms when shopping for Christmas before the prices all go up after Thanksgiving. I didn't really have a Christmas shopping list, but managed to get some stocking stuffers and a few things we needed and had been having trouble finding. I also found some amazing fabric, like this fallish looking print! Once I sew a table cloth out of it, I will have TWO fall/Thanksgiving decorations! 

This one actually was going to be a Christmas gift. I bought it with Emily in mind but I caved and showed it to her already so the surprise is gone.

And then there is this one.

Isn't it obnoxious? Sort of like looking at a microscope slide? I don't know what I'll do with it, but I love it because it's so different. With all those colors it would probably make a cool looking rug. It's too visually disturbing to use for a table cloth or curtains. Imagine trying to eat while looking at something that resembles bacteria.

I know you are recalling that just a few days ago I said I wasn't going to buy any more fabric until I used more from my stash. Well, ...I'm weak. And anyways I have plans for a good sized hunk of my stash: living room curtains. Because we were a group and between us we were buying several fabric pieces, we got a good deal.

While we are on the subject of good deals and holidays, I want to let you know about something dear to my heart: the Giving Tuesday Campaign. During this season of being thankful for our blessings and giving gifts to express our love for others, we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday for shopping and saving money on gifts. Now we have Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday, November 27, is "opening day" for the giving season. We can take some of that money we saved on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and use it to help others by giving to a charity of your choosing. MAF is participating and all Giving Tuesday donations to MAF will be used to provide vaccines for children here in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last year over 100,000 cases of measles were reported in DRC, including 1,100 deaths. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that a gift to the MAF Giving Tuesday campaign can mean the difference between life or death and prevent suffering for a child here in Congo. You can find the MAF Giving Tuesday page by clicking HERE or by clicking the Giving Tuesday button in my sidebar. You don't have to wait until Tuesday to make a donation! I know because I already made mine!

Three Things I am Grateful for that Might Surprise You

Like the flowers? Last night Emily played Annelle in her school's performance of Steel Magnolias and the flowers were a gift from the parents of one of the cast members. 

                                                                                                                                        I finished painting Daniel's room. If it looks like I painted it in the dark, that's because I did. The power kept going out. He's happy with it, so that's all that matters. 

I had a lot of blue fabric in my stash, so I made a throw rug for his room. Not only is Daniel happy, but I am very glad to be using my stash. I've told myself I can't buy more fabric until I use what I have, or at least most of it. The next rug will be for Emily's room.






There is a little rebel in me, so I have not participated in all the social media trends to post something you are thankful for every day for thirty days. I'm just not a jump-on-the-band-wagon type of gal. I love Thanksgiving. I believe we should be thankful consciously and intentionally every single day, not just in November. To be honest, doing anything every day for thirty days that involves internet and electricity is just too hard. I don't need one more thing on my list of things I am behind in. You know from my past posts that God has been working in my life in the area of gratitude. We are all grateful for the obvious blessings we have: loved ones, our relationship with Christ, our material blessings, etc. Here are three things that I am very grateful for that probably aren't on everyone's list of blessings this year.

1. People who know a lot about parasites and diseases in the Congo and how to deal with them. We have benefited from the wisdom of missionary doctors, nurses and friends more than once. Just last week we realized that what Daniel thought was a mosquito bite that would not go away was really a worm he had picked up going barefoot after a rain. The worm was making tunnels in his toe and foot and causing pain and itching. We could actually see where the little bugger had been. Gross. The Congolese I talked to use various methods to treat this, most involving razors. Another option is to freeze the worm but that only works if you freeze the right spot, and the worm is always ahead of the tracks you can see on the foot. There are drugs also, and we did manage to find a drug that took care of the problem. It is a huge blessing to be able to ask someone for advice here and to be able to trust their wisdom and experience.

2. The hard things my kids have to deal with. It hurts immensely to see them struggle and deal with pain and hardship, but my kids have more courage, flexibility, insight and compassion than they might have had if they had never gone to the places they have been, seen the things they have seen, or had the experiences and relationships they have had. God has used the hard things in their lives to bring out good things in their character and make them into amazing young people.

3. Randomness. I like predictability. I like knowing the plan and what the rules of the game are before I begin. But I am grateful for the randomness of things here, whether it is electricity, internet, water, transportation, or people. It makes me appreciate what I have when I have it and keeps me from being lazy. You've heard the expression "use it or lose it." At our house we say "Use it before you lose it!"

What are some unusual things you are thankful for? Why?

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 Couple of Triples

Yes, it's been a really, really, really (triple number one!) long time. I could make a bunch of excuses, such as we have power outages nearly every day, we have internet problems frequently, I'm busy home schooling two kids and cooking from scratch, I got caught up in Thanksgiving and Christmas and potlucks and all that - all of which are true, but whatever the excuse, it has still been a really, really, really long time. I'm sorry. Ok, quick "catch-up", in as few words as I am capable of. All of the windows have been repaired. And the roof. Last month Emily told us her wall, the one between her bedroom and the bathroom (yes, the same bathroom that flooded with sewage and has a broken toilet) was wet. It had been wet for a while and she just thought the spot was a stain from when the roof leaked until she actually left something touching the wall and it got wet. The stain was wider than my arm span and about 3 feet high, and a nice mold was growing. So, the plumber came out and made holes in the walls to fix the pipes. At least he filled in the holes though, and Emily's wall is drying. We celebrated the holidays with our MAF team and other missionaries here. It was hard to be away from family, especially since our skype wouldn't work. Josh played in the orchestra for the school musical in December. We searched for things to buy for the kids for Christmas and could not find anything here, so I bought some local fabric and sewed gigantic bean bag chairs for each of them. We filled them with bags of chopped foam that we bought at the local mattress factory. They were a big hit! We still have power and water issues, almost daily. Once we had no power for 72 hours. A couple of times we ran completely out of water, even in our reservoir, and had to haul water from the Francis house. We had the annual MAF family conference in January. It was our first conference and we really enjoyed it. We have hired a tutor to help us improve our French. There are two things which make French more difficult here than I had anticipated. One is that our vocabulary is too small, we just don't know enough words. We're working on that. The other is the accent here. The Congolese don't pronounce their vowels the same way we were taught, and it has caused some misunderstandings. For instance, when they say "two", it sounds just like "ten". That makes shopping fun. A couple of weeks ago, I asked our guard how his family was doing and his response sounded like "sah vah impay". I knew what the first part meant, "ça va" means "it goes", a way of saying things are fine. I couldn't figure out what "impay" was, but I knew "paix" means peace, so I thought "he must mean all is well and peaceful", so I said that was good news. He looked at me strangely but said no more. Then David asked me a couple days later "what does impay mean?" Our guard had just said the same thing to him, again in response to an inquiry about his wellbeing. I told him I didn't know, that I couldn't find anything like it in the French dictionary, and what I had guessed it meant. He said he had guessed something similar and said "that's good" and got the same strange look. So the next time our tutor came, we asked him about it. He said it the same way our guard did, but when he wrote it out for us, he wrote "un peu", which sounds more like "uhn puh" (short nasal sounds, not long vowel sounds)in International French. Ding! The light was now on! It means "It goes a little", which here means the same as saying it is not going well at all. So our guard was telling us things were not going well for his family and we were telling him what great news we thought that was! I felt even worse when we learned that he had two children with malaria that week. So, that's one lesson we shan't forget and a mistake we won't make again. One more small chink out of the language barrier.
Ever since Christmas, my friend Sandy has been waiting patiently for me to remember to share my recipe for crescent rolls. To atone for neglecting my blog for so long, I'll share it here also. I got this recipe from my sweet mother in law and it makes nice flaky rolls. And the smell! Amazing! They are really, really, really (triple number two!) good! Here you go, Sandy!

Crescent Rolls

4 1/2 cups flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 package plus 1 TBS yeast (so you don't have to look it up like I did, one packet contains 2 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup Crisco (I try to avoid shortening. You know, the whole hydrogenation thing. So I use real butter and it works fine.)
1 cup scalded milk

Mix milk, butter, sugar and salt. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and eggs. Add flour a little at a time until dough is too stiff to stir. Let rise, or chill until later. Three hours before baking, divide into three sections. Roll out into circles and baste with melted butter (not too much). Cut like a pizza into 8ths and roll into crescents. Let rise. Bake 6 minutes at 375 degrees.

A Quick Catch-up

Ok. Learning a foreign language when you are an adult with a family to take care of and two kids still homeschooling is a WEE bit time-consuming. And where there is time, there is no energy. SO - I have neglected all of my hobbies, including my blog. We have completed the beginner and intermediate level courses as of two days ago. On Monday, we will begin the conversation course. This course is not quite as intense as the others, so I am hoping to be able to communicate better with my family and friends and maybe even deal with a few photos or do a little quilting. Here is the best rapid-fire catching-up I can give you. In August, on our way from Missouri to Québec, we spent some time with my parents and I gave her the quilt I had been working on for the last five years.


We began school the first week of September. In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is in October, so while our loved ones in the U.S. were observing Columbus Day, we were having our Thanksgiving feast with the other missionary families.

For Christmas, a couple from our church here invited us to spend the day with them. They treated us like family and we had a wonderful time. They can speak English well, but they make us practice our French as much as we can. It is a huge blessing to have friends like them here while we are far from our own families.

In January, we began the intermediate course, what our professor calls "the true French". It was quite a bit more challenging than the beginner course. God blessed us with more friends and more opportunities to practice conversing in French, which seems to be the most difficult part of learning French. Reading and listening skills came more easily.

"Spring break" for us came the first week in March, while it was definitely still winter here. We took a day and drove to Québec city, the capitol. We walked all through Old Québec and toured the parliament building. Québec is the only fortified city in North America.

After exams were over this week, six of the language school students graduated. We have developed close friendships with some of them and are very sad to see them go.