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.....

How much is it worth?

KJV Bible (Photo credit: knowhimonline)

Meet Lily!  Piper was always fighting with Elliot, and peeing on my favorite chair, so we found a new home for her and kept one of her kittens for the kids (and for me).  I wanted to name her Kevyn, but the kids kept complaining about it so her name is Lily.  Her secret spy name is Kevyn though.  Lily really knows how to "chill out."

Thursday evening I got to help Christine with her Bible study for her church ladies.  Christine taught a lesson from the "wordless book" and then we helped the ladies make Bible bookmarks with ribbon markers representing the same colors.  She had never done a craft with the ladies and they needed a lot of assistance but were very pleased with their finished products!  

It was "Bible night," meaning those who came could take home a new Bible in their choice of French or Lingala.  No one was going to be refused a Bible regardless of their means, but the ladies had been asked to pray and trust God and bring whatever God provided for them to use to buy a Bible.  I saw at least two ladies somberly offer 500 franc notes for their Bibles.  That's a little over 50 cents in U.S. currency.  It doesn't sound like much unless you know that many of these ladies are widows, most of them have several children, and the per capita income in this country last year was $210 for the entire year (Source: U.S. Dept. of State).  I thought about my expensive study Bible and how much it cost.  If David and I each earned $3 a day, spent $40 a month on rent, and had to pay for transportation, feed and cloth our children, and pay their school fees with the remainder, how much would I be willing to spend on a Bible?  Any amount would be a sacrifice, but how much do I really treasure God's Word?  I'm so grateful for these women who treasure God's Word and want to know Him better!

"Holy Bible, Book divine, Precious Treasure, thou art mine." - John Burton

A fuse shortage can cause a short fuse

Fuse Box Panel (Photo credit: The Adventures of Kristin & Adam)

Emily is off school this week, so I scheduled some time off for Daniel and was eagerly anticipating some free time to catch up on laundry, sewing/quilting, and scrap booking - not necessarily in that order.  SNEL, our electric company, did not agree with my agenda.

Power here comes into the house in three phases. For those of you who, like me, know virtually nothing about wiring and electricity, each phase is a wire coming into our circuit box.  Each wire supplies 220 volt power to various breaker switches.  It is not uncommon here for one phase to randomly go out or have voltage that is too low and therefore bad for appliances and electronics.  When that happens, my handy-dandy husband makes a "bridge" in the circuit box to join two main breakers to one good phase.  It means I might have to turn off the hot water heater if I want to run the dryer but hey, I can live with that.

For over a week now, when we have power, it has been only one phase, and that phase has been coming in at only 140 to 170 volts.  Power for the whole neighborhood has been going off before 7am and staying off until late evening.  Last night when the power came on, we had two phases!  For two minutes!  Seriously.  After two minutes we were down to one phase again.  One minute later we had nothing. I called my friend down the street.  She had power, which meant that as usual, it was just my little section of road.

We have been told by a new neighbor who came in and did some research that our line is older than this country is.  It was put in while the Belgians were still in control.  The switches in the cabine where our transformer is located are all rotted so no one can even use them anymore.  The fuses for our street were missing completely and someone had hot-wired a bypass.  We are paying for new fuses, $25 each for three of them (one for each phase), and hoping our neighbors will pitch in toward the cost but in the past they have refused.  The fuses aren't the problem.  When we do have power, even though we always only have one phase, it's never the same one.  The bypass was probably put there because fuses were blowing left and right, but the only way to find out for certain is to try putting in fuses and wiring it correctly.

We've been told that our line is nothing but bits and pieces and will only get worse.  It is so bad that the new neighbor paid thousands of dollars to get permits and have the electric company move his house to a different line.  I gotta tell you that when someone who actually knows something about the situation and about the way things work here says something like that to you, it does dampen your spirits a little.

We have a missionary friend who has spent countless hours trying to help us, even though she lives on the "good section" of our line and often has power when we don't.  She is arranging a meeting today with a representative of the electric company and has invited the women of the neighborhood.  I plan to be there!  Please keep not just our family, but our neighborhood in your prayers.

I Did THIS for YOU!

Of all the frequently heard sounds in our home: laughter, talking, movies/games, kittens, etc; there is one sound I hate to hear.  I don’t know how to describe it, but if you’ve ever heard it you will know what I’m talking about – that nasty popping noise that occurs when an appliance or electrical outlet “blows up.”  Twice this week we’ve turned on a light switch and heard the “pop” while sparks rained down from the light fixture to the floor.  This morning I lost my kitchen outlet while brewing coffee.  So, in a week’s time we are down two lights and our outlet.  

Yesterday I had to deliver two of our kittens to TASOK so they could go home with their new owners.  We just got a new MAF family this week, the Linds, and I invited Lisa to come along and eat lunch on the campus.  On the way home the car broke down again.  Welcome to Congo, Lisa.  I was very grateful that we were within sight of the house when it happened, but a bit disappointed.  The breakdown meant two things for me. First, David and two friends of ours spent all that time working on it and the problem still isn’t repaired.  Second, I won’t be going to the orphanage for a while.  The car can’t make it that far.  To add to the day’s adventure, my daughter came home with one of the kittens.  The boy who was supposed to get the kitten couldn’t take it home because his father had neglected to tell their driver, who refused to allow it in the car.  

The school musical is finally finished.  Emily had both acting and singing parts in the musical and did a wonderful job.  Yes, I am biased, but she really did do wonderfully!  I imagine that David and I looked pretty goofy sitting in the audience with our big grins and beaming faces.   She is already focusing on her next extra-curricular activity: auditioning for the school talent show and assisting Mrs. Francis with the auditions for the elementary school students.  

Tomorrow our church is meeting at sunrise by the Congo River.  Sunrises make me feel hopeful and expectant.  It’s like opening a present on your birthday and finding inside a gift that someone lovingly made with you in mind.  Tomorrow I get to look out over the vast Congo River as the sun plays on the water, coloring the clouds, and think not just about this beautiful world God made, but also about the sacrifice Jesus made, and in my spirit hear Him saying “I did THIS for YOU!”  Have a wonderful Easter! 

Secret, Secret, I've Got a Secret

Bert and Ernie: Let me tell you a secret / 20090917.10D.53994.P1 / SML (Photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

I am supposed to write a "teaser" to capture your interest and make you want to go read my article that was posted today on the MAF BLOG. The problem is, even when I am writing, I talk too much. Every time I try to write a teaser about an article, I end up writing a whole new article about the article. So! Please consider yourself teased and click on the link above to read what secret God has been teaching me lately.

Six THOUSAND Words

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a recap in pictures of what we've been up to.  There are six photos, so I figure this is a 6,000 word essay.  The photo above was taken at the orphanage in Kimbondo by Daniel.  This week we had great power and terrible water.  As the days went by with still no city water we kept conserving, and the laundry piled up.  Then on Thursday we finally had water coming in again so by default it instantly became laundry day.  The goal was to finish as much as possible before the power or water shut off. We ended up losing both, but not before six loads of clothing were finished!  I am grateful not just for the clothing we have and the ability to get it washed, but also that I don't have as much laundry to do as you see in the photo.  Hundreds of kids means the laundry is NEVER done!

We found a home for one of our kittens (not the one pictured).  We still have four left and really can't keep them so please pray for good homes for the kitties.

Tuesday evening our ladies Bible study group had a potluck with a Mexican theme to celebrate having completed our latest book study.  Two in our group have furloughs this summer and others will be traveling so we are likely taking a break for a while.

We've been reading Henry Reed, Inc. in school together.  Daniel enjoys the author's sense of humor and relates well to the main character, Henry Reed, because in the story Henry is an expat who has spent most of his life abroad.  As a family we've been reading Monster in the Hollows out loud.  This is the third in a series by Andrew Peterson and we've thoroughly enjoyed them all.  They are full of adventure, humor, and virtue.  The author is the same Andrew Peterson who wrote my favorite Christmas album Behold the Lamb of God.

We went to the orphanage Friday and played with the kids! 

Since I couldn't do laundry, I took advantage of the electricity and worked on my quilt project.  I finished 64 4-patches, 16 9-patches, and 64 quarter square triangles.  

What Not to Pray for Your Missionary

praying (Photo credit: ater_unda)

Today I feel compelled to share someone else's blog post with you.  At times, especially during the recent elections, people have said things to us like:

"When are you going to get this out of your system?"
"It's time for you to come home."
"It's too unstable there, maybe you should go someplace else where it's safer."
"We're praying you home."
"There's plenty of work for you here at home."
etc, etc, etc

I know that these comments were made because we are so deeply loved and because others are concerned about us.  We don't take offense or get angry.  In fact, we take it as a reminder that many people care about us and pray for us!  But we do get discouraged.

Since the author of Inky'Spot said it much better than I could, please read her post "Dont Pray Us Home."  I love her quote by D.L. Moody.  She has listed some ways you can pray for us (and for her!) and encourage us.  I'll just add a little bit to her list.  Don't pray us "home," but it is absolutely OK, and a good thing, to pray for times of rest and refreshment for us, to pray for a "getaway" once in a while.  Pray also that we will be an encouragement to others!

We love you all.  We pray for you and appreciate you.  And we need each one of you.

nb

Kids With Cameras: What They See is What I Get

Our car is still broken down, so I’ve been staying pretty close to home.  I wasn’t going to go to the orphanage this week either because of the car problems.  HOWEVER.  One of the new friends I met in February returned from the states to finalize the adoption of her son and wanted to return to Kimbondo, so Daniel and I went out there on Friday with Kim and her husband, Jeff.  The last time Kim was here “coincided” with my driver being out of town.  I told Kim that every time I am without transportation to the orphanage God seems to send her to Kinshasa and maybe she should pray for my transportation needs, lest she have to return again.  

I suppose the older kids had the day off from school because several of them were in the courtyard that is supposed to only be for the preschoolers.  Some of them were bullying the little ones and we had to intervene the best we could.  

Daniel likes to be my “photographer” when we go places so I passed my camera to him when we got there.  The thing about trusting a child to be your photographer is that you never know what sort of photos you will end up with.  Being younger and shorter gives Daniel a different perspective, so he takes photos of different things, and from different angles, than I might.  The quality also varies because it is hard to keep the camera still when other kids are jostling him and trying to snatch the camera away.  There are always surprises when we get home and I put the memory card into the computer.  Today was no exception, and I found this beauty in my camera:

Ha ha!  Don’t I look lovely?  Go ahead and laugh.  I did.  The boy behind me was pulling my hair with great gusto, more from curiosity than from a desire to hurt me.  I got beat up a little more than usual since the older kids were around.  One boy kept slapping me on the arm and yelling "mundele" at me because I was not blowing up balloons fast enough and he didn't want to wait his turn.  

Giving Daniel a camera lets me see things from his perspective in a very tangible way and is a good reminder for me that people often see the same things differently.  Here are a couple more photos from Daniel for you.   I wish I had asked him to get more photos of Kim and Jeff and one of us together but I kept getting sidetracked.  They'll be travelling back home soon, hopefully tonight, so pray for them.

How Missionaries Tell Time

Clock for the railway at Whipsnade Zoo (Photo credit: Martin Pettitt)

The Bible makes many references to time.  Some are well-known, such as Ecclesiastes chapter 3 (There is a time for every thing and a season for every activity under heaven.) and Esther 4:14 (Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?).  Revelation tells us that Satan knows his time is short.

Time seems to go very quickly when we think of our children growing or our loved ones aging.

Everyone marks time in their own way, but we all count down the time until events that are important to us: births, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, holidays, etc.  Missionaries tend to mark time by additional events.  We count down the days, months, or years until we get to leave for "the field," until furlough and our chance to see our families again, until a friend is scheduled to arrive or leave, until the electricity or water might return, until the government processes our paper work, etc.

Sometimes...the countdown seems to go like this:

 Ok, what really happened in this video is that we purchased a clock here and when we changed the batteries, the clock just randomly decided to go backwards.  We filmed it because we thought it was so bizarre.  A quick "thump" knocked some sense into the clock and it began working correctly again.  (I wish that application worked as well in other situations here!)  There have definitely been times in my life where I would have done things differently if I could have "turned back the clock."  Other times, the clock moves way too slowly or way too quickly.

I'm thankful that God is not governed by time like we are.  He never sleeps, never grows weary, and always has perfect timing! When I grow old and feeble in mind or body, the Ancient of Days will still be all-powerful, all-knowing and ever present with me. And when I think I'll never last until the next event, whether it's furlough or a day of electricity, He is my sustainer.

Running an Obstacle Course in an Oven Full of Mosquitoes

View of my road from my yard.  This is one of the better roads in the neighborhood.

On my birthday, we had to take Emily to the eye doctor and decided while we were down town to go out for supper to celebrate.  It was quite the evening.  A police officer tapped on our window while we were stuck in traffic and asked to see David’s driving license.  We had not done anything illegal.  Our crime was having fair skin.  The officer took David’s license and drove away on his motorcycle, leaving us still stuck in traffic.  Presumably, he wanted us to follow him so he could attempt to extract a bribe for the return of the license.  We have no idea where he went and still do not have the license.  On the way to the restaurant, our car overheated.  On the way to the orphanage Friday, our car overheated again.  Then on the way home from the orphanage, the car again gave us trouble.  So…we are having to borrow an MAF vehicle until David can get the car repaired.  We are really missing AutoZone right now.

I spent Thursday evening at my friend Christine’s house.  She was hosting a women’s Bible study group from her church and had planned to show the film Courageous, in French.  Twenty-five women came and packed her living room.  I always enjoy meeting the ladies and studying with them as much as the language barriers allow (most speak French but they prefer Lingala).  Watching them as they watched the movie was much more fun than I could have anticipated.  During the police chase, every single woman was literally gripping the sides of her chair and leaning forward.  When the runners jumped a fence or took a dive, the ladies oohed and aahed simultaneously.  Occasionally Christine would stop the movie and explain a cultural difference for them.  Sometimes they would see something and all start discussing it enthusiastically, oblivious to the still playing movie.

I don’t see these women often and I have trouble remembering all of their names, but they are a special group.  They walk to the Bible study.  It’s only about a kilometer, but I met one woman who walked the entire way on crutches.  I am not talking about American made, just the right height, rubber tipped aluminum crutches.  I’m talking about something out of a Dickens novel – crude wooden things of differing heights with cloths tied round the tops and bare stubs on the bottom.  She had no nice sidewalks with ramps at every intersection either.  She had a hilly, torn up road full of holes and rocks, just sand in some places and concrete in others.  Her condition is permanent and it’s hot here.  One would completely understand if she didn’t want to make that trek in temperatures of upper nineties.  But she did it.  She didn’t complain about it either.  She was just glad to be there.  Going to a group Bible study may sometimes be inconvenient for me, but it is WORK for her.  Next time I think I do not have time in the evenings or it is too much work to get the family fed and get there in time, I hope the Holy Spirit reminds me of that woman.  Here are some more photos of typical streets, yards and buildings here.  As you can see, it is a very challenging environment, especially for someone with a disability.

Another view of my road.  You have to navigate around that pile of trash and debris all the time.

Imagine having to navigate through this!

My favorite is this one I like to call the Kinshasa version of a strip mall.  It's a major road, so it does have a sidewalk, but the vendors have taken it over.