May 2011 Update

At the moment it is a little after 2:00 on the afternoon of May 31st- a fine time to send out our monthly update. Right on time; though by the time we make it to the mission to send and receive e-mails it will most likely be June.

Much of the past month has been spent making preparations to host a short-term team flying into Gemena on June 4th. The team is coming for several reasons; 1) to begin planning for the construction of a restaurant at or by ELIKYA, 2) to minister to orphans in the Global Fingerprints sponsorship program and 3) to do some planning for a new CECU camp/retreat center to be built behind ELIKYA property. This “teams within a team” approach means a more affordable trip but can be difficult to organize logistically. So during the past month we have put together a schedule, divvied up responsibilities among ourselves and the Congolese “koyamba” team we’re training and made sure that all the details are worked through thoroughly.

The team that is coming is from Boone, Iowa and is eight-people strong. They will be accompanied by Jim Snyder and Rachel Martin (veteran Congo missionaries and our immediate supervisors). There are four teenage girls coming out under the banner of Kids for Congo, a non-profit organization that has partnered with the Global Fingerprints program here. They will be visiting with orphans in that program and teaching Bible lessons at a local CECU church. Those involved with the restaurant planning will remain at the Elikya Center and will work through some of the initial questions regarding the establishment of a restaurant. It is hoped that this restaurant will be both a source of income for ELIKYA and a training platform for those interested in learning about it. The camp planning will take place primarily on Friday, June 10th.

Pray that the Lord would prepare the way for this team as they begin their travels in only a few days. Pray that their ministry would bear fruit and that their visit would be a big encouragement to the church here in the Congo.

Our English classes have continued as usual. We have purchased some new curriculum that is being brought out with the team and are looking forward to making the switch. This coming month we will be upping the hours of class per week from six to eight by adding 2 extra hours for conversation, discussion and dialogue. They are getting some from the weekly English club that we are a part of every Saturday but it will be helpful to have even more exposure and more opportunities to practice speaking. They will, however, have some great opportunities for the ten days the team will be here. Pray that our students would increase in their English ability and would be encouraged.

Aside from teaching English and preparing for this team, I have continued with the development of an agricultural program here.

We encountered a very difficult situation that has affected the ag program this past month. Mowa had selected a local agronome to help with the teaching. He is a very hard worker and very knowledgeable and practiced in the field of agriculture. About a month ago his wife died very suddenly and he was accused of poisoning her. He was subsequently jailed and was only released within the last couple weeks. It remains a very difficult situation for him as he has lost his wife and much of his livelihood (his place was ransacked when he was jailed) and is still dealing with the suspicion that has been placed on him even though he has been acquitted by the district court. Pray for him as he is dealing with his grief and the uncertainty of how to proceed.

Soleil is growing up fast. Lots of people tell her that she’s a mokolo (adult) aleady. She resists learning to sit because she’d rather stand. She rolls over as soon as she is laid on her back. She babbles and gurgles and drools constantly. She grabs at anything that comes close enough so she can put it in her mouth. So I wouldn’t call her an adult quite yet. She is a lot of fun and we are really enjoying being her parents.

Well, that’s May. Keep our ministry in your prayers. There is more transition ahead as the Snyders will be leaving us for Gamboula where they will have their baby. So it will be our turn to hold down the fort.

In Him,
Aaron and Michelle

Soleil learning English at Saturday English Club

Spreading mulch at a Foundations for Farming demo

There are mangos...and then there are mangos!

Foundations for Farming

About one month ago, Pastor Marc Deolo, head of CECU’s PEASIT program (AIDS Education, Prevention and Treatment), attended a training in Zimbabwe with Foundations for Farming (formerly Farming God’s Way). He attended with the hope of implementing their farming methods here in Congo as a way to help people with AIDS provide for themselves. He also got directive from the CECU leadership to spread what he had learned when he got back that it might be of benefit to the church as a whole. When he got back he connected with me and we began making plans for getting the news out. I had been aware of Foundations for Farming for some time and was excited at the opportunity to try it out.

Foundations for Farming represents a new way of doing subsistence (or commercial) farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. It takes a look at the symptoms of slow agricultural growth and declining yields on the continent and diagnoses the problem: us. We are farming in such a way that we are not taking care of the soil as though it were our inheritance. We burn. We plow. And when the soil is used up we abandon it and move on. The Foundations for Farming method is an effort to make the work that happens in the field more in line with how God plants; that is, no burning and no plowing. It promotes a system approach in which weeding, composting and mulching play a big role. Individual planting stations are prepared in straight rows and planted in year after year after year. This method has a lot of potential and it will be exciting to see what happens with it here in Congo.

We started by planting cowpeas in a field next to the CECU mission. There were several attendees and we all played a very participatory role in the process, from laying out the field, to digging the holes, to planting and adding mulch in between rows.

That was April 7^th. This is what the cowpeas look like now.


We also incorporated a Foundations for Farming lesson and practical into the classes at ELIKYA. A 10 x 6m plot of corn was planted exactly one week ago.

This Thursday we will be planting soy and continuing the training with a handpicked group of CECU development leaders in the area. We will be training every Thursday and hope to expand the training in late June or July, right on time for the next round of planting before the rains diminish in October.

From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!
Psalm 113:3

So I know there are some blog posts that are simply expected from missionaries in central Africa. You may have been wondering when they will show up. Well, wonder no more. Here they are…

The one where they get malaria

Thankfully, I have been the only one to come down with this illness. I don’t think it’s any surprise that of the four of us here I am the worst about remembering to take my daily malarial prophylaxis. I skipped a couple days about two months ago and paid for it. Sam and I were walking to church one Sunday in late February and I noticed by the time we arrived that I was no longer sweating. I also happen to be notoriously forgetful about staying hydrated so I figured I just hadn’t drank enough water before heading out the door. Half an hour into the service, though, I started getting chills. Not a good sign. I figured that I would just wait until the end of the service and take my temperature when I got back to the house. I thought it might be malaria, might be dehydration, might be something else. But by the end of the service (two and a half hours later) I was not doing well. All I wanted was to get home and drink a huge glass of cool water. When I got back I got my wish but it did nothing. I sat on the couch just trying to cool off. Michelle claims I was “cranky”. I probably was. She got the thermometer and took a reading of 107 degrees F. At that point we both started worrying a bit because that’s a bit too high to be anywhere close to healthy. So I took a cold shower and started on an anti-malarial medication we had in the house. Within two days I was good to go. I take my prophylaxis a bit more regularly now. Lesson learned.


The one where the snake gets in the house

One afternoon last week we had just put Soleil down for her nap and were bringing the laundry in off the line to fold it when I spotted a snake inside our doorway. It looked like it had gotten into our hose from who-know-where and was all bunched up trying to make its way out the front door. I grabbed my machete and pinned the snake against the wall with the point. I wanted to cleanly lop its head off but it was busy sliding behind the couch at that point and didn’t present itself well enough for that. So instead of a smooth strike I ended up standing there with my legs spread out with this snake thrashing around trying to get away or take a bite out of somebody. Michelle was in search of the Snyder’s machete by this time. After a while I gave up all hope of a clean kill and just started hacking at it. That did the trick, of course, and we brought it outside, chopped the head off and buried it. A neighbor kid took the body. We were told it was a venomous snake whose bite would hurt like crazy but most likely wouldn’t kill you. Good to know.

April 2011 Newsletter is hot off the presses! Click to view. Past newsletters are available to view or download on the sidebar.

Soleil Goes to Church

About a week ago we had a worship service called a "Kobimisa Mwana", in which after 3 months of staying at home, a new baby is "brought out" of the house and prayed over by your pastor. It's similar to a baby dedication, but more like a prayer and blessing service. After this you can take your baby out and about, and it especially means you can now bring your new babe to church. Though Soleil had technically already been out of the house- on a trip to the neighboring country no less- we thought it would be best to keep with tradition as best we could. So we invited 20 of our closest friends and colleagues to share in this celebration with us.

Praying on the back porch

Of course it started raining at exactly the hour we had planned to start, but true to Congolese culture, people just came later. So, we gathered together in worship, singing and praying together. We carried Soleil into the house accompanied by a seemingly random group chosen from the "congregation" outside for more prayer.

Praying in our living room

Then Aaron and I went outside and everyone still inside marched out in a line singing with Soleil being carried at the head. Strangely the person that our Pastor asked to carry Soleil out of the house was a new missionary with the Covenant church that had just arrived in town and whom we had met a few minutes before the service. She also found this strange and had no idea what was going on seeing as she didn't speak Lingala.

Marta bringing Soleil out of the house

CECU VP Badi praying for Soleil

The Pasteur Responsible ( Pastor in charge of the region) gave a short sermon about Jesus growing in wisdom, stature and showing kindness to others, charging us to pray for and raise Soleil in the same manner.

The PR giving the mini-sermon

Now that Soleil had been "bimisaed" we decided to bring her to church for the first time. That Sunday also happened to be a special outside service to raise money for the roof of a new church building. We were quite the sight as we walked the 1.5km. I was carrying Soleil shaded by our new blue leopard print parasol, which I could not leave the house without for fear of being chastised by every mother on the road and probably also some small children. Aaron was carrying on his shoulder a great sheet of metal roofing as our offering for the special service.

Off to church

Bible and manzanza in hand

Now here's where things get strange. We had settled in for what we knew would be a long service but there would be lots of singing and dancing. The service was held in a yard with chairs set up under several tarps supported by sticks staked into the dirt. About an hour after the service started, and one impromptu diaper change in my lap, signs of a storm began to show. I was holding Soleil close to my shoulder when wind started whipping things around, the tarp over us collapsed and the heavy support post in the center smacked me in the back of the head. My mothering instincts and the shock of the hit kicked in as stunned I tried to cover Soleil from anything else. (Also, I had no idea, but Sarah told me later, that a startled Congolese child was clinging to my legs.) I was immediately whisked to sit with a group of ladies who took charge of Soleil. The signs of the storm did not let up and Soleil started crying because of course church is during nap time. So I'm bouncing Soleil next to the road with a whole congregation of people watching when it starts to rain. This is how I found myself standing in the house of I'm not sure who, trying to rock Soleil to sleep; there are chickens in the corners and a duck walked in. A woman who I think lives there came in and asked if we could trade babies. It was then that I realized my head was throbbing, my eyes couldn't focus well and my ears felt "funny". I hadn't seen Aaron since the smack in the head, but then he walked in to save the day saying we should just go home. So, we walked home to nurse my mild concussion.