Mug Shot*

Who you lookin' at?

*courtesy of a bout of conjunctivitis

July 2011 Newsletter is hot off the presses! Actually, that's not true. It's been off the presses for a long time; it just wasn't posted promptly. But for the sake of posterity, here it is. Click to view. Past newsletters are available to view or download on the sidebar.

The Big 4

Yesterday, July 1st, was our fourth wedding anniversary! We celebrated by going out to eat after teaching English class. We took motorcycle taxis to a little place across from the airport by the Gemena Hospital. Our anniversary meal consisted of goat and large portions of rice and mpondu (pounded cassava leaves). I bet Michelle never saw that coming when we got married! Soleil tagged along too (after all, where else would she be?).

June Team Comes and Goes

We recently welcomed and said good-bye to our second short-term ministry team. This time, instead of hosting two people for five weeks (as in February), we hosted eight people for ten days. It was a larger team because it was actually three teams coming at the same time. There were four high school students who came to continue a ministry they started a few years ago called Kids for Congo. Three women (two of whom were mothers of the teens on the trip) also came along with work of their own- taking part in initial planning sessions for the development of a restaurant at ELIKYA. The final member of the team came from Hidden Acres Christian Center and began a discussion with CECU’s Director of Christian Education about a new camp and retreat center to be built behind ELIKYA. So you could say it was a busy ten days.

After several weeks of preparation on both sides of the Atlantic, the team arrived on Saturday, June 4th. They had quite an eventful trip, as their “guide”, Jim Snyder (who speaks French and Lingala and knows the Kinshasa airport well) was held up in the US by an airplane malfunction and was unable to meet them in Brussels as previously planned. So they had to go it alone but were assisted in Kinshasa by two Congolese pastors. When they arrived they were welcomed with a brief ceremony/service at the CECU offices. Then we brought them back to ELIKYA, their home for the next week and a half.

That afternoon we had an initial orientation meeting. The highlights of this time from our perspective were the cultural lessons that had been prepared by our Koyamba Team. Each had been tasked to educate our visitors on a specific point of Congolese culture such as appropriate greetings, how to be gracious guests and what (not) to wear. There was also a brief Lingala primer thrown in. So the Koyamba team had to prepare and deliver a short teaching…in English, of course. They did great and the Lingala lesson by Simplice was especially engaging.

On Sunday we worshipped at Temple in the morning and that afternoon Michelle threw a surprise baby shower for Sarah that the team got to be a part of. Read more about that here.

The team’s work began in earnest on Monday. We spent that morning praying over the restaurant planning that would occur during the week. In the afternoon we took everybody on a quick tour of Gemena.

Touring the Sights of Gemena

Tuesday through Thursday the four girls went to Temple in the city to take part in a kid’s seminar for children from the Global Fingerprints orphan sponsorship program. They each gave their testimony, told a story about God’s love and presented the both the gospel and a brief lesson on AIDS using e-cube resources. Their involvement was coupled with testimonies by orphans in the program and Bible verse memorization.

The restaurant planning took place throughout the first week, included meals at two local establishments to get some local flavor and culminated in a dinner at a mock restaurant in our English classroom here at ELIKYA. The restaurant planners cooked all day, the Kids for Congo girls served and the rest of us enjoyed some absolutely delicious food. It is generally in agreement that Gemena has no real restaurants so the establishment of an ELIKYA restaurant could be a big draw and source of income for the center. It would also provide another training track for the widows and orphans.

Eating out on the town

On Friday, Dede Taylor, the Directrice of Hidden Acres, met with Pastor Passi to discuss HA’s growth and mission and to hear about CECU’s camp ministry. Afterwards we visited a school where CECU currently hosts kid’s summer camps and walked the perimeter of the land purchased for a new camp behind ELIKYA.

On Saturday we took the team to a nearby cave (where CECU also hosts summer camp) to explore and made it back in time for the ELIKYA students’ graduation ceremony.

The view from above the cave

The following Monday we took a day trip to Tandala to visit the hospital there. Read more about that here.

The girls were able to visit some of their friends in Global Fingerprints on Tuesday. Everybody also made it to the CECU garage later for a very special ceremony. Edison, the head mechanic and chauffer has been making special hand-pedaled “tricycles” for the handicapped. He was able to present four people with a brand new means of transportation that will greatly improve their quality of life.

And on Wednesday they were gone…We thoroughly enjoyed hosting them and even better, so did the Koyamba Team!

Kids for Congo

Jenna, Jesse, Anna and Alysha

A big part of the team that came out this month was four girls that make up a group called Kids for Congo. “Kids for Congo” is a partner of PEASITs Global Fingerprints program. What’s exciting about Kids for Congo is that it is a non-profit founded by kids for kids. This is the second time that the girls have been to Congo in the last two years. They have made it their mission to get more orphans sponsored and to find more pen pals for Congolese orphans in the program. They would love for you and your family to get involved. Visit their website for more information.

Tandala Hospital

On June 13th we took a day trip to visit the Tandala Hospital. Many of the team members had heard about the work that had been going on at the hospital for years and were excited at the opportunity to go and see it firsthand.

The visit, brief as it was, had an impact on all who went. The work at Tandala faces an uphill battle right now because of a recent dip in support from US churches. There is not enough money to buy medicine or pay the doctors. It is hard to quantify the impact that this has on the health care that is provided for the entire Ubangi region. Needless to say, there is an enormous need here that you and your church could help meet. To learn more about the Tandala Hospital and how to get involved, click here.

Beds without mattresses

Shelves without medicine

Sarah's Baby Shower

The first full day the team was here Michelle hosted a surprise baby shower for Sarah. Read Sarah’s post on their blog, Snyders in Congo, for more on that.