Here in Nairobi, all is well. I took a taxi from the border of Rwanda and DRC to the airport I Kigali. I was blessed to have a taxi that was relatively new and in good working order. The trip took 3.5 hrs, and was uneventful. The road to Kigali is 50% new and they are working on the rest. So nice to drive on a surface other that lava rock.
I have spent the last 3 hours in the Nairobi Java House, having a sandwich with a decaf mocha while watching Animal Planet. Usually it's 'football' or CNN which reruns the news regularly. Got about 3.5 more hours here, and after a little walk, I will probably be back at the Java House watching more TV.
Looking forward to getting home!
Michael
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Michael's Goodbye
The las few days have been very tiring, but rewarding. We have made a lot of good contacts and have heard the hearts of many when it comes to the topic of men. There has been so much information that it feels like my mind is full and it needs some time to digest the information. We had a good team meeting last night, going over teh Kinshasa part fo the trip. We went meeting by meeeting and shared what we got out of each one. It took a few hours, but we made it. Rest of the team will have to do the same for the Goma part of the trip on Friday.
So, I am 45 minutes from leaving Goma. Patrick will carry the PW torch here until he leaves on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing my wife, kids, dogs, and getting back to ,my church family. God had shown me things I need to do at church and I am anxious to get going on them. Thanks for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for the work started here in Goma. Pray for Patrick in his last few days and for his safe travels home.
Grace and Peace.
Michael.
So, I am 45 minutes from leaving Goma. Patrick will carry the PW torch here until he leaves on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing my wife, kids, dogs, and getting back to ,my church family. God had shown me things I need to do at church and I am anxious to get going on them. Thanks for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for the work started here in Goma. Pray for Patrick in his last few days and for his safe travels home.
Grace and Peace.
Michael.
Jambo Tuesday...local time 5:40 pm
Hello family,
Well we had a 9:00 meeting today with one of the heads of the local Baptist church. These meetings have sort of fallen into a smooth and predictiable format. Uaslly one of us will cast the vision of The Sons of Congo and then we ask for input. The main goal right now is finding the right people here to work with us in moving forward. So this mornings meeting was brief as we were only interacting w/ one person and we all had appointments at 10:00. Our 10:00 appointment was at a millitary camp with the Chaplin and a team of people who minister with him. It was an incredible and encourging meeting...that is all I can say about that meeting for now.
Mike is almost packed...he is begining his 40 hour journy home tomorow morning.
That's right I'm gonna be here in the most dangerous place in the world...alone.
In Danger of eminent Volcano eruption, in danger from an exploding lake, in dander from toxic gas, in danger from acid rain, in danger from lava flow, in danger from corrupt police, in danger from rampant militias, in danger from the local military.in dander from Malaria, in danger from explosive diarrhea, in danger from my over active mind. I love it. Good thing I got Jesus.
Shout out to all my peeps at P-dub & The Genesis house.
Love and miss you all see you soon.
P.
Well we had a 9:00 meeting today with one of the heads of the local Baptist church. These meetings have sort of fallen into a smooth and predictiable format. Uaslly one of us will cast the vision of The Sons of Congo and then we ask for input. The main goal right now is finding the right people here to work with us in moving forward. So this mornings meeting was brief as we were only interacting w/ one person and we all had appointments at 10:00. Our 10:00 appointment was at a millitary camp with the Chaplin and a team of people who minister with him. It was an incredible and encourging meeting...that is all I can say about that meeting for now.
Mike is almost packed...he is begining his 40 hour journy home tomorow morning.
That's right I'm gonna be here in the most dangerous place in the world...alone.
In Danger of eminent Volcano eruption, in danger from an exploding lake, in dander from toxic gas, in danger from acid rain, in danger from lava flow, in danger from corrupt police, in danger from rampant militias, in danger from the local military.in dander from Malaria, in danger from explosive diarrhea, in danger from my over active mind. I love it. Good thing I got Jesus.
Shout out to all my peeps at P-dub & The Genesis house.
Love and miss you all see you soon.
P.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Kinshasa to Goma
Wednesday was to be our travel day, but we were sold tickets for a flight that did not exist. So, we spent the morning at L’Arche church meeting with Pastors on staff and interns. We were sharing the vision for Sons of Congo and looking for their input. We are looking for an in country lead and this was a group of potential candidates. We also spent more time with Pastor Nsembe, getting a tour of the church under construction, and video taping his testimony and vision for the church. He is a great man of God! When our time with him was finished, he took a really nice stature off his desk and gave it to me in thanks for my input at his church.
With new tickets for the Thursday flight, we had to rush to pack and check out bags in. Here you check in you bags for domestic flights the night before you leave. It does make is much easier going to the airport with only a backpack to worry about. The check in process was also chaotic, with people wanting to help carry things and generally wanting to get some money for doing next to nothing. We had a nice dinner with the Turner’s and it was time to say good-bye to Kinshasa.
Thursday was a day of travel. We had the 8am flight out of Kinshasa into Goma, which meant we had, be out of the house by 5:45am. Our plan was to catch the CAA bus to the airport, which we had some reservations about. Turn out fine, ok bus that was only half full. You would think that a domestic flight would be less of a process, but no. Various check points and processes that seemed excessive to me. It was a hassle to get to the gate for departure, but we made it unscathed. Seating again was first come, first serve, so we made sure we got on the plane quickly. Got the exit row again! Flight was a now event, it went up when it was supposed to, and came down when it was supposed to. In Goma, it was a hassled to get through immigration as Camille attempted to handle us as a group. That set a worker over the edge, yelling at Camille and myself. We got through, received out bags, and we were out of there.
Good to be back in the Ntoto home, peaceful and great weather. After lunch Patrick and I crashed hard for a couple hours, then off to the English Bible study. At church we quickly discovered there was no bible study due to a conference that was going on. We had diner plans at a friend’s house, so after some conversation we were off. We had dinner at the home of Omer and Odette, friends of the Ntoto’s. They have a very nice home and are excellent hosts.
Looking back it was a slow day, but it was good to catch my breath before the final stretch of my trip.
More to come.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
With new tickets for the Thursday flight, we had to rush to pack and check out bags in. Here you check in you bags for domestic flights the night before you leave. It does make is much easier going to the airport with only a backpack to worry about. The check in process was also chaotic, with people wanting to help carry things and generally wanting to get some money for doing next to nothing. We had a nice dinner with the Turner’s and it was time to say good-bye to Kinshasa.
Thursday was a day of travel. We had the 8am flight out of Kinshasa into Goma, which meant we had, be out of the house by 5:45am. Our plan was to catch the CAA bus to the airport, which we had some reservations about. Turn out fine, ok bus that was only half full. You would think that a domestic flight would be less of a process, but no. Various check points and processes that seemed excessive to me. It was a hassle to get to the gate for departure, but we made it unscathed. Seating again was first come, first serve, so we made sure we got on the plane quickly. Got the exit row again! Flight was a now event, it went up when it was supposed to, and came down when it was supposed to. In Goma, it was a hassled to get through immigration as Camille attempted to handle us as a group. That set a worker over the edge, yelling at Camille and myself. We got through, received out bags, and we were out of there.
Good to be back in the Ntoto home, peaceful and great weather. After lunch Patrick and I crashed hard for a couple hours, then off to the English Bible study. At church we quickly discovered there was no bible study due to a conference that was going on. We had diner plans at a friend’s house, so after some conversation we were off. We had dinner at the home of Omer and Odette, friends of the Ntoto’s. They have a very nice home and are excellent hosts.
Looking back it was a slow day, but it was good to catch my breath before the final stretch of my trip.
More to come.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Ditto
Today(Tuesday) was much Monday, meetings. We had a breakfast meeting at the house which went from 8:30 to 11, then another at 1pm.
The 1pm meeting was with Pastor Jacques Vernaud who has one of the biggest churches in Kinshasa and had plant numerous other churches in Kinshasa and all over the DRC. I was expecting a native Congolese, but he is Swiss and born in Gabon. He has spent his entire life (76 years) in Africa. It was an amazing conversation with a man that has so much experience. I could have sat there for days just soaking in all that he had to offer. It took notes in what he said and God was triggering my mind to more. On hour with this pastor went by very quickly.
We had a dinner meeting with multiple pastors at 6pm at a local hotel. With traffic and finalizing arrangements, we did not have much time. We had not eaten since breakfast, so we stopped at Subway for a sandwich. (sandwich yes, but at Mozart's Cafe) We arrived promptly at 6pm at the hotel so we started promptly at 7:30pm! Seriously, Congo time. Good meeting with lots of really sound input. Each man knows that transformation in men in absolutely necessary.
Creative juices are not flowing right now.
More later,
Michael.
The 1pm meeting was with Pastor Jacques Vernaud who has one of the biggest churches in Kinshasa and had plant numerous other churches in Kinshasa and all over the DRC. I was expecting a native Congolese, but he is Swiss and born in Gabon. He has spent his entire life (76 years) in Africa. It was an amazing conversation with a man that has so much experience. I could have sat there for days just soaking in all that he had to offer. It took notes in what he said and God was triggering my mind to more. On hour with this pastor went by very quickly.
We had a dinner meeting with multiple pastors at 6pm at a local hotel. With traffic and finalizing arrangements, we did not have much time. We had not eaten since breakfast, so we stopped at Subway for a sandwich. (sandwich yes, but at Mozart's Cafe) We arrived promptly at 6pm at the hotel so we started promptly at 7:30pm! Seriously, Congo time. Good meeting with lots of really sound input. Each man knows that transformation in men in absolutely necessary.
Creative juices are not flowing right now.
More later,
Michael.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Meetings
Today was a day of meetings. Our goal is to strategically connect with either people whose input we would like, or those who have connections we would like to have. Day started with a breakfast meeting at 8:30am and ended with a dinner meeting that ended at 8pm. We met with politicians, police and religious leaders, but I can't mention names here.
Patrick and I are well, tired, but doing okay. We both are missing home, we have been gone for over 2 weeks now.
Read more about our day at http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com .
Michael.
Patrick and I are well, tired, but doing okay. We both are missing home, we have been gone for over 2 weeks now.
Read more about our day at http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com .
Michael.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
In Kinshasa, Sunday is coming to an end. As I type this Patrick is sleeping in the bed next to mine and for those who need to know, he does not snore. Well, not when I have head phones on listening to music...
Early rise this morning, church at 8am and church about a 30 minute drive away. I was up even earlier finalizing my notes and thinking the message through. I was to preach today at ARCHE (Assemblies of God) church. This is the parent church of the church I spoke at last Sunday in Goma. We arrived a little after 8am and the music sounded good. At this point the church was about 60% full, but I knew that more would roll in. We where escorted to our seats up front and the music was fantastic. They had a worship choir and a good band, very very cool. The worship time was great with a mixture of dancing, singing and prayer. Camille introduced our team and Aimee and Kasareka shared a little bit of what we are about. Camille introduced me and it was go time and by this time the church was packed. God gave me a very cool message on justice and the churches roll in bringing the justice of God through the world. God was confirming the message before I spoke through comments the Assoc, Pastor said and the songs that where sung. As you can see from the picture, there was a lot of people, about 3,000+. The stage was up high with seating on three sides of me. Both sides a had balconies which where very full. It was a very cool experience and I am thankful for God using me, about 25 accepted Jesus for the first time!
We went home to change and I...fell asleep. No time to sleep, a knock on the door and it was time for lunch. After ,lunch we did had a little time to ret that got larger because our next appoint got pushed back a couple hours. We did end up meeting with a man who is a senator and the head of a large association f churches. We shared with him our vision for the Sons of Congo and he encouraged us to see it through. Don't how these meetings will affect what we are doing, but we will see in time.
Had a little pizza for dinner, not bad. trying to get this blog updated and I know i a leaving this out, but I guess i can tell you that stuff later.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
GO LAKERS!
Early rise this morning, church at 8am and church about a 30 minute drive away. I was up even earlier finalizing my notes and thinking the message through. I was to preach today at ARCHE (Assemblies of God) church. This is the parent church of the church I spoke at last Sunday in Goma. We arrived a little after 8am and the music sounded good. At this point the church was about 60% full, but I knew that more would roll in. We where escorted to our seats up front and the music was fantastic. They had a worship choir and a good band, very very cool. The worship time was great with a mixture of dancing, singing and prayer. Camille introduced our team and Aimee and Kasareka shared a little bit of what we are about. Camille introduced me and it was go time and by this time the church was packed. God gave me a very cool message on justice and the churches roll in bringing the justice of God through the world. God was confirming the message before I spoke through comments the Assoc, Pastor said and the songs that where sung. As you can see from the picture, there was a lot of people, about 3,000+. The stage was up high with seating on three sides of me. Both sides a had balconies which where very full. It was a very cool experience and I am thankful for God using me, about 25 accepted Jesus for the first time!
We went home to change and I...fell asleep. No time to sleep, a knock on the door and it was time for lunch. After ,lunch we did had a little time to ret that got larger because our next appoint got pushed back a couple hours. We did end up meeting with a man who is a senator and the head of a large association f churches. We shared with him our vision for the Sons of Congo and he encouraged us to see it through. Don't how these meetings will affect what we are doing, but we will see in time.
Had a little pizza for dinner, not bad. trying to get this blog updated and I know i a leaving this out, but I guess i can tell you that stuff later.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
GO LAKERS!
Emotions
Nice to sleep in air conditioning, we actually got a little cold.
There were no team plans for the day but Camille was going to his sister's college graduation, and I wanted to find the biological family of Davina (my daughter). The problem with finding the family is that I did not have a phone number and no idea where the house was. So I did what I do in Kinshasa when I need to find something, call Francis. Francis is a good friend I met in 2004 and has helped in every trip I have taken to Kinshasa. We went to the house of Major Mwabidi who help in the adoption process. We picked up his son who new the way, so with Camille driving we headed out. I do not know how people know where to go. There are so many side roads and the ones we took were an absolute mess from recent rains. Fortunately we where in a nice Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 that handled the roads easily. I drove a lot in Goma, but I have zero interest driving here! As we drove up the street I had a flash back to the last day Davina was in that house. We came to pick her up to get passport and visa pictures taken. She was running around with a lot of other kids and her mother quickly changed her cloths and put her in the truck. We took her into the city and a simple process took awhile. By the time we where finished, we needed to return the car we were borrowing, so since we were the legal parents, we called and kept her with us. She never went back to her house again. I quickly came back from my memory to see a girl standing in the doorway of the house looking at me as if she new me. It was Roland, the 23 year old sister of Davina. Five of the seven children where home, one was in Angola and the other was at school. I talked with all the kids and my emotions were running very high, I did not expect to feel this way. Joanna had printed some pictures for them and I handed them to Roland one at a time. She grabbed a picture and said "my baby" and kissed the picture. I lost it, tears could not be contained. She could tell that Davina was healthy and very happy, and she was cool with that. I was a able to get pictures and write down the kids names and ages. I told them as much as I could and they asked me a couple questions. Roland and Enoch (9) were the most interested. I met Enoch last year, a really sweet boy. I did not know what to think or feel when I left. I was glad that Patrick was there to experience this with me, he really loves Davina.
From there we went to Camille's sisters graduation. In a word I would describe the scene chaotic. People everywhere on the campus, one big party. We were not there long, then we head over to Camille's dads house for the party. The party would not really get going until much later, but we stayed awhile, had some food, then head back for a team meeting.
Meeting was really hard to focus, partly because I preaching the next day and had to finish and partly thinking about the Nsombi family. We were focusing on our schedule and who we needed to meet with.
Got to bed, finished preparing, then slept!
Sleep in good.
More to come... Grace & Peace.
Michael.
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
There were no team plans for the day but Camille was going to his sister's college graduation, and I wanted to find the biological family of Davina (my daughter). The problem with finding the family is that I did not have a phone number and no idea where the house was. So I did what I do in Kinshasa when I need to find something, call Francis. Francis is a good friend I met in 2004 and has helped in every trip I have taken to Kinshasa. We went to the house of Major Mwabidi who help in the adoption process. We picked up his son who new the way, so with Camille driving we headed out. I do not know how people know where to go. There are so many side roads and the ones we took were an absolute mess from recent rains. Fortunately we where in a nice Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 that handled the roads easily. I drove a lot in Goma, but I have zero interest driving here! As we drove up the street I had a flash back to the last day Davina was in that house. We came to pick her up to get passport and visa pictures taken. She was running around with a lot of other kids and her mother quickly changed her cloths and put her in the truck. We took her into the city and a simple process took awhile. By the time we where finished, we needed to return the car we were borrowing, so since we were the legal parents, we called and kept her with us. She never went back to her house again. I quickly came back from my memory to see a girl standing in the doorway of the house looking at me as if she new me. It was Roland, the 23 year old sister of Davina. Five of the seven children where home, one was in Angola and the other was at school. I talked with all the kids and my emotions were running very high, I did not expect to feel this way. Joanna had printed some pictures for them and I handed them to Roland one at a time. She grabbed a picture and said "my baby" and kissed the picture. I lost it, tears could not be contained. She could tell that Davina was healthy and very happy, and she was cool with that. I was a able to get pictures and write down the kids names and ages. I told them as much as I could and they asked me a couple questions. Roland and Enoch (9) were the most interested. I met Enoch last year, a really sweet boy. I did not know what to think or feel when I left. I was glad that Patrick was there to experience this with me, he really loves Davina.
From there we went to Camille's sisters graduation. In a word I would describe the scene chaotic. People everywhere on the campus, one big party. We were not there long, then we head over to Camille's dads house for the party. The party would not really get going until much later, but we stayed awhile, had some food, then head back for a team meeting.
Meeting was really hard to focus, partly because I preaching the next day and had to finish and partly thinking about the Nsombi family. We were focusing on our schedule and who we needed to meet with.
Got to bed, finished preparing, then slept!
Sleep in good.
More to come... Grace & Peace.
Michael.
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
Goma to Kinshasa
Future learning center
As you have already read, Patrick and I left the rest of the team to head to Kinshasa. In Kinshasa we will be meeting up with Camille, Aimee, and Kasareka to begin the initiative Sons of Congo. (more on that later). Esther stayed with us in the airport and handled getting as checked in. Last year we flew AireBora which had crashed a plane on take of the week before we flew. This time we flew CAA, which was a none event flight. Seating was first come first service so we positioned ourselves at the door and where the first ones on the plane. We enjoy the room of the exit row and did some reading and napping. Where met at the airport by Jean-Pierre who has been very faithful over the years getting us through the bureaucratic maze of the airport in Kinshasa.
We were taken to the Salvation Army headquarter(THQ) and met up with Rachel who is an American from LA doing development work at THQ. We went to dinner at an Indian restaurant building on the top floor (8th) of a building down town. The elevator was not working and looked very sketchy any way, so we walk. Weather in Kinshasa was about 15 degrees warmer than Goma with very high humidity. By the time we got to the restaurant, I was dripping went, ah Kinshasa. Dinner was excellent, I had never had Indian food and honestly I was kind of afraid. We had a good discussion on how to better do shirt term trips to Kinshasa doing sustainable projects. If e come and do work and it cant be maintained, then what's the point. Trips to Kinshasa in the future will take a lot more planning and probably an little less frequent. It is very important that we invest our time and money wisely into projects that are sustainable by the local church.
After dinner, Camille came and picked us up from THQ. We are staying with Wayne and Sylvia Turner who have been missionaries here for 36 years. The Assemblies of God (AOG) have a nice compound with a small apartment that we are sharing with Camille and Kasareka. The place is fully air conditioned and they installed a router for wireless Internet which is a bonus.
The link below will give you an idea of what we are doing now.
More later,
Michael.
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
Leaving on a Jet Plane.....
We have officially begun our journey home. We were up very early this morning, 5:00am, so that we could be ready to leave the house by 6:30. We had to be at the border by 7 am. Esther got us to the border with time to spare and worked her magic to get us to the front of the line that was already formed. We had a bus waiting for us on the other side to drive us through Rwanda to the airport.
After we were all stamped out of the Congo, we had a very emotional good-bye with Esther. We hopped on our bus with Jonatel and began the journey to the airport. We arrived at the airport around 10:15. We had plenty of time to spare as our flight was not until 1:45. So we walked around and enjoyed the shops.
We have now arrived in Naorobi, where we have a 6 hour layover. We are enjoying time in the Java House....people watching, playing some Uno and next a game of Catch Phrase. We are all excited to be heading home to see our families.
Please continue to pray for traveling mercies as we continue towards home, as well as for Michael and Patrick with the Sons of Congo team, that are still in Kinshasa.
See you soon!
Jess, Jen, Terry and Nona
After we were all stamped out of the Congo, we had a very emotional good-bye with Esther. We hopped on our bus with Jonatel and began the journey to the airport. We arrived at the airport around 10:15. We had plenty of time to spare as our flight was not until 1:45. So we walked around and enjoyed the shops.
We have now arrived in Naorobi, where we have a 6 hour layover. We are enjoying time in the Java House....people watching, playing some Uno and next a game of Catch Phrase. We are all excited to be heading home to see our families.
Please continue to pray for traveling mercies as we continue towards home, as well as for Michael and Patrick with the Sons of Congo team, that are still in Kinshasa.
See you soon!
Jess, Jen, Terry and Nona
Saturday, May 2, 2009
And so We All Say Good Bye....
So we woke up to our last full day in Goma. We finally had a day to sleep in and didnt have to be ready to go anywhere unril 8:30, so it was a nice morning of sitting around enjoying the morning with Esther and Nicole. We had a very busy planned out day. We started with a visit to Healing Arts to purchase a few more things handcrafted by the ladies of Heal Africa, which in turn, gave us a chance to say goob-bye to some of the women one more time. We spent about a good 45 minutes there going through all the beautiful things and trying to make decisions. If it was my choice, and affordable, I would have walked out with everything they had on display.
After we finshed at Healing Arts we headed over to the hospital at Heal Africa. We then distributed two suitcases of medical supplies that they were overwhelmingly blessed to recieve. They were thankful because there is a huge need for most of the supplies that were given. After Heal Africa, we headed to another medical center in town. There we were able to distribute the last two suitcases of medical supplies. We had a chance at this hospital to visit with some more victims of sexual violence. A few of the women shared their stories with us and there were many tears shared among us all. We sweetened it up with them by giving them each a piece of fabric, some jolly ranchers and some prays. By the time we left you could feel the joy of the Lord a;; the way around and everyone was smiling and looking absolutley beautiful!
I got to expericence two first that I've never done before. One, I got to drive in Goma.....Esther hates to drive and asked if any of us had our license with us and being that I was the only one, I got put in the hot seat. The second thing, the driver's seat is on the right side of the car here. It was the weirdest thing in the world to drive on what we would consider the wrong side. After a little while it became a little easier. But I'll tell you, I would take sitting in traffic on a smooth freeway then trying to share a lova rock, pothole, huge dips and bumps road with a million motorcycles that dont like to share the road, any day!
So after we took care of business this morning we had a little time to go shopping before having to be at the Learning Center at 2. Nicole laughed as she watched us shop and called us "pros" at being able to negoiate prices. Not long after shopping we made it back to house for some time to pack and a quick feast....i mean lunch. We had our last lunch with Priscilla, who could not wait to see the work we had been doing at the center. She is one of the few that works with the children at the center, so our project is a blessing to both her and all the kids. We headed over to the center where we got a chance to see her reaction as well as the children. They were all so happy!! After the excitment we sat down as a team and shared to story of Noah and the Ark with all the kids. They all were active particpants in the discussion which made us all so happy! They are so happy to learn its amazing.
After the center, we took a drive over to the Lucy's house. We all stood there and said.... "Were not in Goma anymore". It was absolutly breathtaking! We walked around the property and enjoyed to views of the lake.
We are now back at the house, just enjoying each others company and spending our last evening with Esther and Nicole. We are almost all finished up packng but none of us our ready to leave. We all are leaving a piece of ourselves here in Goma, and taking a piece of Goma with each one of us. This has been an amazing journey. We came here hoping to bless the lives of many and are leaving with an adundance of blessings from all of them! We will never forget those we have come in contact with and those we have spent lots of time with. Everyone will be missed by us all! Thank you to all of our families and friends for all their support for this trip. None of it would have been possible without you all and the Lord! We are all soooooooo extremely grateful!!
See you all soon!! Many stories and pictures to share when we all get home. So for the last time from Goma, good night!!
Jess, Jen, Terry and Nona
(and Michael and Patrick from Kinshasa!)
After we finshed at Healing Arts we headed over to the hospital at Heal Africa. We then distributed two suitcases of medical supplies that they were overwhelmingly blessed to recieve. They were thankful because there is a huge need for most of the supplies that were given. After Heal Africa, we headed to another medical center in town. There we were able to distribute the last two suitcases of medical supplies. We had a chance at this hospital to visit with some more victims of sexual violence. A few of the women shared their stories with us and there were many tears shared among us all. We sweetened it up with them by giving them each a piece of fabric, some jolly ranchers and some prays. By the time we left you could feel the joy of the Lord a;; the way around and everyone was smiling and looking absolutley beautiful!
I got to expericence two first that I've never done before. One, I got to drive in Goma.....Esther hates to drive and asked if any of us had our license with us and being that I was the only one, I got put in the hot seat. The second thing, the driver's seat is on the right side of the car here. It was the weirdest thing in the world to drive on what we would consider the wrong side. After a little while it became a little easier. But I'll tell you, I would take sitting in traffic on a smooth freeway then trying to share a lova rock, pothole, huge dips and bumps road with a million motorcycles that dont like to share the road, any day!
So after we took care of business this morning we had a little time to go shopping before having to be at the Learning Center at 2. Nicole laughed as she watched us shop and called us "pros" at being able to negoiate prices. Not long after shopping we made it back to house for some time to pack and a quick feast....i mean lunch. We had our last lunch with Priscilla, who could not wait to see the work we had been doing at the center. She is one of the few that works with the children at the center, so our project is a blessing to both her and all the kids. We headed over to the center where we got a chance to see her reaction as well as the children. They were all so happy!! After the excitment we sat down as a team and shared to story of Noah and the Ark with all the kids. They all were active particpants in the discussion which made us all so happy! They are so happy to learn its amazing.
After the center, we took a drive over to the Lucy's house. We all stood there and said.... "Were not in Goma anymore". It was absolutly breathtaking! We walked around the property and enjoyed to views of the lake.
We are now back at the house, just enjoying each others company and spending our last evening with Esther and Nicole. We are almost all finished up packng but none of us our ready to leave. We all are leaving a piece of ourselves here in Goma, and taking a piece of Goma with each one of us. This has been an amazing journey. We came here hoping to bless the lives of many and are leaving with an adundance of blessings from all of them! We will never forget those we have come in contact with and those we have spent lots of time with. Everyone will be missed by us all! Thank you to all of our families and friends for all their support for this trip. None of it would have been possible without you all and the Lord! We are all soooooooo extremely grateful!!
See you all soon!! Many stories and pictures to share when we all get home. So for the last time from Goma, good night!!
Jess, Jen, Terry and Nona
(and Michael and Patrick from Kinshasa!)
Friday, May 1, 2009
And we lose some of the team...
Wow, was it tough getting up this morning. We had to be up as usual at 5 for prayer at 6. We are all feeling the soreness of our bodies from moving the tons and tons of rocks....literally tons! I think we estimated that we have movd anywhere between 2 and 3 tons of rocks....with our hands and no equipment. Its been really hard work but we are so happy with how its come out. We have all made a great team in working and building this project together!
Today was a mellow day. In Goma, today is a holiday. Its thier form of Labor Day. No one works! So it made being able to do stuff a little trciky as everything was closed. We knew we were sending off two of our team members to Kinshasa this afternoon. So we spent the morning with Michael and Patrick playing Catch Phrase and as a bonus for them leaving the girls let the guys win....hahahaha! We took the adventerous drive to take the guys to airport and got a chance to see the workers who were celebrating the holiday marching done the "road" in a parade. I say "road" because the streets here are not a street like you are thinking. In 2002 there was a volcanic eruption that took out most of Goma. So what remains is mounds and mounds of lova rock. The roads here are mostly all lova rock...which of course leads to an extremely bumpy drive no matter where you go in town. So at the airport we parted with two of our team members wishing them good luck and lots of prayers as they continue their work here with Sons of Congo.
The drive back to the house was very quiet. I think we were all a little sad to see some of the team leave but even more so realizing our trip is slowly coming near its end. Back at the house we had some lunch with some special guests. Priscilla joined us along with three boys she has taken under her care here in Goma. We ended lunch with giving the boys a soccer ball that they kicked around for hours in the front yard. It put smiles back on all of our faces.
Tonight was our last bible study with the women at Heal Africa. It was very powerful as Jen shared about what it means to be a Christian and how you can turn your life over to the Lord and the results you get from that. The women loved what she had to share and responded very well. After bible study the women got a chance to share whatever was on their hearts with us. Many of them shared about how blessed they have been by our presence here, others about how they will miss us when we go. There was many tears and lots of hugs to go around. We ended our visit by giving each of the women at the study a peice of fabric that they could use for sewing, clothing, etc. This brought many of them to tears as they were overwhelmed by recieving the gift!
After bible study we got a text message from Michael and Patrick saying they arrived in Kinshasa safe and sound so that made us all feel good. We headed back to the house were we shared a dinner prepared by Nona. We sat around the table for a few hours after dinner sharing many laughs, tears, more laughs, more tears from laughing so hard and many stories of our lives. It was a great time of reflection on where the Lord has brought us all in our lives. God is so AWESOME!!
Were now getting ready to plan out our last day in Goma for tomorrow....lots of things to do! Looking forward to it all. So until then..... we miss you and love you all very much! See you soon!!
Jess
Today was a mellow day. In Goma, today is a holiday. Its thier form of Labor Day. No one works! So it made being able to do stuff a little trciky as everything was closed. We knew we were sending off two of our team members to Kinshasa this afternoon. So we spent the morning with Michael and Patrick playing Catch Phrase and as a bonus for them leaving the girls let the guys win....hahahaha! We took the adventerous drive to take the guys to airport and got a chance to see the workers who were celebrating the holiday marching done the "road" in a parade. I say "road" because the streets here are not a street like you are thinking. In 2002 there was a volcanic eruption that took out most of Goma. So what remains is mounds and mounds of lova rock. The roads here are mostly all lova rock...which of course leads to an extremely bumpy drive no matter where you go in town. So at the airport we parted with two of our team members wishing them good luck and lots of prayers as they continue their work here with Sons of Congo.
The drive back to the house was very quiet. I think we were all a little sad to see some of the team leave but even more so realizing our trip is slowly coming near its end. Back at the house we had some lunch with some special guests. Priscilla joined us along with three boys she has taken under her care here in Goma. We ended lunch with giving the boys a soccer ball that they kicked around for hours in the front yard. It put smiles back on all of our faces.
Tonight was our last bible study with the women at Heal Africa. It was very powerful as Jen shared about what it means to be a Christian and how you can turn your life over to the Lord and the results you get from that. The women loved what she had to share and responded very well. After bible study the women got a chance to share whatever was on their hearts with us. Many of them shared about how blessed they have been by our presence here, others about how they will miss us when we go. There was many tears and lots of hugs to go around. We ended our visit by giving each of the women at the study a peice of fabric that they could use for sewing, clothing, etc. This brought many of them to tears as they were overwhelmed by recieving the gift!
After bible study we got a text message from Michael and Patrick saying they arrived in Kinshasa safe and sound so that made us all feel good. We headed back to the house were we shared a dinner prepared by Nona. We sat around the table for a few hours after dinner sharing many laughs, tears, more laughs, more tears from laughing so hard and many stories of our lives. It was a great time of reflection on where the Lord has brought us all in our lives. God is so AWESOME!!
Were now getting ready to plan out our last day in Goma for tomorrow....lots of things to do! Looking forward to it all. So until then..... we miss you and love you all very much! See you soon!!
Jess
A rain filled day....
As every morning this week....we started off early and headed to prayer. After that we came back to the house and made the plans for the day.
We headed back the center to move some more rocks. But not before Michael and Terry got in some push ups. When we walked in to the gate we could see how much progress we have made. Our team has really helped this project come along quickly. The walls of the foundation are done, and we have filled in the center. We only need a layer of small rock to cover, then cap it with concrete. We really worked hard today and the team feels a real sense of accomplishment.
We headed back to the house around two or so. A quick shower and lunch and we all feel better. It started raining this afternoon, pretty hard. It rained for an hour or so. Some of the team took a short nap. Moving rocks is hard, dirty, tiring work and we all felt it. Michael led bible study tonight, he spoke on obedience to God. He used the book of Daniel chapters 1 through 3.It went very well. It seemed as though everybody could relate and apply it to their lives.
After bible study the team and Esther went out for dinner. It was our last dinner together. We ate at a hotel restaurant on Lake Kivu. Dinner was good. When we got to the house we spent some time watching a movie, then to bed. We had to be up early for bible study on friday.
Hi Barton family I love you and will see you soon.
We headed back the center to move some more rocks. But not before Michael and Terry got in some push ups. When we walked in to the gate we could see how much progress we have made. Our team has really helped this project come along quickly. The walls of the foundation are done, and we have filled in the center. We only need a layer of small rock to cover, then cap it with concrete. We really worked hard today and the team feels a real sense of accomplishment.
We headed back to the house around two or so. A quick shower and lunch and we all feel better. It started raining this afternoon, pretty hard. It rained for an hour or so. Some of the team took a short nap. Moving rocks is hard, dirty, tiring work and we all felt it. Michael led bible study tonight, he spoke on obedience to God. He used the book of Daniel chapters 1 through 3.It went very well. It seemed as though everybody could relate and apply it to their lives.
After bible study the team and Esther went out for dinner. It was our last dinner together. We ate at a hotel restaurant on Lake Kivu. Dinner was good. When we got to the house we spent some time watching a movie, then to bed. We had to be up early for bible study on friday.
Hi Barton family I love you and will see you soon.
Just a simple Wednesday in Goma
Today we started the morning bright and early at 5:00 am to be ready for our prayer meeting at 6. I have to tell you…..there is not a better way to start off the day then praising the Lord through prayer and worship. Where two or more are gathered He is there and trust me ….we can feel him every morning!
After prayer we came back to the house for breakfast and to make the game plan for the day. We headed over to the center to make some more progress on our project. The shelter is going to be so awesome when its done. The kids are going to be able to focus more on their learning being under a shelter rather then sitting on the hot rocks in the very hot sun! We moved well over our share of rocks. We formed a line and just passed the rocks along to set our foundation. It was a very tiring job and a few of us got some bumps and bruises but continued to press on and work through! We had some great team bonding not only with us but with some of our new friends!
After our work was finished we came back to the house took showers and headed to an Art Exhibit at one of the UN buildings. The paintings were beautiful as well as the carvings. We all walked away with a little something.
From there we headed to the women’s bible study at Heal Africa. It was my (Jess) night to share with the ladies. I shared a powerful testimony and shared about the changes in my life the Lord has done. It was amazing. After I shared the women got a chance to share back. None of us were able to hold back tears. Those women are absolutely amazing. We talked with one woman who shared with us her fears of leaving Heal Africa because of the family rejection that comes with the result of the sexual violence done to her.
When we finished there, we headed to Shoppers to get stuff for dinner. It was our night to cook so we decided we were going Mexican! We made tacos, rice, beans and fresh chips with the deep fryer. It was a crack up for all of us. We busted out an awesome meal that was loved by all.
The night is ending with a couple rounds of Catch Phrase…..girls against guys…..(the guys are going down) and movie night!
Keep checking back to see what we are all up to! Until then we all miss you!
Jess
After prayer we came back to the house for breakfast and to make the game plan for the day. We headed over to the center to make some more progress on our project. The shelter is going to be so awesome when its done. The kids are going to be able to focus more on their learning being under a shelter rather then sitting on the hot rocks in the very hot sun! We moved well over our share of rocks. We formed a line and just passed the rocks along to set our foundation. It was a very tiring job and a few of us got some bumps and bruises but continued to press on and work through! We had some great team bonding not only with us but with some of our new friends!
After our work was finished we came back to the house took showers and headed to an Art Exhibit at one of the UN buildings. The paintings were beautiful as well as the carvings. We all walked away with a little something.
From there we headed to the women’s bible study at Heal Africa. It was my (Jess) night to share with the ladies. I shared a powerful testimony and shared about the changes in my life the Lord has done. It was amazing. After I shared the women got a chance to share back. None of us were able to hold back tears. Those women are absolutely amazing. We talked with one woman who shared with us her fears of leaving Heal Africa because of the family rejection that comes with the result of the sexual violence done to her.
When we finished there, we headed to Shoppers to get stuff for dinner. It was our night to cook so we decided we were going Mexican! We made tacos, rice, beans and fresh chips with the deep fryer. It was a crack up for all of us. We busted out an awesome meal that was loved by all.
The night is ending with a couple rounds of Catch Phrase…..girls against guys…..(the guys are going down) and movie night!
Keep checking back to see what we are all up to! Until then we all miss you!
Jess
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)