From Glory to Ruins!

Gbadolite is in the very northwest, just east of Bangui.

Rod ends up flying to many different places in Congo.  In August he flew a team seeking to help the Democratic Republic of Congo through Medical Aide.  One of the villages they visited in their survey was Gbadolite.  Gbadolite was the hometown of the late Mobutu Sese Seko who was a dictator/president over D.R.C. from 1964 to 1996.  He chose to build one of his many palaces in Gbadolite, Equatuer.  He also put in an airfield that could handle the Concord's landing.  Gbadolite was blessed with a dam on the Ubangi River that provides electricity for the village, a hospital, and a coca cola factory.  I was told that Mobutu's wife liked Sprite so he made sure she had it by putting a factory in their own village. 

The Mobutu Residence or Palace during his reign.

In 1996 Laurant Kabila marched through Zaire, as the country was called at that time and he took over the government.  Mobutu was already in the last stages of cancer and fled to Morocco for asylum where he died and was buried.

Throughout my life I have enjoyed visiting ruins with my family.  We would go to Arizona and visit the different ruins of the American Natives or stay in California and visit the Spanish Missions up and down California.  I must say that the missions I enjoyed the most were the ones that were not in ruins.  Each of these places visited gave me the sense of visiting ancient History.  When we visited Switzerland very quickly in 2006 we got to see an old castle that was known for torturing the Anabaptists back in the 1400s.  Even that was well preserved but still gave the feeling of stepping into a memory of ancient history.

One of the pools around the palace!

Mobutu's palace today!

The fountain in the driveway!

 When Rod visited Gbadolite, Mobutu's reign had only ended 17 years before.  Yet the palace was in ruins.  The hospital, though it had many buildings was attempting to keep one small clinic running.

Waiting in line at the clinic.

  The dam was still there and the village is still blessed with electricity.  I can imagine it is not as consistent as Mobutu would have insisted it be.  I have not heard anything about the coca cola company there.

The dam that provides electricity!

This makes me wonder about my life and what I will leave behind some day.  Rod and I began our marriage with the desire to serve God overseas through aviation.  We will not be leaving behind any buildings to be remembered by that I know of.  Our investment in this life so far has been in serving people.  So my question is, are we making an impact?  Will the impact last more than a few years or will it last through generations?   Do they need to remember who we are or our names?  Or will remembering their own faith in Jesus Christ be enough of a legacy?  And will they pass on their knowledge of Jesus Christ to others so they might know the truth, accept it in faith, and be set free?



Map: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/dr_congo_map2.htm
Photo of Mobutu's "lived in" palace: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=851800&page=2

Mama Luta

Flying in the MAF Caravan

Me and Mama Luta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How it All Started

Several months ago I got to fly with Rod and his Aunt Glenda and Uncle Ken to Semendua.  We lived in Semendua for a year in 1997 and 1998.  During our visit I met up with a woman named Mama Luta who had been running a nutrition center for malnourished children while we lived there.  Today she is not receiving funding for a nutrition center but she is doing much more than ever before.  She shared with me stories of children in desperate situations and how God provided what they needed when they needed it.

One class in the girls' school

What's in my Pocket

She also told me how two other MAF wives had encouraged her, one who taught her how to study the Bible and another who encouraged her and supported the nutrition center.  As we were leaving the village I felt burdened with all the needs we had seen, not just under Mama Luta's care but at the hospital and at the local girls' secondary school.  I had some money in my pocket and felt I should give it but I wasn't sure to whom I should give.  It was some money not a never ending supply.  So I gave it to Mama Luta since she seemed to be responsible and had the wisdom within the culture to know which situation was most in need of it.  The story doesn't end here.  Read below to find out what happened to the money I gave!

The Hospital Laboratory with lots of broken slides.

The hospital emergency room

These two women had c-sections and are waiting for family to pay the bill.

A Thank You Note

This week I received a thank you note for the money

from Mama Luta

with pictures and four stories of how she used the money. 

Story #1

Mama Luta shared that this little girl is four years old.  In 2010 her mother died of tuberculosis.  This past year her father died of meningitis.  She is now living with her grandparents.  She obviously is malnourished.  Mama Luta met her at the hospital and began feeding her healthy foods from her pantry such as peanuts, corn, squash seeds and beans. 

 

Story #2

This baby is 4 months old and weighs only 3 kilograms or 6 1/2 lbs.  Her mother is only 14 years old and weighs 22 kilograms or 47 lbs. Her mother is intellectually disabled and does not want to attempt to feed her baby. Mama Luta says that the father is not good.  The baby is already showing signs of retardation.   Mama Luta provided clothes for both the mother and baby.  She also is helping them with their nutritional needs.

 

Story #3

Mama Luta shared the story of one of the children in this picture.  He came from another village after his mother got very sick and became physically disabled, she could not walk anymore or do any work.  She was from a church associated with the Semendua church so she came to the Semendua hospital for treatment.  Mama Luta is now helping both the mother and child with nutrition.

An Orphanage 

Behind the children is a storage room that was given by the Swedish Baptist to Mama Luta so that she can fix it up as a home for the children.  She plans to put beds in there for them and have women help her watch over the children.

Story #4

Mama Luta says this is a picture of her and the children on Christmas Eve.  The Swedish Baptist missionaries sent treats for her to give to the orphans.  The boy she is holding had a very severe case of meningitis.  Mama Luta took him to the hospital and God healed him.  He is now intellectually disabled.  Both his parents have died and his grandparents were not able to take care of him.  Now Mama Luta is helping him little by little.

I am very touched by the work that Mama Luta shared that she is doing.  My hope is to find clothing for the children she works with there.  She has a lot of wisdom in helping the most desperate situations in her village.  When I visited with her she was looking at ways to help the elderly too since many are not able to keep up their own gardens to feed themselves and their children either are gone or can't help them for some reason or another.

All Your Heart

I love path pictures!

God says He is a jealous God!  He tells us, "Trust in the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART and do not lean on your own understanding.  In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths."  Proverbs 3: 5-6  Then in Jeremiah He says,  "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with ALL YOUR HEART."  Jeremiah 29:13.
This makes me wonder if I am really giving my all.  So I pray and ask God to show me if there is any place in my heart and life I have not given Him.  I have always loved the little pamphlet, My Heart Christ's Home http://navigatorsdetroit.com/MHCH.pdf. You are welcome to look it up and read it. I was introduced to this booklet in college and have never been able to see my heart any other way since.

You can purchas it here: "My Heart Christ's Home" 

I often see my heart as Christ's abiding place and wonder how many nooks and crannies I have left unclean.  It isn't company clean because Christ lives there, not as a guest but as a resident.  Christ is a good inspector and He does find those places when we ask Him and He does clean it up step by step.

It seems like Bible Study after Bible Study I come back to this theme, that I need to just give it all to Him.  I am so thankful that God does not give up on me and He continues to give me convictions, direction and guidance.

Seeking His truth!

Now, in case you think this is letting you know that I have a "holier than thou" attitude, I don't.  I have a secret but it isn't going to be a secret for long.  I am a sinner.  I have been saved by grace BUT I still have a problem with sin.  Romans 6:6 says, "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."  Unfortunately that old body of sin that was crucified keeps popping up in my life.  Someone once described it as having an old dead carcass  that you have tied to your ankle and you keep dragging it around with you.  When I realize I have been sinning I actually feel the stench of it. It is humbling and it is a time let go of one more spot that I have been hanging on to or I let creep in.  Notice I didn't tell you what the sins were because we as humans want to put sins on a scale and you might say, "Ah that was nothing" or "Wow, I'm not as bad as her."  Comparing sins and labeling them as "Not so Bad" and "Really Bad" doesn't work.  Sin stinks no matter which one it is.   It is easy not to recognize it sometimes because after all "everybody else is doing it." But God calls me to give Him ALL OF MY HEART,  not just the convenient parts.