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.

THANKFULNESS!

Post Card Photo

Kenya Thank you

Rod and I work for Mission Aviation Fellowship here in Congo.  Part of the job is finding supporters in the states to partner with us in ministry.  When we left to go overseas over 22 years ago, we were a young married couple expecting our second child.  We visited many churches and homes sharing about the ministries we planned to do in Zaire, Africa.  We were often surprised at those who stepped forward to support our ministry.  I learned quickly not to "expect" support from anyone.  Often the one who we thought we were sharing our ministry with and who was actually catching the vision were two different people.  Like I said, "That was over 22 years ago!"  Many of those people are still supporting us to this day!

Supporters bought us this truck to get through the roads here.

I have a goal of thanking those ministry partners with a personal note every six months.  There were years when our children were small and I was homeschooling them that I didn't make that goal.  After a while I was convicted of a need for me to show thankfulness and got back at it.
 I am in that process right now.  There are several observations I  have been making.  First, once again you never can predict who will remain faithful for 22+ years as part of the support team.  I wonder if these wonderful partners knew when they made that commitment that it would be for such a long time.  We have actually had people stop us and ask when we think we have done enough.  Then again we started out telling people that this was our lifetime career.  
Second, almost every one of these partners are special and bring back memories that make me want to write a story about them or give them a badge of honor.  There were two that I didn't know  who in the world they were but I had a great time googling them.  Lydia and picked out our favorite of a particular name on Facebook.  We liked the one who was playing with his kids. :)  That's okay if it wasn't him.
I had one time I didn't know who that ministry partner was and I "thought" she was a lady we had met in a church in Ohio but her address was California.  I put off making personal contact with her for so

Christmas Card Thank you note

long it was embarrassing.  When I finally did contact her I found out that we had never met her, she had picked us from a list of names and loved our ministry.  I learned to stop procrastinating after that.  Too bad the lesson didn't stick permanently.

Christmas Card Thank you note!

A third lesson is humility.  I am an American whose roots go back to the hills of Tennessee right after the American Revolution as well as various other lines including the ones who greeted those relatives coming over the hills.  We don't depend on other people, we pull ourselves up by our own boot straps. When we became missionaries we had to learn to reach out and ask for support from others.  There are times I am so humbled by those people who sacrifice regularly so we can serve the Lord here in Congo. 
Fourth lesson, most of these people that support us financially also support us through prayers.  Actually, many that I have no written record of pray for us.  I wish I could send each of them a thank you note every six months too.  Maybe one of these days I will do that with the whole mailing list just to make sure they all get thanked.  Prayer can be work but it is the way many barriers are overcome and the way we remain here in Africa for so long.  Thank you if you are praying for a missionary whether it be Rod and I or someone else.

Retreat, Retreat

Our second night of worship with Glen!

Sunday Morning worship with a very innovative drum set.

I just spent the last two weekends with the Youth in our church here in Congo, The International Protestant Church of Kinshasa (IPCK).  I feel privileged that I get to be involved in their lives and enjoy these times with them.  The High School had a desire to go beyond just having a retreat and actually doing more of a mission outreach.  One of the High School students took this on as her project saying that she felt a little jealous of the students in America who get to go on short term mission trips.  So she asked Mission Aviation Fellowship if there was a way that we could charter the plane for a weekend and take a trip to a mission station in the interior of Congo and mingle with the people that live there.  What was amazing was how this was the students' vision and they did most of the planning.  There were many complications and delays but we were finally able to make this mission trip as I shared in my last blog.
Glen Chapman, the missionary at Kikongo was our speaker and he shared with us the theme, "Light to the Nations".  The first speaking opportunity was to take us at night down a dark path that led to a hut by the river.  He shared the contrast of cultures.  The obvious clash in cultures is between Western thought and African thought. But there is also the clash between Christian thought and the World's thought.  We are a light in the darkness to those who do not know Jesus.

Meeting the Delegation from the Village on the other side.

I loved the way he shared how we can reach out to others and our ministries become a safe haven to others.  Kikongo was built out of the African jungle but is becoming a settlement where people can go for safety.  He gave us a LOT of food for thought during those very quick three days. 

We also had opportunities to reach out to the community around us in Kikongo although I felt often that they were reaching out to us.  There is a pastoral school  and a hospital and the people there know how to serve God in a very difficult time and place.
 It wasn't all work though, we had time to go swimming in the river and hiking on the other side of the river to a falls where we met the chief and others from the village on that side of the river.

The Streets near my own home in Kinshasa.

The second retreat I was involved in was with the Middle School Retreat which had the theme of "Outreach".  Jean Senga was our speaker and he spoke on reaching out to others in love.  One thing that really stuck with us is that if we do any kind of ministry or great sacrifice but do not have love we are like a clanging cymbal or noisy gong. I Corinthians 13
After a night of heavy rains in our tents we got up to make sandwiches for the traffic police at one station here in our neighborhood.  Traffic police are not well loved here in Kinshasa so we were all reaching beyond our comfort zone.  Jean had emphasized that loving usually costs us something.  We were going beyond those that we found easy to love and reaching out to those beyond.

Jean's son, Micah leading and teaching Sunday School

On Sunday Morning we visited Jean Senga's church, Source de Vie (Source of Life).  One of our students, Sam, dressed in a Lion Costume and he and a couple other boys rode in a truck around the neighborhood to invite children to Sunday School.  Our students also were able to share through singing during the service.

Our Middle School Team with Leo the Lion of Judah (Sam)

That morning I was doing my normal Bible Study but the passage became very real to me.  It spoke of the people gathering for the feast of booths and living in tents for one week out of the year.  I felt very much like I was living that study.  Then it also spoke of them opening the scriptures and translating it into different languages so they could all understand.  During the church service Jean spoke in French and had a Lingala translator and then Deborah, Jean's wife stood up and translated that into English.  I don't know why but God wanted me to live the Feast of Booths over this time.  I love it when God orchestrates living lessons for me.

A Day with Rod! (second third)

This is a continuation from the last post.  Rita and Glen Chapman had welcomed us in their home in Kikongo and then Rita began showing us around the mission/village.  From the Pastoral School we went to visit the local church.  This mission is ran by the American Baptists and Rita's grandfather had built the church.  It is over 50 years old and still standing strong.  Inside the church we were impressed that this man, who was not an architect or contractor had designed and built such a practical and worshipful building.The foundation was built on a slope so that everyone in the church can see the pastor. The glassless windows give light throughout the church and the high ceilings help circulate air in the tropical heat.  Rita and her mom had made the Easter wall hanging that hung behind the pulpit.  A visiting pastor had donated cloth to cover the walls in the front of the church and Rita had added some applique to give a sunbeam look.
 I had visited Kikongo a couple of years ago and enjoyed visiting a ladies meeting in this same church. 
From the church we moved on down the path which was quite "innocent of pavement" to the hospital.

This hospital was a part of a plan that Dr. Dan Fountain came up with.  The hospital is the center of many outlying clinics with nurses who could refer patience to the hospital if their needs are greater than the clinic can handle.  Glen met up with us here.  They shared that the hospital should have been crawling with patience but there are doctors from Kinshasa who have been going out to the villages and giving illegal operations to people in very unsterilized environments. They can make extra money this way and the patience don't have to leave home.  Unfortunately there is no one to give post operation care nor to make sure infections don't set in.  I thought of writing a blog titled "Operations for Sale: Real Cheap" but decided to just give the story here instead.
One huge blessing that the hospital has is running water.  A pump was donated to the hospital so that water comes to these outside faucets.  

The Nursing School

The Kigongo Hospital is also a training hospital.  Several years ago a western government donated money to build a new hospital.  Before everything was completed the money was cut off.  So the nursing students meet in the old hospital.  I would say these are some VERY determined students to continue to meet in these conditions.

The Hospital Kitchen

At the back of the hospital is a cooking area.  Food is not provided by the hospital so a family member comes along and does all the cooking.  Sometimes the whole family comes along.  Some patience stay in the hospital for months at a time.  This means that gardens don't get planted at home and all reserves if there are any are used up. One 17 year old boy has been in the hospital for months.  He had typhoid and was down to 17 kilograms or about 38 pounds.  He is now up to 30 kilograms and gaining. Rita has been getting eggs sent in from Kinshasa to help his nutritional level. 
A great blessing happened on the day we toured, the wife of one of the Bible School Students gave birth to twins.  Both were over 2 kilograms or close to 5 pounds.  It was very exciting news to all.

After the hospital we walked to the market.  The first store we stopped at we had to sit and look for awhile there were so many things on the shelves.  Don Hamsher looked for something from America.  We didn't find any American made products but we did find some superglue. Rita says she comes to the market very rarely but has friends who might stop and buy things for her as they come to and from work.

Just a cute baby monkey outside the store.

 There was also an open market to buy fruits and vegetables.  We could purchase things like salt, onions, dried fish, oranges, manioch greens, peanuts etc. 

 The people were a little embarrassed that we would take pictures of their straw roof because they felt like they were in such bad shape.  But on top of the roof we found that they were drying mushrooms which seemed to be in season.  There were also dried caterpillars.  I almost bought some to try but I thought our guests might go into too extreme a culture shock on their first day.

Behind Glen and Rita's house is a little hangar where Glen keeps his Powered Parachute (PPC).  He uses this to fly to other villages and show the Jesus Film.  Each village has built a soccer field so he simply looks for the soccer field and lands his PPC on it and then shows the Jesus Film.  Since we were there in the middle of the day and winds are rather unpredictable except in the morning or evening we just enjoyed sitting in it.  I believe Glen was planning to go out and show the film that evening.













 On Glen and Rita's front porch we found triplets waiting for us.  Dorcus, Esther and Ruth are very fond of Rod, the pilot.  Several years ago, Dorcus has a severe case of malaria and was going to die.  Rod was flying through the area and Glen contacted him and asked if he could find room for her on the flight to Vanga where there is a larger hospital with more
doctors.  God orchestrated the situation and Rod got to be a part of rescuing this young girl.  Very often triplets do not make it in Congo because of poor medical facilities and low nutrition.  These triplets are a miracle. 
                                                                            As we loaded on the plane, I looked back and laughed at the sign posted outside of Glen and Rita's house. The sign says, "Koboma yango te," which means, "Don't kill it."  There is a picture of an otter on this sign. Glen and Rita's main message to the people is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They live among the people and seek to be Jesus among them and show them how to live where they are which includes taking care of the unique plants and creatures around them.    

For the other 2/3 of this day you can click on the links below

Rod Sharing His Job for a Day: The First 1/3
The Third 1/3 of Rod's Day

Rod Sharing His Job for a Day

While our pastoral team was here last week, we got to go on a flight with Rod.  Actually he was flying for us that day and not doing regular flying but it helped us to see a little more of what his work is like.  It began with our normal routine of waking at 5:00 a.m. and I made breakfast as usual.  I didn't have to make lunches because we would be back by noon and could eat at the hanger. 



So I found out that when Rod walks out the door he actually goes and stands or sits in front of our neighbor's house to wait for the MAF van or whatever vehicle will pick him up.  Our neighbor is our manager.  Nick is with Rod in this picture and he was also doing a flight that day in the Cessna 182. 
 We rode in the newest MAF van which to me is always a treat because it has air-conditioning.  David Francis was our chauffeur. He is also a pilot but was doing maintenance that day. 
Driving through the streets of Kinshasa can often mean a traffic jam.  The pilots and mechanics try to leave before 6:30 a.m. to be sure to avoid heavy traffic.  We were glad to be able to drive straight through with no stopping.

Bright-eyed and Bushy Tailed

When we got to the air-port I went to the MAF office and waited for our pastors.  Rod went with the other pilots and mechanics to the hangar to prepare for the flights for the day.  Our MAF workers were busy getting passengers ready by weighing our luggage and bodies. Our pastors and wives showed up in the office and we all had our turns on the scales.  We all made sure we held on to our heavy purses and back packs so nobody could tell our true weight.  From there we went to the reception area of the airport.  We had to show our passports because everyone shows their passports no matter whether you are traveling in country or out. I was questioned as to why the pastors had tourist visas when they were pastors.  I guess you are not supposed to be a tourist if you are pastor.  We also had to buy a Go Pass which is a tax to improve the airport. We were then ushered into a waiting area which is a rather nice place.  From there, Maya, our MAF hangar worker, picked us up in the MAF van with air-conditioning.

Pastor Beau was Co-pilot on the way out.

We got to the MAF hangar and Nick was already taking off.  It was only a few minutes before we were ready to go too but it was great opportunity to get pictures at the airport.
 Once in the airplane we waited for Rod to complete his pre-flight checklist.  I was very anxious for him to get in and get the plane started.  It is amazing how that propeller can cool you off.                 

Kinshasa from the air, at least a part of Kinshasa

Kikongo Fishing ponds

The Wamba River next to Kikongo

It took a little over an hour to fly to Kikongo.  As we flew we saw many fields that were growing manioc which is a staple for the Congolese people throughout the country. There were also plantations of palm trees that produce palm nuts. The many miles between were full of savannah grass. When we arrived over Kikongo we circled over the river then came in for a landing. We could also see the fish ponds, the seminary and the hospital from the air.                                                                                                                                                                 

Pastor Beau enjoying taking pictures of the kids

 On the ground we were greeted by village children.  The plane landing is a very exiting event in Kikongo.  We surprised the Chapmans with our visit since our flight had only been officially planned the night before and Glen and Rita do not check their e-mail until the afternoon everyday.  They still welcomed us with open arms and provided fresh squeezed tangerine juice.  Rita then gave us a tour of the mission station.

First we went to her back yard where the children watched us through a chain link fence while we looked at Rita's managery.  She usually has quite few animals in her yard.  This time there was Bill the Bird, a blue diker, rabbits and chickens.  She doesn't have any crocodiles right now. She does have a Congo Clawless Otter but he had escape in the night.  Apparently he comes back every evening and routinely escapes to the forest to sleep in the early morning hours.
 

A diker is small antelope.

At the pastoral school.  Rita gave us umbrellas for shade.

 Rita then showed us the Pastoral School that she and Glen teach at.  School was on break for the week therefore Rita and Glen had time for surprise visitors.

I will try to post a second post soon to give more on the visit. I am finding posting pictures can get frustrating.

The children had collected cans and were pretend cooking.

Don Hamsher modeling the newly built outhouse

To see the other parts of the day, you can go to the links below.

Rod's Second Third of His Day

The Third of a Day with Rod