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

A "Normal" Day in the Life of a Missionary Wife

“Small things may be where He [chooses] to leave us because we’d crumble under the weight of something bigger. But small things are just as important to God as the big things.” (http://stephanieshott.com/2013/05/do-you-despise-small-things/)

This blog was written last week, so the actual day I am talking about is Wednesday, May 16. Yesterday was one of those full days. I woke at 5:30 a.m. since I didn’t hear Rod’s alarm at 5 a.m.

  We have been able to find sales on cereal lately bringing a box down to less than $6 so we have enjoyed that luxury for a while.   I made lunches and Rod got the bowls out for breakfast.
  Once Rod was out the door by 6:30 a.m. I wanted to have some quiet time.  I set the timer to force myself to focus.  By 7 a.m. I  hadn’t checked e-mail or Facebook and there would be no connections for the day while I was at work so I took my fifteen minutes to indulge.  Lydia was chomping at the bit and wanted to get to school quickly to talk to a teacher about making up a test and to turn in a science project.  I wanted to return camping equipment to the mission guest house on the way.  Well Lydia won the argument and we got her to school early. 

Arman working on a Square Tile Puzzle!

After I dropped her off I took the first period of school to exercise.  Since the classes are shorter on Wednesday I cut my walk and exercise time to 40 minutes.

I got to class on time and my student wasn’t there but the French teacher next door had just had him in class, so he must have had to go to his locker. He arrived thinking he should be grumpy for the day.  Victory was mine because by the end of the first block we were laughing and enjoying each others company and learning about bar graphs. 

His tutor who also teaches him English and math hadn’t show up by the normal time so I checked to see if he had texted (is that really a verb now?) me.  I discovered that my phone was missing.  I decided to blame that on being rushed out the door even though I tend to forget my phone around 20% of the time anyway. . I guess that isn’t a very godly attitude, is it?   Rod says I forget it more often than that. Christian, the tutor, did show up about 10 minutes late but my student and I were going strong so we continued on.Christian's son was sick and they had to take him to the hospital.

We had a break in class to do a photo session

For lunch I chose to stay in my classroom since we decided I would teach the rest of the day to make up for a day I missed when I was at the retreat three weeks ago.  Lunch went fairly quickly but I was able to get word forms set up, square tile puzzles and the math meeting strip ready as well as eat a tuna sandwich and play a game on the computer to rest my brain for a moment. Arman returned with a great attitude and we had a great afternoon.

Lydia ended up taking her test after school so J. D. and I hung out.  I talked with another teacher for a while so by the time I got back to my truck and realized the camping equipment was still in it, it was five minutes until it was time for us to go.  I quickly drove to the MPH guest house  and dropped off the camping equipment. I left the equipment by the manager’s apartment door inside the building.  I met up with J.D. and Lydia just in time.  On the way home I remembered I needed hamburger for supper.  So after dropping J.D. off I ran to the grocery store and picked up enough meat so I would not run out again soon. 

Ammielle and Acharchelle: The Bloggers

We drove into the driveway to find my twin students and their sister sitting on the front porch.  I had confused them on our meeting time and they had arrived 1/2 and hour earlier than I expected.  I unloaded all the “stuff” included groceries quickly, and we began our  learning therapy session for the day.  Acharchelle did a blog and Ammielle did regular therapy.  You can read their blogs here: http://brooklyntwinsincongo.blogspot.com/.  During the session Rod arrived and stepped in to say hi and began his exercise routine for the day. When the twins and I were finished I went to the kitchen and began making Enchiladas. 

 Pete and Cindy Ekstrand were coming from Gemena and would stay the night with us before going on to the US for a year of furlough.  We also invited our neighbor to join us since her husband was away.  Lydia helped me out by mixing up some brownies for dessert and I was very happy to have plenty of vegetables for the salad.  We discovered that the bell peppers were not bell peppers when Lydia snatched one on the way by.  Her lips and tongue started burning immediately.  So I need to make myself an omelet sometime with some hot peppers in it. 

It is always fun to have friends from up country or out in the bush of Congo over for supper.  We get reports on how the other missionaries are doing and how the church is doing.  We also hear about “new” mission strategies and what is being done to encourage the church or help that is being given to try to boost the economic situation.  The Ekstrands were excited about a recent trip to Kenya to encourage several African Churches that are all connected in some way to the efforts of the Swedish Covenant Church.  The long history of outreach and church planting was interesting and exciting.  The purpose of the conference was to help people in the church to see Biblical Truth vs Cultural Traditions. 

After our visit my eyes were ready to close, so we all caught up a little on correspondence via computer.  Then we were all very happy to go to bed. 

Persevering!

Our latest baptism service

Yesterday I needed to get some film developed.  I had taken pictures of my students  a while back and I had told them we would make identification cards.  This was something we were doing to help us understand the concept of baptism and identifying with Jesus Christ.  On Saturday I had planned to make an outing of the film developing and shop a little with a friend while we waited for the developing process.  Well, when we got there, we walked because it is close, we discovered that the store was closed.  So no I.D. Cards for the kids on Sunday but we enjoyed some ice cream at the local restaurant.

Then on Monday I was at the store bright and early once again to get my film developed, only when I pulled the camera out to develop the film there was no SanDisk.  Someone had been doing a project and had not put it back. So yesterday I went again, I even checked the camera to be sure the SanDisk was in it this time.  Unfortunately, I set the camera on the counter in the kitchen just before I walked out the door and arrived at the store without the camera.  By this time I wondered if God wanted me to develop those pictures.

Identified with Christ

So back home I went to get the camera.  Fortunately I was driving this time and the traffic wasn’t too bad and the store was rather near.  This time I paused to give the traffic policeman his tip that he had longingly looked at me for.  I will discuss that in another blog.  The standard “tip” is worth about 55c.  Then on to the store.  I always cringe because there is always a store worker that stands over me as I work to develop film.  Sometimes he is helpful but I do like my independence.  He did help me get the pictures down to passport size.  Then as the pictures developed I ran over to the grocery store and bought a few needed and wanted things.  Lays Potato chips were on sale so I stocked up since Lydia needs lots of snack food for after school play practices.

Glad to have the pictures I returned home with plenty more work to do.  The pictures have yet to be mounted and laminated but the project is ready to go.  

One of our Sunday School Kids watching the baptism

Sometimes small projects lead to big projects.  Sometimes I wonder if I really am just not supposed to get everything done that I think I should.  When is it Valerie’s idea and when is it God’s idea?  A favorite verse of my husband’s is Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  God has work for me to do.  There are times that work gets blocked for some reason or another.  Yet God doesn’t want me to quit, He wants me to press on and complete the work that He has for me.  That work can be something simple like preparing a meal for company or something more difficult like standing by a cranky, stubborn child until the work is done.  James tells us, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”  God has work for us and He is ready to reward us with something much more exciting than that piece of candy I give out in Sunday School.  So keep pressing on!

There are Giants in the Land, Spiritual Giants!

CMO, the Caravan that Rod flies, early one morning. 

Rod came home from a trip to Lomela a couple of years ago to tell me about his experience.  He had taken a government official to a remote village in the center of Congo to see how the road project was coming along.  There were two missionary friends out there that Rod was sort of sent to hang out with and stay with overnight.  These men were brothers who had been raised in Congo and lost their father in the 1964 uprising.  They too had been working on this road project because they wanted to see "their" village have better access to the outside world. One brother had developed diabetes and his wife, who was a nurse had given up traveling with him.  The other was fighting cancer and wanted to see some of his projects completed as long he could.   His wife was also a nurse and had given up traveling with him.  So Rod sat with them in a hut waiting for the rain to clear so they could take a dugout to the other side of the river to the house they would sleep in.  While they waited the sun set and by the time the rain stopped the tropical forest was pitch black around them.  Of course the clouds covered the stars so there was even less light.  But the man with the dugout was ready to take them across.  Rod, being unsure of the guide’s ability to see in the dark used his pen light to try to see the other shore.  The pen light was good but not THAT good.  So there he sat in the middle of a tributary river of Congo, in the pitch dark, with two elderly men and a guide and a rower wondering if they REALLY would get across.  They did successfully get across and had a semi-good night sleep (after all it wasn't really home).   

This is actually the Wamba River another tributary river of Congo.

There are some hard things about being a missionary and I am not talking about the sleeping conditions, but one that we are facing right now is saying good-bye once again to friends. Our dear friends, one of the brothers and his wife, are packing up and selling their belongings because his cancer is getting worse back in America.  His wife continues to work here but may need to leave at any time.  It is people like these who make me feel like I have walked among spiritual giants in my years out here.  They are two of the many who have served faithfully in this land, seeking to teach spiritual truth for all to hear and faithfully sticking with it through the good and the bad, even cancer.  We are going to miss them terribly.  This friend has been a leader in our church we serve in and worship in here in Congo.  His dream has been to get a plantation near his “home” area in the middle of Congo producing rubber again and giving them the ability to ship the rubber down the river and to the larger cities to where is can be sold. 

As I write this I think of many different missionaries who have left the country recently. Many have left for health reasons.  Some have left because it is very difficult to understand the people here and it is easy to let anger and frustration take over.Even in these circumstances, I know God is at work.  His church here in Congo continues to grow.