Friday was a good day in God’s grace. Work continued on the brick garden structures, digging and beginning to lay the corners and bricks, mix and make mortar, etc., thanks to the help of a strong hard-working man named Emery who also helps out with the ministry. The young boys who hang around us we were happy to put to work, too.
A man also started plastering and priming the wall of the orphanage big room so that we can begin painting to add some color and fun painting of animals, flowers, grass, a happy sun, etc.
Didier’s daughter Elyse is especially excited about bubbles
We hope to be able to get them a 2-burner gas cook-top for Didier’s house and to share with the orphanage (think camping stove but a little better) some time next week but they’re out of stock right now. There are many things we would like to do that we may not have time to, as things take a long time here (running a few errands in town before you know it, it’s 3 or 4 in the afternoon). Josie had a great time teaching Annie, Didier’s wife, how to make jewelry necklaces and earrings, which they loved (here is Annie and her daughters Elyse and Mary).
The Congolese are very hard-working people. This morning as I came out to the porch of the guest house, I saw a mom carrying a 5-gallon bucket of water on her head and another in her arm with a baby on her back in an African wrap that they wear here. Each morning each family carries multiple water containers to the nearest well or water source, fills them up, and then hauls the very heavy water containers back to their place. Gabe and I got to help do the well and water process which is much more grueling than the way most begin their days in America
They don’t eat very much or drink much, usually just one meal a day. To get hot water can take up to an hour to get their little fires going and water boiling, so it is humbling the hard work they do to get their guests warm water each night for their baths and to cook us a meal that is bigger and better than what they cook for themselves. Each day Annie goes into town mostly to buy food for the day (as they have no electricity for refrigerator and it’s expensive to run the generator even 2-3 hours a night). She also spends most of the late afternoon preparing dinner for us and her family, and on Sunday morning rises extra early to prepare meals for the potluck after church, on the day she’s also watching the orphans as Sunday is Mama Angelique’s day off. What gracious and hospitable people!
They have already been a living sermon to me before Sunday of 1 Peter 4:9-11 :
Be hospitable to one another without complaint … serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God … whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Our first night here before dinner Didier explained, “I need to wash your hands.” When all you have is a basin and bucket with water it’s hard to wash and soap your hands so they wash each other’s hands (wet them, soap them, rub together, and then they pour water on your hands). It was humbling to have him do that for me, but it was also a good reminder of what our Lord did in washing the disciples’ feet, and it showed to me the way the Lord’s servant Didier is following that example, which is an example for us.
This is what Josie wrote in her blog yesterday, which gives a woman’s perspective:
I ‘helped’ Annie in the kitchen which just meant keeping her company as she cooked while holding a flash light. Seeing first hand how she cooks is truly humbling. They eat one big meal a day which takes about 2 hours to prepare because everything is made from scratch. They also have to shop just about everyday because they don’t have a fridge to keep things cold. Before they bought their van through the collaboration of a few churches [including GCBC], they walked just about 2 hours every day ONE way to buy the groceries (and then of course haul them back). Life is so hard for some…
Back to the cooking, she heats up her water and cooks with coals that she has to prepare daily. The cook-top of coals sit on the floor as do her pots. As twilight crept upon us and it began to get dark, she turned on a small flashlight/lantern. It barely lit up the room. She essentially cooks in the dark. We are hoping to go into town soon to see what we can do about buying them a gas cook-top and maybe a propane lantern. They seemed really excited at the prospect. It’s pricey to start up but we have gift money from church people to help them with that and hopefully it won’t be too much more expensive over the course of a year than coal and will save Annie much time. What hard working people!
For dinner, Annie prepared an absolutely delicious meal that would easily rival Julia Child’s best. We had stewed beef with such an amazing flavor made with chopped vegetables and green beans on the side. Rice and foo foo were served as well. I had heard of this mysterious food and was quite curious. I watched her make the foo foo and it is basically these smooth baseball sized balls made of corn and white flours added to first luke warm water then brought to a boil. She had a special mixing technique with a giant wooden spoon that she used to mix the flour mixture after it had boiled. She held the bowl with her feet and so gracefully stirred. It was pretty fascinating.”
Prayer Updates:
- Praise the Lord the Wilmarth twin Visas are finally done by U.S. Embassy and will be hand-delivered by a DHL guy who we’ll meet at the airport Monday!
- Pray for Pastor Didier who went to the doctor Friday night and will go again Saturday morning for blood tests to find out how his fight with malaria is going or if he has something else that has been bothering him. He has been working so hard non-stop to get orphans adopted in the last many weeks and he rarely stops or rests and we pray for wisdom for the doctor Saturday moment in treating him so he can get relief
- Pray for Pastor Didier who is applying for a Visa to visit the U.S.
- Today (Saturday) we are meeting someone from the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa
- Tonight we go to dinner at the Bourgmaster’s house and we pray the same for that time as well
- Pray that as I preach at church tomorrow that I would be able to encourage the brethren though I can’t speak their language (Pastor Didier will be translating in French each line, followed by Pastor Peter translating into Swahili)
Here’s the end of day Friday
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