We made it! Kinshasa

We arrived at the mission home at 2:30 in the afternoon your time. That meant 32 hours of travel! It was quite the adventure. First, they didn't have reservations for us in Salt Lake City. So, we waited about an hour for the missionary department to get that figure out. Then the trip from Newark to Paris went very well. We even had an empty seat behind us so we could stretch out and even slept a little. We had a good flight from Paris to Kinshasa until five minutes before we landed and they told us that we would be landing in Brazzaville (which is 2 miles across the Congo river from Kinshasa). Everybody in the plane was moaning and groaning and we had no idea how to get with the mission president or with Antoine, who was to be our guide through the airport. The river's ferry stops at dark, (which it was when we arrived) and the only way across the river after dark is in hollowed out log boats (not kidding) & we had no intentions of even thinking about that option. It was crazy!! As we landed they announced that we had landed in Brazzaville because the President was at the Kinshasa airport and so it was closed. About 5 mins later they came back on and said we were in Kinshasa after all. It was nuts, but it was Kinshasa. We had to wait on the plane for about an hour and 45 min before we could get off, but we were much happier about that option. We made it with 7 out of eight bags and the other one is promised for Fri. We sure hope so. It was a total of about 32 hours, but we are here safe and sound and not too hammered. It's 9:30 at night here and on the way there were tons of people walking all over the place. There was very little light, so we don't really know what the place looks like, but the Headlee's had soup and a nice bed waiting for us. So, we're good to go. The Mission President's beautiful home among all the poverty.

(Written a few days later) Yesterday as we walked along the Congo river and saw the president again as he went whizzing by us on his MOTORCYCLE followed by two SUVs filled with military with automatic weapons. Crazy place! But we are so happy to be here and see the work that is just waiting to be done.
Today we venture out into the city to buy some food. What a fascinating place it is. Although “pictures are forbidden” and they fine you a ton and destroy your camera if the police see you, I got a few shorts to share. We went to a street market to get veggies and fruits and then to a store. Below are the pics.Dad carrying the eggs from the "store"The view from our window

School getting out. Only 5% of children get the chance to go to school

The 13 new missionaries at the Mission President's for lunch And this is what it's all about. Africa is in the Lord’s hands and the work is only slowe down by the lack of people to teach all those who want to learn and are waiting. We are so grateful to be a part of this work as the Lord’s hand rests on Africa.