The Dedication of Central African Republic

On Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, after a short rest we drove on a small, red dirt road, characteristic of Bangui, to a heavily wooded hill behind the hotel  for the Dedication of the land of Central African Republic . 

 

 It was quite a sight to the people who walk that road daily to see a caravan of vehicles, full of  mostly white people, mounting the hill. They watched us with considerable interest as we drove to a quiet, wide space in the road and climbed out of the cars. 

Elder Holland was there by assignment from the Prophet to do this sacred ordinance, which can only be done by an Apostle. What a privilege it was to witness this great moment.

Elder Holland was accompanied by Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy and Sister Clayton, and Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Seventy and president of the African Southeast Area, and Sister Renlund. We represented the mission and President Langue, his counselors, branch clerk, and executive secretary represented the branch. Also there were two security men, Rob Milne and Ron Rumble, Sean Donnelly, the director of Public Affairs, Georges Bonnet, our Area DTA and Eustache Ilunga, director of the Kinshasa Temporal affairs Service Center. 

All those in attendance at the dedication.

Renlunds, Claytons and Jamesons

Brent was asked to conduct and, flanked by the Bangui Branch Presidency, he began the services. It was very simple and yet it was a profoundly meaningful experience. 

Remarks were made by President Langue and by Elders Renlund and Clayton and then the time was given to Elder Holland.   Elder Holland made some remarks about the sanctity of this priesthood ordinance.  Just before the dedicatory prayer he noticed the drivers of our vehicles a ways off and asked to have them brought over near us.  He said they "would likely be members by nightfall so they might as well join us."  

He invited us to stand in a circle and join our faith with his as he was voice for the prayer of dedication.   As we all stood together in the Gabazabangui hills, the site of the origins of the Bangui Tribe, overlooking the city of Bangui and the Oubangui River, a major tributary of the Congo, near the equator in Africa,  we felt as though we stood in a sacred place as Elder Holland offered a beautiful prayer of blessing and dedication.  He was very specific as to the historical background of CAR and the needs of this central African country.  He blessed the land that it would have increased productivity to support its people. He blessed the people that they would be provided with a solid foundation over time. He mentioned the Area Presidency and also Brent and me regarding our stewardship for the country.  He blessed the leaders of the nation as well.  He finished by pronouncing a blessing on the branch leaders and members and on future missionaries who would be sent there.  (That was music to our ears.)  It was truly a time when we knew what it means to be in "In the Mountain of the Lord'."  It was a beautiful and sacred moment.

 After the prayer Elder Holland asked us to be quiet for a few moments and just look at the city below. It was a wonderful moment to reflect on the blessing and also on the future of this land and the great things that the Lord has in store for it over time. 

We have been blessed to attend the dedication of two lands, Burundi and now, Central African Republic. It was a similar experience when he dedicated Burundi exactly two years ago, but the prayers were quite different, as they should be.  Elder Holland knew about this country and his knowledge and inspiration, even revelation, made this a special experience for us all.  Over the weekend together we talked a few times about our common experience in Burundi and we were amazed at his memory of the details of that event. We could never have imagined that our mission life would be so remarkable and are grateful for Lord's plan that brought us to Africa to see His hand as He moves across this Continent to bring light to lands that have long rested in darkness.. 

A Wonderful Weekend and Beyond

 Early Monday we joined Elder Holland, the Claytons, and the Renlunds, on a 14-seater chartered plane to fly to Bangui, Central African Republic to dedicate the land for the preaching of the gospel. 

We've been planning this for months but couldn't say anything about it for security reasons.  The two security men, the Area Director of Temporal Affairs, and the director of the Kinshasa service center joined us. 

The weather had look menacing all morning and it  started to pouring just as we left  to pick up the leaders.  Since I hate to fly, even in the best weather, I was pretty nervous.  By the time we got to the hotel,  it was a deluge. I could stand the pouring ran no longer and I yelled, literally yelled out loud, "STOP RAIN!" And it did!  Almost immediately the heavy rain stopped and before the plane took off the skies were clear and it was calm, beautiful  for the flight. 

Now, it's not unusual in Africa for weather to suddenly change dramatically and some would say it was a coincidence, but I believe that it was a tender mercy just for me that the ran stopped. 

Everybody needed to stretch a little now and then. It was a bit of a long trip in a tiny plane
for this group who had already had a very busy weekend.

 We flew out of Kinshasa over the long and infamous Lamumba Boulevard,  the road to the airport.  Below us was the sprawling Masina area of the city filled with tiny shops and homes and thousands and thousands of people. If you look closely you can see a very 

"large and spacious" white building, which is actually one of our chapels. It really stands out against the city surrounding it. We're not sure how it was chosen to be built there.  It sure doesn't "fit the neighborhood."
But we enjoyed seeing it from the air. 

Then we flew, following the Congo River, for three and a half hours to Bangui. The trip on a commercial airline takes only an hour and a half, but to do that you have to cross the Congo in a little boat, stay the night in Brazzaville, then fly to Bangui. Having done so,  you can only fly back every four days. So it's an extended stay operation.
It would never work to have an apostle spend four days Bangui, but the dedication was an important ordinance, only be done by an Apostle.So, the charter plane was the solution to all of that.

 Once in Bangui, we were met by the branch president, Pres. Langue, who is a member of CAR's  president's cabinet. He worked with the public affairs director to make all the arrange.  He had arrange for us to be in the diplomatic VIP lounge while they did the arrival "formalities."  It's the nicest place in the Bangui airport.

He also had five cars waiting to take us to the hotel.  This hotel is new and very remarkable. It was acclaimed by many as one of the nicest hotel in the Africa SE Area.  It was built by Muhammar Ghadafi. Interesting!? Nobody was sure if it's plan was to be a family vacation spot or a hotel, but it's quite amazing.   It's definitely a "large and spacious building" that doesn't fit into the neighborhood, as you can see by these pictures. But we enjoyed it just the same.

  

Amazingly, it's less expensive than the less-than-glorious hotel we stayed in our first trip to Bangui.  So we'll  be seeing a lot more of it now that  Bangui will be on our regular travel route.

We had just a minute in the hotel to settled in and renew acquaintances with the branch President, 

 Faustin and his wife.  He's a counselor in the branch presidency.He was our right-hand-man on our first visit to CAR. and Ferdinand LaGuerre, my "Ferdinand the Bull" (a character from children's literature )was also there.  He's a wonderful, gentle giant of a man, who served as the first ever CAR missionary and served with us in the Kinshasa mission.  He's now serving as the branch clerk.

Fostan and his wife and baby

President Langue

Elder Le Guerre  

  Then it was time for most important moment of this wonderful extended weekend, 

the dedication of the Central African Republic.

A Wonderful Weekend-Sunday's Events

Sunday morning we had the privilege of taking Elder Holland, his security man, Ron, and the Director of Temporal Affairs in Johannesburg, to a special stake meeting. It was held in a stake center that is somewhat challenging to get to. As we bumped along the uneven, pot hole filled dirt road, Brent apologized to Elder Holland for the bumpy trip.  Elder Holland's reply was, "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just an old St. George boy."

We arrived safely at Mont Ngafula Stake Center where there were 1300+ in attendance, with 10 cars in the parking lot, which was more than we've ever seen.  When we arrived, 30 minutes early, the entire stake center was filled to capacity and they were sitting quietly waiting for the appointed time. Sitting on the front row were our four wonderful couples. What a great dimension they add to our life!

 The choir, under the direction of an exceptionally darling young adult who had both talent and spirit, was singing with great enthusiasm.  The sisters wore bright pink blouses and the brethren had matching pink ties. 

 Just before going into the meeting Elder Holland asked us to speak.This doesn't make for a comfortable meeting, but we did our best.  At the end of the meeting we had another very tender moment. Many times, in Africa,  when there's a big crowd they keep the children out of the chapel and have them in other rooms or halls of the building.  That was the case in Mont Ngafula Stake.  But as we were leaving, the little ones sort of surged forward to fill the hall near the exit. Dutiful leaders held them back from mobbing Elder Holland, but he stopped and said, "Where have you been hiding?" He shook a few hand and then looked right at the group and said, "I love you!  You know that I love you!"  Needless to say we exited the building with a large group of children, porting huge smiles, looking on. 
Simultaneously, there were three other meetings being held in the city with General or Area Authorities at each one.  Each had the same kind of attendance we had in Ngaliema, except for one.  In Kimbanseke Stake they had over 3,000 in attendance. They filled every inch of the building, watching on TV's in every room and hall.  Plastic awnings and chairs were set up around the building so that people could hear through the windows.  In all there the General Authorities met with more than 7,000 people on Sunday and about 3,500 on Sat. It was truly amazing. 
After the meeting we drove to the mission home for Sunday dinner.  The other General Authorities and wives, security and the DTA met us there since they had all attended meetings in different stakes.  We sat and visited together in our great room while the finishing touches were put on the meal and everybody had arrived.  

 What an unbelievably great experience it was to get to know these great leaders more personally and to learn from them. They were wonderful and kind to us throughout the weekend. Elder Holland called Brent by his first name all weekend and upon his arrival greeted him with a big bear hug and said, "How's one of our Green Beret mission presidents?" From that moment on we saw many acts of that same warmth and  kindness extended to us and to everybody around us. They are great examples of true discipleship, not only in their public appearances, but in their everyday actions. 

But the weekend was not over. The  best was yet to come as we extended our weekend for two more days. 

A Wonderful Weekend-Saturday's Events

Our Saturday was filled with meetings.  The General Authorities really are amazing. They never waste a minute of time when they come to visit.  They want to be with the members showed their love and support and filled their time here with meetings and great instruction.



All of the priesthood leadership of our mission were invited to a four-hour meeting Saturday morning at the Seminary and Institute building on the property where the temple will be built someday.






They had made the huge efforts and gone to great expense to help the branch presidents, District Presidencies, Bishops and Stake Presidencies come. It meant getting passports and visas and flying our leaders from Cameroon and Pointe Noire. There were 14 invited and 13 came. Only Pres. Langue from Bangui didn't come. He has had health problems and he wanted to save his strength for the visit that the brethren were to make to Bangui. These men where thrilled to be in the presence of an Apostle and the two 70's and to be with all the other, more than 100 priesthood leaders. 

 

It was, for many, the first time they'd been out of their country, or on a plane. They didn't even have suitcases to put their things in to make the trip.This was certainly the first time that they had seen this kind of a body of priesthood leaders or an Apostle.   They were very thrilled to be there. All the brethren were eager to learn and Elder Holland said that they had never had better questions asked by priesthood leaders in any place in the church.  They were thoughtful, and pertinent questions that would be asked by those who minister well.

Brent said that when they entered the room the priesthood leaders were all seated quietly by countries and stakes and they all stood to silently greet Elder Holland.  Our little band of 13 branch and district presidents was on the two front rows and they waved at Brent as he got on the stand like a child would wave to a parent.  It was most touching to him and he felt a great love for these sweet, devoted leaders. They're so eager to learn and to help the church grow and serve their people. We just love them.

***********************

Meanwhile, the wives of the General Authorities were holding a meeting in the adjoining stake center. There we over 1,500 sisters in attendance.  When we arrived the chapel, cultural hall, and most of the rooms and halls were filled  to overflowing with sisters waiting to hear the words of the wives of the church leaders. 

On of the most tender moments was when we were entering the chapel and we saw a sister who was crawling on her hands and knees, because of little use of her legs, to get down the long hill from the street to the building, which can be seen in the first picture above.  She had crawled past the S&I building on the grass, but when she got past it, there was only asphalt to crawl on. We all watched with great emotion as she made her way toward us.  Finally, Brother Milne, who was the security man assigned to the sisters, went over, picked her up, carried her to the chapel and placed her on the first row. After the meeting, he organized a group of men to place her in a chair and carry her to the top of the hill where she could wait to catch a transport bus to get home. Later, I was asked by the general authorities to investigate and arrange for a wheel chair for this devoted lady.  It was a real sign of the brethren's concern and love for each member. 

 

Don't they just look magnificent in their bright, beautiful Congolese dresses.
The Congolese women love to dress up in their finest for special occasions. They have matching shoes,purses and  and jewelry. Sometimes they even have hair to match their dress. No matter their economic circumstances, they dress in their very best for church. These ladies were looking good and were pleased to have their pictures taken.
This is a beautiful family of women who we know and love in Kinshasa. The Egombe twin sisters, on either side of the picture are two of our RM's.  Their mother is on  middle-left and their younger sister on the middle-right.  What a beautiful family of righteous women.

Sisters Renlund and Clayton, the wives of the 2 Seventies and five Stake Relief Society Presidents gave wonderful messages about the role of the Holy Ghost in our lives.  It was a great day for sisters in Kinshasa. 

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Then we met with the visitors in a room in the building for a quick lunch before heading out to other meetings. For me, this was a challenge. I was asked to fix a meal that could be eaten at the chapel and only take a few minutes time--sort of a little picnic lunch. Since there are no cooking facilities and nobody to help prepare an American meal and since I was in the meetings until the moment of lunch, it was a bit tricky, but all went well and we were soon off for the  next round of meetings. 

Elder Holland, the Renlunds and the Kyungus (an area authority) met with us and our missionaries from Kinshasa, Brazzaville and Matadi. Only our missionaries in Cameroon and Pointe Noire were not able to come. The expense of visas, and flights and the restrictions on young North Americans coming to DR Congo made their attendance impossible. We really missed them and are looking forward to our visit this month to share this experience with them. 

As we arrived in the room our 114 missionaries and all of our couples were sitting perfectly  reverently waiting for Elder Holland. When he arrived they spontaneously stood in respect for an Apostle and they were attentively fixed on his words throughout the meeting.  Before the meeting began Elder Holland invited the missionaries to come row by row to greet and shake hands with us and each of the visiting Church leaders and their wives.  It was a good meeting. Elder Holland was warm and relaxed as he taught our young missionaries.  Elder Renlund told the story of the creation of dynamite's and related it to the gospel and the church and how they need each other to truly bring power into our lives. Brent and I each took a minute to share our testimonies and it was a great time for our mission.    

When we left, Sister Fanantenantsoa began to play "God, Be With You" on the keyboard  and as we walked down the hall we could hear the missionaries as they spontaneously joined in singing. Sister Smith, one of our senior missionaries, described it perfectly when she said, "It was intended to be postlude instrumental music... but, as the last of the Church leaders filed out, the sound of soft voices 

began to be heard from the back of the room (Congolese just have to sing.. it's in their DNA!)

and it began to swell until every voice in the room was singing with a volume that we knew was being carried to the ears and hearts of those who were leaving as we sang through our tears.It was a powerful and sweet demonstration of love."  We did hear it as we walked away and it was a very tender moment.

*****

At the same time there was a meeting for young single adults held in the Stake Center with Elder and Sister Clayton. It ended just as our meeting did and scores of young adults poured from the building. It was attended by more than 1,500. We love the spirit of young adults and these were no different.  There was lots of friendly chatter, but also a spirit of joy and reverence that is hard to explain. What a great Saturday of meetings it was!

*****

When we dropped the General Authorities off at their hotel about 5:00, it had been a full day. We had enjoyed our time throughout the busy day. We were pleasantly surprised when Elder Holland extended an invitation to us to join them for dinner at the hotel that evening.  He and Elder Renlund assured us that it would be fine if we felt too tired or had too much to do to return.  Hah! Does one turn down a dinner invitation from an Apostle? We returned that evening and  had a wonderful meal with them and enjoyed the chance to just be in their company. Everybody had a good story and we laughed and laughed. 

What a  full, uplifting, wonderful day it was!

A Wonderful Weekend with Visitors-Event One

We've been blessed on our mission to spend time with many people who have inspired us and lifted us.  Some have been well known and admired and respected by many. Some of been unknown to the world, but are, none the less, wonderful and inspirational people. This weekend we spent time with both kinds of these amazing people.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Elders Clayton and Renlund and their wives came to spend five days in our mission.  They met with literally thousands of saints in Kinshasa and then with a small group of about 125 in Central African Republic.  It was truly clear evidence that the Lord loves all his children, and church leaders are aware of and make great efforts to minister to them all.

The leaders arrived Friday Oct. 26, 2012, after having spent a week meeting with groups of members in South Africa and then a day of travel coming to Kinshasa.  The trip here is a long one, considering “the formalities” and challenges of travel.  They could have just settled into their hotel and relaxed and prepared for the full weekend.  However, knowing that  there was a graduation ceremony for 58 young men involved in the church’s program for construction, all five of them chose to attend the graduation.  It was a surprise to those attending and an evening that none of the 200 people who attended will not forget.

The planned program was presented and then Elders Clayton and Holland spoke a few words.  Elder Holland said that he had been to hundreds of graduations, sometimes five or six in a week when he was involved in Church education, and some were graduations for thousands of students.  But he said  he had never attended a sweeter, more meaningful graduation than this one.  He had never seen students who had accomplished more and had learned more about how to contribute to their society and to improve their futures than what he saw at this graduation.  He told them to remember the lesson that they had learned about keeping construction square, plumb and level. Then he related that to life and being honest with themselves and others. Then the three General Authorities stood in line to present the graduation certificates and to personally greet each graduate and have pictures taken with each one.  

One of our Lubumbashi  Mission Assistants- President Kabengele receiving his certificate

The certificates represent completion of a strenuous course of study in some phase of construction and are earned through LDS Business College in Salt Lake City.  This certificate, from a recognized US institution and the training they receive, will hopefully open doors for meaningful employment in the Congo. Our French friend, Eric, is the director of the program. They have been taught good construction skills, and lessons in life from our senior missionary, Elder Billings. We're so grateful to have him and Sister Billings working in our mission.  They teach these young men with great ability and love. This training is a tremendous advantage to these young adults. It is hoped that they will be the owners of construction companies someday and will do quality construction.  We pray that this will bless their lives and their nation tremendously. 

Each young man was also presented with a set of tools that will help him to pursue his chosen trade.

Then a reception with refreshments was held for the graduates and their friends and family.  

Three of our returned missionaries enjoy refreshments to celebrate their success.
Love what they chose for a table.

After the graduation Elder Holland greeted one of the men with whom our program works, who happens to be our neighbor across the hall.  We could tell that he was touched and felt the spirit as Elder Holland spoke.

For us this was a time of personal "parental" joy as we watched 11 of these young men, who had been our missionaries in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa received their certification. Several others of our beloved missionaries were there to support their friends and we paused to get a picture of us all together. 

We can see that the future of the church and the Congo rests on the shoulders of these wonderful, young returned missionaries and we're proud of and inspired by their efforts. They work against tremendous odds to be successful and represent the best there is in the young men and women of the church here. What a blessing it is to know and love them!  

Sister Mesenga and Elder Longonja  both served mission with us in Lubumbashi.   Now they're engaged to be married in March. He was among the graduates on Friday night and she works at Temporal Affairs.  These two are an example of the strong young couples who are doing things right.  They will create a  strong Christ-centered home and be future leaders in the Congo. 

Seeing our missionary children  move forward after their missions is something that we never imaged we would be able to do, but being here for a second mission has given us that unique blessing and is a great joy.

And having Elder Holland, Elder and Sister Renlund, and Elder and Sister Clayton there to share the wonderful evening with these young graduates was something we'll always remember.

  

Just Hope There's No Fire

 Kinshasa is estimated to be a city of twelve million people.  A good share of them cook on charcoal fires,  even when given other option. Many like the old ways of cooking better than a gas burner, which is the other choice. Stoves are rare and not a good choice since the power is not reliable in most homes.  So there is a considerable fire danger. However, this is the Fire department, located near our house.

The building in the foreground is the fire station. The building in the background is an apartment building. 

 The fire station caught on fire some years ago and this is what's left. 

It was never rebuilt. 

A few times we have actually seen fire trucks out on the streets.

I'm just hoping that we never have a FIRE!

The Wheel Chair Project

Because of our assignment as leaders in this mission, we get to share in wonderful things that happen by the hand of the Lord through others with whom we serve.  We get to attend baptisms of people who  have been touched by the spirit as they've been taught by the young missionaries.  We get to meet great young church leaders who are working hard to establish the church as they grow in faith through membership.  We get to see the educational efforts of the church done through the inspired perpetual education fund and the construction program that help young people to break the cycle of poverty and enjoy fuller, happier lives.

We get to see humanitarian services and our humanitarian missionaries tend to the most needy of the Lord's children through water and latrine projects, neonatal resuscitation classes, club foot treatment, and wheel chair projects. We get to watch  people walk in the footsteps of the Master to serve the Lord's children.
This week we thought of the words of the Savoir when he said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."  We spent some time, at the invitation of our humanitarian couple, at the church's wheel chair project.  It both touched and broke our hearts as we saw the many disabled who came with the hope of a better life that would come by having a wheel chair.  Life in the Congo is difficult for everybody, but for those who have a physical limitation it is brutal.
Through this project we received 350 chairs made and delivered by the church.

 

 Six volunteers came from Utah and California, two physical therapists, two technicians, and two short-term humanitarian missionaries, who assembled chairs and measured & fit recipients to “their chair.”  

This is Sister Dow, the humanitarian short-term specialist, the PT, Scott and the OT, Lara.
Elder Dow was at the hotel sick the day of the ceremony.

 

 They fit a total of 12 people to their chairs and, at the same time, trained local physical therapists and technicians in doing this work so they can fit the rest of the chairs after the departure of the volunteers.  These recipients are handicapped people who have been moving around the dirty streets of Kinshasa on their hands and knees, or carried by others. They were selected with the help of the ministry of health and screened so that only those who could actually use a wheel chair would receive one. They had to  meet criteria of physical condition that will allow them to be sufficiently able to sit in and work a wheel chair.  Making those kinds of decisions is heart-breaking, but necessary.  All those who received chairs were chosen before the team came.  

However, the word got out that wheel chairs were being given and lines of people showed up every day wanting a wheel chair. Many had crawled or were carried to the church hoping that they would receive a chair. They were upset when they found that today was not the day for them to get one, but they would be considered for one of the other chairs that are here waiting to be given in the next few months. Some refused to leave and sat outside the building all day, waiting, believing they would get a chair if they just waited long enough .  Many did wait, having already been warned that they wouldn't get a chair that day.  They were very upset.  This scenario broke our hearts.  

 

But the lives of others were greatly improved and we saw the happiness they felt. The real blessing of this project is its sustainability.  Those who were trained to assemble and fit the chairs will be able to assess the needs and fit many more individuals to new chairs in the coming weeks and months.  They will do this without much involvement of the church.  Our humanitarian missionaries will simply follow up to ensure that the project continues as it is laid out.  The church does this all over the world in developing countries without any fanfare and with little recognition.  

There is just a small plaque on each chair that carries the name of the church. However, having lived in Burundi and we knew Frère Méthode .  He found the church as he read the words, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" on the back of a wheel chair in a refuge camp in Eastern Congo. He felt the spirit as he read that name and went on a search to find the church.  We know that many miracles can come from a little plaque.  We also know that miracles will come, too for those who will find mobility and hope through a new wheel chair.