Last Supper with the Couples of Kishasa

The farewell moments just go on and on.  We had one last dinner at the mission home for the senior couples, Smiths, Gates, Bybees and Moons.

These folks are quite a wonderful group of faithful, dedicated servants of the Lord and wonderful friends.

We will miss our times together and will remember and be inspired by their willingness to serve in the DRC.

They've proved that they can do hard things and we've had a lot of fun doing them.  Au revoir, dear Friends!

Sister Flagbo Gets a Brace

One of the greatest missionaries in our mission is Sister Flagbo. She comes from Togo and has been an inspiration to all who know her. When she serves in a ward or with a companion, they're so grateful to have her and so sad when a transfer comes.  She's just wonderful.  It's hard to imagine that she almost didn't get to serve. Only through sheer faith, determination and inspiration is she here.  She was born healthy, but at the age of  7 she and two other children were mistakenly given triple doses of a vaccine.  One of those children died, the other is in a vegetative state and Sister Flagbo was left with problems that caused one leg not to grow correctly.  In order to walk she had to put her hand on her knee to steady her leg with each step.  Her family was able to send her to a good school and despite here physical challenges she did well. When she was 17 her father, who was a successful CEO of a bank, died of a heart attack. As is sadly sometimes the custom in Africa, her aunts and uncles came and took everything they owned, leaving her and her mother penniless. Life was indeed hard for them, but they persevered.  When Sister Flagbo found the church she wanted to serve a mission. Her priesthood leaders discouraged her because of  her physical limitations. She listened to their counsel but her desire didn't go away.  One day she met a general authority who had only one arm. He told her that she should pursue the goal of serving a mission and that's all she needed to continue her quest. She filled out papers and was met with more opposition. This time she was told that she would have to begin an exercise and diet regime and become more physically fit if she wanted to serve. This she did, eating mostly cucumbers and tomatoes.

 Finally she was allowed to submit her papers, received her call and went to the MTC in Ghana. There the MTC president was concerned about her physical ability to serve.  He suggested that she might be called to work in a temple or complete a church service mission. Many options were discussed. In the end, Brent felt the inspiration to let her at least try to serve in Kinshasa. She came and she has never complained a single time about her circumstances, her health or her limitations. She's a bright, shining star in the mission and has influenced everybody she meets to be better and happier.

We love Sister Flagbo and are so grateful for the inspiration the Lord gave Brent to allow her to be given the chance to be a missionary.

We wanted to find a way to make her physical situation better. We got permission to have tests done and sent to South Africa to see is she could be helped.  There the doctors said that they could do nothing for her.  We asked Thierry if he would investigate at local hospitals and clinics to see if we could find somebody who could make an orthotic device to assist her in walking.  To our surprise, a doctor was found and she received her brace this week.

She was so happy that she called to ask if she could come and show it to us.  She came and demonstrated how much easier she could walk.  She still has a significant limp but no longer needs to balance herself with her hand on her knee.  She is ecstatic and most grateful.  This will bless her life from this point forward.  Of all the missionaries in our mission, she is the least likely one to complain of her difficulties.  She is an amazing person and a wonderful example to all of us who know and love her.  It's such a joy to see what a great mission she is having. It's also wonderful to see that she'll go home in August better off  physically as well as spiritually and personally. We're inspired by Sister Flagbo!

Camimo Piquenique

Our missionary couples, the families of the two European employees of the church and the families of our staff had a "farewell" picnic (piquenique) in the "park" inside our complex. There's a big, somewhat grassy area across from the mission office that served as our park.  The couples, spearheaded by  Van Hauvermats and Granas, made all the arrangements and did all the set up for a fun little Comimo farewell "piquenique."

 Eric and Eduardo manned the grill as Sister Smith took at peak at the beautiful assortment of meats being prepared.
In addition to the BBQ'd meats, we had delicious salads, kabobs, chips and snacks, fire roasted chicken, breads, homemade béniers (like donut holes), and apple cake.  Everybody brought a little something and the pot luck turned into a feast.

 We all enjoyed the good food and sitting around  chatting. Bybees shared  their experience of visiting a church and finding that it's where the Kinshasa  orchestra practices. The maestro invited them to come to a rehearsal this week and we might get to go with them before we leave town.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One of my unfulfilled dreams in Kinshasa has been to see that symphony. I've tried to get to see them since we saw the special about them on 60 Minutes.  It's a remarkable story and I'd love hear them play.                                                                                    .

However, the best story of the day was told by the Gates. They had been arrested that morning.  The police accused them, unjustly, of running a red light.  They took their papers and told them go to the police station.  We typically don't give our papers to the police.  Rather, we just put them up to the window.  It makes the police mad, but we don't lose our papers.  They, wisely, stayed locked in their car outside the station. However, since the police had their papers, we had to do something. They couldn't just drive away. Aimé was summoned and came to their rescue. Thanks to his smooth-talking lawyer's tongue, he made the whole matter go away without even paying money.  GO Aimé!                                                                                                                                  

 Speaking of Aimé, his family made cute shirts for the party.  We were touched by this effort.    

They said "We love you  Jamesons  Thank you"      

 

Aimé, his wife and daughter and Effie's sister, who lives with them, were all there.  Pascal, Gloria, their son and  his niece, who he's raising, came. In Africa, almost everybody has more than their nuclear family living with them.  It was really fun to have these two families join us for the "piquenique" at Comimo. 

After we'd chatted for awhile, Eric brought out a boules game.  The objective of this game is to throw your heavy, soft-ball size, metal ball and  try and get it closest to a little orange ball, which is called the piglet. It's somewhat like horse shoes but the rules seem to be a bit complicated to me.  You play on teams of three. You have two balls each.  Somebody is the judge of closeness and he chooses who goes next and who's closest as the game progresses.  You also need to keep track of which ball is yours since they all look about the same. I never could keep track of my ball in golf and this was the same. The game was a big success.

                                                                                                                     

Just about everybody joined in, including Brent. He's not a game player, at all. So,  it was extra fun to see him out there tossing balls. He and Pascal were on the same team and got pretty excited about being the closest to the piglet.  There was a lot of "high-fiving" going on with those two.
                                                                                                           

Some of the group enjoyed being spectators more than competitors, but almost everybody got in the game at one point or another. Even little Devina got into the game and had a good time.

 In the parks in Europe you see old guys playing boules all day. Things get pretty heated as they talk politics, drink wine and play boules. We were much less competitive, but there were moments of close inspection to make sure whose ball was closest to "this little piggy."

The kids seemed to have a good time too. Here, it's always a special treat to be with children.  

 And Pascal enjoyed playing a little soccer with the kids. 

It was just the right kind of farewell send-off for us.  It was low-key and relaxed and we had a great time!  We will miss these dear people so much. They have been such a big part of our lives for the last two years. 

Thirty-two Boxes Go Before Us

Moving day arrived on June 20th.  It took a lot of paperwork and planning to make it happen, but the movers came and right on time!  On time,  for sure, that was a Congolese first. The three young packers worked quickly and efficiently and in less than two hours all our earthly mission belongings were packaged and on their way to Arizona.
We now will live out of a suitcase until June 30th.  It's really happening! We're really going home!

Dinner with the VanHauvermats and Jeanine

Our dear French friends, the Van Hauvermats and Jeanine invited us over for one last dinner at their home.  We love it when they have us over. Firstly, because we love this family dearly. Secondly, because it's always such a truly French experience.  The table is always set just perfectly, rather an anomaly in a country where the custom is to eat from a common serving plate without dishes and silverware, a meal with them is always eaten in true French style. The whole dining experience was lovely and refined.

First, we enjoyed an apéritif, which chez Van Hauvermat, that's a delicious sparkling raspberry drink.  It was accompanied by the clinking of glasses and  "bon appétit."  Then came a beautiful salad course of sliced tomatoes and deviled eggs perfectly presented with a homemade vinaigrette. The main course was,  Tartiflette (an au gratin potato that's to die for, and could kill you because of all the cheese, bacon, and cream in it). Dessert was "a la Brent." All Africa knows he loves a good chocolate sundae.


After dinner the ladies cleared the table and then we all visited in their very French home.  It's hard to explain how there's just a French feeling in their apartment that's unmistakable. Their apartment is an exact duplicate of ours, but our decorating style is completely different and very American. 
We'll miss them. The chances of seeing them again are better than with most. Their home is just outside of Annecy, France. That's one of our favorite French destinations and now we'll have an even stronger reason to go there once these good folks return home.  Unlike missionaries, their term of service is not definite. They're indeed brave souls to take on this church employment in construction. The whole evening was just a joy.

A Father's Day Lunch to Remember

After church in Matadi we went to the little terrace restaurant at the hotel to celebrate with a nice Father's Day Lunch.  We were told by the cute waiter who had helped us during our stay that there were only Congolese meals as the power was out.
Only things cooked on a brassier  (charcoal burner) could be prepared.  They burn wood until it's charcoal, extinguish it, store it and then relight it when ready to cook. The charcoal is put in the bottom of the brassier and a pot or frying pan is put on top.


So, Congolese food was all that was available. We asked to see the Congolese menu. What a surprise we had when we saw it.  It was in Lingala and French.  Here is the English translation.
Poisson is fish.
Viandes is meat.
They consisted of :
Antelope,
Simbiliki  porcupine,
Sanglier is wild boar;
Singe is monkey;
Tortue is turtle;
Crocodile;
Chevre is goat.
Then there was mystery meat of the day and lastly
Nguma is Boa constrictor.
There was also chicken but next to it, it said "a la" meaning WITH and that could have been with termites, with ants, with grubs, with who knows what. So, we opted for french fries.

 Not being the adventuresome sort we passed up the adventure of a lifetime in eating exotic meats. We asked if there was anything else they could do in a brassier.  They didn't seem to think so. We suggested that they could just heat hot oil in a pan and do French Fries.  After about 20 minutes of discussion they decided that they could do that. Half an hour after that we had our Father's Day dinner of french fries and orange soda.  The waiter was so pleased to serve us our French Fires and soda.  African life is such an adventure!

One More African Flight. Oh Matadi!!

Because of my unreasonable fear of flying and it's accompanying anxiety, I am always terrified at the idea of visiting Matadi. But we needed to make one more trip there. I had managed to only make three, while Brent had made four during our mission. But I just couldn't leave Africa without visiting this little branch again.  So, Saturday we flew to Matadi.
It's only a one-hour flight, but it's in a 17-seat prop plane.  Not my idea of a good time!! I just close my eyes and pray for the whole time.  This trip was no different, but we made it without incident.

 We take off from a little air strip in the center of Kinshasa and land on a dirt air strip on the top of a mountain.  And to add to the excitement, they have to shoo goats off the landing strip in order to land. The plane flies to three different cities. Fortunately, we get off at the first stop. Two more take offs and landings would be out of the question.

We stay in the ViVi Palace. Note that many of the names of the hotels we stay in have "Palace" in them, it's interesting that palatial is not a descriptor that I'd use for them. They are, however, the best in town and everybody tries very hard to make things comfortable and nice for us. There are a few challenges in this hotel that always make it interesting. First the rooms that we get are always on at least the third floor of one building.  The restaurant is on the fourth floor of the other. There are no elevators. (Note the heavy breathing that accompanies this description.)  It's quite a hike up and down to go anyplace and that doesn't take into account carrying suitcases to and from your room.

 
There's also a lovely little terrace restaurant that we have enjoyed. This time of year it was cool and beautiful to sit out there. Upon arrival we decided to get a quick lunch there before they came to take Brent to the church for interviews and meeting. Now, quick lunch isn't in the culture of an African meal. After looking at the menu we opted for french fries and orange soda.  It was the only thing that we knew would take less than 45 minutes to prepare. Brent spent the rest of the day interviewing people for priesthood advancements and callings.  I curled up on the bed in our two room "suite" and blogged all afternoon. At dinner time we hiked to the restaurant and found that not much on the menu looked really great and opted for Chinese food.  Maybe Chinese food in Africa wasn't the best idea ever. So dinner was rather light.

Sunday the branch president's counselor came and picked us up for church in a taxi.  He was there all weekend to pick us up and show us around. They were all very proud to show us their new rented church building. It was beautiful. It's probably the nicest of any of the rented buildings we've seen in Africa. It was designed, but never used, as a hotel. So, it has many nice rooms for classes and a very large chapel.

 They were so thrilled about the building and for good reason. It's beautiful and very well kept. In their previous building they didn't have enough room for all the people in sacrament meeting. Many sat out on the porch where little could be heard and seen.  What an improvement this is for them. The Branch President asked Brent if he would see the General Authorities when we went home and if so, if he would thank them for getting this beautiful chapel for them.

They always seem to really make big stands in chapels here. I think that they see how big they are in the conference center and think that's how they should be. Space is large and high, seats are over-sized and quite comfortable.  This building and its stand are no exception. It's also a problem that they often make the pulpit too high. This one was so high that I couldn't see over it when I went to talk. The Priest came and brought me the stool they use when they bless the sacrament. It was embarrassing, but not as strange as it would have been had I only been a voice coming from behind the pulpit.
 I visited all the auxiliaries and especially enjoyed the Primary children. Though we had no words in common, since most only spoke Lingala, we could communicate with gestures and songs and it was fun to visit them.

The investigators' class was too big for the room that they had planned to be in, so they  had to move to another room.  That room was still too small. We had more than 25 people in the investigators' class. Since the church moved to this new location, there has been great interest from the neighborhood. Isn't having too many investigators to fit in the room a great problem to have?! Look at the smile on Elder Ngalamulume's face!  A happy missionary.

Sacrament was also filled to the brim with 177 people in attendance.  There will likely be a split in this branch in the not too distant future. The church is growing everywhere in Africa. Now that they have a building big enough to hold people, they will come. They had a confirmation and 7 men sustained and ordained as elders.

The Second counselor, in the Matadi branch, President Buana and us.

    This young lady was interviewed to serve a mission. Brent hand carried her documents as far as Kinshasa. This will be his last potential missionary interview.  She's a sweet girl and will be a real asset to missionary work. There will soon be two missionaries from Matadi, a brother and sister.                                                                                                        

  No more African flights. We've traveled over 82,000 miles on this mission and have made over 100 flights.  With somebody who's afraid of flying,
the fact that I could do that amount of air travel is  another evidence of the Lord's patience and love and has been a true mission miracle.