Chunga Kiloko

And everything goes wrong, that seems to be my daily experience in Congo and some how normal and unavoidable. I guess the solution is to just anticipate nothing working ahead of time. I am becoming a much more patient person.
First of all I come here because I am told to come here. Because I didn’t believe it after having waited for so long I asked over and over are you sure is this really all we need for the visa. And over and over again they said yes this is everything go tomorrow and we will take care of everything. I was excited and chose to just believe and silence the voice in the back of my head saying “I doubt it, this is Congo”. I got to the church treasure's house where I am staying and asked what time we were going to immigration and got the disappointing news that things were not ready and someone was trying to get it all together but as they usually say in Congo “chunga kiloko” or “kesho mangaribi” (Just wait a little bit or tomorrow afternoon).” So from previous experience I correctly assumed that phrase means it’ll be awhile. So here I am 3 days later still waiting and hoping.
I went to an office to get internet for my computer which can only be done in Lubumbashi. Long story short I waited in their office for 3 hours while they tried to make everything work as they continually told me 10 more minutes for 3 hours. Finally I told them I had to go and they had to give me my money back and at first they refused but I was able to persuade them to reconsider. I was really patient for the first 2 hours but the third hour was just too much for me especially since it seemed to me their system was down and it was impossible and they were wasting my time just for the fun of it. The good news is I found a new store that sells western style food because it was across the street from their office.
When I got here the pastor I am staying with took me to a room that was disconnected to the main house and told me there is good security here but I should lock the door and gave me a key. I locked the door and went to sleep. When I woke up I attempted to unlock the door but it wouldn’t unlock. No one was around to help me so I wasn’t sure what to do. For security every window in Africa has bars to keep out thieves. Luckily they had never spent the money to put in an actual window frame so the window was made of metal and wood and opens all the way making it possible for a person to climb out. So I was able to escape from the room. Later on one of the pastor’s sons squeezed through the window and fixed the problem explaining to me that they’ve had a lot of trouble with the lock and need to buy another one. Of course no one bothered to tell me that in advance.
The food situation is always humorous. I of course don’t eat meat or fish which is almost impossible for a Congolese to believe or understand. The basic idea is the only people who don’t eat meat are those who cannot afford to buy it. Then they eat Bukari everyday. Bukari is corn flour boiled with water until it is stiff. It is the basic food of Africa called by various other names including nsima and fufu. In Zambia it is much thinner than here in Congo. I prefer it that way probably because it is what I grew up enjoying. If there is no bukari at a meal there is no food and if you don’t eat bukari you didn’t really eat. So I do eat bukari but because there are frequently other choices I’ll eat bukari at one meal then rice at the next and potatoes at the next then bread then bukari again and so forth. It really confuses the people here and they think I’ll get sick or become weak because I’m not eating bukari. When I first got to Congo in March and was living with the Catholic mother she was very concerned for me and showed me in a health book by the Congolese government that for good health it is necessary to eat bukari everyday. They try to give me more and more vegetables but for me I can only eat so many leaves at one time because it tastes just how you would expect a leaf or weed to taste. I guess it’s an acquired taste.
There is also a mouse that lives in the room I’m staying in. It’s a cheeky little mouse who continually scurries around the room even though I’m here. I’ve almost killed it so many times but it appears to be quite daring and fearless. I hope I manage to kill it before I leave. I hate losing.
Please keep my visa in your prayers. I’m meeting with the youth at a church here tomorrow. I think it will be really great to get some ideas from them. It will be nice to get back to Likasi. I’m hoping it’ll be soon. Thanks for your prayers.

Shituru

So Diane asked what Blog readers could do which reminds me of another funny reality of Congo. Congo basically has no infrastructure which means basically no postal system. There is a working post office n Lubumbashi or so I’ve been told. In Likasi I found an old post office. I was pretty excited about it so I ventured inside. I was hit first by the atrocious smell of dried fish which covered the place from floor to ceiling. I asked some of the guys moving the dried fish if it was a post office still. They said ye and sent me to a room without dried fish and told me to wait for the boss. After 30 minutes he came inside. I asked him how much it cost to send a letter to the US and it took him another 30 minutes to look through all of his papers to try to find the prices. I walked around back and saw that the back side is being used as a bar and the side with the post office boxes is being used for people to hang their laundry from. So sending things via the post office isn’t really an option.
The biggest thing that blog readers can do is pray. As much as Congo’s problems and my life here brings humor it can also get super annoying and difficult. Each day I need God’s grace to handle each new challenge and to do the ministry God has called me to. If you want to ask questions or anything you are welcome to email me at noahminstriescongo@yahoo.com
On Friday I went to Shituru again. It was a day filled with intense spiritual; warfare. There is such a covering over that area hat has to be broken. We spent the day casting out demons, counseling people concerning spiritual problems, and encouraging them that there is hope. We went to one house where 2 teenage boys had just moved in with a family looking for jobs with the mining company. They got fired because they are drunk all the time but before they moved to Shituru they weren’t drinkers. One of the families had a lot of money stolen from their house and the now the husband tried to kill himself and keeps saying he’ll do it again. One young man was working for the mining company and water he said was 1000 degrees splashed onto his ankle and he suffered serious burn damage. The doctors have said the damage is so severe he will never be able to do heavy manual labor and will always walk with a limp. When the mining company heard that they immediately declared him fired and refused to pay his medical bills. There are so many problems there. In one of the house the Congolese song C’est Encore Possible (It’s Still Possible) was playing. It’s a song all about how there are so many problems and so much suffering but God hasn’t forgotten and even thought it may seem impossible with God it is still possible that things can change. It just reminded me that Shituru can change regardless of how bad the situation is because God is bigger than all of its problems.
The pastor took 2 months to seek the Lord without doing ministry. His official day back was Wednesday and he is so on fire it’s incredible. He declared Thursdays as the church’s day of intercession and this past week it was so anointed. I am excite about what God has done is and is doing through Pastor Kabamba. I am really enjoying working with him again.
A lady asked me how I got so many mosquito bites on my arms. I responded that I didn’t have any mosquito bites on my arms. So she said something I couldn’t understand and then came over and grabbed my arm and began examining it. She asked what those spots were on my arms if they weren’t mosquito bites. I then proceeded to explain to her what freckles were without much success but I assured her they never come off or go away, I was born with them, and they don’t hurt.

Mungu Wangu

I am once again writing by generator. The power has been out for more than a week. They just can’t seem to fix the problem. I keep asking if it is a big problem but everyone says “no but the repair man is tired.” I don’t really know what that means beyond the fact that I won’t get electricity today. In Congo things just take time I guess.

A little boy was crossing the street nonchalantly when a van going at an ungodly speed rammed into him just outside my house. I heard the tires squeal to a halt and many Congolese crying out Mungu Wangu (Oh My God). They have recently repaired the road outside of my house and there are no speed limits in Congo that I’ve noticed so vehicles go as fast as the vehicle can possibly go regardless of the fact that it is a heavily residential area with plenty of “children’s crossing zones”. These accidents happen really frequently from gross negligence on the part of the driver. The mentality is I have a car so get out of my way or I’ll hit you. People riding bikes get hit the most frequently because obviously the man carrying 200 pounds on his bike should get off the road rather than the car having to slow down. So the man who hit the little boy (I hear he will be ok) gave a little bit of money to the police man who quickly came to get his payment and then the driver carried on with life as usual. He didn’t loose his license he didn’t go to jail nothing. This is Congo.

Last month a truck driver hit and killed a police officer who was standing in the middle of the road in bright yellow. The driver just paid some money and continued on to make his delivery as if nothing had happened. Right now the 12^th graders are getting their results back from their standardized exam. In Zambia this is a big deal because the exam is really difficult and your score determines whether you can continue your education and if you don’t do well enough you have to wait a whole year to even have the chance to retake it. So I figured the situation was similar in Congo but I was told that if you don’t pass you just pay the school money and they let you pass. Great system they have here. Likewise I’ve heard that at university if you don’t pay extra money to your teachers to make them like you they will fail you no matter how smart you are. A friend recently made the statement Congo is 100 years behind even Zambia and although that is an exaggeration this country is ridiculous.

Once a week in my English class I print off a chapter from the Bible in English and we go through it word by word. We are learning English words and phrases but it also gives me an opportunity to preach the word of God and explain the purpose of the passage. Of course I love to preach but I especially love this situation because all of my students except one are boys and many of them have explained that a woman is incapable of preaching. So week after week I am preaching to them and explaining the truths of the Bible and they don’t even realize it.

On Friday I was called to Shituru again to speak with a drunkard. He asked me to talk to Him about the things of God. Of course it was hours after the time we had planned but I was able to take him through what the Bible has to say about drunkenness. I was surprised to hear him say he had no idea what the Bible said about the issue. I don’t know what he will do about what he has heard but I pray he changes. I really believe if just one or two key people in that area become serious about the things of God it would make a huge difference.

I began house to house visiting again this week. It is always a joy to encourage fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I enjoy seeing different areas of the city and dealing with the range of reactions. Some of the children are scared to death of me and scream and cry while others are so exited and won’t stop asking me questions and laughing. The adults seem to have the most trouble with the fact that I wear flip-flops. I find it hilarious that we will go out in the middle of the day when it is incredibly hot and the person I go with will be wearing jeans, a jacket, and socks and shoes just because they like the way it looks.

I received news this week that my niece, Samantha, has leukemia. The doctors are really positive and God has already been so faithful and things are going well. It is extremely hard to be so far away in such a difficult time. I would really appreciate all of your prayers.

Getting my visa is coming along slowly. I have a few more pieces to the puzzle and I’m becoming more accustomed to waiting and not understanding why I should be waiting for something so simple. Please keep that in your prayers as well. God is helping me everyday. Thanks for praying.

Orphan Sponsorship

Okay I keep meeting orphans who are unable to attend school because of money. Some of these children have never been to school. Others haven’t been for 2 years. I’ve talked with them and they have so many aspirations for their lives and dreams of doing great things but because their father or parents died now they have no chance. I began to ask about how much it costs to send them to school and received the answer that every school has a different price. School is opening up soon. In order to attend the students must pay a registration fee which also varies from school to school but is usually around $8 and then the teachers will decide the monthly rate based on the number of students probably in October. I inquired about the monthly rates last year and received answers ranging from $3 to $11. I started thinking about it and decided I would ask if anyone wants to get involved. I know some times we don’t have a lot of money but we want to make a difference. If you want to sponsor an orphan in Congo please contact me as soon as possible. I’ve met with the orphans and have compiled a list of the one’s truly in need and will give the money to the teachers directly to avoid the guardians spending it on themselves. I’ll also be in contact with the teachers to make sure the students are actually attending class and working hard. You can send the money through Noah Ministries so it’ll be tax deductible. There won’t be any administrative costs on your gifts so everything you give will go to the student. If because of the exchange rate it’s a few cents more I’ll buy the students notebooks and pencils. If you are interested please let me know and I’ll get you more information. If you want I can have the student send you monthly letters. I wish I could give you an exact price but this is Congo . If you need more information just let me know noahministriescongo@yahoo.com