Wednesday, April 20 leaving Kinshasa

The driver of our taxi takes Erik and I into the center of Kinshasa to check in my baggage for the return flight. On his dash board is a huge bumper sticker with the words: «With Jesus-Christ you are never alone». I ask him if he really believes these words and he says «Yes». In the Congo there are many Christians but one never knows how many are true believers.

The check in at Brussels Airlines is at a different address from the office. I show my passport and everything is in order. Each time I am asked the itinerary of my flights as if I am supposed to get another connecting flight in Brussels. Maybe because I have an American passport. I explain again that my flight ends in Brussels. I live there.

We have time to spend a few more minutes with Hubert Miyimi in his office down town. This is a large building across from the Belgian Embassy. His office is on the third floor, nicely decorated and with air conditioning. A secretary welcomes us. At one time this was a very nice building with offices and stores lining the large corridors. But the white marble is now broken in places, not enough lighting, escalators not running. We have one last visit with Hubert and a time of prayer. He shares with us his concerns for the dishonesty and corruption in the land, even among  Christians, and the fact that this holds back a lot of progress.

Returning to the car, we find the driver trying to fix a flat tire. He didn’t have a jack  nor the right wrench, so went to a nearby open-air garage, like so many in Kinshasa, and borrowed the jack and wrench that would fit his bolts. This taxi is an Opel Kadett and in fairly good condition.

In spite of this and all the time spent getting through traffic on bad congested roads to the airport, we manage to get there early. Another Congolese is there waiting with us, and we get acquainted. It turns out that he is the Chief of the office for the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for Congo. He is very friendly and interested in the work at Matende and offers his help if we would ever need it. When I mention the problem of getting a tractor for Matende, he tells me to send him the formal request and maybe he can try to get the need presented to the government.

Maybe I will end up getting more help from waiting at the airport, than from all these visits in downtown Kinshasa the past three days. Now it is time to say good-bye to Erik. He is so thankful that the trip went well, without any accidents or sickness during the whole time we were traveling. We thank the Lord as we did in the office together with our friend Hubert.

When I show my passport to the immigration officer at the airport, he sees that I have quite a few visas from past travel to the Congo. I ask him if it wold be easier if I had the Congo nationality? He gives me his name and telephone number and tells me to contact him on my next trip and he could arrange to get me a permanent visa since I was born in Congo. Of course it would cost $1500 which is a lot of money. The visa I got this time was for 6 months and is good until the end of August. (cost $300).

I go through security, my handbag is controlled and alas, I forgot to take out my pocket knife and a pair of scissors plus some rechargable batteries. I have to leave them behind. Why didn’t I didn’t remember to put them in my luggage?

I take my seat in the plane back in the last row for the overnight flight back to Brussels. The Chief of Police is up in business class but we meet again in the luggage claim area after the plane lands, and I help him get through the airport to the train that will take him in to Brussels. From there he goes to Lyon, France, for meeting with 250 Interpol chief officers.

Thursday, April 21 back in Belgium

Charlotte meets me at the airport and we drive home. I am happy to be back. Tired after a night flight, but aware of all the comforts and even luxuries we enjoy. It’s good to take a nice warm shower with the shower head up above me, the first time in eight weeks, since in Congo it was always a bucket of cold water on the floor. I had several weeks without looking in a mirror. So it is possible to live without certain comforts that we too easily take for granted. And I was always thankful for each bucket of water knowing how hard it is to carry by hand.

During this two-month trip to the heart of Africa, I was constantly filled with joy and satisfaction at the thought of being able to contribute something, even though small and often just encouragement and sharing of vision. This far surpassed any discomforts endured. To take part in the life of others who are struggling day in and day out for years helps us understand why they tend to loose hope and give up or lack initiative.

The greatest satisfaction is in knowing that we have done what God asked us to do, even though we see that we have only just begun. There is still so much to be done, and the needs are staggering. We need to take time to seek God’s will, wait on Him. We will be meeting with people here in Belgium, planning, do accounting, reports, write letters, and start thinking about how to organize a future trip, maybe in August.

Thank you to all of you who have followed my trip by reading the updates, by your prayers, gifts, and encouragements and for your interest in the project Congo Open Heart. May God bless you.

Bud Kroeker as well as the Congolese team, Erik Kumedisa, and all who had a part.

Come and see Kinshasa with me in a new vehicle for this town, a Rickshaw with a motor.

 

 

The billboard shows how the area should look after construction. Roads are among the five project priorities of the government.

 

 

Under the multicolor umbrellas are people selling units for cell phones, a few minutes for one dollar.

 

In Kinshasa transport anything by poussepousse, a trailor pushed or pulled by one man, sometimes one or more helpers:

Notice all the plastic bags on the ground, the big problem for Kinshasa streets, drains and rivers.

 

Psalm 1:1-3
«Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.»

Hubert and Marceline Miyimi came to spend part of the evening with me and we meditated on this Psalm together. The man who loves God is compared to a tree planted by the water. Both the man who loves God and the physical tree are becoming more and more scarce. People continue to chop down trees in this country until it is really difficult to find wood for cooking. Wood for construction has to be shipped in from far away.

Monday and Tuesday, April 19 in Kinshasa
We have tried to contact as many organisations as possible to find help for the projects at Matende, most urgently for agriculture. We have hopes of receiving aid from the German group Hans Seidel who are planting all over Congo.

It’s always necessary to get past the «gatekeepers» in order to talk with important foundations. sometimes there is even a police officer at the door, and then you must get past the secretary and then you meet the real gatekeepers who have to know everything about you. In this case they are two professors. One happens to be a person who grew up on a mission station we know of, Kafumba, not far from Kikwit. He started naming all of the missionaries who had served there that he knew of, and was so excited when they were people that I knew. He is very happy to see that we are making an effort to help that area. The other man has studied overseas and speaks to me in English «Where are you from?» But when I answer that I am from Belgium, we continue our conversation in French. This is the first step in the process, because now they need a written request telling about the project. At least we give them our brochure and they now know who we are.

Then we go to visit the Congolese Bible Society where they have a small bookstore. There are no more Bibles in Kikongo language. They don’t know if any will be available before 2014. The French Bibles they sell are 8500 Congo francs for the cheapest ones. No one here can afford that price.

In the evening we get started talking to another man who is lodging at the same guest house. He says he works for a non-profit organization that is Italian, and he invites us to come see his boss, the director of the Food organization. So Tuesday morning we go to talk to this man, Matthieu Berardi, who is in agriculture; he is very friendly. He, too, gets funding from the foundation Hans Seidel, but also from the European Union and from Italy. He explains the complications of getting through the gatekeepers to eventually get to the source. We need prayer so that we might be led in the right way.

Next a visit to the International Bible Society, now called Biblica. They sell French Bibles for $10 and have a good stock on hand. This is the translation we use and a very good, clear text. I tell them that I will pick some up to take to Matende the next time I come.

We meet Dr Jean-Paul Sekele for dinner in a nice restaurant. He thanks us for the work begun at Matende. It is a blessing to have a friend like him. Then we meet once again our Belgian friend, David Dehan, who comes to say good-bye and to assure us that he wants to collaborate with us at Matende. He has printed out reports of his visit there, with suggestions on how to go ahead with the planting. Of course his own work is dependant on finding funds to keep going as well.

Wednesday, April 20
Time to leave the Congo. Today we have to check in the luggage and get the flight back to Brussels. The departure is expected for 9 p.m. with arrival tomorrow morning at 7:30. There is still a lot to do writing up reports, digesting all that has taken place during my stay here. So much has taken place. Hopefully I can return before my visa expires in August.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and interest as I made this trip. I have felt this even when I was alone in the bush, and I never felt lonely. God has given me health and strength even in difficult situations, and I can only thank Him for his grace and blessings which I certainly do not deserve.

Yours in Him,

Bud

 

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Saturday and Sunday, April 9 – 10 in Kinshasa
This morning I fly back to Kinshasa from Kikwit on a full plane. We land at the old airport reserved for flights within the country. Jean-Paul Sekele is waiting for us in the baggage department with the son of the pastor Mayaya in Kikwit, Kis Mayaya.They take us out past the Kinshasa University, a beautiful area. The traffic is dense and cars are honking with students celebrating graduation, walking in the streets or hanging out of car and bus windows yelling. Finally we arrive at Sekele’s home in a nice neighborhood. But as evening comes, the noise and music begin. We are invited to a neighbor’s house to celebrate his son’s graduation, and the tables are spread out for about 100 people for dinner. I spend the evening talking to the men at my table, then excuse myself to return to Sekele’s house to sleep. But the festivities continue on into the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday morning we all go to Church together in a very large Baptist Church. There are at least 1000 people in attendance.

Monday, April 11 in Kinshasa
Dr. Sekele drives me in to the city where he has to do errands. Then he drops me off at the Protestant Guest House near the river.  This afternoon Hubert Miyimi comes to get me to take me to their home for supper. It is always a joy to be with these friends.

Tuesday, April 12
I spend quite a bit of time today in my room, sorting, organizing my reports before I forget. Erik telephones that he has arrived from Kikwit and went straight home to his house.

Wednesday, April 13
This will be my last night at the Protestant Center here in Kinshasa because they have no more room, many people coming through. Don’t know where I will be staying tomorrow night. I’ve met several men here in this guest house, including Keith Gustafson, the director of the Covenant Mission in the Ubangi, where we sent a container full of Sunday School material from BLF several years ago. We’d never met but after corresponding over a period of years we felt as if we were good friends.

I get a telephone call from Emery Kayamba who has been able to get us an interview with a man who works for the Prime Minister, in charge of his cabinet. We arrive at 10 a.m. in an immense building overlooking the river. After filling out the papers, we wait our turn. Around 1 p.m. a lady informs us that the man cannot receive us without the presence of Kayamba. So we won’t have this meeting after all. We continue on foot, which allows me to get better acquainted with the city. Unfortunately I don’t have my cap with me to cover my head from the strong sunshine.

We hope to contact several banks and we go first to the BIAC (Bank International for Africa and Congo) which has a sign in Kikwit next door to the Western Union, but not yet a branch. They plan to open the branch there by the end of the year. We can’t open an account in Congo until we get the certification for the organization «Congo Open Heart» which is under way in Kinshasa since December. So from there we go to a new «Bank of Africa». Our friend Dr. Sekele, who got us the generator, has a son who works in this bank. I like their nice clean building and good service, but so far they don’t have plans to open a branch in Kikwit.

Thursday, April 14
We find a taxi and negotiate his services for the day. We have an appointment at 9:30 with the Secretary of the Budget, Mr. Nsampanga. It’s so nice to be received right on time. He is originally from the area of Matende and he asks me to pray to open our discussion time. We have a very friendly talk and he mentions that the first time he ever tasted avocado was at Matende. I tell him that I was the one who planted the first avocado plant there at Matende. He says that he will try to encourage Vodacom to put up an antenna near Matende, and he talks with someone on the phone while we are still there in his office.

After that we go quite a ways to the commune de Selembao where we find a beautiful villa and meet Erik’s cousin, Ndiang Kabul. This man owns several companies that produce mineral water even in the area of Idiofa in the past. And he still owns land there but he lost all his vehicles and other things during the wars.

From there we go to look for another lodging for me. First to the Baptists  who don’t have any more room for tonight. Then we go to the Nganda Center where I attended large conventions while here in 2006 for the elections. They charge $50 a night and we say that is too expensive. A lady there suggests we go over to the Saint Clement Center near there. These buildings we find are very new, built in 2009 and able to house 150 people. It is like a camp grounds, funded by the Catholic Church in Belgium. The price is $30 a night for a nice room with bed, table and chairs, bathroom, electricity and fan even though there is not enough pressure for the water to run in the sink – a bucket outdoors near a faucet is available to get water.

Friday, April 14
Hubert Miyimi comes to get us and he admires this Saint Clement guest house and grounds, and says that he would like to see if he could rent it to use for the couples camps he organizes.  Erik joins us as we go up the hill to the Mount Ngafula and the radio and television station «Sango Malamu» or Good News used to broadcast daily Christian programs. We wait while another program is being recorded and then we have our TV interview with Hubert Miyimi for a half hour.  We wait for him to do another program in the radio station next door on the theme of the Family and Church. I was hoping to see my friend Sita Luemba who is the legal representative for this TV and radio station. I lodged in his home back in 2006 for a few weeks before the elections. But he is not here.

Coming down the hill we pass the large mansion of Mobutu, now used for the mother of the president Kabila. Hubert drives us to the office of Brussels airlines to confirm my return flight.

Saturday, April 16
I spend the day here at the Center, organizing my pictures and computer work. Erik stays at his home to work. The electricity is working most of the day and when it cuts off, I can just rest or take a walk. It is extremely hot and humid so not much energy to work. I can get up early tomorrow.

Sunday, April 17
The same taxi comes to get me at 8:30 for the trip out to Erik’s church. This is the lovely new road going to Matadi, the port. We stop to  pick up Erik and then later leave the taxi parked to walk the last 500 meters until we get to the church, the road is so bad and congested. There is a nice service with three choirs, and after I speak 10 or 15 minutes, the pastor has a message on Jesus entering Jerusalem. After the service, we greet everyone, and then the ladies serve us a lunch in one of the classrooms.

The chauffeur has been waiting and drives us back in to Kinshasa. Other pastors and Church leaders come to see us on the grounds of the Catholic Center where there are tables in the shade. These men are the ones who attended the conference in Kikwit and then came out to Matende to visit me. They tell me how much they were encouraged to see the work at Matende and they thanked me. Actually I had been somewhat embarrassed to have them arrive there and find me wearing shorts that evening. But they assure me that they were so happy to see me in shorts, looking as if I fitted in with the village, as one of them.

Thank you so much for your prayers. May God bless you.

Bud

(small correction to my post on March 28 – where I said that 640 Congo francs equals one euro. It should have been 1300 congo francs to one euro.)

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Click on each photo in gallery to enlarge.

 

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Sunday, April 3 – Matende

A nice quiet Sunday at Matende where we enjoy the calm beauty of this place. I get up early with Dr. Latele Kims who is lodging in this same house. During the week, the bell (old piece of a truck hung on the branch of a Mango tree) rings at 5:30 a.m. The rooster starts crowing much earlier and when the first rays of sunlight come over the hill, we start hearing the women out pounding their grain, boom… boom… boom. From 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. in this region near the equator, life takes place outdoors.

Dr. Latele comes quickly to tell me he has an urgent call for help in a village 50 kilometers away called Mukulu. His motor bike is not even here because Pastor Mayoto, who came to Matende with me, borrowed it to return to Kikwit and left it in a village along the way when it broke down. So Latele has to walk to the village of Iwungu, 7 kilometers away, to borrow a motor bike from the school teacher there. He must go help a woman who is going to give birth and may need an operation. Fortunately he can use his cell phone, because in the past someone had to be sent to call the doctor. But even though communication is easier, transportation is still lacking all over Congo.

I was once again asked to bring the message in Church, and I focus on the third chapter in Nehemiah showing how people started working in front of or around their own house (verse 23). It makes no difference if they were important dignitaries or not. The word for family here in the Bambunda area means the enlarged family including uncles and aunts and even grandchildren. But if we consider the family as one couple and their children, a unit that God has created, our responsibility is for our own family and our own house and property.

After this time spent at Matende, I suggest:

• Taking care of what is already there
• Repairs or upkeep
• Organizing
• Planning
• Building
• Participating.

It’s not only our belongings that we must take care of, but all that God has entrusted us with, whether it comes from the sky or from the earth. Every Mama gets up in the morning and starts sweeping the sand in front of her hut. If one millimeter of sand is removed each day, after one year about 12 inches of sand has been removed. And after three years about 36 inches. So around all of the houses where we are staying, the foundations already stick out with no dirt around them. There needs to be grass planted and ways to keep from erosion. When the mission was first built in 1945, lawns were planted all around the buildings. But the folks explain that they don’t especially like the grass because in the morning it is covered with dew and they get their feet wet walking through it even though they all wear thongs or flip flops these days. But now, even around the house where I am sleeping, the yard is just dirt or sand where the goats roam during the night, leaving their waste, and where children play all day in the same dirt, and because of lack of water go to bed at night without washing.

During the afternoon we discuss all of these things individually or in groups.

Monday, April 4

Sad news
The doctor comes back and tells us what happened the night before. He has come back very tired with bad news, and we all grieve with him. He was able to rent the friends motor bike in Iwungu for the 50 kilometers, first over paved road and then over little paths. One tire blew out and he fixed it himself, and then later another tire broke and he ended up pushing the last part of the trip and some young people came out to help him. When he arrived, the woman and her baby were both dead. She had started giving birth but lost too much blood.

What can be done to provide a means of transportation for this area to have on hand when there’s an emergency? During my stay in Matende, two women and their babies were saved, but this time it is a sense of failure that fills all of our hearts. The doctor came back in the night after waiting for someone to bring him a light to see the road in the pitch black without even the moon or stars shining.

The discussions following this experience centered around the necessity for Matende to have prenatal consultations free to all women, as well as teaching after giving birth to provide lessons on nutrition for babies, help in planning, family responsibilities, and even teaching young mothers to read. Some of them are still girls. Then organizing a filing system of their information and progress would help with follow-up.

After this sad news, we didn’t have much enthusiasm to work but continued anyway on Monday repairing the roof around the chimney behind the house where the water was leaking inside. The men climbed up barefoot on the tin roofing. One of my brother Mark’s friends when he was a boy was Macac. This man passed away not long ago, but his wife and two daughters and a son came to see me. This son is one who climbs up tall palm trees to cut the palm fruit. He is really at ease working at great heights.

Monday evening while I was working with the computer and charging the batteries, and as the folks were watching  a DVD, all of a sudden the electrical current stopped dead. The generator had stopped and I studied all of the fuses and wires, but couldn’t find the cause. So we are without electricity for the rest of my stay at Matende. I’ve come to the conclusion that God wants us to concentrate on thinking through the essential problems facing us in the work here during these days before I leave. He is showing us that we shouldn’t be too taken up with manual labor or computers right now.

Tuesday, April 5 – Matende
This afternoon we have a meeting with all the team of volunteers. There are around 34 people who form the association of backing Congo Open Heart project, and they already have met among themselves before this meeting with Erik and me. They present their ideas for projects and men to form the teams for each project:

 

• Agriculture
• Road work
• Upkeep of the grounds of the Mission
• Fish hatchery
• Raising livestock

We spend time listening to their plans and encouraging them. We also leave a little gift of $50 for their fund. The vision for the work here at Matende includes the following:

1. A committee composed of those from each department to plan and make decisions.
2. Matende recognized as an area of rural development under the umbrella of Congo Open Heart.
3. No more grass huts built on the mission grounds.
4. Research to build concrete blocks and Adobe blocks.
5. Over the next 5 years replace grass huts around the mission.
6. Start a program of helping construction of durable houses.
7. Start a program of helping agriculture for growth, stocking, transporting and sales of produce.
8. Creation of several experimental gardens as models for the area.
9. Planting fruit trees on the mission as well as other trees to replenish the soil and avoid erosion, also providing wood later.

We still are looking around for a tractor to have permanently at Matende for the work, upkeep of the grounds, transporting earth and building materials.

While in Kinshasa we will seek to find a way for Vodacom to put up an antenna near Matende.

We will also look for other contacts for help with projects and furnishing of necessary equipment for volunteers such as shovels, hoes, pitchforks, wheelbarrows, etc.

Wednesday, April 6 – Matende

Last night while admiring the beautiful sunset I decided to take a walk all by myself, thinking about the past and reflecting on the future. I strolled down the path past our old house and garage, which are no longer there, down past the students’ dorms, and the foundations of a previous village site. A few days ago, Mandongo, the most elderly man of the mission, and Samukanda, the leader of the volunteers, had shown me these foundations covered with grass with no building ever being built upon them since. Mandongo had told me: «You used to sail down this road on your bike with your feet on the handle bar so fast that your father would bawl you out.» Now, I see a path going off to the left and I wonder if that is where I built a road down to where I drove to get sand and gravel by the river to bring up for the construction my father and the Congolese were doing?

 

So this morning I announce my plan to find my road. Shamukanda and Mandongo are always eager to go, so we take the steep descent down to the river. Once down there we take time to look at the ponds of fish hatchery, a rice plantation, land with forests of trees cut down, and on to a spot I recognize as a place where the Congolese stacked rocks and sand so that I could fill the truck and haul it back up to the Mission in 1945.

We discover the place where we got clay for making blocks for building. Mandongo thinks he can find a place where men later made cement but it is now buried by the river. The river is very clean here near the spring where it starts. We are all agreed that this is the place to begin a quarry for building cement and clay blocks. There is water, clay, sand and the gravel not far from here. But where is the road to haul it back up to the Mission so that we don’t have to carry it up on people’s heads?

 

Walking back on the path where it begins a steep climb, Mandongo tells me: «Here’s where the road began.» Of course, I want to go see! They shake their heads and say: «Nyanga mingi» or too much high grass. But finally they see that I am determined to go and they join me with a pioneering spirit of adventure. Their enthusiasm grows with each step as they point out signs of the old road still showing through the grass. The road followed a gradual climb around the hill passing the southeast marker at the end of the Mission property. That evening there is enthusiastic talk about the new road and Shamukanda says we can even build it clear up to the road above. If we can get better reception for the cell phones down below, it would even be an ideal spot to build houses in the future. We leave the project in their hands.

Thursday, April 7 last day before leaving
People begin bringing small gifts for me to take back. They have fond memories of Olivier being here last year. I am leaving all the tools I brought. There’s a board left so we decide to use it to reinforce the door and the shutters on the window and make a little shelf in the concrete cupboard in the bedroom.

Since we are now without electricity, my friends do the sawing by hand, and they are certainly used to doing it this way. But I still give them a few hints and advice on how to do it easier. The batteries in the screw driver keep going until the last screw has been used. We have used almost all 400 that I brought along with me. We leave one man to guard the house and be in charge of maintenance and grounds. He has already cut and picked up a lot of grass and you can sure see the difference.

One last meeting of the Mission Committee. The pastor, principals of both schools, director of the health center and his assistant, who is president of the committee, along with a lady representing the women. In all there are 85 adults and 138 children living at the Mission. We talk about having a pre-school for all these small children who run around without supervision all day. Discussions continue on the subject of prenatal consutations with also the burden for the newborn babies.

So I think we can go tomorrow, leaving behind a center for rural developement in its beginning stages here at Matende, as well as a new spiritual vision and thrust.

Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9 – travel
We say good-bye and leave early for Kikwit.  I hope to be able to return to Matende this summer before my visa for 6 months runs out. Today we must get another Vodacom Internet subscription so we can work the rest of our 10 days in Congo. This evening there is no Internet connection, but I can install the printer and work late on all the reports from Matende and scan them to study in the days to come. Our dinner today was fufu and goat meat, served in a lovely quiet garden of a hotel away from the bustle of the city.

Saturday we go to the airport at 9 a.m. to get a flight back to the city of Kinshasa for the last leg of the trip.

We are rejoicing for the time we were able to have at Matende, and want to thank all of you again who gave to make the trip possible.

Please pray for these next 10 days in Kinshasa as we meet with important people that we might have God’s leading and guidance.

Bud

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Here I am back in Kinshasa after two weeks without sending a letter. I sent a few pictures of Gungu on March 26 but had no time to write. Then in Matende the generator broke down on April 4 and we were without any electricity or internet connection the rest of the time there. I am afraid that the following letter will be full of gaps or holes, not unlike the streets in Kinshasa. This week will be more difficult for me than working in the village. We will be making contacts here in Kinshasa with humanitarian organisations and talking with important people.

Thursday and Friday, March 24 and 25 – Gungu
We had planned to spend two days making contacts with people in Gungu, but it actually took four days. We began with a polite visit with the Administrator of the County, since Matende is situated in this County. Gungu has become a center for agricultural studies of university level, and so this is a priority for us to visit. The Institute of Agricultural Studies Kiyaka is where agricultural engineers are taught. The Director, Mayumu Kimwang, receives us into his study and opens the  meeting with prayer. It is encouraging here in Congo to find brothers and sisters in Christ who have positions of responsibility.  We have a very friendly conversation with him and meet the personnel. He advises us to use those who have graduated from his school to put in posts of responsibility, but the salary for an agricultural engineer is way above the budget of a mission like Matende. We hope to be able to visit Kiyaka before the end of our trip.

Even though Gungu has several university-level institutions, there is only one computer center with about ten computers and a library. This was a result of a gift given by a non-profit organisation. They only have the generator in use for electricity when a customer arrives occasionally. We talked to them about the possibility of organizing computer science training sessions in their facility. We especially want to see Fortin Sumey, who is very knowledgable and actively involved in leading development projects, but the appointment is for the next day.

We are given lodging in a center for tourists, little houses with three bedrooms, a living room and bathroom. This area was built up through the initiative of Antoine Gizenga, a presidential canditate from this region during the last elections who is now prime minister. Gungu is sort of a tourist area for the local folklore. But after only a few years, we notice again the lack of upkeep, things getting run down. The toilet works, but no running water and electricity only in certain outlets. The SNEL (National Society of Electricity) is on the other side of the street, but they don’t have fuel for the city generator to keep running. Each evening we give a little money to buy a few liters of fuel to use for the generator of this tourist center. The bathroom has no lights whatsoever, at night or during the day.

The next morning we go to see the honorable Sumey, but he is busy with a demonstration going on and promises to see us this evening. We’ll have to stay another day in Gungu. This important man was the provincial deputy during 2005 – 2006, and hasn’t been re-elected, but because of his position and his work in development, he is still «honorable». Meanwhile, his men show us the results of his work: several acres of re-forestation which are beautiful. We enter a forest of acacia trees about 12 years old. In the cool of the forest, we can feel how the forest is re-born and already the honey bees are busy. We also see a plantation of dwarf palm trees, easier for harvesting fruit, and other things planted and a greenhouse. What catches our attention right away is a fence around a spot where two New Holland tractors are standing with trailors, accessories, garage, bridge for repairs and a pump of about 2000 liters of fuel.

So that evening the important person explains his role in this training center and his part in helping raise consciousness for a better way of life. He is a popular man, knows a lot of people, but explains that actually the man in charge of agriculture work is in Kinshasa, so we are disappointed. The re-forestation work and agriculture work is financed by a German humanitarian organisation, Hans Seidel. We hope to get to meet them in Kinshasa.

Saturday, March 26 – Gungu and Kikwit
We’d planned on breakfast for 6 a.m. and departure at 7, but we are happy to be on the road by 9 a.m. The weather is nice: no rain, but a little fog for the steep descent down to the Kwilu River. On this return trip we can admire the beautiful scenery, and fortunately the road is dry. We stop at the new bridge to admire the scenery and take a few pictures without getting stopped by policemen. We stop at Matende to get a few more clean clothes and some passengers. There are 12 of us riding along to Kikwit, including the pastor and the doctor from Matende. We arrive at Kikwit around 2 p.m.

At Kikwit we get lodging once again in the villa where we stayed before. I meet with pastors throughout the evening, and we get internet connection to send a few photos. The city electricity runs morning one day and evening the next day. The staff at this villa where we are staying start up their generator only when we need it.

Sunday, March 27 – Kikwit
We attend the Church service at 9 a.m. in the Kimkwanza Church, one of the oldest Churches in Kikwit. The pastor, Damien Pelende, president of the Mennonite Churches, introduces me and I speak for about 15 minutes. He also introduces the other visiting pastors who are there for the conference, and the elderly pastor Lumeya, whom I knew in the fifties, whose two sons Nzash and Fidèle keep in touch with me from the U.S. Then the pastor gives a long message and five choirs sing. There are two electric guitars and several microphones. They are lucky to have a generator for electricity and a sound system, even though unfortunately they have a hard time controlling the volume and there is a lot of noise. After the service the women of the church serve lunch to the visiting pastors.

Monday and Tuesday, March 28 and 29 – Kikwit
Monday morning I am invited to speak to all the visiting pastors assembled for the conference. There are also pastors from other churches sitting in. I try to encourage them to keep on serving the Lord. I also want to explain that neglect is a big problem. Often doing nothing is worse than doing something and making a mistake. Neglecting to do what you can and must do can be disobedience and a sin. A big problem everywhere in Congo is neglect: no maintenance, no repair, no care. I explain the goal of Congo Open Heart and the importance of their participation.

This afternoon, Gauthier comes to help me. He works in a garage and has mechanical and construction experience, so he guides me around the stores in Kikwit, beginning with the largest hardware store. There is barely space to navigate around all the customers, every imaginable type of person. No wonder that all the merchandise is locked up behind a window. All prices are bartered. We purchase 53 ft. of rain gutters and 59 ft. of 7 inch drain pipe, a few other items and a sack of cement. The rain gutters and pipes are larger here in Congo because the rain comes down so fast.

For other items we must go to Cordozo, the Portuguese we already know. Then to the Indian store. Here you find just about everything. Everything is on display behind a trellis, so we write down our list and go to the one and only cashier who is seated behind the counter, with two helpers who go find the articles we order. Most of these customers will go sell the articles in their own shops.

Tuesday, March 29
We wait for Edgard, who will drive us back to Matende. He comes late as usual. He has some guests from Manitoba Canada, the churches who support his agricultural work. We didn’t have a chance to meet the men from a large firm with the name of «Kroeker Farms» in Manitoba.  It must be some distant cousins, but I don’t know them. We did have one from the group, Murray Nickel, who is a Canadian doctor, come visit us. He offered to help us.

While waiting to leave, I go with Gauthier to try to buy some wood. We didn’t find a saw mill in Gungu nor in Kikwit. Men cut down the lumber by hand in the forest; always the same method of cutting down the tree and lowering it over a hole. One man stands in the hole and another up above with a hand saw sawing back and forth.You can imagine that the boards are not too straight. Gauthier explains that sometimes a chain saw guided by a saw is used.

We go down near the river Kwilu where there was a man selling lumber, but he’s not there. The path is so steep, I have to grab ahold of a fence to not slide down the hill. But many take this way down, behind rows of little shops which in turn are behind other shops that crowd the sidewalks along the road.

Finally we get a taxi to take us into the city where we find a man who has a stack of boards to sell. Each board is the width of the trunk of the tree about 11 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick, about 13 ft Long. The boards are not planed and the edges are not ripped. We try to find the straightest boards and negotiate the price which ends up being around $5.

After a stop at his house to meet Gauthier’s wife, he offers to rent a motor bike and go to Kakoi, another village where he can find cheaper wood. It was already dark when we left Kikwit but we arrive at Kakoi and find Gauthier there on the side of the road with three long boards he chose for me of red wood. This is beautiful lumber if it were planed and polished for a table or door. Here the wood is not yet dry and starting to warp, since the boards aren’t stacked correctly. I thought it would be hard to screw with the electric screw driver but the screws go right in. Gauthier is great to work with. We throw ideas back and forth and then come to agree on the most logical thing to do. Edgard drove me back to Matende late Thursday and returned with his men to Kikwit, where Erik also stayed to continue the conference.

Wednesday to Saturday, March 30 through April 2 – Matende
So I stayed by myself at Matende to work with a team of local volunteers. We wanted to install the rain gutters and connect the front of the house to the cistern. The roof is of old, very rusty, corrugated tin that was taken off by the rebels and then put back on with holes and dents. When they put it back on they didn’t do it straight so it overhangs about a foot more on one end. We have to trim the edge of the whole roof, a length of 50 feet. There is no disc cutter so we decide to sacrifice one blade of the skill saw that is supposed to be for hard material. Fortunately it works and the blade lasts long enough to trim the whole side of the roof. When finished there were just stubs of teeth left on the saw and we were sawing metal to metal. Shamakanda who did the cutting had never held a skill saw or disc cutter in his hands before and he worked, balanced on our home-made ladder up there under the palm trees. I prayed that there would be no accident. The tin grabs the blade and sends the saw bouncing back or blocks the motor. Fortunately I had another blade along for cutting wood.

The work was finished without problems, thank God. Wednesday afternoon we saw the boards and screw them on to the whole side of the house where we will place the rain gutters. For the very first time, wood is being cut with an electric saw. Many curious people come to watch, not believing their eyes. There are always those who give advice from the side, each one a different opinion on how to do the task. I think they were all afraid that I didn’t realize how much water comes down at once in a tropical storm on those roofs, running down so fast that it literally jumps farther than the gutter. We needed to put the gutters out a little distance from the house. One village carpenter had experience, but in the end we must have a group effort with all opinions combined. People who have always lived there follow what they have been taught but don’t necessarily have the habit of thinking through new situations or figuring out other ways of solving the problem. Here again the obstacle is having to get by with what we have, with the little bit of material available.

The following days we had to find out how to attach the pipes to the side of the house. We don’t have a Masonry drill for concrete nor do we have plugs. We head down to the school where several boards up on the ceiling have come loose and are hanging precariously over the heads of the pupils. I explain to the teacher that the boards are dangerous up there and need to be taken down.  Several are rotten from rain. We take these boards to the other house and use them to hold up the pipes. The wall already has some holes in it, and we can use them. Without a chisel, we use a screw driver to empty out the holes enough to push in our boards. In one of these holes, the honeybees were already at work. One of the workmen went to taste the honey. Nothing is wasted out here. Finally four of these four-meter pipes are fastened to the entire length of the house to the cistern. We finish cementing and repare the roof of the cistern.

The next time it rains the cistern starts to fill with water, and we can adjust some of our installations. The red paint we bought from the Indian in Kikwit is no good, washed right off. We are cleaning the cistern now and during the next dry season we could give another coat of tar to the inside. But for the time being, water is being stored down in the underground cistern. I would have liked to install an indoor toilet on this trip, but this will have to wait until another trip when we can get the materials in Kinshasa.

Friday, April 1
I work down inside the cistern with these men to make sure all the leaks are stopped. It is very hot down there in the bottom with no ventilation. I thought it would be cooler. So when I come up later, I take a shower with a bucket of cool water. A few minutes later, Erik Kumedisa and Gauthier from Kikwit arrive with three pastors for a visit of Matende. After the conference in Kikwit, they said: “We could bring everyone out to Matende, where is stays cooler than in the city.”

There is one man, Frederic Musangi, who was a childhood friend of my two brothers, Phillip and Mark Kroeker. This was 60 years ago when the three boys went swimming together down in the river at Matende until his father would come to call them.

God is faithful. Thank you for your prayers.

Bud

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Wednesday, March 23, Matende — Gungu

We hope to leave Matende before noon, but Edgard didn’t arrive with his truck until later. He had some problems with his tires, and we didn’t get on our way until 3 p.m.

But the delay permitted us to pass by the clinic or health center to spend time talking with those in charge as well as visit the sick. There are quite a few sick people and two women who recently gave birth by C-section. We were happy to find the lady we helped on our trip to Iwungu last week. She is up and doing well, showed us her little baby girl named Clementine.

The doctor explained to us the problems of so many women who often have 8 to 10 children. They must go work in the fields, carry water from the stream, cook to feed the whole family.

The schools are having a hard time because parents just don’t have the means to pay the fee for a semester which is only about one dollar. Even that is too much.

Finally we are on the road headed to Gungu. We admire the work that has been done on the road by a group of volunteers. They scrape off the grass with a hoe and just pile the grass along the side of the road. This leaves sand and little by little the road becomes lower with hills on either side. They’ve done the same thing at Matende only sometimes they spread the bunches of grass and roots on top of other paths that are full of holes, to try to level off the top. There is no gravel around here. Even the cement building blocks are made without gravel, (just sand and cement). If  there were a tractor or means of hauling around here, we could try bringing up the red earth to spread on the road. It would compact better. The group of volunteers willingly listen to all suggestions we discuss together.

After a few kilometers on the new road towards the east, we stop to look over the area where trees have been planted by a German organisation called MAIMPIA;. They have rows of Acacia trees with manioc plants between the rows. The acacia permits re-forestation as well as compacting the soil to keep it from eroding. The leaves of these trees also give a nice honey, as well as fertilizer after the leaves decompose. We want to contact the office in Gungu and later in Kinshasa to possibly collaborate with them.

After taking a few snap shots, we return to our vehicle only to find out that the tire is flat. Our young driver puts on the spare tire which is kept in the back on top of the tarp covering the truck. I notice that Fabrice doesn’t drive very fast and keeps looking at the spare tire. It’s the only spare he brought along…

We leave the highway to head towards the village of Bantshamba. A large truck is broken down along the road, the axe all taken apart, probably a problem of front-wheel drive. The minute we get off of the main road we are on sand again with ruts nearly 15 to 20 inches deep. So we slowly crawl along and rarely pass another vehicle, descending down towards the river. There is a good concrete bridge, but unfortunately the sand has eroded on either side at the entrance. We drive carefully, inching along, but the bump is too much for our back tire… So another flat tire and this time no spare and no village in sight. Children playing down in the water come to stare at us. Before long a Catholic priest, Jean-Marcel Mutombo drives by in his new Toyota jeep. He has the same type of tires that we have with five holes. So he loans us his spare tire to continue with us down the road. But when we get to the village of Iwunda there is a fork in the road and he is going left towards Mukedi and we are turning right towards Gungu. So we give him back his spare tire and say good-bye. We are stuck without help, jacked up on the side of the road here in Iwunda.

Fortunately the cell phone works in Congo and we aren’t abandoned totally. Erik and Edgard telephone to some friend to go out and buy some minutes to charge on their cell phones. Then they phone the pastor and friends in Gungu to tell them our situation and ask them to send someone for us. The large Kwilu River and a vast valley separate us from Gungu, our destination.

Some people from the village bring out chairs for us to sit on and we carry on a conversation. These are the Bapende people, the same ethnic group as my companions; we have left the Bambunda at Matende. I don’t speak one word of Kipende (that has a lot of «H» sounds like in Hebrew). But everyone speaks Kikongo and many also speak French. One fellow offers to show us around the village and explains the four boulevards with numerous palm trees. We quickly see that these palm trees don’t give fruit, because they are used for malafu, fermented drink or beer that drips from the heart of the palm tree.

Around 5 p.m. a motorbike arrives from Gungu coming to our rescue. The flat tire is attached to the back of his Yamaha bike, and our young driver gets on the back and they drive off to fix the tire. It is dark when they come back at 7 p.m. with the fixed tire. We no longer need to take a ferry across the large River because there is a new bridge. However the road going to the new bridge is hand made and very bumpy and we go down a very windy, difficult stretch of road with hair pin turns and enormous holes, on this red earth we so highly respect. It’s not exactly the time to admire the scenery if we want to see past the feeble headlights which aren’t even adjusted right. This new bridge is indeed magnificent, though only one lane wide.

We are happy to arrive at our destination and warmly welcomed at Gungu where we spend the night. Thank you for your prayers. They are so important and necessary for this trip.

Greetings from all of us,

Bud

«Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.»  (Isaiah 26:3, the old King James version)

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