RICHARD AND MAMY

This is the wonderful family that Greg baptized last week.



This is their front yard with the old car I told you about. 
Notice the bare feet and sharp metal.  It is a very different world
than our safety conscious country. The
girl is their cousin.



Richard Jr. who loves stickers.

Greg and Eli

Precious, 2 yrs., in primary class.

The 3 kids in front of their home.



This picture says it all.  They are the
neighbors and the 3 generations live
together.



This sewing machine sits in front of the
neighbors home and it is how they make
their living.

Love this family!

SERGE'S SCHOOL

In my last letter I told you about the free school that Serge's wife
had started for kids in their neighborhood who can't afford to go
to a private school.  The public schools are no longer running and
she couldn't stand to see the kids running loose all day long without
any education.  They rented this existing private school building.
The private school runs in the morning and then Serges's school runs
in the afternoon.  They have been going for 3 weeks and they
already have 300 students and have run out of space.



The little girl in the middle melted me.  Every time I looked at her
she gave me a huge smile - something most Congolese don't do.
They are usually very serious in pictures.




The school has 6 classrooms and the ages run from about 5
to about 12 and they are divided according to age. 




All the classrooms were crowded with the students packed
shoulder to shoulder.



Notice this little, narrow room that the oldest group of students use.
Their shoulders touch the walls.

SAFARI IN TANZANIA WITH OUR KIDS

All you mothers would appreciate the joy
I felt as I was able to see part of my family
after being gone from them for such a long time.
Ben and Annie and Brad and Steph joined us in
Tanzania for a safari and it was pure joy.  The
safari was great but being with our kids was
the best part for me.



We flew into the Kilamanjaro airport at the base of Mt. Kilamanjaro.  It is my new favorite airport.  Very small but clean
and efficient.  They understand about tourism.  I wish they could
give my Congo country a lesson.  Such a difference.  They try to attract people.  Congo tries to keep them out. 




I would love some of these Tanzania
bananas right now.  They were out of this
world and Ben is showing us that this
whole bunch cost us a dollar.  They had
red bananas, big bananas, little sweet bananas
etc.   We get lots of bananas here but one very
small banana costs a quarter and they are
usually over-ripe.  But they are still one of my
favorite things here.




We visited the Masai Village to see how
these native Tanzanians live.  We also visited
a Masai Village in Kenya and they were very
similar.  This is a group of the men doing a
welcome dance for us.




Annie and Steph join the women in their dance.



These are their homes made from trees and
cow and sheep and cattle dung.  The
women construct the houses. 



This is the interior of one of their homes. 
It has 3 rooms.  The room on the right is
the bed.  We are in the kitchen/family room
and the small space to the left which you
can't see is a room for the new animals to sleep
so they will be safe.  They cook on the open
fire in the center of the main room so the house
is filled with smoke but they explain that is good
because it keeps the flys away. 



The mighty hunter.



Ben joins the musicians at our lodge. 



BRAD AND STEPHANIE VISIT CONGO

Last month when Brad and Steph came to
Africa for a safari, they came to see us in
Congo and spent a few days with us.  It was
such a treat for Greg and I to have them there.
  Our Congolese friends still talk lovingly
of them, just as they still do about Megan and
Taylor.  The only disappointment was that we
had the terrible visa ordeal at the airport after the safari
and Ben and Annie didn't get to return with us to
visit Congo. 

One of the highlights was visiting with
Richard's family.  Brad and Steph were able
to teach them one of the discussions and to
bear testimony to them.  This is in Richard's home
and the previous picture was also taken in front of
his home.  Greg is holding Precious, their daurling
little daughter. 



So how many people can fit in a Dubai (public transport)
at the same tim?  We have counted 22!



We drove into the country past little African
villages and attended church in one of our branches.
This is the baptismal font that is located outside in the
backyard of the church.  This is a small city, Kipushi, but
it is much larger than the little villages we passed.



This is the Kipushi chapel - a restructured home.
These are the 4 missionaries who serve here. 
The baptismal font is in back of the house.  I love
to go to baptisms here because chickens run around
and the goats next door make all sorts of ruckus.




We went for a walk in our neighborhood and we
discovered this great little market.  Steph wasn't
very tempted to buy fish for dinner.




More of the same market.  Those are dried fish
hanging on the board - you find all types of
dried fish in all the markets. 




Children near the market.  They all love to
have their pictures taken and then they
love to see themselves in the camera.
Many of them have never seen a camera
before. 



Another view of the same market street.



There is a nice little zoo here.  You can get
up close and personal to the monkeys.  Because
Brad has always wanted a pet monkey, he was
pretty happy here.  The monkey grabbed his sunglasses
and "picked his pocket."  I actually prefer this little
zoo to our big glorious zoo because the animals  have
so much personality and freedom here.  Or maybe it is
because we are starved for entertainment since there are
no cultural museums, movie theatres, or any kind of
recreattion.  No wonder this zoo seems so wonderful.



HELPING HANDS



Every ward and branche in our church spends a
morning doing community service together.  Our
ward in Lubumbashi walked downtown to a large
hospital and cleaned the maternity ward and the
outside courtyard.  We had a huge turnout with about
70 people helping out.




These women are "trimming" with the help of their machettes.



How would you like to weed with a short hoe like
Lysette's?  For some reason they all have short
handles.



This is the maternity ward.  Most of the women in our ward
had their babies here.  Our ward is probably the most affluent
in the city.




Inside the maternity ward.  There are 20 beds along one wall
and 20 beds across the room on the other wall.  Each bed comes
with a plastic matress.  The patient brings their own bedding.  The
white metal bassinets are for the new babies.  The families bring
the food and take care of the women when they are patients here.




This is the broom of choice.  You can buy long
handled brooms but all the women use these short
whisk brooms to sweep the ground.  When we
walk in the monings we see many women out sweeping
the bare dirt ground.  It looks like a backbreaker to me.  



This is my broom of choice - the only long handled
one.  The problem was that with every stroke the head
would fall off the handle.  I think I see why the women
like the whisk brooms.  The face mask and the gloves
were given to all of us by the doctors to protect of from this hazmet
area.  Many hypodermic needles were found in the
courtyard and the dust was horrendous.

A TRIP TO LIKASI

Remember when I told you about the sister missionaries randomly
breaking into song for us when we delivered soutien to their
appartment?  This was the occasion. All 8 of these sisters live
together in one apartment. 



This is a cool hand carved kitchen devise that is
used to grind grain for their main food - foufou.
This was in the sister's apartment.


'



We went to Likasi to deliver soutien and these are a few of the sights
along the way.





Look at these precious faces.  This primary group is singing for us
at the music festival that we attended.  Notice how reverent they
are with their arms folded.




More singers - look at that little face



A market street in Likasi, close to the elders' apartment.  We couldn't get
all the way down this street because of the deep ruts.  This picture
isn't very clear but the entire street is full of people.