One Year Anniversary

On November 22nd, Paul and I celebrated one year of marriage!  We decided to treat ourselves to a weekend at Wrightsville Beach, NC (the closest beach to us – about 2.5 hours away) because when we’re in the Congo, we probably won’t be able to spend a weekend at the beach or in a cabin in the mountains or something like that.  So we took advantage of the opportunity and really enjoyed the weekend.  The beach was really quiet since it’s off season and our room had a beautiful view of the ocean.  We especially enjoyed waking up to the sunrise on the beach and spotting a dolphin in the surf!  This weekend was also a good opportunity to spend time talking about this past year and all that we’ve learned about one another.  We also spent time talking about this next year and all the changes we’ll probably experience – finishing seminary, leaving the States, spending time in Europe, and getting ready for the Congo!  Big changes!  We thanked the Lord too for bringing us together and calling us to ministry together.  We look forward to serving God as a team and are thankful for his direction in our lives.  We’re also thankful for all the people God has put in our lives that have positively impacted our marriage as well as our relationship with God.  As you can see, the weekend was a good time for reflection and thanksgiving!

The view from our balcony

Our Motorcycle

It’s been a while since we officially bought our motorcycle – sorry for the delay in posting a picture!  We bought our ‘95 Honda Nighthawk on September 24th and have enjoyed riding it whenever the weather permits.  We learned alot during the NC Motorcycle Safety Course and are thankful to have found a bike in good shape and for the right price so we can continue to get more comfortable riding.  Our primary goal in buying a motorcycle was to familiarize ourselves with a motorcycle so that it will ease our transition to life in the Congo.  Once there, we’ll probably ride around mostly on one of these little 2 wheelers.  Actually, our director in the Congo and his wife don’t even own a car.  They just zip around on motorcycles.  So that is our expectation for ourselves too.  In the meantime, we’re learning the basic mechanics and getting more comfortable on the road (even though we won’t be riding on paved roads in the Congo!).  We’re intending to fix up a few things on it and then we’ll just sell it when we get ready to leave.  So let us know around May if you’d like it!

For those of you who are uncomfortable with the idea of us on a motorcycle: Let us reassure you that we are exercising quite a bit of caution!  We are not riding the motorcycle at night or in any questionable weather.  We haven’t even gone above 40 mph yet!  We’re only riding around in the neighborhoods right around campus when we take it out for a spin.  So don’t worry!  And of course we do appreciate prayers for our safety if it comes to mind.

Posing for a picture - we do wear our helmets when we ride. That's our apartment in the background - we live on the right side.

We love riding our new motorcycle!

Motorcycle Safety Course

A few weekends ago, Paul and I attended the NC Motorcycle Safety Course.  The class lasted all weekend long, starting Friday at 6 and ending Sunday at 4.  We look the class primarily because we want to be more educated and more comfortable with motorcycles since we will probably be riding them in the Congo.  This class was just what we were hoping for.  They taught us alot about riding safely and we got to spend a lot of time actually riding a bike.  This is a great way to learn because it’s a low pressure and safe environment.  There were only 6 of us in the class and we rode around in an empty parking lot.  We liked being able to take it slow and ask lots of questions.  If we waited to learn until we got to the Congo, we would probably feel more pressure because it’d be like “Ok here’s your bike” and we’d just have to figure it out.  So we were thankful for this opportunity and learned alot!  And at the end of the course, we both passed our riding skills test!

Harvest time!

Yes I know it’s a little late in the season for tomatoes, but we got started late!  We got a tomato plant once we got back from the Congo and it’s just now giving us tomatoes!  Yay!  I wish we could have planted more but we couldn’t since we were gone most of the summer.  But we’re enjoying our little tomatoes!

Visiting Victoria Falls

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to see this “wonder of the world”! The pictures don’t even do it justice!  The falls are SO loud and they drop SO far down and probably a mile wide.  At one point, the mist comes up so strongly that it soaks you through to the bone!  I was told that when you go to that spot that not only are you “seeing” the Falls, you’re “experiencing” them!

Beautiful Trails just opposite the falls - perfect for taking in all in!

The spot where you get drenched from the mist

See how much mist there is?

Camping at Hwange National Park

We drove out to this game park to go camping and to see what wild animals we could spot.  I (Laurel) have never done anything like this.  It was an incredible experience.  It seemed like we drove and drove for miles – we were truly in the middle of nowhere when we reached our camping spot.  The campgrounds were surrounded by a token wire fence that really offered no protection from any animal that might be interested in visiting us.  And one night an elephant proved this point when he stepped OVER the fence in an effort to reach some little pods that he had just shaken out of a tree.  The pods fell onto our side of the fence so naturally, he stepped in to get his little treat!  Meanwhile, I was the only one that had my eye on him at that moment.  He had been on the opposite side for awhile and was not aggressive towards us so I guess everyone was okay with him hanging around so close!  So I was the only one who was really nervous about it.  I always kept an eye on him.  Then in a flash – “he’s inside! He’s inside the fence” and I turned around to run into the outhouse – the only concrete building nearby.  We did have a park ranger that lived at the campsite so he casually, slowly headed toward the elephant and threw a bottle at it.  The elephant just walked away.  Unbelievable!

We found this print the next morning!

The "protective" fence. See the print?

Then during the day, in a somewhat more controlled environment (we were either in the car or up in a tree) we drove around the park to see what we could see.  I loved sitting out there in the beautiful grass fields watching animals come out from the trees in a long line – heading down toward the water hole.  They just live around there and wander from place to place.  We were blessed to see all sorts of birds, a couple crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, kudu, elephants, 2 hippos, one rhone, baboons, impala, cape buffalo, something that looked like a fox (I can never remember the name), and a lion running across the road ahead of us.  I was, unfortunately, the only one that saw it run across.  It was a relaxing and beautiful camping trip!  Unlike anything else!

Up in a tree watching kudu at the water hole

Yes we were really that close!

Kudu

Zebra, Cape Buffalo, Impala

Zebra, Impala, Cape Buffalo

Crocodile!

Mommy and baby hippo - though can't see the baby in picture

Elephants in the moonlight

Fixing a BIG breakfast!

Sorry I went a little crazy with the pictures.  We just saw some amazing sights and I wanted to share some with you.  We have  a ton more pictures if you want to see them!  And a lot of them are from Paul’s mom.  She has a great camera and really knows how to use it!

Visiting Paul’s hometown: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

We were so thankful to be able to go visit Paul’s parents after our trip to the Congo.  His parents were so gracious in working out all the logistics and finances for us to come.  Paul really enjoyed reconnecting with his home and I enjoyed feeling more connected to Paul as I got a taste of his home.  I got to see the church he grew up in that shaped who he is today.  I also met many friends of the family and school friends that mean a lot to him.  I got a tour of town including Paul’s elementary school and high school.  I asked Paul if he ever attended any classes because I only heard about alot of sports that he played!  I also got to see the Publishing house where his dad works.  We went for a walk through the park that their family would visit every Sunday afternoon.  We also went for some tea and chocolate cake at a local family favorite.  I also got a good sense of the challenges that his parents face in living there.  While we were there, there was no diesel or gas to be had.  Thankfully, the Lord provided some for us just when we needed it!  We were especially thankful to get to spend so much time with Paul’s parents since they live so far away!  We had a lot of quality time with them.  We also went on a few outings together that I’ll tell you about in a separate post.  Now I will take you on a tour of Bulawayo through some of the pictures that I took.  Note: Our summer is their winter – that meant Paul and I went from humid, jungle weather to cold, winter weather.  We were NOT prepared.  Thankfully we could wear some of his parents clothes to keep warm.

Paul's parents home and where Paul grew up

Going for a walk at Hillside Dams

Paul's Mom's Bug

Hanging around the house with 1 of 3 boxers

Paul's Dad's work

Fuzzy shot of downtown Bulawayo

Bulawayo Baptist

News of the Response to the Bira Alphabet

We recently received an email from Karen (she was at the workshop with us) about the Bira alphabet.  She said that she heard that when the Bira alphabet charts arrived back in the Bira area, it created quite a stir.  Apparently there was a funeral going on at the time, and the alphabet’s arrival almost trumped the funeral. The funeral was at the point where the mourners were having a meal together, and people were seen to be leaving the food to go look at the alphabet!  Getting people interested enough to make them leave their food is pretty good.

Just wanted to pass on the good news and answer to prayers!

Heading out

Once we were all packed up, 10 of us loaded up onto 10 motorcycles to begin the 40 minute ride to the airstrip.  We were relieved to see 10 motorcycles this time rather than the 3 that picked us up at the beginning.  With 10 motorcycles, we knew we’d all be there on time to get on the plane – it was chartered from MAF just for our group after all.  We found out that our flights in and out of Nebobongo were the only flights to that airstrip during June!  So that’s why the whole village showed up – airplanes don’t come by very often!

The motorcyle gang beside the grass airstrip

Once we made it to the airstrip, I (Laurel) brushed out my hair.  A note to anyone traveling on dirt roads on a motorcycle – wear something on your head!  Yuck!  Once we got ourselves situated, people starting coming out from the trees with chairs for us to sit on as we waited.  We were thankful for their thoughtfulness towards us because we had to wait quite a while for our plane to arrive.  Once it did, both Paul and I teared up as we left.  Our tears represented several thoughts and emotions: Paul expressed sorrow for the Congolese and the difficulties that they face.  His heart breaks for them.  And I teared up because I feel close to the Congolese and look forward to coming back.  Neither of us wanted to leave.

The flight to Bunia then Entebbe, Uganda then to Nairobi

A Face of the Suffering

I had a talk with one of the brothers from a very volatile area in Congo.  He is from a town that has been greatly affected by the war. In 2002, when the violence came to his home village, he had to flee, and then he was able to return closer to home in 2005. Since then, he has fled 3 more times.  He said that it is so hard to develop anything when you have to flee.  Each time they have to begin again from scratch. He has one daughter; she is his only child.  One other participant pressed him about this, and he said that this is what God gave him.  This brother strikes me as very humble.

In the course of our conversation, he said that still today, the rebels are 15km away from the main town.  To date, he is still not back in his home village, which is located outside of the main town, because the UN forces have only just taken back his home village from the rebels. 

I was told that his people numbered about 500,000 before war (2001).  That is a massive people group. He explained that someone in the past had tried to start a Bible translation project, but it was stiffled early on. It’s great to see that the Lord is paving the way for them now. While we were in Ibambi, he told me that he will be praying for us that we will be able to make it back to the Congo soon. He said that he will often remember us in prayer.