Covenant Women, At Home

Life has been up down and sideways these past two weeks, but I have to share that yesterday I started to feel like this place could be my HOME.  In the morning, I attended a women’s meeting in a nearby neighborhood.  There were over 300 women there, and it was a time that the women of the Covenant church get together to worship and pray once a month.  These are the women that I will be working with, and they are so beautiful and full of life and hope!! It was great to sing and dance with them, and they laughed and laughed when I tried to dance like them.  They have a practice of giving money to people who dance well, and I got a few Congolese francs! Of course, I immediately gave the money to the women’s department of the church, feeling kind of weird about the whole thing, but it felt good to connect with women through music and dance, even when I’m not yet able to communicate in Lingala. 

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  French is coming in handy for sure, but I am struck by how many people don’t speak French at all.  I am more motivated than ever to get a handle on Lingala so I can fully participate in relationships with people around me. 

Then, last night, I moved into my home for the next month.  I am living with a Congolese family, and there are 10 of us living in a five bedroom house.  I have my own room and the kids have bunk beds.  For dinner last night I ate delicious makembe (fried plantains)  mpondu (manioc leaves) loso (rice) and madesu (beans) and had fresh avocadoes, pineapples and papaya for dessert! This is my true initiation into Congolese life, and exactly how I wanted life to be! So grateful for this opportunity to focus on language and culture study, and for the Ngoma family who has welcomed me with open arms.

There is some exciting progression in my role working in women’s development here which I will share in my next post.  Please keep in prayer the women of the CEUM as they plan and discern programs to ameliorate the lives of women and children in this region.