First Two Weeks in Congo

With all my travels to Africa, I have never experienced a place like Congo yet. It isn’t a surprise really. Kenya was so different from Burundi and from South Africa.  I arrived at my new home two weeks ago, and already I am feeling accustomed to the inconsistency of running water, electricity for three hours in the evening (sometimes not even that) and fuku – a playdough textured carbohydrate made with a blend of manioc and maize flour that is a staple of the Congolese diet.

Things that I love:

The warm welcome I have received! People here are excited to see a young face and fresh energy for work with the church.  The other missionaries have many years of experience working here, but the church leadership has said a new voice is welcome and refreshing.

My welcome party right when I stepped off the plane! I thanked everyone in French.  Yipes, hope they understood.

A central part of Congolese culture is song and dance.  This is definitely one of my favorite parts of being here.  I hear the drums as I’m falling asleep, and in church there are regularly four part acapella harmonies lifting up praises.  When nothing makes sense and I’m feeling discouraged, I will find refuge in these songs and dances.  I am hoping to start practicing with the Bokonzo choir this or next week!   I brought my guitar too, so we’ll see if I can work that into our practice too.

This part of the country is stunningly beautiful.  Rolling green hills of palm, banana, and hundreds of other kinds of trees as far as the eye can see.  The red dirt roads contrasted with the green hillsides is striking, and it gives me a fresh perspective to be so far away from concrete and industry.

I attended a church service on Sunday that was a gathering of all the Covenant churches in the district here.  The newly elected church leader, President Mboka gave a sermon on 1 Corinthians 13 and called his church to love beyond tribal tensions and beyond social barriers.  I was so encouraged by this message, and am proud to be working with a church that teaches and celebrates the root message of the Gospel. 

Things that I question:

As foreign missionaries, we were all asked to sit in front of the 1,000 person church on Sunday, facing the congregation and on display.  I just kept thinking about how young people in the church were perceiving us.  People in places of honor in the church had nice clothes or white faces.  What kind of message does this give about the kingdom of God?  I know it would have been rude and dishonoring for me to not sit where the church asked me to be, but I hope we can have a conversation about this in the future and explore traditions and customs of the church so I can understand them better.

It will always be a challenge for me to live differently from the people I work with.  We have access to vehicles, electricity and running water when most of the community does not have access to these luxuries.  It would be difficult for me to be connected with everyone at home if I did not have electricity.  It would be difficult to travel for trainings if I didn’t have access to a vehicle sometimes.  I need to find a balance, and always be questioning what I think I need, and what I actually need.

I already have many people asking me for money for everything from soap to wheelchairs.  I am holding off on giving at this point – I am so wary of starting off my time here with a financial dependency relationship with people, and I don’t want to be seen as a dollar sign.  I’ve been there before.  Please pray that I grow in fruitful relationship with people WITHOUT the expectation of money, because I am not here to throw money at problems.  

Yet, the material poverty here is striking.  At church, they announced how much each church had given as contribution for a celebration lunch that was had.  Entire church communities, including over 100 people, were able to give collectively 5 dollars, sometimes not even that.  5 dollars!! I imagine a pancake breakfast fundraiser at my church, raising 5 dollars to contribute to high school students going to CHIC this summer…but I can’t even picture it.

Many challenges and many blessings.  Please continue to pray with me as I navigate my new life here!