Another Congo Update

Not much has changed since our last blog post. There is still some intense fighting happening in Dongo where the fighting originated. One of the biggest issues right now besides the fighting, is that many people are still displaced at this point. A few people have returned to Gemena that we know of, but most remain in the jungle with little to no food, shelter or medication. The local church is doing what they can to aid those who are displaced. Sam was able to speak briefly with Mowa, the director of the Elikya Center, last week. At that time Mowa was trying to coordinate purchasing tarps to get to people who are staying in the jungle. There are still soldiers in Gemena and people remain fearful of their presence. It was reported a couple weeks ago that one of the soldiers began firing a gun randomly and people were hiding in their homes. It is likely that the soldier was just drunk and shooting for no particular reason and no one was injured that we are aware of.

If you are interested in giving money to aid those who are displaced in the Congo, Congo Emergency Fund has been established, and we are accepting donations to respond to this urgent need.

Please donate online or send checks to:

Congo Emergency Fund 2021709-39051
EFCA
901 E 78th Street
Minneapolis MN 55420

Please continue to pray for our friends in the Congo. We are so grateful for the responses we have received from so many of you. We hope your Christmas was great and that you enjoy celebrating the new year!

Some better news

This post brings a little bit of good news about the situation in the Congo. Sam and I received an E-mail on Saturday informing us that the rebel group of men has retreated. The government soldiers were able to gain back control of the cities where there had been fighting. Praise God! This group was defeated near Tandala (city where the large Free Church hospital is located). Dr. Narcisse, one of the doctors from the Tandala hospital, sent out a long E-mail to ReachGlobal staff describing the events of the past few days. All the doctors remained at the hospital despite the fighting and they treated many wounded people, both Congo soldiers and men from the rebel gang. God protected the hospital and the immediate area from harm and the doctors stood firm in not only administering medical treatment but ministering Truth in the situation.

 

It has been discovered that this group of dangerous men were being led by a witch doctor who had stirred up the initial fishing pond dispute on Dongo. Dr. Narcisse encountered this man and asked him what his plan was. Dr. Narcisse reported that the witch doctor was trusting in his idols to protect and lead the group as they were marching and fighting. When the witch doctor realized they were being forced to retreat, he appeared disillusioned at the fact they were not being protected by the idols they were carrying with them and the group of rebels quickly left the hospital. The rebel group retreated before heading to Gemena. The situation has settled down a bit right now, but time will tell if the fighting has come to a complete end. In the mean time, there are still many wounded, missing and displaced people in the Congo.

 

We recognize that this is a very real, spiritual battle. God is using prayer to apprehend the enemy in a very real way in the Congo. Please continue to pray for the same things we previously posted. Pray for deep healing as people have experienced an extremely traumatic event. Only God can heal their hearts, bodies and memories.

 

Also, if you have any interest in donating toward the aid of those in the Congo please E-mail us. We can direct you to the right place. Thank you again for praying and for sending us encouraging E-mails.

 

-Sarah and Sam-

Congo Fighting Update

Thank you for your prayers up to this point for the Congo. The prayers are needed! We believe our God is more than able to save, protect and heal! We are holding tight to the truth in 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not a God of confusion, but a God of peace…”. We have a brief update on the situation in the Congo:

Please pray for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. What started as a dispute between fisherman in an area West of Gemena (the city where the Elikya Center is located and where we plan on working) has become a mass of men traveling through the Ubangi region of the country, terrorizing and killing people. The government is unsure of who these people are. This group of men is heading down the road toward Gemena and most women and children have fled to either the forest, remote villages or Congo Brazaville (country across the river). The men in leadership with the local church have stayed behind with the intention of protecting the church offices from being pillaged. In Tandala, a city about 50 miles West of Gemena, all people have evacuated except for the four doctors who work in the large hospital supported by the local church. Many wounded people have been brought to the hospital and the doctors are working hard to care for them, but are also in an unsafe area because of the fighting. 26 children in the orphan sponsorship program (Global Fingerprints) are unaccounted for at this time and it was reported that 3 of the orphan girls were raped and one was killed after being raped. As of yesterday, no violence had occurred in Gemena and people were fleeing as a precaution.

Our hearts are heavy at this time. These are friends of ours and the neighborhood we lived in for 7 weeks. We ask you to pray for the following things:
1. Peace in the Congo and end to the fighting
2. Wisdom and direction for local church leaders
3. Global Fingerprints orphans and leaders
4. Protection over those who have fled and the properties they left behind
5. Strength and protection for the 4 doctors remaining in Tandala
6. Wisdom and direction for ReachGlobal leadership in the States as well as
direction for us and our plans for ministering at the Elikya Center

For those of you who may have concerns, ReachGlobal will not send us into an unsafe area. So we are waiting for God’s direction in this. We do know at this point that we will not be going to the Congo in January. But that is all we know at this time. So much is unknown about the entire situation in Congo and so we also have no answers about our plans with Elikya Center in light of this. We are beyond grateful for your prayers. We are resting in the Lord.

Pray for the Congo

We are asking you to pray for the Congo. Starting in mid-October some fighting began about 50 miles West of Gemena (the city where the Elikya Center is located) among fisherman. Here is an excerpt from an E-mail we received today from Dr.Tom Cairns from Reachglobal:

"The fighting which began with some local tribes fighting over fishing rights in the southern reaches of the Ubangi has escalated significantly. At least 90,000 people have fled their homes, many to Congo Brazzaville across the river. Others are living in the forests. President Kabila flew to Gemena last week and promised immediate action to end the uprising. He has sent into Gemena several thousand soldiers with weapons who have gone on down to that area to resolve the situation. Some are being brought back wounded and getting care at the hospitals. The problem is that the presence of soldiers instills fear and reminds people of the violence of the previous war. As a result people at Tandala have all fled into the forests except for the doctors. People in Gemena are making plans to flee. Some have fled and are being encouraged to return to their homes, including President Bosokpale’s [president of the local Free Church] wife, Jeannette. The church leaders are figuring out ways to hide valuable equipment and records. President Bosokpale has been in Kinshasa for church meetings. He hopes to return Wednesday"

Gemena is currently a secure area, however most people are responding in fear and fleeing to the forests. These are people that we know and love. Our hearts are heavy over this and we ask you to join us in prayer for peace throughout all of the Congo. We don't want to overwhelm you with details, but to ask you to pray and we will update you as soon as we know more information.

Insects and Snakes and Mice...oh my!

We thought you might enjoy some photos of the wildlife in the Congo

This viper was found in our garden one day and a couple of the local guys killed it for us. Whew! Apparently it is good luck if you have a snake in your garden, so the locals were excited for us.

These beetles liked to hang around our porch. They were harmless. Sarah's facial expression is just for show.

The mouse looks cute here...but they are quite a nusance!

Sam killed a few of these huge spiders that got in our house.

This is called a pangolin. It is an ant eater. Michelle and Aaron found it in their ceiling one night and kept it for a day. But they decided to let it go back in the forest after many people told us we should cook it up. It is a totally harmless animal and very interesting. It feels like a pinecone.

These guys were everywhere! The crawl up the outside of our house and on top of our ceiling all day. They often were our wake-up call at about 5AM when they were trying to get away from the crows.

Someone gave us this chicken as a gift. We ate it

Elikya Center Photos

Here is everyone who is currently working at the Elikya Center or in the program right now. It is about 35 people...teachers and students.

Young, unwed mothers learn how to sew. Mami is sewing a simple school bag to be given to orphans who are sponsored through the Global Fingerprints program.

This is the first step in soap-making. Lili and Ariete are boiling palm oil that will be used for the soap.

Mama Susa oversees all the sewing and soap-making at the center. This day she was teaching some of the widows how to make soap. It is about a three day process to make the soap. They sell it in the market and it is a very good soap.

These are the carpentry students. Older orphan boys (at least age 18) come here to learn carpentry and masonry skills. The guy in the overalls was a student in the Elikya program earlier this year and has been hired back to teach carpentry to the new group of students.

The boy in the back of this photo walked about 150 miles to come to the Elikya Center and learn carpentry. He told us the he had never heard about God before he came to Elikya and now he knows about God.

Our African Home

We are finally a little more settled here at home. Forgive us for not posting more often. Now is the time for us to post photos for you to see that we were unable to post when were in the Congo because Sarah forgot to pack the USB cord for the camera. (Ugh!)
Today we are going to give you a tour of our new house. The house is small, but exceeds our initial expectations. We even have a toilet as you will see. And we even have room for a guest or two. So start making your Congo travel plans now and we will be happy to have you.



This is our duplex. We live on the right and the Larsens live on the left.


Our bedroom...air matress and mosquito net.


The living room. There is a large closet off of this room as well we forgot to photograph. It is large enough to be another small room...perhaps our guest room.


The dinning room and kitchen. We do all of our cooking outside but we eat and wash dishes inside.


The bathroom has a gravity-fed toilet.

Back to School

For those of you who live in Rockford, you may have been wondering to yourself, “I know the Snyders are back from the Congo, but where have they been? I haven’t seen them yet”. Let us tell you. Four days after we returned from the Congo, we packed up again and drove up to Minneapolis for a little over a week. In Minneapolis, we attended “Pre-field Training Live” with ReachGlobal. All of the missionaries preparing to work with ReachGlobal are required to attend this training…kind of like missionary school. It was a very beneficial time for us. We met many amazing people and learned a lot from the various sessions we attended during the training. We even have photos to share with you.

Our team back in the classroom


We even did group projects


It only took one week in the States and we gained back some of the weight we lost in the Congo


Including the day we had squid for lunch


Group shot of all the missionaries, some of their kids and the trainers who took part in "Pre-field Training". It was a joy to spend the week with all these people and we are excited for all the different ministries awaiting each person in the countries they are headed.


We are now pleased to announce that we are home in the Rockford area! We are especially pleased to no longer be living out of a suitcase. We attended our home church, Harvest Bible Chapel, on Sunday morning and were grateful to reconnect with some of our friends. We have now begun to plan the next steps of support-raising and are arranging to meet with friends and family we haven’t seen since August. We look forward to hanging out soon!

Meet some people!

We safely arrived in the USA last Friday night. Our journey went well…long and tiring, but it went well. And since we are in the states we have our camera cord. So let us begin sharing our photos. We first want to introduce you to a handful of people we spent a lot of time with while in the Congo and will work with when we return.

Edison: Our chauffer in the Congo was Edison. He also speaks some English and often took opportunities to teach us some Lingala while he drove us around. He works for the local Free Church and drives the president of the Free Church's land cruiser.

Mowa and Luta: Mowa is the director of the Elikya Center. We will be working closely with Mowa and we spent a lot of time with him. Plus, his house is right behind ours…so we are neighbors. His wife Luta spent even more time with us. We ate lunch with her every day and had fun swapping our favorite recipes with each other.

Robert and Michelle: Both these guys are such hard workers. Robert cooks some of our food and helps wash our clothes and teaches us how to make Congolese foods. When Sam was a kid, Robert was the house worker for his family. Michelle is Robert's cousin and he is very kind and helpful. He spent a lot of time planting grass around our home and has such a gentle spirit.

Selenga: He is kind of our boss. J Selenga is the president of Reach Africa and our ministry falls under his authority. We are really looking forward to working with Selenga and enjoyed the brief time spent with him and his wife, Claudine.

Francoise and Mama Lopango: These are two amazing women that we came to really enjoy and respect. Francoise does the accounting for PEASIT, a program that helps combat AIDS/HIV through education and prevention. Mama Lopango is the coordinator of Global Fingerprints, an orphan sponsorship program run through the local church in coordination with PEASIT and TouchGlobal.

Final Days in Congo...for now

We are leaving Gemena on Wednesday and we can hardly believe it! Our time here has gone so quickly. Plus, the past two weeks have been very busy for us which has been great and made the time seem to go even faster. We have taken a couple day trips to see different surrounding regions; we hosted people in our home two different times and cooked up some of our favorite foods (tacos and popcorn); we finished our Lingala book and we have started working on a video we want to use for support-raising.

Please pray for the following things this week:
- Safe traveling and good connections. We start traveling September 30th and arrive in Chicago October 2nd in the evening
- That our final days here are productive and we continue to connect well with people
- For all the support-raising we have to do when we get home. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
Tokomonana na nsima ntango moke! (We will see you soon). We are really looking forward to sharing everything with you when we see you.

Gardening, Carpentry, Sewing, Soap-Making and Relationship-Building

I (Sarah) have been spending more time conversing with the ladies who work and live at the Elikya Center the past week or two. It is much easier to have conversations with people now that my Lingala is improving. It has really been a joy to sit with them while they are sewing or doing bead work. There are several widows who live in a house together and also some younger women and orphan girls who come here each day to learn how to sew. Our conversations remain pretty simple, but it is fun to learn new words and meet new people. I am looking forward to learning their stories when I can understand the language better. This week the widows have been making a big batch of soap. Michelle and I have been able to observe some of the steps in the soap-making process and it is a difficult job. I told the women that I would show photos of them making soap to people in the states and tell the Americans that the African women are strong, good workers. So here they are working hard.

I (Sam) have also been spending more time with some of the men and boys on the Elikya property. Some of the orphans living on the property here have been helping a carpenter build their bunk beds and Aaron and I have been talking with them and learning some of their names. We've also been spending a lot of time in our garden. Our Lingala teacher, Guylaien, knows a fair amount about gardening here and has been helping us cut the garden and will also be helping us burn and plant in our garden next week. We are really looking forward to coming back next year because after planting, we will come back to corn, bananas, plantains (makemba), manioc, and pineapple in our garden. Eventually we will also be planting tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, green beans, squash, peanuts, onions, and garlic. We will also have a small herb garden near our house. I can't wait! In the meantime, there's a lot of work to be done with cutting, burning, and planting. Here I am working hard cutting. I'll post some more of burning and planting after we finish.

A Humbling Experience

First off, we have not yet mentioned that we forgot to pack the USB cord for our camera so that is part of the reason we have not been posting many photos on our blog. The Larsens have shared some of their photos with us, but the internet here is slow and it takes a lot of time to upload photos. We are sorry about this, but we promise to post a lot of photos when we return…

Last Saturday I (Sarah) was having some stomach issues and stayed home all day resting and using the bathroom frequently. I tried to lay low and get rest and found it was a little difficult to do so because once word got out that I wasn’t feeling well, a number of people were concerned. Sam’s Lingala teacher took time to pray for me in the morning. Our house worker Robert and Luta, the wife of the Elikya Center director, came down to enquire about me during the morning. To be honest, all of the commotion annoyed me a bit because I really just wanted to sleep.

As the day went on I began to feel much better and by evening I was fine. Before dinner we had some visitors come to our house for the specific purpose of checking on me and praying for me. MaMa Janet, the wife of the local Free Church president, gathered up her four daughters and had the chauffer drive them over here because they had heard I was sick and wanted to pray for me. I was suddenly very humbled by the response I had received all day from the people around me. I saw the church here in action. The people here heard of a need and immediately responded with prayer and concern and I felt very cared for. When I realized that I had just witnessed a beautiful reflection of Christ through His church, I was very humbled and blessed.

Adventures in Cooking

Last week we started cooking dinners on our own. It is great to have that outlet during the day. We have been quite creative in attempting to make some of our favorite foods from home. We think we have been pretty successful. We cook over an ebambola which is much like a small grill without a grate. We place the pots and pans right on the hot coals and do all the cooking at the back of our house. We have already been successful at making spaghetti, tacos, beans and rice and even a tuna helper dish we found in a box. We have also gotten creative with some of the Congolese foods. Nsongo is something that is eaten here quite often in different forms. It is the root of a tree that resembles a potato except much larger and has the texture of a carrot. One afternoon we decided to slice it up really thin and fry them to make nsongo chips. They are as close to potato chips as we are going to get while we are here.
And…we have eaten pizza twice in the last week! Our house worker, Robert makes very good dough for pizza and Sam’s dad sent back some cheese on his way back to the states. You can’t get cheese here in Gemena so it is a special treat to have it. And all four of us were more than pleased to eat it.

Note of Encouragement

Something that I'd forgotten about the Congolese Christian community and I've witnessed since coming back has really touched me. We've gone to three Congolese church services so far and I've noticed that the level of joy in a church service here far exceeds anything that I've experienced. It's really an interesting situation because the people here are generally poor by Western standards. Most of them have experienced things that we can't even begin to imagine but it doesn't hinder their joy.

The first time we attended a church service, they held off the offering until the end of the service. You'd think that after sitting in church for 4 hours already that people would just want to put their money in the offering basket and go home to eat lunch. It didn't quite happen like that. The pastor called up people to hold the offering baskets and then the music started. People immediately got up and started singing at the top of their lungs and dancing. They slowly all danced their way up to the front of the church to give their offering and when everyone had given their offering they just kept singing and dancing. It was incredibly humbling, touching, and awesome. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of the way that these people danced and sang before the Lord and were so happy to give of themselves for His work.

I feel constantly challenged and strengthened by their joy and I wish that you all could experience it and truly understand what I'm talking about. It's something that wrenches your heart and touches you so deeply at the same time. God is indeed working in the Congolese church and it is evidenced by the generosity and joy of His people.

-Sam

A couple pictures from our trip to the DRC

This is one of many beautiful pictures taken in Paris on our way to the DRC.


This is one of the many not-so-beautiful pictures of our road trip from Bangui to Gemena. This is the truck that drove behind ours and carried all our luggage. This is a great example of a typical Congolese road. This same truck got stuck later that evening in a much bigger "puddle" and it took about 30 minutes to get it out.

Road Trip!

Road Trip!

Even though we spent quite a bit of time traveling to actually get here to Gemena, we had our first in-country road trip on Friday and Saturday. We headed out to Tandala, a village (mboka) roughly 40-50 miles Southwest of Gemena. We piled 13 people into a land cruiser and tied most of the luggage and other random trunks and boxes to the top of the land cruiser. It usually takes less than an hour to travel 40-50 miles in the states…but not in the Congo. Because the roads are horrendous to say the least, it took us about 3 hours to get to Tandala. Imagine going off-roading through small villages with twelve other people and their luggage piled in the same vehicle for three hours. That is the best way we can describe it. The potholes are immense and so the vehicle is constantly being tussled about.

We have decided that driving through the Congo is much like being in a parade for us. People peek out of their homes or stop what they are doing to look at the large land cruiser coming down the road. Once they realize there are white people in the land cruiser, children begin squealing with delight, waving and shouting, "Mondele! Mondele!" ("White people! White people!") and some of the adults begin to wave or raise their eyebrows in amazement. We thought it might be fun to start throwing candy out the windows like a real parade. But, we don't have any candy.

While in Tandala, we walked to the hospital, dental and optometrist offices that are heavily supported by ReachGlobal. We met all four doctors who work at the hospital and spent a little time in the dental office. Sam lived in Tandala for several years and had a great time seeing the area he lived and exploring all the trees that he remembered being so big. We even got to meet the family who lives in his old house now and walk through the home. Many people who knew Sam as a child were happy to see him again and one man even gave us a live chicken (nsoso) as a gift.

Saturday morning we loaded back up in the land cruiser with just as many bags and boxes, and even our chicken was tied to the top of the vehicle. On the way home we encountered several interesting scenes. A truck full of police officers with AK47s had broken down and they stopped us to see if we could take a few police officers as extra passengers…our chauffer told them, "Can't you see we are already full?" We stopped three different times to buy food on the side of the road as well as some baskets that we are now using as laundry baskets. While entering one village, a large group of men waving sticks came running and shouting at us. We thought perhaps we were about to enter an angry mob, but a couple men explained that they were having a tribal rite of passage ceremony that day and they were clearing the road. We were informed we could not drive through and since there was no alternate road, we considered rolling up our windows and driving through the mob anyway while they hit the vehicle with sticks. Luckily, a couple of the men allowed us to pass through…whew! Shortly after that we came upon several men shoveling sand into the back of a large, parked truck. Our chauffer honked his horn for them to move and one of the men informed us that their driver was no longer there and they were unable to move the truck which was taking up the entire road. So, the people in the house along the road directed us through their yard around the parked truck. We trampled a couple bushes on the excursion, but got back on the road in one piece (with our chicken still tied to the top).

After three-and-a-half hours we arrived back in Gemena. Even though we have only lived here for a little more than a week, we were really excited to be home. It was also exciting to find that shower heads had been installed in our bathrooms while we were gone. No more bucket showers for us!

Meet Our Lingala Teachers!

Guylaien and Nicole
Every weekday morning and on Sundays for church, we spend with Guylaien and Nicole trying our best to learn Lingala. Nicole teaches Michelle and Sarah and Guylaien teaches Aaron and Sam. They have a lot of patience and we like them a lot. We want to build good friendships with them, so please pray that we do.

Once Upon a Time Sarah Went to Her First Congolese Church Service…

Sunday morning we woke up and prepared to attend my first African church service at a church here called Bethlehem. Edison (our chauffer) arrived around 9AM to pick us up in the rickety land cruiser owned by the local church. We piled in the back and began driving down the pothole-covered roads of Gemena. Young children on the side of the road waved and screamed as they saw a truck full of white people pass by. The adults mostly stared. We picked up Sam's dad and the Free Church president, Bosopali, and we were on our way to church (losambo).

Now, I have heard about these church services from Sam and others who have been to Africa before. They are long services with lots of singing and dancing. So I fully expected to be in the service for about 3 hours, much like my experience attending Bread of Life when I lived in Tulsa. Luckily I had been somewhat prepared for a long service because the service lasted almost 5 hours on Sunday morning! Yes, that's right, 5 hours.

The service went something like this: men's choir sings a few songs, women's choir sings a few songs, girl's choir sings a few songs, pastor welcomes everyone, the congregation sings a few songs, we pray, we read scripture, we sing, someone speaks at the pulpit, we sing, we pray, the pastor introduces all the other pastors, the pastor introduces all the visitors and the visitors all stand up, the pastor introduces Sam's dad who speaks at the pulpit and introduces us and the Larsens, we sing, we read scripture, we pray, we sing, someone gives a sermon, many people in the congregation visibly fall asleep, we pray, we prepare to take the offering, entire congregation dances and sings to the front of the church to drop off their offering, the congregation sings and dances for an hour, we pray, the pastor announces the amount of the offering, we clap, we pray, men's choir sings another song, we leave. Whew! Keep in mind that the entire service is in Lingala and I only understand a handful of Lingala words at this point.

During the service the sky grew darker and darker and after the first 5 minutes of the offering it began to rain hard. Since no one could really go anywhere in the hard rain, they just decided to keep us in the church building singing and dancing until the rain stopped. Jim (Sam's dad) later referred to this as "offering jail" to which the Congolese people we had lunch with laughed about. It was quite enjoyable to watch all the celebration and I wanted to be able to dance like the Congolese women, but instead I just clapped and swayed. At one point an old woman came up to me, Aaron and Michelle and motioned for us to sit down while she was laughing. Apparently she felt sorry for us since we had been standing so long, awkwardly swaying.

We arrived at the church service at 9:30AM and walked out at 2:20PM feeling very ready to eat lunch.

The End

We Made It!

After four days of traveling we finally arrived in Gemena on Friday night around 10PM. Although we were all very tired (especially after the 7 ½ hour truck ride on the extremely rough Congo roads) we were pleased to get here.

We spent our first full day in Gemena at the Elikya Center and met many new people. We want to do our best to remember all the people we meet, so Sarah is keeping a log of all the names along with descriptions of the people. We are amazed by our new home! The masonry students here at Elikya built a duplex for us and the Larsens. Although we had seen photos, we are still surprised by how nice it is. It has been fully furnished and there is even a gravity-fed toilet in each home. We are taking "bucket showers" as we call them, but we still get clean. And the view from our front porch is fantastic! This place is beautiful.

We have eaten some very tasty food since our arrival, too. We eat rice almost every meal and either chicken or goat. Today we ate an eel-type fish that even Sarah (who hates seafood) liked! Sarah has also had the pleasure of tasting pondu and fuku for the first time. Pondu is very similar to cooked spinach and is quite good. Fuku is rather interesting and won't go into a "favorite food" category…but it is tolerable.

It is a huge blessing to finally be at the Elikya Center after praying and talking about it for about a year. It is great to meet the widows and the orphans who have been living and working here. Please continue to pray for us as we begin our language training on Monday and while we are excited about it, we are also a little intimidated.

We're Leaving on a Jet Plane...

We are here at the TouchGlobal office this aternoon packing some crates and making some phone calls...all the final details. We are personally all packed up and ready to leave tomorrow morning. We fly out of O'Hare at 11:01AM but will not get to the D.R.C. until Friday. It is a long journey that includes a day in Paris. :)

Please pray for the following things as we travel:
1. Sleep--it is a long journey and we want to be well-rested before we leave and while we travel.

2. Luggage--we are taking a number of crates with us for the Elikya Center. Pray that all the luggage arrives safely and there are no problems.

3. Health--we want to feel good while we travel and when we arrive in Gemena. Sarah had an adverse reaction to novacaine at the dentist last week that made her cheek swell up. Thankfully the swelling has gone down, but the left side of her face is quite bruised and tender. Please pray that heals up quickly and doesn't cause discomfort during the trip.
4. Unity--we desire to be well-bonded with our team (Aaron, Michelle & Sam's dad, Jim)even in the traveling stage of our trip. Pray that we continue to connect well with each other and that we are sensitive to the Lord during this time.

Next time we write we will off of American soil!

More Photos of Our Congo Home...

We just got these photos E-mailed to us this week. It is looking good!

Pouring the floor inside our home:





Front and back views of our duplex. We haven't decided which side each couple gets yet. :)

Team Building, Moving and Other Stuff

We are awaiting Michelle and Aaron's arrival this evening. For the next two days the four us will be engaged in more pre-field training/team building before we head to the Congo next week. One of the staff from ReachGlobal, Lois, will be facilitating this time. We are looking forward to more time with Aaron and Michelle before we are Africa-bound and think this time will be very beneficial.

Sam and I successfully moved into my grandma's guest house this week, too. It is a huge blessing to have this home, rent-free in this time of transition. My grandma's property is beautiful and it is incredibly quiet and peaceful out here. We have only been here three nights and have commented repeatedly at how relaxing and peaceful it is to be here. God knows what we need at this time and I personally feel like living in this setting is helping me to think clearly and connect to the Lord in a refreshing way.

Things to specifically pray for us right now:
* That this weekend is encouraging, refreshing and that we cover all the topics that are important before we leave.
* Sam and I have a lot to do next week to get ready to leave for the Congo now that we are moved out of our apartment. Pray that we prioritize well and work well with each other.
Other fun (and busy) stuff:
* Sam's birthday was yesterday and it was fun to bake a cake for my husband. :)
* Today is Sam's last day of work!
* Our 1 year anniversary will be Sunday (which is hard to believe). We didn't imagine this is what we would be doing a year after our wedding. We plan to celebrate on Monday.
* Sam gets to go on a short fishing trip August 7th and 8th with my brothers and dad.
* Starlite Radio (Sarah's brother's band) is having a big concert at the Sinnissippi Band Shell next Thursday, August 6th @ 7:30 PM. We are letting people know because it will be a great concert and a good opportunity to see us before we leave until October.

Our future home!

Here are some pictures of the place we'll be living in while in the Congo in August and September.

Just a couple weeks left...

We are leaving for the Congo (D.R.C) in less than 3 weeks now! Time seems to be moving extra fast and we want to give you another update before we wake up and find ourselves on our way to the O’hare airport. We leave the U.S. on the night of August 11th and after 2 flights, a day in Paris, a ferry ride and a 10-12 hour truck ride, we will arrive in the D.R.C. on August 14th. (We will be sure to write about our travel experience if we survive).

We are so thankful for your prayers and support up to this point and continue to ask for more prayer as we prepare to leave. Here are some specific things to pray for us at this time:
- For peace and organization as we pack up our apartment this week and move to Sarah’s grandma’s guest house in Shirland, IL (we will live there temporarily and store our things there while we are in the D.R.C).

- That the Lord will bless and direct another team training we have scheduled with Aaron, Michelle and a couple of ReachGlobal staff August 1-2.

- Protection as we travel to the D.R.C. with the Larsens and Sam’s dad, Jim.

- That our focus will continually be on the Lord in the craziness of preparing to leave and during the adjustment of living in a totally different culture.

Not only are we grateful for your prayers but also for the financial support we have received. We are elated to report that the garage sale we had in June raised over $1,400!! We used that money to purchase items we will ship to the D.R.C. for our two-year stay (toiletries, air mattresses, bug spray, sunscreen, etc). It would have been difficult for us to purchase those items out-of-pocket, so this was an amazing blessing.

We still have a long way to go in raising financial support (see our financial update in the post below). We are currently at about 20% of the monthly support we have to raise in order to leave for 2 years. We would love to have you partner in this ministry with us and encourage you to prayerfully consider doing so. Please contact us via E-mail if you are interested in more information, supporting us or sitting down to chat with us.

Support Letter

Ministry Preparation Update:

We spent May 30th-June 5th in Minneapolis, MN where we attended the ReachGlobal Readiness Event. The first six days of this event are designed to orient potential missionary candidates with the vision and work of ReachGlobal. It is also used to assess the mental, spiritual and emotional health of potential ReachGlobal missionary candidates. On June 4th we were accepted by ReachGlobal and spent June 5th in staff orientation. This was a great learning experience for us and we are extremely grateful to work with an organization with such a clear and biblical vision for international missions.

Our friends, Aaron and Michelle Larson also attended the Readiness Event and were officially accepted. The four of us will be the team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) for two years and it was a blessing to spend an entire week together. Not only did we have fun being together, we learned a lot about each other and how we will be effective as a ministry team. We are increasingly more excited about the opportunity to work with the Elikya project.

Financial Update:

We are so grateful for the financial response we have already received from many of you. We have already received enough financial support to go on our "vision trip" in August. However, we are far from the level of support we need in order to go to the D.R.C. for two years.

ReachGlobal has set up a financial support schedule for us. We need to raise approximately $4,200/month for each month we are in the Congo. We understand that giving financially is an important decision and we encourage you to prayerfully consider supporting our ministry.

We are passionate about our future ministry in the D.R.C. and it is our joy to share that passion with others. We extend an open invitation for you to meet with us and discuss this ministry.

Our Schedule:

August 11, 2009—Leave for the Democratic Republic of Congo for 2-month “vision trip”

Mid-October 2009—Return to Rockford and focus on support-raising

January 2010—Leave for the D.R.C. for 2 years

Prayer Support:

Your prayers are a vital part of our ministry. Below are specific prayer needs we have.

- That we will quickly learn Lingala, the primary language in the D.R.C.
- For us to continually focus on the Lord throughout this entire process.
- For God's peace in the midst of our preparation.

The Beginning

Our Story…

So much has developed since our wedding last summer and we are excited to share with you how the Lord is directing us to a ministry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.). As some of you already know, Sam had been raising support to join the staff of Live to the Power of Nothing. During the time of our engagement we began to pray about the possibility of being involved in ministry together. We also wanted our wedding day to be an opportunity to express the love of Christ so we asked our guests to donate to a ministry in D.R.C. called the Elikya Project. We were extremely blessed by the response of our guests who helped raise $2,500 to help rebuild widows’ homes.

This past fall we were presented with an offer to work with the Elikya Project alongside some very close friends of ours. This immediately resonated with our hearts and after much prayer we decided this past December to pursue this opportunity. We are currently in the process of applying with ReachGlobal, the International Mission of the Evangelical Free Church, to work with the Elikya Project.

The Ministry…

There is a large population of widows and orphans in D.R.C. due to HIV/AIDS and the political upheaval of the last 15 years. The church in Gemena, D.R.C. is responding to the needs of these neglected and often-mistreated people. They are developing a community where widows can support each other, learn how to farm, and learn new trades to adequately support their families. In this community orphans will have their physical and educational needs met. The orphans will also receive carpentry or masonry training and take basic computer and English literacy classes.

In the D.R.C. we will facilitate short-term teams who will train the Congolese leadership for the Elikya Project. We plan to go to D.R.C. in August 2009 to live for a couple months. This time will be used to orient us with the culture and to further seek God’s direction for this ministry. We will return home to finish raising support and leave again in January 2010 for two years.

Alongside the short-term teams, we will be teaching English, computer literacy classes, and agricultural advances to the Congolese leadership. Through this education the Congolese leadership will be better equipped to teach the widows and orphans. Our hope is that when we leave the Elikya Project, it will be a self-sustaining, flourishing ministry.

Your Role…

We need your help in supporting our ministry to these underprivileged people. Our desire is that you are able to join us by continually praying for us and possibly giving financially towards the advancement of this ministry. We have been conditionally accepted by ReachGlobal to raise financial support, though we are still engaged in the application process. Our application process will be completed in June.

We value your prayers on our behalf concerning our preparation for and completion of this time in the D.R.C. We also desire to speak more in depth with you about our involvement with the Elikya Project…perhaps over coffee or good food. We are blessed to have you in our lives.

Peace and Love,
Sam & Sarah