Back in Congo

We arrived safely in Congo on Thursday! The trip went smoothly and we made it in just 9 hours which is great time! The roads have dried up and although they are still very bad and full of deep pits we had to drive through, they are not mud and that makes a huge difference.

We are reconnecting with the Hospitality Team and started teaching English again this week. We will take next week off from English class, but we still have a lot of work to do to prepare for a team that is coming in January. We would greatly appreciate prayer as we tackle all this work. Continue to pray for peace in Congo, too. We are happy that there is peace here in Gemena, but there are still some uncertainties surrounding the presidential elections.

It is hard to believe it is Christmas time right now since it is blazing hot and we are not near our families. But we are listening to Christmas music, wrapping gifts with any decorative paper we can find and even made hot chocolate the other night. We are certainly trying to get in the spirit!

Joseph Kabilla Re-elected

The election results were finally announced last night! Joseph Kabilla was re-elected and there continues to be much controversy. This article has the most recent news. Tshisekedi has proclaimed himself as president despite the official results and this could cause a lot of problems.

Sam spoke with the CECU president, Bosokpale, this morning and he reported that things are still peaceful in Gemena, but people remain anxious. Our original plan was to return to Gemena on Sunday. But since the results were just announced yesterday we and Bosokpale have decided to tentatively plan to return on Wednesday. We are grateful that there is peace at the moment, but we know that the next couple days will give us a better idea of the safety in Congo. We want to return to our home, work and friends, but we feel it is wise to wait a little more. We trust the CECU leadership to give us the "go-ahead" at the right time.

Michelle's dad arrived safely in Bangui after traveling for 60 hours. He got to meet his grandaughter, Soleil, for the first time and he will be visiting until January 3rd. One of his bags did not arrive when he did, so please pray that it is returned to him quickly. It was the bag containing all of his clothes.

We are still enjoying our time in Bangui. Between the four of us, we have gotten a decent amount of work done and plenty of relaxing. It has been enjoyable to fellowship with other missionaries in Bangui and meet some other young families. At the same time, we are becoming antsy. Bangui is not our home or our place of work and ministry. So we look forward to being in Gemena again.

We appreciate your prayers!

48 Hour Delay

The results of the DRC presidential election were supposed to be announced yesterday, December 6th, at midnight. That did not happen. The announcement has been delayed 48 hours which should be on Thursday at midnight. This NPR article describes the situation better than we can at this time.

So...we continue to wait and wonder and pray. Please keep praying with us. We are happy to report that things are peaceful in Gemena. We have heard news from our friends there who are anxiously waiting to hear the results.