Sharing meals

Over the past year we have been meeting with the Hospitality Team to teach them recipes and eat together. We wrote a post about that about a year ago and much has changed since then. The biggest change is the actual Hospitality Team. The original team was five members, 2 men and 3 women. One woman had to move away because of her husband’s work and one man was offered a job that required him to travel. So, those two people were replaced and now we have a team of four…Benjamin, Simplice, Bebe and Mandaba. Another change since last year is that Simplice got married and is expecting her first baby this summer (!). 

The Hospitality Team

Last week we all went to Simplice’s house and made a meal together: Spicy Potato Soup. All of the recipes we are teaching the team can be made with local ingredients. There is no need for short term teams to bring out special foods or spices when they come to Congo, because the Hospitality Team knows how to make delicious, Americanized meals with the food we can get here. Using just local ingredients, we can make tacos, spaghetti, hamburgers, a variety of delicious soups, beans and rice, grilled & fried chicken…and the list goes on.

So we talked and cooked and played with Soleil and Hannah and shared a meal together in Simplice’s yard along with her new husband. And the meal was delicious. We plan to do this a few more times before coming home this summer so that most, if not all, the dinner recipes have been taught and eaten.

Cooking

Al of us together

Hannah gets excited to see her friends from the Hospitality Team

What have we been up to?

It has been several weeks since we have written an update on here, so we figured we probably should do that. Our normal, weekly schedule has become more full since our last team went home in February. Michelle and Sarah have completely taken over our English class and teach three mornings a week. Before, all four of us were sharing the responsibility. Last month Sam and Aaron started teaching a computer course that meets every weekday afternoon for two weeks at a time with a one-week break in between. The members of the Hospitality Team are in the computer class as well as other students who were chosen by CECU. Our days are more full now as we balance teaching and parenting.

We are expecting another short-term team from the States in May. So the four of us are beginning to plan for that team and this time we are handing over all of the hosting responsibilities to the Hospitality Team. This will be a good chance for them to take the reigns while we observe them (and help them, too).

Next month, we will be going to Kenya to attend the ReachGlobal Africa conference. We are really looking forward to this time to get away. We will be staying in a nice retreat center with other missionaries and ReachGlobal staff for about a week. Sam's brother, Ben, and his wife, Lauren, will also be attending the conference and we are excited to spend time with them and introduce them to Hannah. We are actually going to Kenya a few days early so we can hang out together and Sam's dad will also be there.

Since our last update Hannah has started to pull up to stand, crawl, wave hello and goodbye, give high-fives, dance, give kisses and even do some baby sign language. She is growing quickly!