Josie here~ Pretty tired right now so won’t be able to write much… What an amazing time we’re having in the Congo. Such a different world here! It’s been such fun to see our new son and daughter every day. They are such cute and dear children!
Brandon is such a quiet and pensive little one with such warm dark eyes. He says very little but opens up a bit more each day, especially with his Papa. Oh how that little one needs a Daddy. One wonders if he’s ever had one…
His sister is quite the opposite of quiet and is very expressive and talkative. She’s one who knows what she wants and is not in the least afraid to speak her mind. : ) Break through: she started saying “S’il vous plait” (please), with a reminder when she wanted something instead of, “Donne” (give it). She’s a ball of energy with a sweet, contagious smile and adorable curly little lashes (actually they both do : ). They love for us to hold them and they give us kisses now (sigh). How we love it and how blessed are we to be able to love on these precious children…
Today we went into town again to meet the Bourgmestre (high up official ) in town who calls all the shots for the adoptions here. Apparently, he was supporting Didier and signing the papers put in front of him but was somewhat dubious. Recently he had someone come investigate the orphanage to make sure Didier was up and up in his dealings (ie not a child trafficker). Didier said that today was pretty big in that the gentleman was able to witness himself these American families that are adopting. He even invited us to his home for dinner on Saturday night. Tragically, the poor man lost his wife and 4 children when their house burnt down a few years ago… We’ll get to meet his new wife at dinner.
After this visit, we went shopping for wall prep (called ‘chaux’ it’s a form or plaster) for the orphanage and paint. Also cement, gloves and trowels for the garden boxes. It’s been pretty interesting here walking around town. We get lots of looks, having a different skin tone… Bricks were ordered yesterday and the guys started digging the shallow trenches for the box walls this evening. First Phil and Gabe played an hour long soccer match with about 20 kids. What fun was had by all!
I ‘helped’ Annie in the kitchen which just meant keeping her company as she cooked while holding a flash light. Seeing first hand how she cooks is truly humbling. They eat one big meal a day which takes about 2 hours to prepare because everything is made from scratch. They also have to shop just about everyday because they don’t have a fridge to keep things cold. Before they bought their van through the collaboration of a few churches, they w a l k e d just about 2 hours every day ONE way to buy the groceries (and then of course haul them back). Life is so hard for some…
Back to the cooking, she heats up her water and cooks with coals that she has to prepare daily. The cooktop of coals sit on the floor as do her pots. As twilight crept upon us and it began to get dark, she turned on a small flashlight/lantern. It barely lit up the room. She essentially cooks in the dark. We are hoping to go into town soon to see what we can do about buying them a gas cooktop and maybe a propane lantern. They seemed really excited at the prospect. What hard working people!
For dinner, Annie prepared an absolutely delicious meal that would easily rival Julia Child’s best. We had stewed beef with such an amazing flavor made with chopped vegetables and green beans on the side. Rice and foo foo were served as well. I had heard of this mysterious food and was quite curious. I watched her make the foo foo and it is basically these smooth baseball sized balls made of corn and white flours added to first luke warm water then brought to a boil. She had a special mixing technique with a giant wooden spoon that she used to mix the flour mixture after it had boiled. She held the bowl with her feet and so gracefully stirred. It was pretty fascinating.
One of the gifts we brought were a pair of glass votive holders with the votive candles. One didn’t make it, but they were so grateful for the one. Didier and Annie had NEVER seen a votive candle before!?! Oh, the many things we take for granted!
For breakfast we’ve been eating cereal that we brought (though we did buy some here) with powdered milk or protein powder. There’s a great grocery store called “Jambo” (Swahili for hello) that has most things that any US store offers though the prices are higher.
Lunch has been Cliff bars, nuts and jerky as we go around town.
If you would, please pray that our Visa paperwork with the US embassy would be done by tomorrow. They said the Visa and Passports are complete, but there is some hook up with Brandon’s paperwork in the US so they are holding them. We have to apply for an exit Visa from the Congo afterwards…
Also, please pray for Didier. He has been feeling OK for the last 3 days, but tonight says he isn’t feeling so great and wants to see the DR in the morning. He says he needs transfusions, but wants to wait til we’re gone… We’re encouraging him to go now. We’ll see if we can talk him into it. He works so very hard and pushes himself too much. He’s got such a big heart that he just wants to keep serving… Please pray for this dear brother!
OK, since I need toothpicks to hold my eyelids open if I want to stay up, I better hit the hay : ). We are so thankful to be here and be a part of this amazing adventure and witness of God’s provision.
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