(Tuesday June 3rd – 4:45 am)

Greetings !!

From the other side of the world!!  Here I (Gabe) sit in a small brick guest house in the heart of Africa, and one of the poorest parts of the world, typing, on an Apple laptop, a message (which I will send later today) that will transmit to California in a matter of a few seconds.  Pretty darn amazing!!

The world is shrinking though it is yet huge and full of people that speak thousands of languages from all sorts of cultures.  And we all have one common eternal need and one common potential source of true joy; to truly know God and his purpose in creating this world.  

What an experience it is to travel to Africa  

After an exhausting week of preparation and packing and coordinating a thousand little details in order to get out the door; we left for DC on Friday morning with 500 pounds of baggage filled in 10 large and bursting suitcases (thank you everyone for contributing and helping to stuff those bags) in addition to the carry-ons and personal effects we were hauling.  We arrived in DC gladly anticipating the 30 hours of rest we would get before boarding the plane for Ethiopia.

We overslept on Saturday morning and missed our 8:00 white house appt.  None of us complained though because we needed the sleep and were glad to eat a large slow breakfast before walking around the capitol mall for a few hours.  Some of the Highlights we saw were the Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII memorial, the (outside of the) White House, and two of the  Smithsonian Museums: American History and Natural History.

Sunday Morning was back to the airport and onto the first of our two legs to Congo.  I was glad to hear that the flight was only 13 hours instead of the 17 hours that I remember it being; though I was reminded that the flight is 17 hours on the way home. Hmm, bummer.  After a smooth transition through the Addis airport we were on our way to Lubumbashi.  We arrived very glad to see our friends, and just as glad for connections in high places!

Some may remember that last summer we had the opportunity to host Judge Emery Phuna from the children’s court of the Katanga province, DRC, in our home.  He came to visit California and to inspect the homes of the children who have been adopted.  During that visit we became great friends while having lengthy discussions about Congo and the needs of the county and the hard lives people lead and the impact that all this has on the children of the country.

So, why am I thankful for connections in high places?  Well, instead of the standard 1.5 -2 hour security check and baggage claim/inspection/fee extortion process that one normally must endure on arrival to the Congo, after an exhausting 20 hour journey, we were ushered off the tarmac around the side of the immigration building to a waiting room with a few sofas and cold water, where we were greeted by the Judge, Didier and his wife Annie, and a couple other brothers from the church.  After about 30 minutes we were asked by security to come open our bags for the inspection.  When we arrived at the inspection counter, led by Judge Phuna, the need for the inspection was dismissed and we were handed our bags and led to the parking lot within a matter of minutes!!  Everything that we packed arrived safely!!  God is good to us!!

Finally here!

We were at the “compound” by about 4pm where we settled and rested a bit before eating a delicious meal with the Mukotshis.  After dinner we went over to the orphanage to say hi to Mama Angelique who is still working and living at the orphanage since Brandon and Kara were there 3 years ago.  You will never meet a sweeter or kinder woman.  She had 20 children, all aged about 5 and under, sitting quietly in the main room of the orphanage house, watching a cartoon before bed.  An impactful scene to be sure!  Mama Angelique manages to love them all and enjoy her arduous work even though she knows she will say goodbye to them at some point.  Fortunately she has 2 other women from the church who come and work with her during the day.  What a task to manage? 20 young kids!!

Another note: Dider told us that the 8 children in his home, (his 7 plus a nephew he is raising) and all 20 orphans all had the chicken pox last month!  Anyone want to file a complaint about their life?

BTW – Marion doesn’t like African spiders.

Hope you enjoy the few pics!   Will try to update again soon.

Gabriel (for the 4 of us)