Bad Silence, Good Silence...

The day before New Year’s Eve, I experienced a silence on my street that would normally be "happily accepted," because I live on one of the busiest streets in Kinshasa, and sometimes I can't even hear myself think. But this particular morning, it was eerily quiet.  I was preparing to leave for a missionary conference in South Africa, but was called by a Congolese friend saying there was fighting in the city and the airport was closed.  I would stay home in silence the rest of the day. Not knowing what to expect, a missionary associate who is working here and myself met in a central location that was not high up (her place), nor was it close to the road(my place) We stayed the day in our directors home that was in the middle of the compound and waited it out.  We had heard from news reports online and phone calls from friends here that there was a lot of shooting taking place throughout Kinshasa, including the airport and the TV/Radio station which is less than a mile from our compound.  The amazing thing was, we heard nothing! PTL! God was there and we were safe. While facing the unknown, I realized God was in the silence. His ways are higher and greater than our ways...His plans are higher and greater than our plans!  Here is a short clip of what a normal day outside my wall looks like.  Hopefully it will help you understand why it was eerie to hear nothing all day. Part of the commotion in the video is advertising something, can you guess what it is?

 This is not the day of fighting, but imagine no people or vehicles on these streets...

 

We were able to leave for the conference a couple of days later.  We were "highly favored," as the next regular flight was to be at the end of the week.  We would have missed the whole conference, but South African Airlines added a flight for New Years' Day. (We think it was sent "special delivery" for us! ;) The meetings were God ordained and we participated in some great collaboration with others wonderful colleagues from the continent! I was able to enjoy a few days of good silence with God and His breathtaking creation at Cape Point, SA. Only God can take a bad situation and bring something good out of it.

Cape of Good Hope

 Cape Point, South Africa

Thank you again for all your prayers! Words can't express how much they help persevere through some difficult days and also not-so-difficult days.  When you pray, God brings a peace that passes all understanding to the situation and it is unexplainable, how calm I felt the day we waited out "the storm."  To me...you are like the beautiful ocean that rolls in the shore that soothes the soul with fresh air and a calm like no other. Every blessing to you!  

 

Life is never what you expect...

Especially here in Congo...The month of December was filled with lots of...let's call them adventures! From teaching three weeks at the Bible school, with 46 students, each week had a schedule of it's own. As a teacher, who likes to be organized and have a routine, this doesn't jive with me, but I am learning! You roll with the punches here, whatever they may be. These weeks were filled with an unexpected funeral for the Bible school director on Thanksgiving day, a holiday announced the night before and school was cancelled 15 minutes before walking out the door, and a water heater that decided to explode at 4am on a Sat. morning bringing an 1.5 inches of water in my bedroom and for each of three evenings thereafter, it would steam out of control. Plumber after plumber... Needless to say, I am learning to deal with events like these and still keep my sanity. 

Chapel at the Bible school

I met this man, Jim, in 2005 when he came to help interpret for our missions team. He was not sure what he wanted to do with his life. He is in his 3rd and last year of Bible school. A requirement for this 3rd year is to preach in chapel.  It was great to see how far he has come.

Not one day in Africa looks like another! After three weeks of teaching, I scheduled 6 days of training for 4 schools, 150 teachers, which were incredibly rewarding! (Ok...maybe I wasn't thinking correctly when I scheduled all this...)  Not only did I get to meet different groups of teachers, but schools that were very different in size and attitude.  Please continue to pray for these schools and teachers, as they deal with many real issues, not just at school, but also their home lives.  Many of them hope for a better future and a better way of living.

You don't have a compass to make a circle, so you ask a friend for their shoelace....

 Et voila...A perfect circle!

 Group work on a first grade lesson plan

How to teach 8 different ways.

Active learning taking place...Finding partners for their "Partner Clock"

Christmas week was nice and sunny! It was great to spend time with missionary friends that are like family. We had a great time sharing gifts and food!  Of course nothing can replace your own family, but God has blessed me with some great friends to spend the holidays with, especially when your family is so far away!  Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas wherever you were in the world!