Just a quick update to share that all of our Congo 2009 team members (Cal, Brian, Elissa, Amanda, and Dave) are back, healthy, well and safe ... and excited to share with us this weekend highlights from their trip!

So don't miss tonight's "Gathering" (6 p.m. at Elim) or worship service tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m.

We are especially excited about seeing Amanda's slideshow ... she is an amazing photographer and has thousands of stunning pictures from the trip.

And about hearing about opportunities for further partnership between Elim and the Evangelical Free Church in the Ubangi Province!

Last Blog From Africa (for now!)

Cal and Brian are back after their long journey! Lord willing, we may see them at church this morning (depending on jetlag).

Elissa and Amanda stayed a few extra days in Paris.

Dave is staying on an extra week in the Congo.

In this blog post we present final postings of photos, profile updates, and blog posts made while the team was in Africa (or Paris on the return trip). Later we will present additional resources not posted while they were in Africa.


Brian's Blog Post From Thursday, May 7

Well, I am back in the Central African Republic. This trip has gone fast. The youth team has put on a lot of miles. I am going to do my best of summarizing our last training stop and the trip.

The last training session was is Boyabo. Let me just say that this was a humbling experience. We arrived in Boyabo on Monday night. When we were at the entrance of the church driveway the driver let us out. We were greeted with a guy’s choir. We walked through the guy’s choir to the girl’s choir. We walked through the girl’s choir to where the youth were singing.

As we walked through each group they followed us to chairs in front of what we thought was the pastor’s house. We sat there while the guys' choir sang three songs. Then the girls' choir sang three songs. Then the band started playing. The youth sang and danced for us. This started at 5:30 pm. The band and the dancing did not stop till after 9:00 pm!

We went inside about 7:00 pm for dinner. As we walked in we were told that this house was where we were staying. The house was built because we were coming. We all had separate beds with mattresses and new mosquito nets. They made us our own showering hut. It was so nice. The food was so good as well.

The seminar went well. It was a little tough to do because we had over 300 people attend. That does not include the women and children that were just there to see what we were doing. The people attending the seminar were very responsive. They were "a little crazy," according to our translator. We would ask a question and they would not answer our question; instead they would ask some other question. But, when all was said and done, the seminar went well. We felt a little like celebrities because a lot of the youth workers wanted pictures with us.

As I sit in my room at the Grace Brethren Mission, I am sad my trip is over, but I am ready to come home. I miss my family. I miss some creature comforts. I will miss the people I spent a lot of time with in the Congo. I made some friends. I am sure this will not be my last trip to the Congo. We will have to see what God wants to do. I know there are some in the Congo praying that I come back with my wife.

Over the next couple days I will try and upload some pictures and videos. I will also try to put together a video for our church and load it on YouTube so that all of you can see it.

Please keep praying for me. I am not home yet. I hope to be on Saturday morning. Please pray for Cal and I as we process the trip. Pray that God would speak to us.

Thanks again for all of your prayer and support. I will update you all again when I can.


Cal's Final Photos

Cal says this is typically how he puts his stethoscope to use, but he was hoping to find out if winged termites were emerging later that night. "When they do, the kids are up at all hours hunting them and it is hard to sleep."

One of Dave's carpentry training graduates just as he realizes that the tool box Dave helped him build, and then was filled with donated tools, was going to all be his! The boys got many more tools than even their teacher had.

This is Dr. Narcisse's son, Nybel. He is quite afraid of Americans but finally let Cal shake his had the day the team left.

This is a fish trap, or weir, on a stream between Tandala and Gemena. A different people group, the "water people," live on the streams. "They are a different tribe from the dominant Ngbaka tribe who we usually deal with. The CECU has an outreach to them."

Cal says this shot was actually taken at the start of their trip. "We had a 12+ hour layover in Paris so we toured Paris. Here you can see me preventing an international incident by keeping a historic landmark from toppling."

Elissa's Profile Post (before leaving Africa):

Elissa Janae - My bags are packed and ready for the flight to Paris, but my heart is still in the Congo.on Thursday

Tuesday's Congo Update - New Photos

A profile update from Elissa:

Elissa Janae is not ready to go back home yet...pray for a safe trip up to Zongo tomorrow.

OK, seriously ... I would just love to be able to say, "Hey, this is Larry and I'm speaking to you from Zongo, Congo." Some people have all the fun.

Our friend, Dr. Cal, has posted three great new photos from Tandala:




"Sunday service at the church in Tandala ... probably 500 people there today and the service lasted almost four hours."




"There were eight choirs at the church today. We were one of them ... Amanda and Elissa taught some Congolese to sing 'How Great Is Our God' (in English). We also had another song in English that we sang as we moved up to the front of the church."




"Amanda helps to collect the offering. Her bowl is for visitors to put their offering in. The other bowls were designated for other subsets of the congregation."

Saturday's Congo Update: Lots of Photos!

Here's a cool Facebook profile post from Elissa:

Elissa Janae is sitting in the internet caffe across from a very large spider (tarantula?) in Tandala. The C-section was unbelievable - God has given doctors so much knowledge! And the termites did not taste bad ... it is just the psychological thing.

I was hoping for a photo of the large spider but haven't found one yet! Great video of her eating termites, though, in yesterday's blog posting, though (scroll down).

Another Facebook profile update, this one from Cal:

Calvin Kierum Tandala, DRC, 5 a.m. Pacific Time, just posted new photos...life is good....tikala malamu

I guess we'll probably need to ask him what tikala malamu means ...

I do need to catch you up on some photos, though. Most of these have been posted throughout the week. Here goes:

		Elissa and Amanda teaching ESL classes.
		The Tandala team (including Cal, Amanda, and Elissa) prays together during "master planning," Day 1.
		Elissa and Jim Snyder pray as a part of the master planning service in Tandala.
		Cal poses with Nurse-Surgeon Bama. He says: "This is my first time to meet him. He is quite a character. He has served here over 50 years."
		A young woman whose baby was born 6-months premature demonstrates a technique called "kangaroo care," used to keep her baby warm.
		On the way to lunch, Cal and Darren met with the hospital engineer and two nurses who have a passion to minister to handicapped people.
		The group in Tandala at the end of the master planning session: "This was quite an awesome meeting and much was accomplished."
		Cal writes: "It was very fun to watch the team come up with a Mission Statement. It is in French as the ideas are a bit complicated for Lingala to handle."
		Here Cal attempts to carry a bucket of water on his head, African-style: there ...
		... and back.
		Cal poses with his nurse-dentist friend, Bofio. Says he: "He is a wonderful man of faith. We are giving out team t-shirts to various leaders. Everyone wants one."
		A river in the Congo, at the brief tropical dusk that occurs at the edge of day and night.
		You can see that this "Congolese lawn mower," or machete, is curved to make quick work of the grass.
		In the hospital's pediatric ward, Dr. Narcisse Naia Embeke is charting on a patient he saw together with Cal.
		Cal examines a little girl who has had bloating and swelling for about a year, "probably Cushing's Syndrome, for you medical types."
		The hospital is involved in a food program for the malnourished, under the auspices of the World Food Program.
		Dr. Narcisse is pictured with his wife, Yvette, who is an accountant for the hospital. Their son, Nybel, is 2 and plays on a toy drum the team gave him.
		The team sees a lot of women and girls carrying things on their head, but this one is only about 4-5 years old and the container is almost as big as she is.

Friday's Update From the Congo

OK, folks, we have several updates that have come in on Facebook ... including a video of Elissa actually eating termites, believe it or not! (Until I can figure out how to get this up on the blog, check my Facebook profile ... you probably have to be my friend to see it ... send me a friend request if you can't see it.)

I am working on getting these all coded in for a blog update, but due to my work and Young Adults Ministry schedule this evening, I may not get them all in until tomorrow morning. So, be sure to check back then!!! But I'll post a few easy ones now ...

- Larry

Brian's Blog Entry for Friday

Well, I have a lot to write. Yesterday was rather eventful. It started at 3:30 am. We got up to go to Budjala. The drive to Budjala was surreal. I seriously thought we were going to get robbed. We were in the middle of nowhere, driving through the jungle. It was crazy.

It was a thick jungle. At some places the truck was wider then the road. The road was horrible as well. There were lots of huge holes with water in them. It took us two hours to get there.

When we got there we were greeted with a band and a choir. It was 6:00 am and the band was ready and waiting for us. They had a bass and electric guitar with a drum set. They also had a African Drum, one of the big ones. (I'm not sure what it's called.)

Then we had to wait for two hours for our seminar to start. We ate breakfast at 8:00 am when the seminar was supposed to start. We had bread, fish and some tea. The fish was good. I did feel sick about an hour after eating it. I blame the fish.

When we started the seminar we had over 220 people there. The crowed was very responsive. In fact when I stood up to give my testimony they all started laughing at me. I asked the interpreter why they were laughing. He said that I had a big smile and was very happy, so they were very happy I was happy! The seminar went well. We were all real tired. The driver tried to take a nap in the truck during the session, but I am not sure he slept at all.

This was the first time since I have been in Africa that people have just kept asking for money. We had two high school students ask us to pray that God would give them the money to go to Bible school. They asked us to pray for them ... that was the nice way to ask for money.

Then right before we left we had a guy come up to us and ask us for a Bible. We said they would have to ask the pastor that was traveling with us. He didn't like that answer. Then he asked if we could give him a PA system. I said we didn't have one. He didn't like that answer either. He was mad at us when the conversation ended. I was rather frustrated. I blame some of that on the fact that I got very little sleep the night before.

We arrived back in Tandala at 7:30 pm. It was such a long day! But it was a good day. I had fun teaching the seminar. It seemed to go well. One of the funnest things we did was to teach them all how to throw a Frisbee. Just image 220+ people playing Frisbee. It was chaos.

Today was not very busy. I had very little to do. We didn't have a seminar. I went to chapel. Brent and I took a tour of the hospital. A big group of us went to where the locals get their drinking water. I tried to carry it on my head like they do, but I didn't do very well. It was interesting. They bathe at the same place where they get water. Let's just say some of the ladies didn't care that we were there. Thelma told them that guys were coming down. When we first got their everyone was clothed. But by the time we left a couple of them were bathing.

We also were able to play soccer with the kids. It was fun. I was so sweaty. Today was hot.

Well I think that is all for today. We are off to Kungu tomorrow. The team with be Brent, Tyler, Elissa, Amanda and I. We want to show them what youth ministry looks like. Please pray for safe travel. We will be leaving at 5:00 am. I am just making up for all those times I didn't get into work early enough. Pray that the seminar will go well.

If you have any questions please ask. (Editor: Click the "Comments" link at the bottom of Brian's blog.) I would love to know what information people want to hear about. As my wife would tell you, I give them as little detail as I can get away with when writing!

Brian's Blog Entry for Wednesday (posted earlier)

Today was rather uneventful. When we woke up it was raining. I guess when it rains, nothing happens. We were able to sleep in. The temperature was low. It was nice. Yesterday was so hot, so it is nice that it cooled down.

We were supposed to travel to Budjala but with the weather we drove to Tandala instead. Tandala is closer to Budjala and the roads to Tandala are better. We are going to do a seminar in Budjala tomorrow.

On the way to Tandala we saw many people who were at our seminar in Gemena. It was very humbling. They would say "Hi" then erupt with happiness. Again, this is very humbling.

Yesterday’s seminar went very well. We had 150 people attend. They seemed to respond very well. We had one funny thing happen at the seminar. We were teaching through inductive Bible study. After teaching them about it we gave them a passage of Scripture to assess, based on the inductive tool we gave them. It took them over an hour to finish. The story we gave them to assess was the story of the prodigal son.

When they were done and we had reviewed it with them, we asked if they had any questions. One gentleman stood up and was questioning if what I was teaching was biblical. I said something to the effect that the prodigal son lost his inheritance. That when his dad died he would get nothing. This young man said that nowhere in the text does it say that the dad died and that the son would not get an inheritance again. The two other guys in my group and I laughed at that one afterward because that had nothing to do with the story or the training.

I am sorry this post is so short! I am tired and we are leaving early in the morning. Please keep praying for us. We are with the rest of the team. Everyone seems to be doing well (Elissa and Amanda are both feeling fine. They are teaching some Congolese people to sing "How Great is Our God"). We have internet at in Tandala so hopefully you will get more updates.