Friday, January 13, 2012

Dreaming of Congo…

We leave next week to return to Congo, and we are getting excited to be home in Kananga! We sat down recently to name some of the things that we are looking forward to about being in Congo again, and here is our list (not necessarily in priority order):

1. Being back in a “connected” culture where you greet everyone on the street (e.g. a warm culture as opposed to a “cool” culture)

2. Energetic joyful extended worship in church

3. Reconnecting with friends and colleagues in Kananga

4. Going to our Wednesday cell group meeting

5. Shopping in Kananga (a very interactive and active outing)

6. Seeing our neighbors, Mama Mirielle and her family, and having a new neighbor, Ruth

7. Weekend visits to Tshikaji

8. Seeing the carefree children playing home-made games

9. Being home in our apartment in Kananga – unpacking at last!

10. Listening to Jackoo chatter on the balcony

11. Visiting families in Kananga

12. Being in a place where everyone walks

13. Hearing our daily 6pm sunset accapella rendition of the Halleluja chorus as a nearby choir warms up

14. Feeling part of the church and life in Congo

15. Re-engaging with work, and various projects that had been put on hold when we left

16. Tshiluba lessons with Elder Muamba

17. Fresh tropical fruit

18. Mamu Annie’s restaurant

19. Quiet evenings at home for reading

20. Starting a garden in our yard

21. Big fresh avocados

22. The adventure of travel in Kasai

23. Trying out our new kerosene stove

24. Gravitating back to our “Congo weight”

25. Reconnecting with our young salesman friend, Bobby

26. And eating bidia, the quintessential Kasaian food

As Bob has shared in the previous post, there are certainly time where life feels challenging in Kananga. But there are also plenty of things we appreciate about life there, and we look forward to being back!

2 comments:

Jerry said...

What are you doing posting at 4:06 AM? God be with you as you return to Kananga. We look forward to more tales of His work in the DRC.

Jerry in TN

SJM said...

Hooray! So excited to see a very hopeful list here! :) I loved getting to see you while you were home, and I miss you already. Praying for your travels and your return. Love from Sarah.