How to describe the trip to Mampoko without sounding like the “African Queen”? Not easy, that’s for sure. Very early in the morning descended from the guest house to the Congo River and loaded 14 people into a 8 meter (24 ft) runabout for the trip upriver. Six crammed into the small cabin and 8 were in the cockpit.
Soon after we set off, the motor started to sputter. We pulled to shore, worked on it, and finally went back across the river to Mbandaka, where we all disembarked and ate the picnic breakfast. Water in the gas, maybe? The boat took off to get more gas while we ate. Finally, at 9 am, we set off again. The engine was only firing on two of four cylinders, but that was all we were going to have today.
We cruised for hours upriver, marveling at the small villages along the river. It got hot; then it got hotter, especially in the small cabin with a metal roof. We rotated positions often so everyone had a chance to cool down a bit. We ate lunch in the boat, and made a short stop midafternoon.
The sun sank down, and we finally reached Lolonga, where we were supposed to stop on the return trip. Surely Mampoko was not far. Darkness fell, and we could no longer see the sand bars to avoid them, so we stopped frequently. Two hours passed, and nervousness turned to fear. We must certainly turn back now!
As the stars became brighter and brighter (there is no way to tell you how incredibly bright they were), it became clear that we were where God intended us to be that day, and we would just have to be patient. Each light from fishermen along the river raised hope that we were nearing the village; another hour passed. Finally, about 9 pm, we began to hear singing, and we pulled to shore. In the darkness, hands reached out and pulled us up the steep hill and guided us toward a compound where dinner, dancing, and rest awaited us. We had arrived, 10 hours late, and yet the whole village turned out to meet us! We enjoyed a late supper before the festivities began.
As we settled in to watch the dancing, we had a great surprise when we were allowed to hold young Henoch, the baby whose dedication was pictured in the video from the 2008 trip (see the link on this blog site). He is now a strong 3-year-old, and his father has moved from Nsele to Mampoko to serve as pastor.
The dancing and drumming continued for a while after we finally collapsed about midnight, being the first visitors to the brand new guest house in this village. We realized that we were granted a rare opportunity to truly enter into the daily life of the Disciples who live along the great river. Unplanned, unsettling, we were on our way to accomplishing one of the goals we had set for our journey - to encounter our brothers and sisters where they live, and to walk beside them for a while.
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