Miracles Small and Large

Just as I sat down to write this entry in my Congo journal, my husband called to say that he had spoken by phone with Rev. Ilumbe and Maman Rosette, who had telephoned from Mbandaka to wish us a Merry Christmas.  I checked my cell phone, and sure enough, I had missed a call also, so I returned the call via Skype (a great way to save some money on international calls, even to landlines and cells - no video, but great reception today).

Now, this may not seem to be such a big miracle to many people.  But to someone who grew up in a small town and could only dream of meeting new people in far-off places, the fact that my friends are as close as my keyboard or cell phone dial feels like a big miracle to me.  I remember one Christmas where we called a cousin stationed in Germany - almost certainly the only international call I heard until years later when we studied in France.  Even then, we had to schedule the call at the post office the day before we wanted to talk.  And now, a call to Mbandaka is as easy as calling the next door neighbor.

Our cultural differences are still not insignificant, but this special Christmas greeting reminds me that we can no longer think of the world as anything but our larger neighborhood.  Truly, what happens anywhere touches us all.  My Christmas prayer is that we all can learn to live into the new reality and understand the ties that bind us all to each other.

I hope everyone can reach out this season to friends near and especially, those far away.   They are a precious gift.

Details, details!

I've begun contacting all of the myriad people whose help I will need in order to get our pilgrims to Mbandaka. This is the part of trip planning that can be overwhelming! We need visas, which means we need a letter of invitation, which means I need passport information from
everyone. There will be lodging in Kinshasa and Mbandaka; transportation within the cities; transportation to and from the cities; schedules to create; and on and on. For each of these things,
we need cooperation from people on the ground and in our church's Global Ministries office, as well as a wing and a prayer with officials in the DRCongo. We need a good travel agent who can work on
the best possible arrangements to meet our schedule. Most of all, we need the prayers of the Disciples in Indiana who send us, and the Disciples in Congo who receive us. Today I offer a special thanks to God for all those people who are working on our behalf to see that our
journey can be made. Bless each one of them for their time and caring that we complete this trip.

Today's post is by email - it's a practice run for the only way I will be likely to post when our trip begins. In the midst of the busyness, I pray for a wonderful Christmas and a good beginning to the New Year for everyone who is following this journal.

Peace to all, near and far.

Great News for Our Trip

The Community President of the Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo (10th Community-CDCC) and the Principal Supervising Pastor of the Mbandaka Post of the CDCC have agreed to our visit and the proposed dates in May 2011!

The pilgrims meet on Saturday, and I am busy today with planning for that session.  Time to begin serious group building and study, let's hope the weather is semi-cooperative.  It's hard to think about the heat and humidity of Mbandaka when it's -18 degrees Celsius (20 degrees Farenheit) here.

News from Mbandaka

I recently received news from Rev. Ilumbe, the Principal Supervising Pastor of the Mbandaka Post of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Congo.  It seems that there has been more bad weather.  Here's the translation of his message.  I'll place the original below for those who read French.  I would ask that all pray for the end to the flooding and the safety of all the residents of Mbandaka.

"For the last two weeks, there has been a heavy rain almost every day, to the point that there is flooding and even the collapse of ome of the houses of the inhabitants of Mbandaka.  At the moment, I'm trying to get information about whether some of our parishoners have been affected.

I always ask the blessings of God for you all.

Révérend ILUMBE NDJONGO Bernard

   PSP Mbandaka."

"Depuis deux semaines maintenant, il pleut abondamment presque chaque jour à tel point qu'il y a des inondations et même des écroulements de quelques maisons des habitants de la ville de Mbandaka. Vraiment, je suis en train de me renseigner pour savoir si quelques uns de nos fidèles sont touchés.

   J'implore toujours les bénédictions de Dieu à vous tous.

   Révérend ILUMBE NDJONGO Bernard

   PSP Mbandaka."

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

Mbote! (Greetings in Lingala). This is my first attempt at a blog. I'm going to use it to keep my journal for a really exciting journey that lies ahead of me.

The first steps have been taken. Next May, I will be leading a group of Hoosier (that's Indiana) Disciples of Christ to visit our Disciples partners in Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of Congo. In the three years since we formally signed an Partnership Agreement, we have been learning how to share our gifts and faith. Truly, those "who were once far off have been brought near ... strangers no more ... citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God." (Ephesians 2: 13-22) We have trembled at the news that rebels disrupted their Easter services, we hear of floods and tornados, our children have studied their life and worship in Vacation Church School, we have been blessed by visits in our churches and homes, we Skype on occasion and share lots of emails, phone occasionally. We are learning what it means to be "moko" ("one" in Lingala) in a shared faith with people who are thousands of miles away.

This journey will be the next step in cementing the partnership. So far, seven of us are committing to the trip. We have decided to call ourselves pilgrims - those "who journey, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion; a traveler ... in a foreign place." (dictionary.com) Yep, that's us for sure.

I freely admit to some fear and trepidation - not so much of the travel, but of the responsibility to lead these pilgrims on a journey that will change their lives forever; to help them prepare to connect to the "other" in ways that honor the great gifts that our partners will give us; to be able to return and share those gifts with their fellow Americans.

I pray to God to continually remind me that this is His journey, not mine, and that He will provide all that I need if I will just ask and listen.