43.Just 'A Calculating, Computing,Tallying,Enumerating, Reckoning Up...But, Hey, Who's Counting? I am! That's Who!

 

Interesting discovery as I was doing Housekeeping today. I was having one of the guys help me get all new bedside rugs into every room. So I even knocked like in the Hotels and called out, “Knock, Knock, Housekeeping”- even though none of the guests were here. Always thought how cool it looks and sounds in the movies. But going all over this place delivering rugs and checking was a hot chore! But got 45 new rugs all passed out and the old ones picked up. Hotels are interesting and so are the folks in them. One newly arrived guest has a tent set up on the bed with personal sheets and pillow inside. Go figure. Guess it’s a better mosquito net?

I then took inventory of the specific supplies Inge asked me to check. Ken and I counted every towel, hand towel, wash cloth, bedspread, bath mat, table cloth, mop and bucket, rugs and mattress covers. Then I had to write MPH on every single one. So that is 347 items counted and the letters M-P-H marked on every item (on the table cloths we also wrote the dimensions). So that is 1287 times MPH or something was written!!  Thank goodness Doris-a guest- was here and she helped me or I’d still be printing!

Yea! It is raining! All of the Congolese had told me yesterday that the rains were coming. “Just wait, Mama, it is almost here!” Well, here it is!! It smells and sounds so good. It has been raining hard and then lightly for over an hour. We are having intermittent rumblings of thunder and lightning flashing and cracking. Birds are having a great time ruffling their feathers and just “’a singing in the shower”- AKA the puddles. With just this little bit of rain the Mango flowers have opened and the perfume is a sweet mixture of Honeysuckle and Hawthorne. If the lightning gets worse I will turn off my computer. My battery- not mine- the computer’s battery (Though, now thinking about it, it might be mine too!!) suddenly only holds a charge for about 15 minutes. So I guess when we get home I need a new one of those or a new computer. Wouldn’t mind that although mine is a comfortable old workhorse! Just hate transferring all the stuff.

We got an interesting story at lunch from a guy, David, who has been here on a sabbatical from his church in Colorado for two years. He and his wife are here as a missionary pastor. Their two years end in November. After he had been at the station for a few days one of the village elders asked if he knew how to play basketball. When the response was yes, the elder took him over to four poles protruding from deep dirt. The elder took a machete and scraped down through about three feet of dirt and there was the corner of a cement basketball court! ”I’d like you to teach the village kids to play basketball.” So a few weeks later David went to find someone to speak English and told the man that he wanted to clear the basketball court. The guy said sure!  He told David that he needed to go to the schools and tell them what he wanted to do and they will send kids to help each day. So in three weeks they got the court cleared of three feet of sand blown in over the years. Then David had the mission work shop build the backboards and the hoops. Then as the word got out through his church in the US, Spalding sent nets, balls, and uniforms. Then a group similar to the Globetrotters heard about his teams and sent more uniforms, travel shirts and a basketball for each of the 70 kids on the teams. Then all the kids in the surrounding villages came for a ball. Only for team members! So more joined! ;)) They played intramurals at first but are now playing other towns. Now the kids want to play basketball all the time and not football/soccer! ;)

Just realized how much fun it has been writing and communicating with all of you these past few months on the blog. My “last blog” is not that far away anymore! I have gotten to share memories, tell you how MPH operates and even vent a little. We are both looking forward to going up country to see Marcia and what I affectionately call “The REAL Congo of our memories!” I want to see the villages and the colors, ride on the sand/mud roads- at least once, smell Congolese chow cooking, see the critters roaming around, and visit the people.

Then I want to go sit on my porch at Possum Kingdom Lake and watch the boats come and go, the fish jump in the early mornings, listen for the bird calls, see my grand-girls (and their parents, of course), go to our Sunday School Class and Church in Graham, pet Dave the cat and hope he still remembers me and is not too mad at me for being gone so long, eat Mexican food and BBQ, drive a car( hope I still remember how!) without always having to go through Spaghetti Junction, shop in only one store and get everything on the list, watch football and for Ken I will add- watch NCIS on Tuesday nights! So, in looking at this list the only things that I have really missed- that matter- are God and family! Not bad, I guess for five months. ;)

So back to the title of this blog…. I am counting. ;)

Hey, Callie, Sidney, Kara and Emery!  
Roses are red, violets are blue, Pops and I are counting the days until we finally see you...

 Have a great day!

Love Ya, ME

42. Missionaries

Missionaries

Lenore Murray 2013

 

Life offeres them the opportunity.

They are someone who bravely goes into those “dark” areas of the world to spread the Truth.

It takes great courage, stamina and endurance to answer the call.

It is a job that follows a narrow, rough, and often “rocky” journey.

Many times what they do is a lonely walk.

They see the faces of fear and sadness.

No one but them chose to take this specific journey.

Once they choose this path they never turn back.

Lives are changed – many lives-forever.

Their path goes on and on.

They stay the course in spite of “ wounds” and exhaustion.

As their life’s journey continues they may be weakened but not broken.

They may take only a few exhausted steps forward. But stop? Never!

Rested- they will always forge forward.

Their mission continues.

Then the day comes when a battle is won!

The battle for a soul is theirs!

They are filled with new energy.

They are one with the Spirit!

They go with new energy to show more The Way.

They are the living example of the Truth of their God.

Missionaries! 



Howdy!!

 Mexican Stack with Arab Bread used as Tacos went over very well.  All the bowls of other items to add  to the Stack were almost gone. The cooks were thrilled to get to leave 45 minutes early!  The cobbler from the Rose Apple tree was  also very good.
 
Apparently some of you thought something was missing from the container.We got it all and it is all in the halls and Little Conference room.  I guess my saying we sent one of our guys to guard it so it would not go missing was missunderstood the way I said it. Sorry for your heart attack!  So rest assured we got all that was supposed to be there. Inge had the packing slip and was checking off every item as it entered MPH. The tools etc are here in the apartment tool room. Heavy!

Have a great Sunday! Texas Tech won! Yea! Nervous with the A&M game. All we know is the score every so often. Surprised at Kansas State!

 Love ya! Me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Countdown-Yet- But It Is Getting Closer!

 

“Bless Their Little Hearts!!” The older couple is back. They got in early last night - a little before 6 PM after an 11 hour trip by car with no AC and the first two hours on roads with deep holes and high sand.  When I greeted them they both hugged me and thanked me so much for getting them in earlier. Their driver offered to take them out to eat since they had told me they would not be here for supper. She looked at her husband incredulously and said:”You really want to climb back into that car, climb out to eat, climb back in to come home and climb back out again!?” They were beyond worn out. She was almost in tears with a headache and he was just worried about her and exhausted.  They finally just asked me for a cup of hot water for coffee in their room. After our supper I went to their room to check on them- about 45 minutes later. All lights were off and they did not respond to my light knock.  When they came in for breakfast they were still wiped out looking. Loved their first shower in ten days!! I asked them the best part of the trip- “The people.”The worst? …..”Sadly, the trip.” They admitted they should have never gone. Said the heat and humidity and nowhere or way to cool off was all but unbearable. Not even a fan. They stayed in Congolese “homes.” “The water for our tea was already darker than the tea we usually make! Made us both sick!” I asked if they could have flown. She still had some humor and responded, “We were airborne for most of the trip even though we were inside a car!” They still headed out after breakfast for their little morning walk together- hand in hand. Sweet!

From some of your notes to me on Face book and questions on email you know things are “hot” up in Goma still/again/whatever. It’s Congo!! Those folks have been doing this for years and blaming the other. When my MPH phone kept dinging with a message to go to the Embassy website it eventually got a little disconcerting this time! Especially since the other times I only heard from them the one time each day. This time it kept dinging about ever hour with a new message. But all folks here in Kinshasa at MPH are calm though they are considering giving some of their Congolese employees up there the option to leave. But they have family in the area who will hide them if necessary, so they will probably stay there!!  (My feeling- Mortars do not discriminate!) This is a way of life up there. So life goes on. It’s almost “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” for me- it’s always “up there.” I still go and look at the website just to be sure it IS up there! It’s Congo!

This Saturday Inge has asked me to do Mexican Stack for supper. From the back yard we had the gardne pick and will also get the cooks to make a rose apple (a tiny, pear shaped, TART, rhubarb tasting thing) pie-ish/cobbler dish. So once the cooks have all chopped and grated all for me and have the table all set and done etc. I will surprise them and then let them go early. I actually found two bags of Doritos- $7 each!! Then got two packages of Arab Bread (looks like flour pita pockets sort of deals) and will get the cooks to slice and butter them and then turn them into “chips” in the oven. Then layer on at person’s preference Taco seasoned beef, pinto beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, guacamole, Picante sauce, pilipili sauce, coconut, raisins, and grated Gouda cheese ( No Mexican cheese mix here!). No sour cream- it’s almost $20! I wanted to make Pink Salad but there are no ingredients other than Condensed milk. Bummer because that sweet with the Stack is so good!

I am busy getting the count of all the stuff from the ship container done. It will take several days. Then will begin to get all mattress pads on all of the beds changed to the new ones. Have to have empty rooms and remember where we still need to change them. Details are a pain!!!  Then old yucky towels out of commission and replaced with the pretty new ones. And BATH MATS!!!  Whee!! It takes so little to get excited over out here!! New dishes, wheel barrows, mops and squeeze mop buckets, fiber glass screening for our screen “walls” and that is all I have seen so far. It is amazing what we can and then again can’t get out here!
I am going to try to take this weekend off- other than helping coordinate Mexican Stack night. That is  probably be another way of saying “ All Heck will Break Loose here at MPH!” So y’all have a great weekend and enjoy football for me!!

Love Ya! Me

40. Time Marches On In Congo!

Life is funny. In walk three folks from Delaware – (no this is not a “Three guys walk into a bar story!!”)  I go out to welcome them at the reception desk. They pick up quite quickly that I am not from South Jersey! - Go figure! Turns out the lead guy- James Mosley is originally from Mississippi, his wife from SC- (Anderson and Cheraw) and from the family names and home town she is probably related to me. (It’s a Suthun’ thing!!) And Uncle Lamar, you were his professor in Richmond. He and his wife are both DCE folks. He knew to genuflex when I asked if he had been to Montreat. (He clogged with the Bannermans in the barn and when they performed!) And then he knew one had to walk around Lake Susan ten times on arrival in Montreat!! My kind of Southern Presbyterian boy!!

Had a huge thunder and lightning show and a nice gentle rain the other morning. Didn’t last terribly long but it finally rained here!! The trees are so dusty and thirsty! Now they are hopeful and spotted with mud drops. We have been warned to unplug everything when one of these storms hits because even a surge protector won’t necessarily protect!! Just ask my curling iron- I guess! They all tell me that this rain was nothing. The rains in rainy season will come down in sheets and the building will shake! So more excitement ahead!

College football starts this week and so I am sort of excited. Normally I have all the schedules ready and the games on TV all but memorized!!  We can get the scores off the BBC- at “dark thirty” during the night but that is not the same!  (If we could get it here for example the Texas Tech game starts at 1 AM!!) At least a lot of the exciting part of the last games of the season will still be going on when I get home the end of October. Then the Bowl games. The Manzell stuff made French Yahoo news on my French MPH computer stuff. Amazing! ;)

The ship container cleared customs yesterday so we are having delivery after delivery coming to MPH. Stuff for MPH and stuff for the Sthreshley’s house being built out back.  So the halls are full of stuff and then the boxes have to be opened to see what is in each and which stuff belongs to which place. New mops and buckets, riding lawnmower- the gardner will freak! - Towels and sheets (of course after the French have left!) new dishes and the list goes on. That’s all I have seen or heard of so far. It’s like Christmas!!  It just arrived!! Fancy, fancy John Deer!!! Grass man- AKA my house guy half a day during rainy season and all day Dry season is grinning ear to ear!!  As is Inge!! How many men does it take to lift it down!!  ;) Larry just called. Inge is headed back with one of our guys to guard the stuff while other stuff is brought here. Things have apparently been taken! It’s Congo!

 

“Funny”- long ago-story at breakfast from a missionary staying here. He got bitten by a rabid cat as a young boy. There was no rabies med up country. So they had to be sure he was not allergic to the vaccine here in Congo before they shipped up the meds for his 21 shots. Otherwise they would have to try to get him to Europe in time. A little plane flew over the station and dropped a tiny parachute of the test med over the station. His Dad and another missionary had already left and driven here to the big city area to search for the medicine. When he got the meds the Dad was flown back with it in the plane to help recognize villages and help the pilot get there. (Pre GPS.)  They got all turned around. So they buzzed and buzzed a village till everyone was outside looking up. Then they cut the engine and yelled out the plane the name of the station they where wanted to go. The villagers all pointed and off the pilot went! ;) They radioed ahead and his mom took him to the landing strip and he got his first shot right after the plane landed!! Amazing!

The man -of the little older couple- that went up country called me and he was so cute. “Lenore, please! You have got to help me! How much earlier can we return to MPH? “So the 14 days up country are 12 days too long like your wife was afraid it would be?” I asked.  “Yes, maybe 13 days too long!” So they are headed back and I will get the rest of the story of their trip for you!! It’s been fun to see which of my ramblings catch your attention! ;)

Another guest is from Norway and works with the Leprosy organization. I was telling him that I had been to the leprosy village nearish to Lubondai with my Dad. (I had to stay in the car!!) I always took my kittens to them because they would not eat my kittens! They kept them to hunt the mice and rats that nibbled on their extremities (that had no feelings) during the night as they slept. He told me they still like to have cats around!

Wednesday we tried to go to a “Sam’s type” store but it had closed. No advertisement. You just go and it’s either still there or closed. So shopping is always an adventure from week to week! At least our stores have a “Going out of Business” sale! So went to a much smaller one and it does sell some in bulk and was very nice, helpful folks, speak some English and clean and safe feeling.  They had cleaning stuff, meats, some canned stuff that we use a lot and dried staples in bulk- with prices on a chalk board. Inge was pleased with the prices. So it will probably be a regular stop. Then tried a new store to see if it was cheaper and it’s just like in the States- depends on the day- but by the time you drive around half of Kinshasa we did not save money on the groceries because of the gas for the van. For lunch we went to our favorite patisserie and I finally got my swan for dessert. It tasted just like I remember from 50+ years ago in Luluabourg/ Kananga!.  ;)

Have a great weekend! Watch some football for me. If you go to a game have a hotdog with mustard,a package of Pnut M & Ms and a Diet Coke for me!

Love, Ya! Me
 

Working at MPH Words": Continuous, Nonstop,Perpetual,Unchanging,and Never- Ending!" Hats off to Cindy and Clay!

 

39. After Three Months – I Have Discovered “The Working at MPH Words”: Continuous, Nonstop, Perpetual, Unchanging, and Never-ending" – Hats off to Cindy and Clay!!

I guess I could just have the Blog with this title and send it out to you and you’d KNOW the rest of the story!! ;)) However, I am the lady of “where does she find all of those words.” ;)) So, let’s see what I can tell you about this week here at MPH.

Friday we ate out with the Expats that are back from a month in the States. We went to La Pacine- which Ken and I love. Yep! Ken had sole again- fried this time instead of cream sauce. I had my usual steak with Pepper! The staff and owner greeted us like old friends and they gave us the same waiters! Called the chauffeur in and we were supposed to drop some guest off to meet some friends at a nearby Pizza place but the friends were not there. So we took them on with us to supper. They sat by Ken and visited all during supper. Well…now we have a Safari travel guide for our trip to South Africa and a free place to stay! Love their accents!!

Saturday Ken and I did the Murray Style Texas Chicken BBQ on the back patio.  Fixed food to serve 11 of us. We- Inge and I- invited five others. Only four came. All arrived late. Supper was at 6 and one group strolled in at seven – (We had already begun to eat – did not want to burn and dry out the chicken!) and she said to me, “The ----s don’t do a 6 PM supper. Well... Ok. MPH does it at 6 because the cooks are all still here and can help carry stuff out to and help set up the patio.The other guest was caught in Kinshasa traffic on the way back from the airport and apologized all over the place! The BBQ chicken was great and moist like Ken is a master at doing. It was done on an open barrel grill- very different charcoal from the States- and poor Ken nearly burned his arms off. Next time we will have some welding gloves for him because they want BBQ chicken at least one more time before we leave! (And Inge wants one of the cooks to stay over and learn from Ken exactly what to do. (He still won’t have that "Ken" touch! ;) )

I spent almost the whole day in a strange kitchen. I had a learning curve for the Congo ingredients and cooking in a HOT kitchen!! So before I could add milk- I had to make it!! Sugar is the brownish raw stuff here. Cokes are all in bottles unless you spend at least $1.60 a can at the store when there’s a sale on 24 pack for canned cokes!! I had had a returning missionary bring me the stuff to be able to continue the requested”Cook Texas stuff for us before you leave.” (Me- the girl from the Carolinas- go figure!!) So I got out the bag of Kraft Miniature marshmallows so I could make a Chocolate Coke Cake for supper. So here I am – making milk for several recipes besides the cake, getting the butter out of the freezer so I would be able to cut it. Finally go to add the butter and marshmallows and they have melted and the marshmallows have all stuck together in the bag- a gooey mess!. (Had to cut the glump out of the bag!!) Could not run go buy some more!! They did separate after I stirred them in the batter for awhile. I did not have to follow the direction part that said-“Melt the butter!” ;) So I guess one can cook faster here by eliminating steps! ;)  Then I made a triple recipe of Kentucky Spoon Bread requested by Inge – once she found out I know how to make it- for Larry. Three stoves but only one oven works and selected eyes. It’s Congo!!  The cooks were all saying, “Mama, use the computer magic and translate all of these into French. And, Mama, please put your name on the recipes so we can think of you and thank you again for working with us in the kitchen.” Then we made glazed carrots. They’d never seen that. “Mama salt and sugar??” “Yes, a little of one and lots of the other- and don’t get them backwards!!;))” They thought that was so funny!

Ken and I used the spray we got at Wal-Mart again and we were great. Everyone else was getting No-See-Ems and mosquito bites. Sat around until the bats were squeaking and flying around for supper- theirs not ours- but when green mangoes began to fall everyone  jumped up and headed in.“They really hurt when they land on you!”

Some future, very young, missionaries are here on their way in and out of the country - way up in the bush- to see it before they move here. They have 4 kids, ages 1,3,5,8 and only brought the two older ones. He is a Psychology major. He will teach and she will work with kids.  They just went to Nicaragua on their own for a year but that did not work out. They also fish Salmon up in Alaska during the thaw and run months. Before they can come they will have to find their own people and churches to support them and go to language school for a year. So it will be awhile. Speaking of STEEP learning curve!! Whew!! Oh, to be young and know so much again!!

Had a doctor here meeting some American doctors to take up country to share with folks some new medical stuff. They had their lap tops, I pads, and all the electronic ways to share. Hope the electricity is up! I asked him how the medical student’s knowledge here compares to the knowledge a graduating med student has in the US. The med school graduates here in Congo maybe know 45% of what they know in the US. I asked if Congo is that far behind. It is because America moves ahead by leaps and bounds. Congo has stuff and can do tests and x-rays etc. but the patients can’t afford the bill. So they won’t go to a hospital many times. They may go to a small clinic or often to a med student that flunked out. “So when did you come?” "1996 and it has gone backwards since." Wow!! But so much of the infrastructure has gone backwards! They use US. Dollars, have no mail system, and roads are deplorabel except the main Boulevard for the most part, no garbage collection, and the everyday things we are so use to don't exist. When we were here 50+ years ago the mission hospitals didn’t charge- as I recall but I might be wrong on that! I remember the families had to come and camp out back of the hospital and cook and feed the sick person- if they could eat- but I think that was our mission – to take care of them with no charge! I’m sure Congo Connection will correct me on that if necessary.

Wellllllll Sunday… Before my office mate left Friday she called the coordinator of the Sunday arrival folks and was told they would not be here before 18:00PM. “So, Mama, Kabanza and Jonathan can get all rooms done when the 9 guests leave and before the other 9 arrive late Sunday afternoon.” I tell her there is no way I can go to church with all of that going on. But she assures me it will all be fine.  The bell rings at 7 AM for Sunday Breakfast and we sit and have the blessing. Tap on my shoulder. It’s the sentry. “Sorry, Mama, but some of your guests with----- are here.” I about choke! So I get up and leave and head out to the parking lot. They are all piling out of a beat up, smoking, on its last leg/ tire vehicle and hauling out their luggage. (Let me pause and tell you about the Congolese luggage. Few have suitcases. It’s grocery bags, what remains of a Styrofoam cooler and baskets with the stuff taped inside with cardboard between the stuff and the tape. So this stuff is being unloaded at my front door. I tell them to stop that they are not scheduled to arrive until six PM and that they will have to come back. They may leave their”luggage” and can sit out on the patio for the rest of the day but the rooms will not be ready until late afternoon. They tell me that is ok they’ll just come in and take showers. I then tell them all of our rooms are occupied with guests still. Then the rooms will have to be cleaned. They mumble, unload and pile back in and leave. When one man returns later in the day to check in he tells me that his wife has arrived in town to “visit a sick relative” and he wants her to stay here with him.  When pigs fly!! I had been warned by Cindy that the Congolese men- whether ministers or educators at the university try that line or one like it to bring their “ Lady of the Night” or Hoe- as my Junior High kids called them in Texas- to stay here with them. So I smiled- maybe it was a smirk- anyway I told him that ____ had paid for his room and if he brought anyone in he would have to pay the difference up front and that I would let ____ know that he had brought a guest. He looked and me, took a breath, thought better of it and said, no that she could stay with family in the city. Then several tried to sneak in Smoked fish – I may wear glasses but my nose still can smell that horrible stuff- and bedia. So I had to tell them that outside food not allowed and they could either pay for our meals, order pizza each night since that comes cooked and takes none of our equipment or they could eat out. _____ did not pay for your meals. Just your rooms and breakfast that is included. So they probably “talked about my mother”( as the saying goes) - but better folks than they have done that in the past! So I did not make it to church to say the least.

Office mate arrives this morning all smiles to see how it all went yesterday. Welllll. Once I said the first group arrived at 7 AM and then told of the food and the other “guest” issues (and she agreed with me it would have not been his wife!) she was boiling. She called someone on the phone from ____ and ripped them a new one!! French at 1000miles an hour and at 10,000 decibels is amazing to experience! Wow!!

So let me try to add a couple of pictures and I will sign off.

Oops! Not yet!! Gigi just got "first day of school pics" from all of our girls!! So you get to be treated! They grow up so fast! Senior year for Callie!!

 

 

 

 

Have a great rest of the Day!! Love Ya! Me

38. Oh, Dear, What Can The Matter Be?"

38. “Oh, Dear, What Can The Matter Be?”

Security Message for U.S. Citizens - Fighting Resumes Around Goma

August 22, 2013

U.S. Embassy Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa alerts U.S. citizens that fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the rebel group M23 has resumed near the city of Goma in the province of North Kivu. According to reports, FARDC, Monusco, and M23 have exchanged artillery and mortar fire in several positions near the city. Three explosions have occurred within Goma proper: one in Virunga quarter behind the Goma prison, one at Virunga Market, and one in the harbor area. The fighting is ongoing and the situation remains extremely uncertain and fluid.

The U.S. Embassy strongly recommends you avoid travel to the province of North Kivu., including the city of Goma. The U.S. Embassy currently reviews travel requests by official personnel to North Kivu on a case-by-case basis, and has currently withdrawn all official personnel from Goma.

Well, I guess Senator John and Cindy McCain and others won’t be going to Goma!  Always something up there but it is really far from here. So life is same ‘ole same ‘ole here!

 In the life of MPH- our life at MPH – this week the lights from the city have come and gone several times. No problem because we have a Generator that comes on automatically. The water has had an attitude a couple of times and Larry was able to deal with that. It must be funeral season- Uncles, Mother-in-laws, and brothers have died so different folks are missing each day. Then add to that the usual –“Mama, I am sick, child is sick, So-and-So is not coming,  I need to see doctor for a prescription for my malaria medicine”… etc. There have also been several funerals in the village behind MPH and those last days and they are quite loud at night.

If I recall this is the Montreat weekend gathering. We’ve never been- a tad far from Texas for less than 24 hours. Maybe some time- I think Marcia has gone. I told Dave Miller I don’t do Reunions anymore. (Two- one family and one not- were more “fun” than I like to mess with!!)  So have fun guys and enjoy Native food!! We are loving the Native food every day here at MPH for lunch!!

While I was out to get groceries on Wednesday my office mate agreed to let 9- yes 9!!- rooms empty Sunday morning and be all changed and ready by 6 that night for guests. Problem is we have no house help on Sundays! OOPS!!   I all but PITCHED both a hissie fit and a conniption fit when she told me. (Doing all of that on a Sunday–myself- is way above my volunteer pay grade! ;) ) Seriously-we got two of the guys to agree to come in for double pay and get it done. Don’t know if with all of that to get done whether we will make church or not on Sunday. Gurr!!

Have a cute little couple from Minnesota staying here off and on for a month. They are in their late seventies and she repeats almost all for him because his hearing aids don’t help. He preached several times with a translator. They have been able to see lots of friends from when they worked here 26 years ago. Now they are up country for two weeks in the area where they lived long ago- and as she left- by car!!- she told me she thinks this part will be about 12 days too long! ;) So anxious to see how they fared with no running water, Americanish accommodations or food. They are due back the 31^st!

On Facebook we have been thrilled with the pictures – of the “Big 5” from a Safari trip taken to Kruger in South Africa by some Lubbock friends.  Guys, please send me the name of the tour group etc. It is on MY bucket list and soon it will be my turn!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

Yesterday –after seeing how many cucumbers we have from the garden, I decided to head to the kitchen. I taught the cooks how to make Cucumber and Onion Salad with sugar and vinegar dressing. The guests all scraped the bowls clean at supper. It really turned out well. So I came in and used Google Translate and put the recipe into French. Well, the cooks were amazed I could do it. I finally fessed up to them how I did it!  “ Ah,Mama!!” Then Inga came in this morning and asked if Ken and I would please cook Texas BBQ chicken and the fixings for a BBQ on the patio tomorrow night. So here is the Menu! BBQ Chicken, Boon Tavern-Kentucky Spoon Bread, Glazed Carrots, Fruit Salad, and Coke Cake! May even try to work in some Sweet Iced Tea!!

Well, hope you all enjoyed Samson’s story.

Have a great weekend!

Love, ya! Me

37. Samson

Samson

He arrived this morning at the breakfast table and looked and smiled at us all. One instantly knew he could “see” deep- this giant of a man with the name of Biblical strength. He sat down across from me and next to Ken.

He looked at me across the table and gently said, “Lenore, what is your story that got you here?” So I told him the story of Ken and me and why we are here- this time. “Tell me of the other time,” he quietly asked and looked at Ken. Ken shared our past story. He then turned and eyed another table mate but …

“Wait,” I said, “tell us your story and why you are here!” He looked at me. “I have shared it before here at MPH. Don’t you know it?” Samson asked. “I have almost always been at another table or at the other end of the table from you,” I reminded him. I instantly just knew it would be a moving story. And so -here is the rest of the story.

“As you know,” he began, “I am from Johannesburg, South Africa. I am a Black South African. I am one of those four South Africans that you, Lenoree, have welcomed four times now with that gracious  American Southern hospitality, your big as Texas smile and those ”Yes, Sirs!” I have listened to you and Mr. Ken as you have talked to the guests at the table, in the Living Room areas and when guests checked in-when you did not realize I was listening. You are both Children of God! You are both Africans! You are both true!”

Well, now I wasn’t sure where this man was headed. I had asked for his story and he spoke of us. He seemed to be able to see very deep into my soul- almost- weird! I felt like a bug under a microscope. Pinned!

He took a deep breath and in a soft, South African, lilting accent he began.

“I was raised from birth,” he said, ”and trained as I aged to be a tribal Witch Doctor.” Well, that stopped all table conversation! “ WOW!” I commented as the table sat stunned. (What is the polite, gentile, “Southern hostess” response to that statement at a breakfast table? Don’t think even Bonka had a response for that one! ;) I surely had no training for it!!)

With a twinkle in his eye he smiled at me in the stunned quiet. I had responded in an honest fashion and he was not offended. So I muddled on.” Samson, how old are you?” I ask. Someone had to say something!! And that just came out of my mouth.

“Sixty–five” he responded. “However, I have been God’s man, Samson, for only forty years.” He then softly continued his saga. “When I decided to leave my birthright job I became a wanted man. I decided to leave South Africa for awhile- they only wanted me- or so I thought. I left my wife and children and went to work on my PhD in Canada. I told them they would be safe with me gone. The tribe was angry and tribal fighting ensued. The white South Africans also became involved in the issues. They were all mad at me and I was not there. I was across the ocean safe. I gave an interview to the University Paper in Canada about the issues in South Africa. The article was reprinted in South Africa. They thought I had turned on my country. Since they could not get to me personally they hit where they knew it would hurt me the most. A white farmer killed my only son.”

Well, if the witch doctor statement didn’t shut the house down this statement did. We all sat in disbelief. Even I was at a loss for words!

He continued with tears on his cheeks, “I had two models I chose to emulate -God and the loss of His only Son and Nelson Mandela.” And so I continued to live. I could not yet return home. My wife and girls were smuggled out of South Africa to me. But Canada was not our home. South Africa is. So I began to work on a return.

I contacted the farmer who shot my son and told him I did not hate him. I did not blame him. He had not killed my son- a system had. I then prepared to return home to Africa.

I had a dream of schools taught by Christians. Not a Sunday School type school but a school taught by Christians from that country and trained to teach within their country’s culture. But I didn’t want to just do my home land. I wanted a larger challenge. The whole of the African continent- why not!! So I divided the continent into 9 regions and began in the most receptive areas. The ideas are working – kids are learning from loving Christian teachers from their areas of Africa. Later this morning I am meeting with the Minister of Education of the Congo- at his request- to look at doing this model in Congo. It will take 180,000-200,000 Congolese teachers to change the education in Congo. The minister has already admitted to me that what they are currently doing is not working. So we have gotten a foot in the door of this largest country in Africa. So if all goes well we will need to get a core Congolese training team trained, train trainers, and then train the teachers. Then the kids can be taught! God is good!

“However,” he continued, “I realized my other life- my past life-still needed to be dealt with. So I returned, met, and forgave the white farmer. I visited Mr. Mandela. As I re-settled with my family in my homeland I felt an evil still stirring. It wanted me still. To them I am a man who knows too much. I am a non-practicing but fully trained Witch Doctor. What happens if I use my trade for revenge on them?”

 No one at the table is heading off to work or to their rooms. We are frozen in time. A time we want to finish hearing about but don’t. Even the kitchen staff realized we were in the middle of something big. They did not come in to clear the table. They got very quiet.

“As you Americans call it- I was put on a hit list. So my family and I had to only eat food prepared by my wife. We had to watch out for each other. But it wasn’t poison that took me out. In 2002 it was a bullet from a “friend.” I saw what was coming and got my arm up to shield my chest. That is why these last three fingers don’t work and stay curled. The bullet passed through missing my heart and lungs. I lost- they say- 60 % of my blood. My home looked like a war zone! I was all but dead for a long time and I remember nothing. My wife and girls talked and talked to me. I began to fight. When I came to I told my wife I had to see this ”friend.”I had to forgive him. “But why, Samson?” she tearfully asked. “He tried to kill you!”  I tried to explain that he was not an evil man. It is the system! For me forgiveness is it!

 I did meet him. He was terrified. He knew of my Witch Doctor “powers” or so he thought. He feared even making eye contact with me. As I hugged him I had to almost hold him up. His body was convulsing with true fear! He could not even speak. I kept telling him that he did not shoot me. The system did! I forgave him and he wept in my arms.

“So I am now going on. I have Africa to teach! I am still on a hit list. But I am doing the work of the Lord. What more can a man ask than to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with his God?”

Silence.

"Hallelujah! Amen and Amen!"