~ The following is a combination of journaling, "poems", stream of consciousness, quotes, sidenotes, verses, doodles, stories I was told, etc. while I was in Africa. There is much more to come, [I haven't even written about my time in Goma, Congo yet!] but I wanted to catch up on what I had written thus far. There are a couple of previous posts before this one that talk about the 3 days we spent in Kigali, Rwanda.
April 22nd
Benson (the one leading the training in the Empower program) traveled with us from Kigali to Gisenyi, the village on the border of Rwanda and Congo, where the Empower training was to take place. After we arrived at the Catholic guest house where we were to stay, and after walking around the village, to the beach, and back, we sat down for dinner. We discussed many things, including Joseph Kony and Invisible Children's Kony2012 campaign. It was very interesting hearing from him about his thoughts on it, as well as America's decision to send military advisers to help the Ugandan army track Kony down and take him to the International Criminal Court. After a somewhat heated discussion, we moved on to other topics.. "Ask me a question, Morgan. Anything." Okay, I said. I began to tell him about my art, and how I use it as a tool to educate people about what is going on in Central and Eastern Africa, and inspire them to learn more and get involved. "So," I said, "what do I need to know, or what are things that I should include in or convey through my art?
"The world is trying [to]/keeping us from moving forward...
by forcing us to keep looking backwards.
We don't have rear-view mirrors to help us go behind us/backwards...
we have them to equip us to get to where we are going...
We must focus on looking forward, not the past. The past we must
use as a tool to move forward."
_____________________________________________________________________
April 23rd
I have so much writing to catch up on, but as I stand looking out over the Catholic guest house, towards Lake Kivu under a great lightning storm, the wind whipping my floor-length skirt around my legs, I feel compelled to write about today, instead of taking time to go back and write about the previous days.
I am learning so much from talking with Benson, and hearing from the other trauma care counselors from Congo. I am learning the importance and great need for trauma care here, and around the world. I am gaining so much perspective from Benson about the Ugandan people. "The people/the victims are the ones that are ignored..." he says with great emphasis, "they were the ones excluded from the peace talks years ago. It is their voices that are needing to heard before real peace can come. The government, the rebels, and the people/victims all have very different views of what peace looks like. The people are the majority and should have the most influence on what peace should look like in Uganda."
Benson is from Gulu, Uganda, and is from the same clan as Joseph Kony. "We speak the same language." He and his family have suffered much from Kony's army. He has lost siblings and other family members due to the wars that were in Northern Uganda. During this time, he rode to the most dangerous areas to tell people about Christ. He risked his life to get to these people because of his love for God, and his love for the people of Uganda. He loves his homeland so very much.
Benson is from Gulu, Uganda, and is from the same clan as Joseph Kony. "We speak the same language." He and his family have suffered much from Kony's army. He has lost siblings and other family members due to the wars that were in Northern Uganda. During this time, he rode to the most dangerous areas to tell people about Christ. He risked his life to get to these people because of his love for God, and his love for the people of Uganda. He loves his homeland so very much.
He spoke to me today at great length about many things while Bethany and Matthew were at the internet cafe, and while Jessie napped. We stood here right where I am sitting now for hours and hours. He told me of his mother, who greatly encouraged him to study and become educated, and how much he respects her. He told me of when he was a boy, how she would carry big jugs, food, etc. to he and his twin sister while they were at school studying; how she would call to them to help her when she drew near, and they would run out to help her take the jug off of her head... how she would then lie face down and have them press on her back to pop it... how they'd had no idea how much pain she'd suffered till much later... how her back is now crooked from the heavy loads she had to carry... He told me of his cousin who was a thief, and how he'd been stoned to death...
He told me of a woman and her young child (who was just learning how to speak), who lived in a village that was attacked by the LRA some years ago. They came into her home and took all the food that she had harvested to feed themselves. The chickens the armies confiscated were usually saved to give to the commanders of the rebel armies. They grabbed the woman and her child and took them to the commander. They tried to force her to eat the chicken, but she refused.. over and over again. What none of them knew, was that government troops were surrounding the camp. All of the sudden, troops fired a flame thrower-like gun right into the circle where she and her young child sat. Bullets began to rain down on the camp. The woman, in shock, just sat there, numb. Her barely speaking child then yelled, "mama run!", then she snapped out of her stupor and ran with her child... she and the commander collided, and he yelled for her to get out of his way. So she kept running further and further into the mountains, all alone with her child. Along the way she met up with one person trying to get home, then another, who was able to lead them back home.
He also told me of his vision for a center in Northern Uganda for trauma therapy, the reconstruction of the region, sustainability projects, etc. I told him of my ideas and dreams for enabling kids/people to tell their own stories through art & creativity, my passion for Africa that God has given me, etc. We talked at great length about this, and the possibility of us working together in the future. I love so much his passion and his heart. We are kindred spirits, he and I... so similar in many ways. Oh my heart... how happy I would be if God put us together to work together!
I told him of my dreams of the boys I'd had a couple weeks before we left... He said to me, if God was using that dream to call you to work in a specific place in Africa, if that's what that dream was, it is either to C.A.R, East Congo, or Southern Sudan, where the violence is... [or perhaps if/when I move to Africa, I will be working in all those places.]
________________________________________
In one of our sessions in the training, Benson told us of a group of women who were abducted by the rebels, and were forced to kill men they found with their teeth, then to find their livers and eat them. The purpose of him telling us this story was to ask us which of the 5 senses would one become traumatized by in this circumstance. All 5 senses were involved in this... but different people will be traumatized by different senses, even though they experienced the same thing. One could be traumatized by the taste of blood, another by the sound of the men's screams, another by the gruesome sight. These are the situations and kinds of trauma that we were being prepared to deal with this week, because this is the reality that these people live in.
_________________________________________
Benson often speaks in parables and/or tells true stories when trying to convey concepts. "Once there was a woman and her husband who fought all the time. The woman went to a witch doctor to have her bring love back to their home. The witch doctor went into another room and put water, put something in it to give it come coloring, then put it in a bottle, and gave it to the woman, telling her it was a kind of medicine. The witch doctor told her to go into another room whenever she and her husband started to quarrel, and put some of the "medicine" in her mouth.. She couldn't spit it out, or her children would die. She couldn't swallow it either, or she herself would die.
The next time her husband started quarreling, she did what she was told. She found that she could not speak without swallowing or spitting out the "medicine", so she was forced to stay silent as her husband hurled insults at her and her mother. Over time, weeks turned to months, and her husband started to realize that his wife no longer fought back, and he realized that he must be the problem. He went to her and apologized for being such a bad husband and that he wanted to start a "new life".
The woman went back to the witch doctor, exclaiming that the medicine had worked to fix her marriage, and had brought love back into her home. The witch doctor then explained that it was her silence, not the "medicine" that had made the difference.
__________________________________________
April 24th
The sound
of singing
filters over the
mountain
and
through
the muggy
air
this morning
as I
stand looking
over
the compound.
A chorus of
birds
near and
far
fill my
ears,
accompanied
by the
sound
of
light rain
kissing the
earth...
Birds soar
overhead...
steam rises
from
metal chimneys
that lead
to the kitchen...
the African
landscape
calls to me...
Down in the
dining hall,
a crucifix
hangs
above the
bar area...
sounds from
the kitchen
filter through
the place,
through the
sound of the
news on the
television in the
corner...
French
fills
my ears,
instilling
excitement
for
learning
the language
so I can
communicate
in a wide
variety
of countries...
Already, I
can
understand
bits and
pieces
here and
there...
______________________________________________
The rebels captured 10 girls. Sylvia was one of them. She was 14 years old. They sent the other 9 back to their homes, and kept Sylvia and gave her as a wife to a man her father's age. She had 3 children over 5 years. As she was escaping, the rebels were all together, and her husband was a commander. She slept outside with two of her children, all face down. She took each and tied one to her back and one to her stomach... she jumped over rebel after rebel to escape. Her children were silent all the way to the end of the compound where they were being held captive. She walked down main roads at 1,2,3am... At dawn, when she could see if someone was coming, she jumped into the bush. Because her husband was a commander, when they realized that she was gone, they went running after her... "she cannot go far, she has children..."
They passed her far and came back, and made their way back to camp. She counted each one to make sure they'd all gone back. She got back on the main road, till it was 3pm. When she reached home, she was in disbelief/shock. Before she had been captured, she had been the most loved in her village, but she could not do anything to be loved like she was before... she said, "I will get a husband, then I will be loved." She got a husband, but it didn't take long before he would say, "rebel woman! these children are rebel children!" She became very angry with God.
(Benson told us of this to show some of the different stages/effects/responses of trauma)
_______________________________________________
Joseph spoke of the boys at the Peace Lives Center who are suffering from bad dreams. The boys that like smoking, etc. were the ones that had the worst dreams. The counselors help calm them down and pray with them. The guitar helps them to calm down.
Many of the boys were taught that killing was just a game, growing up. Now, the dreams are filled with memories from war, killing, etc. These dreams often led others to smoke.
We were taught some breathing exercises to teach the traumatized to help calm them down and relax. Benson explained that it wasn't the cigarettes that calmed the boys down, it was the deep breathing involved that actually calmed them.
________________________________________________
5:45pm
How incredible
it has been
to learn more
about trauma
care with
and from
all these
amazing people!
My hear is
so glad
and so
grateful
for this
opportunity
to sit
at these
people's feet
and hear
their stories,
and their
dreams
for the
children,
their healing,
their rehabilitation,
their futures...
How incredible
the beauty
of Africa!
The perfection
of the hours
spent
standing alone,
at the
mercy
of threatening
thunderclouds
above me...
the sky opening
wide and
raining down
on me,
beating harder
and harder,
as if to
cleanse me
and
wash me
anew...
soaking
me
from head
to foot...
so much
that it
almost
becomes
difficult
to even
open my
eyes
in the
torrential
rain...
I continue
to stand
on the
edge of
the balcony,
letting
the
rain
have its way
with me,
as I fight
the urge
to run
down the
steps
to the
courtyard
and dance
to the
rythm
of the
steady rain
and
the choir
practicing
somewhere
in the
not too far
distance...
sending
up
sweet, sweet
melodies
that I cannot
understand,
the beauty
and
mesmerizing
power
of which
cannot be
described
nor
fathomed...
Rain drops
caress my
face
and run
down my
neck...
the chill
the rain
brings
began
to set
in my
bones...
then, the
rain ceased,
and the
clouds
separated
just
enough for
the sun
to burst
through
and just
barely touch
the trees
and roofs
with warmth...
A soft,
golden haze
began to
spread
everywhere
my eyes
could see...
Birds soared through
the air
with excitement
and energy...
the choir
grew
louder...
the colors
soft
and warm...
the colors
of the earth..
the unbelievable
beauty of it all
drew tears
to my eyes...
Just when
I thought
that nothing
could possibly
make this
moment
any more
perfect,
I turned
around,
and over a
nearby
mountain,
I saw
a rainbow,
shining
brightly
for all
to see...
a sign,
given us
by God
thousands
of years ago,
as a promise
of his
love
&
faithfulness.
At this
sight,
I was rendered
speechless...
who am I,
Lord,
to behold
such
beauty?
Will you
allow me
to return
to these
countries?
What are
your plans
for me,
God?
Do not
make me
wait much
longer,
Lord!
Give me
patience,
Lord,
for your
timing.
_______________________________________________
9:50pm
In my time
in Africa
so far,
I have
learned the
importance
of storytelling.
Benson speaks
in parables
and tells
stories all
the time,
the same
way
that Jesus
did...
Stories and
personal
accounts
are so
very
powerful,
and can
convey
concepts,
ideas,
theories,
etc.
in a very
effective
way
that is
easily
understood
and
is not
easily
forgotten.
Storytelling
has been
used
since the
beginning
of time.
I have
realized
that we
do not
incorporate
it
enough,
or rather,
not in the
most
effective
ways.
Americans
use
artificial
scenarios
from movies,
propaganda,
etc.
for examples
to get a
point across...
Here in
Africa,
they use
stories of
the land -
farming,
herding,
harvesting,
etc.
they use
their own
stories of
pain,
heartache,
and loss...
they tell
stories of
their tribes
and clans...
their families,
etc.
So pure
and true
in form.
The way
they speak
of these
things
is so
captivating...
_____________________________________________
10:15pm
Can't. Stop. Writing...
I could spend every free moment writing and not catch up
with all that I need to write about. Hopefully the journey back
will allow me time and energy to do so. But for now...
I must sleep. Lala Salama! ("sweet dreams" in Swahili)
______________________________________________
... one more...
"But [she] treasured up all these things
and pondered them in her heart."
- Luke 2:19
_______________________________________________
...last one...
The stars
shine
so bright
here...
They put off
every color
you
can
think of...
and we're
only talking
about one
single
star...
Also,
I do not
recognize
any
constellations
here...
I am one
very
acquainted
with
star gazing,
and I
can say
that I
have
never
seen
stars
like
these
in my
life!
They are
brilliantly
bright
&
full of
color...
we wonder
if the
volcanic
atmosphere
plays any part...
___________________________________________________________________________
April 28th
During our talk the other night, Benson lectured me on being single. In their culture, marriage is a huge deal. There is something wrong with you if you do not get married. He spoke many parables and proverbs, and quoted Scriptures, but there was one thing that stuck out to me. He began to talk about God creating Adam and Eve, and how Eve was formed when God took one of Adam's own ribs and used it to form her from it. She was created out of Adam, for Adam. Therefore, he said, woman was made for man and to be with man. I wish I could remember his exact wording... I talked to him about Paul, and his views on marriage, etc. as well as different circumstances, and ultimately trusting in God's timing and His purposes.
_________________________________________________
"Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers a multitude of sins.
Offer hospitality to one another without
grumbling. Each one should use
whatever gift he has received to serve
others, faithfully administering God's grace
in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he
should do it as one speaking the very
words of God. If anyone serves, he should
do it with the strength God provides,
so that in all things God may be praised
through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory
and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the
painful trial you are suffering, as though
something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice that you participate in the
sufferings of Christ, so that you may be
overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
1 Peter 4: 8-13
________________________________________________
There
was a story of a rich man who had a problem with his eyes. He sought for
treatment everywhere, but could not find one that worked. He finally found a good doctor who told him
that everything he ate and saw must be green.
Everything was painted green for him by his workers. One day, the doctor
came to see the improvement… when they saw someone coming who was not green,
they ran at him with green paint, and painted the man green. He asked, “Why are you painting me green?”
They explained what the good doctor had ordered. The doctor replied, “Can you paint the whole
world green?” What is the answer? “Maybe he should get green colored glasses,”
someone answered. It is the lens through
which you see the world that makes the difference.
________________________________________________
"What only all a clan can solve, a man thinks he can solve."
________________________________________________
Benson asked the trauma counselors at the training, "Why do you want to help those who are
suffering?"
"I want people to not go my way."
"I feel pity on others who are suffering."
"I went through trauma without knowing it, but someone recognized it and helped me through it."
"It is when I put myself in the shoes of those who are suffering when I want to help."
"I was asking myself about crazy people and why...
I did not have the answer.... and I learned about the
situation through the course of psychology. So I
decided to learn psychology so I can help those who
are crazy."
"I was stirred by the story of the good Samaritan, and was struck by the
position of those that did not help the man. This stirred me to help others in
their suffering."
"I was separated by the events my country is going through
and what would happen if we don't help them. We would
have an entire community of traumatized people."
"My mother had her mind troubled and this was because my father was killed
by a weapon in a city. When I heard, I thought that there are people who become
crazy in difficult situations and was motivated to help those in situations as my
mother who died."
"I saw orphans going through what I had experienced. They were
having difficulty sleeping so I wanted to help."
"I would say counseling is one of the best professions in the world:
'For unto us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on
his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.'
- Isaiah 9:6"
__________________________________________________
There is
a
perspective
change
that must
happen
after learning
about
trauma...
You begin
to realize
that everyone
has experienced
trauma
in their
lives
that has
shaped
the way
they think
and
behave.
When you
come
to the
level
of understanding
this,
you can
look at
an obnoxious
child/person,
or someone
who has
anxiety
issues,
commitment
troubles,
or violent
tendencies,
and can
see
past
these things
and
see the
cause of
their behavior,
and can
begin
to care
for them,
and strive
to help them
understand
and overcome
their traumas.
Judgments
must cease...
cold shoulders
no more...
only love
and
acceptance
can build
the trust
required
to encourage
them to
open up
and
move past
their
heartaches.
__________________________________________
___________________________________________
"We always look for a thing, circumstance, or person
to attach the problem to or blame. I nothing can be
found, we blame God.
ex. We all have different reasons/opinions why Congo
is in the state that it is in. We think that the solution is the
cause.
Many times we are fighting for a truth that we will never
know. We waste so much time trying to find the cause, that
we neglect to help the people who need it/are suffering."
__________________________________________
The LRA kicked in the door to a hut & found a woman 6 months pregnant and asked for her
husband. "He is with another wife," she said. The rebels forced her to take them to the husband.
She led them to her husband, and they asked the man if this woman was his wife, and the man
said yes. The rebels then forced him to have sex with her before all of them to prove that she was
his wife. Then they asked about the second wife, and forced him to do the same thing. After this,
they beat the man almost to death. He had thought that this humiliation would have spared him...
Up to now he is disabled. The woman now feels guilt and blames herself for leading the rebels
to him, as she has to see him struggle daily. Is she a bad person? No! Being forced to do things
does not make you the one at fault. Knowing the truth helps keep us from being
traumatized.
__________________________________________
The rebels speak lies to the boys to keep them from escaping:
They came and abducted many people. This commander walked
straight to a man and said, "You want to escape. A spirit has told me
that you want to escape."
The boy said he believed him for sure, even though everyone who
has been forcefully captured is thinking of how to escape.
You see, the rebels use the obvious to lie and instill fear into their
captives.
___________________________________________
Omens of bad things ahead, found in the culture:
- "If your eyes twitches/shakes, someone is going to die."
- "If an owl cries, someone in the village will die."
- "A bad voice at the door or a window."
- "If you see cats mating."
- "While kids are playing, they make guns, they will think
a war is coming."
- "A woman is putting cassava bread on a plate. If there is
a hole in the center, it is bad fortune.
- "If it is raining while it is sunny, a lion is giving birth."
- "When walking at night and you come to feel warm and go
further and see lights, if you do not go to a witchdoctor, you
will die."
- "A child should not sit on a grinding stone, or your mother
will die."
"Children can be traumatized by these omens, that hold no truth to them anyway. The truth about
the grinding stone is, children don't clean themselves well, and it is unsanitary for them to sit on a
grinding stone."
"You are not traumatized if you know the truth."
__________________________________________________
"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future."
___________________________________________________
The people in our tribe hate Joseph Kony so much. Even to where they come to
say, "He deserves to pay." But dwelling on such things is unhelpful.
____________________________________________________
"If you do good work, my heart will be connected to yours."
- Benson
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
I hear
the rain
before
I see it...
the rain
drops
hit the
tin roofs
in the
distance...
louder
&
louder
the sound
grows...
then,
all around
the rain
arrives...
the sun
is still
shining,
reflecting
off of
our faces
as we
sit around
and chat
out on
the balcony...
As Benson
has said,
somewhere in
Gisenyi,
a lion
is giving
birth...
Jessie & I
sit
on the
mat
I bought
in Kigali,
as Benson
continues
on with
his
storytelling...
______________________________________________________________________
April 26th
[Acholi worship song]
Ipore awora (x2) You are worthy to be worshipped
Ipore rwat ipore (x2) You are worthy Lord, you are worthy
Ipore me apaka You are worthy to be praised.
______________________________________
Proverbs 3: 5-6
"Trust in the Lord
with all your heart
and lean not
on your own
understanding;
in all your ways
acknowledge him,
and he will make
your paths
straight."
_______________________________________
"If you stop learning, you die."
- Benson
_______________________________________
"Education is what
makes the person."
- Janet
_______________________________________
"Instead of letting your
brain lead you,
lead your brain."
_______________________________________
Last night, I ignored my exhaustion to listen to Benson's storytelling
after dinner. We sat on the balcony, looking up at the brilliant stars...
He began telling us of the period of four years in his life that he lived in
the bush, running from the rebels, the government, and a clan that was
determined to kill his father and his family.
________________________________________
"Continuing to dwell on the past is like
riding a motorbike and continuing to look
in the rear-view mirrors while you are going
down the road... you will either kill people,
kill yourself, or end up in the lake.
Rear-view mirrors are to help you go
forward, not to go back. Focus ahead."
"We only focus
on the past
to help us
shape our future
for the better."
_________________________________________
"The prison of the mind
is the worst kind of prison."
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
"Say few words
and leave
the rest
for thinking."
___________________________________________
"The little that you do, do it the best."
___________________________________________
"There is no cush
for them to say, "I can't"
or "It's too hard..." they
just have to learn to push
through."
- Bethany
____________________________________________
Esperenze's baby... she is called "God Lives".
___________________________________________
"I think, even if I never see you again,
I will never forget you."
___________________________________________________________________________
April 27th
Forgiveness is accepting what has happened,
but choosing not to dwell negatively on it. This is
a daily choice to let go of the hurt and pain.
Forgiveness is not dependant on an apology
or acknowledgement of wrongdoing. It does not
mean that you become friends or even like that
person. It is not a feeling of friendship, but
rather an extension of grace.
"I have forgiven myself, and I have even forgiven
Joseph Kony, even though he continuously causes
me pain."
_________________________________________________
This husband beats the wife continuously. She ran away and disappeared.
The eldest child she left was a girl. The only plant she left was cassava. The
husband was a drunkard. They could not trace the wife anywhere. It didn't
take long for the man to lose his job and was forced to stop drinking, because
he could not afford it. He then took the daughter to the bar and gave her
alcohol and gave her to the bar men to have sex with her, in exchange for
alcohol. It happened everyday. It continued to where they would have sex with
her in the father's own house. Eventually it was the bar men, and the girl's
father.
Now, I am talking about forgiveness and safety. The girl was sitting at the
house and the father was coming with drunk men. "Today, sex again? I am tired
of this." She walked with them to the bedroom, thinking "what should I do?" Then
she remembered her mother who had ran away. Then she said, "I have to go to the
bathroom." So they told her to go ahead and to hurry. She walked outside, and she
ran for her life, and went to her mother's friend who took her very far away. She
stayed there for years and met forgiveness. News came that her father was dead.
"Should I attend the funeral, or not?" She said, "I will attend the funeral. There is a
big forgiveness that I have found in my life." She used this word: "I was all the men
who were sleeping on top of me there. It was very painful."
___________________________________________________
"We no longer consider divisions, because now we are one persons."
- survivor of the Rwandan genocide
"In this country, the pain is so much,
that people fall dead from grief."
"The church failed miserably in the time
of the genocide. Many church officials and
priests aided in the destruction of their
congregations. The church is not free from
guilt in this."
"Repentance is a requirement.
Transformation is our calling."
"Reconciliation does not oppose justice."
- As We Forgive (a documentary about the reconciliation efforts in Rwanda since the genocide)
______________________________________________________
How can a young man keep
his way pure?
By living according to your
word.
I seek you with all my
heart; do not let me stray
from your commands.
I have hidden your word
in my heart
that I might not sin
against you.
Praise be to you, O Lord;
teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from
your mouth.
I rejoice in following your
statutes as one rejoices in
great riches.
I meditate on your
precepts and consider
your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your
word.
- Psalm 119: 9-16
_________________________________________________
Today was the last day of our training in the Empower program. We watched part of
"As We Forgive," a documentary of reconciliation in Rwanda in our section about
forgiveness. The boys and girls from the Peace Lives Center came to sing for us...
Oh how my heart leaped with joy when their voices and words reached my ears! Their
smiles and their beautiful eyes stole my heart! We danced and laughed and sang along
with them as Michelle played his guitar. Oh how beautiful the moment was! After they
finished singing and went outside, each of the counselors got a certificate of completion
in the Empower program, as well as an English Bible. They were so excited!!
My heart is sad that the time we've all had together in one place is ended. After the
ceremony, we all ate outside together. The boys ambushed Jessie and I after lunch, all
asking questions about America and our families, talking about their passions and dreams,
and wanting us to bring them back to America and pay their school fees.
Pacifique wants to sing and be an ambassador for peace. He asked that I pray for him
about his future. John speaks English very well and translated for Pacifique and some of
the other boys. They all send greetings to my friends and family in America. The first thing
Celestin wanted to know after introducing himself, was whether or not I was his sister in
Christ. They began telling me of Jesus. I know without a doubt that they know Christ on
a completely other level than you or I could ever experience.
___________________________________________________
As the boys swarmed Jessie and I, I realized
that these precious kids just want to be
seen and heard... they have BEAUTIFUL voices
with beautiful words and perspectives to give
the world. I want to learn how to help them do
just that, through art, poetry, drama, song, etc.
____________________________________________________
"You are not like other muzungus I have met..."
____________________________________________________
"The government of Congo is sleeping." - Taxi Thomas
I could not have said it any better...
____________________________________________________
The most beautiful
moments were not
captured on film
or by word or pen
because they either
happened too
quickly,
or I was too caught up
in the beauty of the
moment...
_____________________________________________________
Their language is
so pure. I love to
hear them speak.
It is simple, precise,
eloquent.
_____________________________________________________
Africa really is
magical... I want
to tell others why-
the warmth of
the people,
the richness
of their culture,
their hopes,
dreams, and goals,
and those things
that hinder them...
their songs
and their dances...
their creativity
and brilliance...
______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
April 29th
The sound
of the people
of Congo,
Rwanda,
and Uganda
singing
to the beat
of drums,
loud and vibrant,
strong and pure,
in unison
and in harmony
shall never
leave my ears...
visions of them
dancing and clapping,
holding back
nothing
before their Savior,
shall forever
be etched
into my
memory,
and locked
safely in
my heart.
Their stories,
both of
poverty, oppression,
and atrocities that
you cannot imagine;
and stories of
hope,
healing,
restoration,
and forgiveness
I will carry
with me
always.
______________________________________
I feel
as though
I have
experienced
Uganda
as well as
Rwanda and
Congo
because
I was
able to
meet
Benson.
Touching
down in
Entebbe,
I feel
that I am
familiar
with the
country.
Oh how
I hope I
can visit
soon!
________________________________________________
Lord,
The needs are
many in Congo...
help me to know
how I can help...
the wealth
of
knowledge
I have
gained
over the
past two
weeks
has been
invaluable.
lead and guide
me...
show me
the plans you
have for
me...
for Your glory.
Amen.
_________________________________________
I am weary from the weight of all the emotions I have felt within
the past 48 hours... Saying goodbye to Janet, then the boys, then
Joseph, then Janet again, then Didi...sweet Didi... then finally
Benson... only by God's strength did my heart not explode, nor did
I completely lose it... though I've shed many tears. I refuse to say
goodbye to my new, dear, dear friends... only a "see you soon,"
for God willing, I will be back as soon as possible. We are now high
above the African landscape... soaking in the last few glimpses until
next time.
See you again soon, Africa.
You will always have my heart.
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
I felt so alive, and at
home in Africa, so now I feel
like I'm away from home.
My heart took off years ago
to take residence in Africa, so of
course I felt at home there.
It refused to come back with me,
so Africa continues to hold my
heart hostage. I hope to return
soon!
____________________________________________
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