Friday, October 26, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Congo
We've had the most jam-packed 3 days in Congo. We've been hosted by Pastor Israel N'sembe from the Assemblies of God in Congo. He and his team put an incredible effort into driving us around and looking after us. They were so incredibly honored to have us visit their country that they took every opportunity to arrange meetings with politicians & pastors all over the place. We visited a children's hospital and a pastor/missionary who has been in Kinshasa [Congo's capital] for 44 years and has built a medical centre, school and radio station. We met with the Major General who is the head of Immigration, who organised our visas for entry into the country and the Vice President of Foreign Affairs. We greeted these guys, prayed for them and encouraged them to act with integrity in their positions of authority.
Yesterday our team visited a prison. What was meant to be a relaxing afternoon soon turned on it's head when we were requested to come to the President's offices. I couldn't quite translate the titles properly, but the lady who is the Minister for Arts & Social Issues requested a meeting with us. She'd seen in the media about us being in Kinshasa and wanted to "receive us". We then met with the Director of the Presidential Cabinet, who reports directly to the county's 2nd in charge. Again we prayed for these people that they would be able to use their power & influence in a Godly way to rebuild this country.
The only thing was that in both the Prison, and the Presidential grounds [what two incredible extremes!], we weren't allowed to take cameras, so we have no footage of any of these events. :o(
Our baggage arrived after we had been in Congo 2 days! It was good that we'd anticipated this and packed a fair bit into hand luggage. Even then, I was very glad to get a fresh shirt to wear! Most of all I was glad to get my guitar!
Congo is a country that needs rebuilding. It has many hangovers from it's days when it was ruled by Belgium, and has a lot of beautiful houses & properties that have now become very run down. The roads in Kinshasa are in very poor condition, and that combined with the aggressive driving techniques of the locals makes driving a unique experience! I think I'd fit in well driving here! Actually, it's been amazing - I've been travelling in the back seat of a minivan on bumpy winding roads and haven't felt the slightest bit travel-sick [very unusual for me]! We were driven around by a guy named Alain ... he was absolutely unbelievable how he go through the traffic without a single bump or scrape. You'll have to see some of the video to understand. The traffic is similar to many other nations where the road rules are more suggestions than laws!
There is much to do - the Director of Cabinet said that Congo is very young in Democracy and needs a lot of help to establish structures and programs to re-establish this country. There is much to do! It's actually a country blessed with wonderfully rich natural resources. Only strong and wise leadership will harness these resources and use them to build a great nation.
They speak French in Congo, which has been an interesting factor in our visit. I've picked up a little bit of French - but not enough to have any more meaningful a conversation than the basic - hi how are you, well thanks type thing. I did make liberal use of the phrase "Je ne parle pas francais"! [I don't speak French!]
We've eaten very very well - the church has hosted us in wonderful style. The food here is not at all spicy - probably quite western in many ways. Chicken, Fish, Sausages, meatballs, rice & potatoes. It'll be different in Nigeria.
Anyway - it's now nearly 11pm here in Nairobi and we have to get up at 4am to get our flight to Lagos, Nigeria tomorrow. It's going to be another big day tomorrow. If anyone thinks this is a holiday, they've got the total wrong impression. We've been going flat out - getting up at 7am, going all day, and crashing exhausted into bed at midnight.
It's a pity we couldn't spend more time in Congo. We spent a lot of time in cars being shipped from one meeting to another - so we didn't get time to wander the streets and markets and get a real feel for the people and the place. The Congolese are beautiful people - very attractive people and very warm and friendly. It would be good to come back again.
Yesterday our team visited a prison. What was meant to be a relaxing afternoon soon turned on it's head when we were requested to come to the President's offices. I couldn't quite translate the titles properly, but the lady who is the Minister for Arts & Social Issues requested a meeting with us. She'd seen in the media about us being in Kinshasa and wanted to "receive us". We then met with the Director of the Presidential Cabinet, who reports directly to the county's 2nd in charge. Again we prayed for these people that they would be able to use their power & influence in a Godly way to rebuild this country.
The only thing was that in both the Prison, and the Presidential grounds [what two incredible extremes!], we weren't allowed to take cameras, so we have no footage of any of these events. :o(
Our baggage arrived after we had been in Congo 2 days! It was good that we'd anticipated this and packed a fair bit into hand luggage. Even then, I was very glad to get a fresh shirt to wear! Most of all I was glad to get my guitar!
Congo is a country that needs rebuilding. It has many hangovers from it's days when it was ruled by Belgium, and has a lot of beautiful houses & properties that have now become very run down. The roads in Kinshasa are in very poor condition, and that combined with the aggressive driving techniques of the locals makes driving a unique experience! I think I'd fit in well driving here! Actually, it's been amazing - I've been travelling in the back seat of a minivan on bumpy winding roads and haven't felt the slightest bit travel-sick [very unusual for me]! We were driven around by a guy named Alain ... he was absolutely unbelievable how he go through the traffic without a single bump or scrape. You'll have to see some of the video to understand. The traffic is similar to many other nations where the road rules are more suggestions than laws!
There is much to do - the Director of Cabinet said that Congo is very young in Democracy and needs a lot of help to establish structures and programs to re-establish this country. There is much to do! It's actually a country blessed with wonderfully rich natural resources. Only strong and wise leadership will harness these resources and use them to build a great nation.
They speak French in Congo, which has been an interesting factor in our visit. I've picked up a little bit of French - but not enough to have any more meaningful a conversation than the basic - hi how are you, well thanks type thing. I did make liberal use of the phrase "Je ne parle pas francais"! [I don't speak French!]
We've eaten very very well - the church has hosted us in wonderful style. The food here is not at all spicy - probably quite western in many ways. Chicken, Fish, Sausages, meatballs, rice & potatoes. It'll be different in Nigeria.
Anyway - it's now nearly 11pm here in Nairobi and we have to get up at 4am to get our flight to Lagos, Nigeria tomorrow. It's going to be another big day tomorrow. If anyone thinks this is a holiday, they've got the total wrong impression. We've been going flat out - getting up at 7am, going all day, and crashing exhausted into bed at midnight.
It's a pity we couldn't spend more time in Congo. We spent a lot of time in cars being shipped from one meeting to another - so we didn't get time to wander the streets and markets and get a real feel for the people and the place. The Congolese are beautiful people - very attractive people and very warm and friendly. It would be good to come back again.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The First Post
Bork
This is the first post for this blog... I'll be putting some exciting stuff here so feel free to subscribe and keep up with what i'm doing!
Daryn
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