I die to come gust.

Today's guest blogger is 2-G Greg:

Jambo! Hope you all are doing well... Africa is great and God is definitely blessing us with an amazing stay here. Some pretty funny things have happened here in Bunia. A few days ago, Amber tried in her usual, outgoing, caring way to thank a native, but said the word mzungu (which means "white person") instead of asante. My guess is that this was the first Swahili word that came to mind. Any of us could have made this mistake, its just that Amber is so much more faithful in communicating with the Congolese people.

For a picture of what our ministry is like at the English Bible Camp, this is a story from our small groups. Dan told his discussion group to make a sentence using the word "gust" (meaning quick, strong wind). Most of the students understood what he meant, however one student wrote, "I die to come gust." Yes. Dan was equally confused, but after much discussion he discovered that what the student meant to say was that "Death comes quickly like a gust of wind." Profound.

We are really enjoying our time that we have to walk around and meet other people. Some new friends that we have made are Enosh and his family. We enjoy the company of Benjamin (15), Beatrice (20), and Jonathan (16, who is attending the camp). We have also met a lady named Carol (a friend of Aunt Karen) and she has been very good to us, even taking Brynne, Vicki, and Bethany to choir practice last night. All our friends have been very helpful in teaching us culture and language.

Other interesting things include cold showers (which I personally like, but isn't necessarily a favorite of all...), no showers due to no water (which is a favorite of no one!), people wanting to take pictures with me, and frequent power outages. However we have come to love all of these.

Spiritually, God has taught me so much in so many ways. I have personally learned so much from our nightly devotions about Christian love. I have also learned so much from the Congolese. They are so faithful and excited about their education. They also are very hopeful to come to America and build friendships with us.

OK, well it's time to go. Continue to pray for us and we'll see you soon. Adios!

- Greg for the team

P.S. Please pray for Moses, a student from camp. He wasn't there yesterday because his brother died. Also pray for our team's ability to communicate with the students and keep God as the center thought of all that we do and say.

P.P.S. Also pray that Dan and Kelly will refrain from passing out Tums to African teachers and calling it candy; that might smooth things out. (No pun intended.)

Editorial note from Russell - not everyone had to go without showers when the running water quit... only those using the center bathroom who refused to acknowledge the effectiveness of the bucket method. Mostly Dan and Greg.