Bridget's Bunia Blog 45

There's rarely a week goes by without there being a wedding in town. Bunia weddings are a riot of colour, noise and activity.

The bride wears white, of course. White dress, white shoes, white handbag, a bouquet of white silk flowers, tiara, headdress and veil. The groom wears a dark suit. The family of the bride select a particular piece of material and all the members have an outfit sewn in that cloth. The groom’s family do likewise. As do the friends of the bride, the friends of the groom, the catering crew, the members of the choirs. It’s easy to identify the players in the game.

Bounding up and down the aisle like kangaroos is a troupe of little girls in (almost) white socked feet, white dresses and white Easter bonnets. They bound forward looking floorward in complex choreographed harmony to take handfuls of shredded paper from the baskets halfway up the aisle, and then bound back to shower the bride and groom with the paper. The attendants of the bride and groom wipe the paper from their bodies and the sweat from their brows. They are clean until the next fistful of shredded paper arrives. This is fatiguing to watch, and so must be incredibly exhausting to perform since it takes a good 40 minutes for the couple to slow-step to the front of the church. Meanwhile, another group of uniformed dancers is beginning a performance half way up the church. These are teenage girls with a more sophisticated taste in denim skirts, flimsy blouses, wigs and beauty spots or Fila hats and sunglasses.

The bride is given away by her uncle who reads out her biography, as too, does a representative of the groom’s family. These days the biographies are long, since they include primary, secondary and higher education and the current, salaried positions that both groom and bride enjoy. For Christian families, the biographies include their dates of conversion and baptism, and details of service in the church.

The essential wedding service is pretty much the same as that in an English wedding with charges and vows. However, it always takes me by surprise when the congregation shouts and claps and ululates after the vows have been exchanged. I felt sorry for the bride who was told that her ring was purchased at the local market. No Cartier 20-carat gold for her! But the point the officiant was making was that anyone could buy one like it; it was merely a symbol, not a magic accoutrement.

Several choirs bless the couple with specifically-composed songs mentioning their names and giving advice on how to live together in peace. During one of these numbers, guests are invited to present their gifts to the couple. All manner of useful household items are sashayed up the aisle and deposited in the big enamel bowl. If you purchase a wedding gift in the stores in town you can even get it gift-wrapped.

After a good two hours it’s time to leave. The dancing girls accompany the couple to the waiting car festooned with streamers of toilet paper. Hooting cars and motor bikes - carrying as many as possible - leave to drive round town and wave at the inhabitants. After the circuit, the main players go home to change and reappear an hour later for the reception and another two hours of exuberant celebration - this time with food.

Let us rejoice and be glad; let us praise his greatness! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself for it. She has been given clean shining linen to wear." (The linen is the good deeds of God's people.)
Then the angel said to me, "Write this: Happy are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." Rev 19:7-9

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 46

No doubt the generous helping of sugar in the tea added to the animation, along with a lunch break where lunch was served, but the ISP students were genuinely excited about a two-day spiritual retreat. The singing was loud and fervent, the participation hearty, and the rapport with the speaker warm.

Robert came from Uganda for the two days to address the issues of life skills. A young, married, English-speaking African man was a good match for the ISP student body and they easily identified with him. He was well-experienced in speaking to youth, having worked with Scripture Union in Uganda before starting Life Skills Solution International. He spoke on the subjects of self-esteem, decision-making, sex and relationships, and a purpose-driven life – all of which were heartily endorsed by the students.

But one hopes that the enthusiasm for spiritual matters will prevail when a sugar-less Monday arrives and the sixth lunch-less day ensues. In fact, they’re better at dealing with these vicissitudes than I. Their prayers of thanksgiving at morning devotions bless me and challenge me in my attitude. They are tireless in their requests for help with health issues, finding money for fees, praying for grieving families and people on journeys. And they rejoice generously with classmates who praise God for providing their school fees.

Their favourite songs from the American hymn book are ‘No, never alone’, ‘’There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus’ and ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. Umirambe loves ‘Trust and obey’; and I see in this Catholic a greater spirituality than in many of the ‘true sons of CECA-20’. Baraka, the son of a CECA-20 pastor, knows that the reputation of ‘pastor’s kids’ is bad and has determined to be different. Madit-Rwoth loves his name because it reminds him of the fact that his parents prayed for him when as a child he almost died and God spared him. Some of the students are pretty poor at writing the correct answers to the doctrine questions but their lives show that true belief is influencing their behaviour.

How does growth occur? Jesus said we don’t know how it happens. The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the head, and finally the head full of grain. (Mk 4:26-28) So each one of us must do the work that the Lord has given to him – planting or watering – and wait for God to make the plant grow. (I Cor 3: 5-7) It happens. I saw such spiritual growth in others at a different time in another place.

I watched the magnolia tree
respond to the warmth and light of spring.
That which appeared dead put forth buds.
Out from the dull green sheaths emerged
tightly furled pink-tinged petals
In due time those flowers will
unfurl,
	expand
		blossom -
revealing all the beauty of the inner cup.

And so it is with you.

Exposed to the warmth of friendship
and the light of God's truth,
your faith has been nurtured.
Your inner spirit exposed -
gently,
	cautiously,
		imperceptibly.
One day we'll witness the revelation of the full bloom.

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 44

From my desk at the window of the library I could hear someone singing "She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother". How gratifying. The lyrics and melody had been absorbed and reproduced. Success. It was the latest song in the Tuesday morning folk singing repertoire.

Every Tuesday morning the resident native speaker-singer tootles on her recorder to teach folk songs to the student teachers in the hope that they in their turn will teach them to their secondary school pupils.

Much has been written in EFL literature about the value of using songs to teach English as a foreign language. Some teachers still think it's a waste of time, too difficult or inappropriate - particularly in a western classroom. But it finds a natural setting in a Congolese classroom where everyone sings unashamedly and many compose songs weekly.

So the Congolese were learning about Billy Boy seeking a wife in the pioneer days of the USA. Appropriate? I had originally used it to accompany a text on marriage when teaching the 6th year class at Institut Luru at Rethy. We had extended it to express the cultural values when wife-spotting in Congo, arriving at two verses that have survived the loss of my pre-war teaching materials:

Can she receive guests?
Yes, she can receive guests. It's the thing she does the best.

Can she dig a field?
Yes, she can dig a field and she always gets good yields.

OK, it's rather sexist to teach such a song but with a 90% male student body we survive the political incorrectness.

The 'Pioneer Unit' includes 'When I First Came to this Land' - great for rhymes and idioms; 'She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain' - for concord of tenses to express future action; 'Home on the Range' to accompany a 4th year text 'The Elephant Hunt' (Now, that's political incorrectness!).

Ideas for additions to the repertoire come from various sources. A mobile phone rings in class. Annoying. But the ring tone is one that can be exploited: 'Oh, my darling, Clementine'. A Bible Interpretation class studying the vision of Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones brings 'Dem bones, dem bones,' tapping to my toes. Great for body parts vocabulary along with 'Head and Shoulders' and 'If you're Happy and You Know It'.

The canon 'I Hear Thunder' accompanies Lesson 14 'A Storm in the Country'. The spirituals 'Standing in the Need of Prayer' and 'He's Got the Whole World in his Hands' are useful for the names of family members. Wanting to teach the names of animals? 'Old MacDonald had a Farm' and 'I Know an Old Lady' are good fun.

So I introduce songs as vehicles for teaching vocabulary, phonetics, grammar, rhymes, idioms, natural language, subject matter that relates to the lesson content, and culture of English-speaking societies. It doesn't necessarily hasten to school my 5-voice quorum, but even if we start late, the students enjoy the musical hall experience. It does stretch my theology a little when the students thank the Lord for the nice experience of learning folk songs and the opportunity to praise him!

But by far the best experience was teaching a spiritual to close a 3-hour Bible class on the Pentateuch on a Friday afternoon. 'Go Down, Moses' became a slow, plaintive, black male-voice choir in 4-part harmony. It could have been the genuine article. The tune still haunts us.

"Are any among you in trouble? They should pray. Are any among you happy? They should sing praises." James 5:13

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 43

What is teaching?

The students seem to think it's a stage play and they are the actors. They come to the classroom stage with their carefully prepared script of a lesson plan: 'Teacher asks pupil such and such...' 'Pupil answers such and such...' But the pupils don't have a copy of the script! The students expect to execute a clear, non-interrupted presentation from the time of the curtain-rising bell to the time of the curtain-falling bell, and even if they don't receive applause at the end of their performance, they don't expect catcalls to follow their exit from the classroom. Gradually, these students are being disabused of this notion. They are learning that a teacher cannot stay distanced from the audience, and that the audience has a mind of its own.

No, teaching is more like going on a journey through a forest. You have to be at a destination by a certain time but apart from that certainty nothing is definite. You're taking some teenagers on a journey. Teenagers who are reluctant, bored, listless or - joy of joys - enthusiastic and focused. Sometimes they take you on trails where you get lost and it's time-consuming to find your way back to the main path. Sometimes they want to stop and examine the flora and fauna. Sometimes they find notices nailed to trees that they don't understand. As the journey leader, you have to keep moving them along the path to the destination while making sense of their questions and comments. But sometimes it's they who teach you things; they surprise you with their perception and knowledge; it's they who get you back from digressions.

Every Thursday morning I wake up with the lightness of knowing that I don't have to teach morning classes. All I have to do is observe four students teaching an English lesson. But at the end of every Thursday I'm wrung out from the emotional energy expended as I wince at wrong pronunciation, or cringe at strange understandings of English grammar, or agonise over an inadequately constructed lesson. It’s a stressful, painful experience observing a non-native speaker teach your mother tongue. It's an ordeal for us all but it’s the only way that the student teachers will be able to translate the theory into practice.

Three down and one to go. We have a break of an hour before the final lesson (performance? journey?) of the morning. The staff room of this school is very small and we are eight students and one supervisor. My house is a three-minute walk away. So we repair to the house for refreshments and feedback: How do you feel your lesson went? What have you learned? What did the pupils learn? What comments have the other students to make? The students are critical of the transgressions and omissions of their fellow students, but they're also kind in their encouragement of the other members of their teaching team.

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4: 2

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 42

In their OshKosh B'Gosh denim dungarees, little girls look so cute. But it's Osh Kosh My Gosh on seeing bigger girls in tight-fitting denim jeans. The times and fashions they are a-changing here in Congo. President Mobutu's democratisation decree in the early 1990s permitted women to wear trousers. Some did so. Living in a border town with trade routes to Kampala, Nairobi and Dubai, and Bunia being a base for MONUC personnel, the Bunia women are very au fait with world fashions. Here, many women wear trousers. Some trousers are overtly worn, others are included as part of a sari trouser-and-chemise outfit, many of which are creatively designed and sewn by local seamstresses.

The young women have no problem with wearing trousers. But the men are undecided. 'Our culture is being changed!' 'It's the influence of the West!' 'All women who wear trousers are prostitutes!' Such a hot subject and so perfect for study in many courses at ISP.

The 3rd year students discussed the issue of dress in their Christianity and Culture class. What should a Christian wear? What does the Bible say and NOT say? How should you decide what to wear in such a time of change and possibility?

The 2nd year students were challenged to exegete Deuteronomy 22:5 "...a woman must not wear men's clothing," in the Bible Interpretation class. Does this verse say that female Christian students can't wear trousers?

And since everyone has such opinions on the subject, the chapter on clothing in the book 'Talking about Values' is a great vehicle for using the language of opinion: 'I think...' 'Personally, I believe....' 'Not everyone will agree with me, but....' in the conversation class.

However, I have observed many women keeping the letter of the law but certainly not the spirit. They may be dressed in locally-sewn clothes made from locally-purchased cloth, but the quantity of the cloth does not correspond with the width of the derrière. So, all you protesting male students, it's clearly not the type of garment which is involved but the intent of the female dressed in it.

As you take time to dress your body to make it attractive, Think about what to put on to dress your spirit.

Be clothed in:
A gentle spirit,
compassion, kindness, humility, patience, love,
spiritual armour of truth, righteous, peace, faith,
a new self in Christ Jesus.

These are the fashions that never change,
the colours and styles that suit everyone,
the beauty that never fades.

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 41

"Hey, Jesus, come and look at this!" said the angles as they peered over the edge of heaven to see what was happening below. "Isn't that just great? Those young people are having a ball."
Jesus leaned over to get a good look at the group of young teens singing their number at the Easter service at Yambi-Yaya Church.
"That's a far better way of memorising Scripture than when we were small Jewish boys rocking ourselves to get everything in our heads. The Africans have really got a sense of rhythm. I don't think we Jewish boys could have done it in that way," said Jesus with a smile.
"Look, even that little tyke over there is having a go. He hasn't quite got the steps right, but it's impressive for one so young," laughed Angel Bright.
"I suppose they watch a lot of those music videos with the dance routines these days. The music is so loud! Isn't it a bit questionable as to incorporating those movements and gyrations into sacred music?" asked Angel Snivel.
"But it works. Listen. The words are those which Matthew and Luke wrote. We can't dispute them. And the actions are so appropriate. They're showing the cross and the open tomb...." Bright rebutted.
"That part is really effective when they sing 'The women came and were amazed' and then pause," enthused Angel Vision. "I'd give it 10 out of 10. Dix points."
"The humans seem to like it," Angel Bright remarked. "They're really applauding and hooting. A real hit."
"Well done, guys," said Jesus. "Just don't forget to Walk the Walk as well as Talk the Talk."

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 40

Friends of the Kitchen

Ostensibly, I’m cooking supper. But in reality, I’m extracting little black creatures from the food. While weevils conveniently disappear in a pot of beans, they retain a high profile in a dish of white pasta served to guests.

'A weevil', I am told by Grolier’s encyclopaedia (the MCMXCI edition I presume to still be a valid source of information) 'is a specialized beetle with an elongated head and a protruding, often curved snout that bears the mouthparts and antennae. Most weevils are less than 7mm long. More than 40,000 species of weevils constitute the family Curculionidae of the beetle order Coleoptera. Almost 2,000 species of long, slender, primitive weevils, found mostly in the tropics, make up the family Bretidae.'

I think our kitchen must be host to Calendra granaria and Calendra oryzae because those are the granary and rice specialists. But how do they come to be in the hermetically sealed pasta pack or the jar of beans or the sack of flour? Maybe it’s because 'the legless, often blind larvae frequently burrow into seeds, buds, fruits or underground roots' and stay there. The encyclopaedia entry, alas, doesn’t list the protein and vitamin content of the creatures. But given the fact that they have ingested the wheat (and the container plastic) and they disappear from view in a generous shake of black pepper, it’s probably OK to leave the weevils in the dish of pasta. Sorry, guests.

However, I’m not so well disposed to live and let live when it comes to cockroaches in spite of reading that 'roaches are actually very clean insects, even though they eat garbage. They are called the custodians of nature. They only live in houses where there are crumbs to eat or the garbage can is uncovered. They lay eggs inside the house's hollow walls.'

I wonder who had the wit and wisdom, time and patience, to discover the following information about this strange creature: 'The roach is also one of the hardiest insects on the planet, capable of living for a month without food and remaining alive headless for up to a week. It can also hold its breath for 45 minutes and has the ability to slow down its heart rate. Cockroaches also have a very high resistance to radiation. The cockroach has super regeneration powers that allow it to regrow lost limbs. They also will never die if they get proper amounts of food and plenty of sunlight and water. This is the only species on planet Earth that is known to have these powers.' !!! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockroach)

So now we know. Crunch! No regenerated limbs allowed here!

What I do find enchanting are the geckos. Whether a few centimetres of translucence straight from the hatcheries or the bolder, knobbly ones, they are friendly little fellows who pop up when you open a drawer or scuttle away when you put on a light, scurrying up, down or across the wall. Watchers from another world hurrying away to share their observations with a vast colony of creatures in some invisible location.

Blessings,
Bridget

[I’m at a loss to find a verse of Scripture to fit this commentary on life here!]

Bridget's Bunia Blog 39

There was Jesus saving a wedding celebration from falling flat - in full accord with the Jewish belief that God enabled them to grow crops and produce wine to make them happy (Psalm 104:14-15) - and a Congolese colleague can only comment, "Jesus made it very difficult for us when his first miracle was to change water to wine." So what is one to think about this issue of Jesus, his disciples and alcohol? But given the proof of the local home-brewed alcohol here, it's probably wise to steer clear of the
principle of 'moderation in all things' and push for teetotalism. Sadoki ought to know......

"Where did you get all those things - meat, fish, clothes and everything? Did you steal them? Have they given you a pay rise?" Sadoki's wife had never seen so much brought home at the end of a month. This was the first time ever that Sadoki had completed a month of work without spending all his salary on booze. No wonder his wife was so incredulous. This fact spoke volumes as to the changes that had taken place in the life of her husband.

Tears came to Sadoki's eyes as he recalled his past life and thought of wasted time, wasted opportunity, wasted money. But a smile lit up his face as he explained his 'siku ya uhuru' - his day of liberation - and how God had touched his life.

Raised by an alcoholic father and drinking mother, Sadoki really hadn't had much of a chance and he was drinking by the age of 12. A hardened drinker by the age of 23, he was able to down 12 bottles of commercially-produced beer or the whole pot of kaikbo - the vicious local concoction distilled from manioc and maize.

Cigarettes and drugs were added to the destructive habits. His friends were fellow boozers. His wife was his 'rafiki ya pombe' - a drinking friend - although not to the same extent. Drinking - during drunken moments that is - was fun. But little by little there was a nagging question: What will I do to leave drink?

Then in 1993, Sadoki was attracted by the music coming from the football stadium. Some people from South Africa were preaching about a 'Jesus Alive'; that there was life and peace in him. Curious, Sadoki went along to listen. What was this life that they were talking about? What did it all mean? The second, third and fourth evenings found Sadoki at the meetings. And when people 'with needs' were invited to be prayed for, Sadoki was right there; he knew keenly his need of help in his life. To his amazement, all desire to drink left him when he was prayed for.

Friends came to tempt him "Come, share a glass with us." "No, I've left off drinking. I'm going to follow Jesus." His wife was watching him. Was this a genuine change? Would it last? She'd had to bear the shame of going to her parents for handouts when her husband had drunk the money. But she wasn't disappointed in what had happened to him. This was Sadoki's 'Siku ya Uhuru' - his Day of Freedom.

So it’s hard for Sadoki to understand why his testimony has no effect on a drinking colleague. Why won’t he heed Sadoki’s warning or follow his example?

While we rejoice that Sadoki, wife and family walk happily into the sunset blessed with liberation from alcohol, unhappily that’s not the total picture. For many people, including Christians, alcohol is a real curse. It turns educated, useful people into unreliable members of a community who can’t be depended upon to arrive for work, handle public money responsibly or be able to care for their families. How does this happen? For some Christians, it begins with entry into the world of politics and the need to socialise. Others find the comfort of the bottle when a wife is sick or dies. How do people find a thirst to be free from the grip of alcohol? That I don't know. I feel as bewildered as the disciples: "Who, then, can be saved?" they asked. Jesus looked straight at them and answered, "This is impossible for human beings, but for God everything is possible." Mat 19:25-26

Blessings,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 35

Happy New Year!

'Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.' Proverbs 17:22

"Yes, Gosapa, you have a question?" I was bringing to a close an English lesson dealing with prepositions of position and I wanted to give the students opportunity for clarification. "Could you explain about 'by the door'? I heard it on the radio and I didn't understand it." "Let's look at that tomorrow since there are several prepositional phrases that involve the door."

So the next day we duly explained - complete with sketches and example sentences on the blackboard - the difference between 'by the door' meaning 'near the door', 'at the door' which has the connotation of someone wanting access or egress and 'on the door', and for good measure we added the adverbs 'outdoors' and 'indoors' and the adjectives 'outdoor' and 'indoor'.

"Gosapa, does this make it clear for you?"
"Not really."
"OK. (Sigh) Well, tell me about the radio program where you heard the expression 'by the door' mentioned. Was it a news program? Was it a reporter? Was he talking from another country?"

Light was beginning to dawn.
"Do you think they were reporting from Somalia? Are you sure the phrase wasn't in fact the name of the town 'Baidoa'?


As I picked up the returned library book, the pages fell open to reveal a razor blade. Evidently it had been used as a book marker or placed there for safe keeping. I didn't interpret it as having any malevolent message. But I did find it ironic (or appropriate) that the title of the book was 'Kill Me Quick' by Meja Mwangi! It led to an interesting exercise in creative thinking. What would be left in 'Arrow of God' by Chinua Achebe? Or 'White Teeth' by Okot p'Bitek? A return ticket from London to Paris would be a very acceptable find in 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Any suggestions for 'Great Expectations'?


Doesn't this misspelling conjure up a wonderful picture?
'My mother gave berth to seven children.'

For those of you familiar with the premise of 'Poisonwood Bible'* by Barbara Kingsolver, the Congolese mispronunciation 'Holly Lord' balances out the error.

With all good wishes for a jocund 2007,
Bridget

*(The white missionary refuses to take seriously the tonal aspect of a Congolese language and so calls the Bible, not holy, but by the name of a bush that gives off a poison that makes the skin itch.)

Bridget's Bunia Blog 34

Ten Years On



- 1996 -

Then it was Christmas in exile;

A refugee in Kenya

Along with the many evacuated from Zaire.

Borrowed lodgings, clothes and toiletries.

Unknown present; unknown future.

Fighting 'back home';

Danger, fear and loss.



- 2006 -

Now it is Christmas 'at home';

A resident of Bunia, Congo.

A new country, a new president, a new democracy.

Plenty in the stores to buy.

Known present but future still unknown

Christmas celebration in peace.

Much hope for prosperity.





We do not know what will happen tomorrow.

What is our life? We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

We ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.

James 4:14-15



Message from Emmanuel:

Your heavenly Father knows what you need.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

With all good wishes for a joyful Christmas celebration,
Bridget

Bridget's Bunia Blog 33

Monday morning

I agreed to do the bookkeeping for the school; I received the title Administratrice du Budget; I inherited the unenviable task of ensuring that school fees are paid. There were some, many, too many students who were late with their payments, and salaries and overheads needed to be settled. I didn't relish the thought of going to school on Monday morning. I thought hard as to the wording of the notice so that it would be as objective and unobjectionable as possible.

Le service des finances de l'ISP/CECA-20/Bunia The records show that the following students have not paid the first instalment of their school fees and are, therefore, not eligible to attend class.

There were only 10 out of the 21 students in my first year class that morning as the others scurried around to 'find' money. It never ceases to amaze me how tardy and reluctant students are to pay their fees, how they intimate that it is the authorities' fault that they have to pay!

Rom 13:8 "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another"

Monday evening

A roar went up as for the winning goal by the home team. Was there a football match at this time of evening? A sudden burst of noise sounded all around the block like the gathering swell of an approaching swarm of bees. For a minute I experienced a frisson of fear. Is this what it would be like were there to be an uprising against outsiders and everyone was gathering with machete and hoe? I went outside on the veranda to see what was happening and in the moonlight I noticed a chair left by the young people of the family downstairs. I found them gathered around the TV. The high court had just announced that Bemba's charge of election fraud had been dismissed and Joseph Kabila had been declared president of Congo. Ah, this was the reason for the noise! Bunia is very much Kabila territory and there was an incredible response of joy and delight. "Do the British get excited like this when they have elections?" Kangano asked. "Not really," I laughed. "But it is our first time of voting." It was indeed something to celebrate with as much noise as possible. There was a spontaneous outburst of cheering, blowing of whistles, banging of drums and beating of metal. A church bell began to ring. Cars hooted. Groups of young people marched around the streets singing till long after the usual curfew hour.

People here are very happy with the result. But one wants to warn them - don't anticipate too much; temper your expectations. It's been a hard row to hoe in South Africa and Kenya and the recent events of these neighbouring countries should be salutary. What's going to ensue - peace? prosperity? progress? May it be a time of living openly without fear. "When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding." Prov 28:12

Blessings,
Bridget Howard

So we're into taking mud baths to improve our complexions?

Or we're boasting of the number of containers that we possess?

Maybe we're composing a still life called 'Portrait of Plastic'?

Why not try making money by turning water into oil like the prophet's widow who filled all possible vessels?

No.

It's one o'clock in the morning and the water barrels in the attic have sprung a leak. We're trying to drain the water and prevent the ceiling collapsing while at the same time try and conserve precious liquid. Only now do we appreciate the state of the water. No wonder whites never wash out white even with biologically active Omo!



Showers of blessings,

Bridget Howard

Bridget's Bunia Blog 31

Helping Toloidi

Assa is a small community in the northeast corner of Congo not far from the Central African Republic border. There, there is a CECA-20 centre with primary and secondary schools. Communication between Assa and Bunia, 1000 km to the south, both in terms of telecommunication and transport – is very difficult and irregular. However, the link
between Assa and Zemio, 125 km across the border in CAR, is less tenuous. There’s a 2-way radio link and people quite frequently travel back and forth by bicycle.

Toloidi is the headmaster of the secondary school. He has been there for a short time after training in Bunia. He wanted some school supplies. So he sent a message by radio to Wendy in Zemio. Could she buy some basic school supplies when she next went to Uganda? He sent the available $150 by runner. Wendy emailed me by satellite phone system when she heard I’d be in Kampala. Would I check out the items on Toloidi’s shopping list? So she sent an email message to AIM International Services in Nairobi asking for the accountant to take $150 from her account and to give it to a Congo missionary who was then in Nairobi and who could carry the money back to me in Bunia. The connection didn’t work out but the AIM AIR pilot from Uganda happened to be in Nairobi so he carried the money back to Uganda and then sent the envelope by Mission Aviation Fellowship to me in Bunia. I took the envelope and shopping list with me to Kampala.

So a couple of days were spent checking out availability of items and best prices. How many Uganda shillings was the bureau de change giving for $150? At that rate how many exercise books and boxes of chalk could I get? Where would French dictionaries be available? Volley ball? Basket ball? Globe? The Asian storekeepers are always happy to bargain. The price was much better than in the bookstore.

“32 page cahiers? 96 page cahiers? 200 page cahiers?”
“Yes, but only lined not squared. I’ll give you a good price.”
“OK I can’t spend any more time checking out prices. I’ll take these.”

I was happy to cross something off the list and feel that I was making progress in the task.

“Shall I put them in a box for you?”

Then it dawned on me! 6 dozen exercise books and 5 boxes of chalk weigh quite a few kilos! Hum, there’s a problem. I can’t get a taxi back because I don’t know the address of the place where my friends live. I only know where to get off the bus and walk from there. This was very short sighted of me. Agreeing to do some one else’s shopping is sometimes complicated when there’s no car and no opportunity to pay with plastic. It's certainly not sweat-free.

The purchases were given to Wendy when she arrived fresh from USA and taken back to Zemio. They were strapped on the carrier of a bicycle and peddled the 125 km to Assa. In due time they would reach Toloidi.

20 October
Dear Bridget,
Just to let you know that Toloidi sent a note of thanks to you and me for getting all the equipment for Institut Assa. He was very grateful and wanted me to pass that on to you. Wendy

Blessings,
Bridget Howard

Bridget's Bunia Blog 30

An unsent-letter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ ~

I am very interested to learn more about a cultural phenomenon that I have observed in Bunia during the past year.

I would like very much to know why many of the Revivalist congregations choose to meet at night. More so, I would like to know why the services have to have maximum amplification. If I understand it correctly, only a few members of the congregations gather for such meetings, therefore it doesn't seem necessary to amplify the preaching and the praying and the singing. And if the raison d'être of the amplification is to reach out to the non-Christians and the pagans of the town, surely it would be more appropriate to do so during daytime? I know that, I for one, would be more disposed to listen when I was compos mentis. I thought that God ordained the night hours for sleep so that, rested and refreshed, we could arise and live and work to his praise and glory during the day.

Even the political campaigns don't begin until daybreak when people are awake and functioning. And the Muslim call to prayer – though at 5 am - is short and sweet and not menacing.

I fail to understand how you can justify thus harassing the population: children and students who need a good night's rest in order to study well at school, exhausted mothers, and weary sick people who also need undisturbed nights.

I think the writer of Proverbs 27:14 - "You might as well curse your friends as wake them up early in the morning with a loud greeting" - expresses my point well. And it seems to me that, as Christians, we have a duty to consider our testimony among the unbelievers and to be kind to them.

However, I do see the value of assembling the Christians during the night hours of late when heavy rains are causing people to stay indoors during the daytime hours. Wise move!

Bridget's Bunia Blog 29

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question. "Teacher," he asked, "which is the GREATEST commandment in the Law?"
Jesus answered, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments." (Mat 22:34-38)

But Jesus, I only wanted one commandment. Why have you confused the issue!

When the students were taught by a British teacher using an American text book, they were confused. There are so many differences between the meaning of the same words, the spelling of the same words and the pronunciation of the same words.

One of them asked, "Teacher, what is the best way of speaking - American or British English?" The teacher answered, "Better, Lwanzo, better. You're comparing two things. Neither is better. The key thing is communication. You must communicate so that people can understand you and so that you can understand them. But more important again is not the accent of your words but the words themselves. 'Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.' " (Eph 4:29)

Blessings,
Bridget Howard

Bridget's Bunia Blog 28

And after the vacation it’s back to work!
It’s been a return to the final research papers of the three students whom I am supervising. We’ve spent many hours on the exhausting correction of ‘jots and tittles’ so that the style conforms to that of the American APA format: commas, full-stops, colons, brackets, underlining, indenting, referencing. Is it worth it?
I’m sure the painters of the Pointillist School asked themselves the same question when faced with a half-finished canvas that needed thousands of coloured dots to complete the image. Seurat’s huge canvas of the Bathers – it fills one whole wall at the National Gallery in London - must have driven him crazy!!
Now that everyone is into digital photography, the importance of points and pixels is well-understood.

Just as a photo is made up of tiny dots that create the overall image,

so my day of 24 hours is made up of 86400 tiny dots of seconds.

And it's how I spend those seconds

- how I act and react -

which creates the overall picture of the day.

So I can choose to paint a day of coloured images...

kindness friendliness concern purity

politeness godliness

prayerfulness

Or a day of BLACK and GREY images...

SIN & SELFISHNESS

Blessings,
Bridget Howard