Our six months of US/PR assignment is drawing to a close. On Jan 13, we return to Congo for another term of service. We’ll hug Christopher, our college freshman, goodbye and leave him on this side of the Atlantic. Jonathan will go back with us to finish his junior year at The American School of Kinshasa (TASOK). Because of God’s goodness, we have much for which to feel thankful, and a litany of experiences marking God’s faithfulness to our family.
2008 has been a landmark year. In August, Christopher began his freshman year at Florida Institute of Technology, of Melbourne, FL, where he is dabbling in aerospace engineering. Jonathan returned to Congo to attend to his 11th grade year at TASOK. Wayne and Katherine spent these six months of US/PR assignment visiting family, friends, supporting churches, and on rare breaks back at our “base” in Florida, we puzzled why the house was so quiet! Empty nest is for the birds … but both of us being missionary kids, separated from family from early teen years, we feel blessed not to have faced family separation until now.
This holiday season we are counting our blessings - realizing they are too many to count! Most, we are thankful for God’s faithfulness. Jonathan is back from Congo, full of stories of the exploits of the semester. With a couple “solo” transatlantic flights under his belt, he talks like a seasoned world traveler! He stayed with another missionary family who took super good care of him. Two younger “sisters” and a big “brother” filled with love and nonsense the hole in his heart left by Christopher’s transition to college. When Wayne made a brief trip to Congo in September, Jonathan opted to remain with his adopted family rather than staying in our Kinshasa home with Wayne. When Wayne suggested they spend time together on the weekend, Jonathan worked out how to fit that in between soccer and swimming practice! Fortunately Jonathan’s adopted family invited Wayne for supper several times.
Christopher tailored his college entry to fit his style -- “sweet”. Not buying the lifestyle of spending valuable free time with endless computer games, and too energetic to bury himself in studies, he joined the 'college players,' landing a role in the fall drama production. That led to competing for homecoming king, which he won. A tough start in calculus inspired him dig into his studies and he ended the semester solidly with his sights to the future. Still, what does it profit a man to gain an engineering degree if he doesn’t 'have a life?' So, the plan for next semester is to persevere towards his goal of playing college soccer, leaving the edges of life for engineering classes.
As we look towards our return to Congo, the primary project to which Wayne has been providing financial oversight ends in October. IMA World Health, the group with whom Wayne works, has other projects in the pipeline but given the change of government in the US and the global economic conditions, it’s hard to predict if these will be funded. If they are, we will continue living and working in Kinshasa for the foreseeable future. Otherwise we can move “up country” where, arguably, the needs are greater. We remain open to the Lord’s leading.
Katherine will rejoin the team of physicians and others doing community health work amongst the urban poor. In the months of Katherine’s absence from Congo, this group has been building teams in other slum areas of Kinshasa, identifying leaders, problems, and potential solutions. Because of some networking and synergy with the Presbyterian church in Kinshasa, this spring the group hopes to establish this grassroots approach in two other cities: Mbuji Mayi and Kananga.
Because of God’s faithfulness, and yours, through prayer and financial support to American Baptist International Ministries, we are looking forward to our return to Congo. Pray our family through this transition. Pray for the people we serve in Congo, where poverty and hopelessness often feel like unshakable companions.