Into the Heart of Africa

I'm not really sure what to expect of the next two weeks. I'll be meeting my friends/colleagues Daniel and Jen Davis tomorrow and driving them and their two girls to Nairobi, where we'll have some meetings and then prepare for our departure to the heart of Africa: The DRC. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (previously known as Zaire, and not to be confused with its neighboring country, the Congo) is the third largest country in Africa, and is home to another of ELI's bases.

Since much of my work involves communicating with ELI supporters what we are doing around the world, it is important for me to visit our base in Bukavu and to see and hear first-hand what God is doing in that part of the world. And of course, the Davises and I also hope that our visit to that site would be an encouragement to our staff there. It'd be hard to continue working in such a difficult part of the world when you're disconnected.

And it's certainly not the easiest place to serve. Our base is in the slums of Bukavu, in the east of the country. However, despite the fact that this is the third largest country in Africa, the only international airport is in Kinshasha, in the west of the country. Hence, we get to fly to Kigali, then drive to Bukavu.

In Kigali, my colleagues will be meeting with other Christian schools in the area to see what they're doing. And we'll visit the Genocide Museum. It would be wrong to be in Rwanda and not do that. Though I've heard from others who have visited what it is like, I don't think anyone can be fully prepared for the visit. I'll write about it when I'm back.

While we're in the D.R.C., I'll be collecting updates on the kids in our school and taking photos of our ministry there. However, I'll have to be careful when/where I take out my camera since there seems to be much animosity towards photojournalists. I'd appreciate your prayers for God's protection over us.

We'll be back in Kenya on September 6. Until that time, I will most likely not have Internet access. In fact, I'm not even taking my computer with me but will be leaving it in Nairobi during our layover.

Until then,

In His service,
Adele