"Oh What A Night!!",..in Congo, Africa,......

     August 30, Thursday, at Station Katanti, Congo:

Black goat,...read story below!!,...

     To paraphrase an old song,.."Oh What A Night!,.."    As I listened to the hours & hours of rain, I felt the ground turning into a big, fat, mudpit!!   As I often say,.."Let the games begin,..."

     This morning was a big surprise,..as 20-25 men came to give me a Special Gift!   With much fanfare, they pulled/pushed a black goat on a rope behind them.  Someone made the following BIG presentation:  "Rogers/Banuamazi, We know that our lives here are very hard.  You now see the struggle we have to live,...Even tho' we don't have much, we got together & want to give you a very small token of our appreciation for your coming to visit with us.  So,..we are presenting you with this black goat!"   I thanked them profusely,-especially since this represents several days' meals for them,-.all the while wondering what on earth I'd do with a live goat!!???? (Sure can't put it in the overhead bin on KLM Airways!!).  My fears were instantly allayed, when the spokesman said, "We are so happy you've come back after 52+ years.  We know your travel was HARD,..on poor airplanes, piki-piki, taxis, & you even walked here!  So, with your permission, we want to slaughter the goat & have a banquet/feast for lunch with all the Seminar delegates!"  With some relief, and trepidation I immediately AGREED;-relief that my 'goat problem' was solved, & trepidation in that the last goat I ate over here did NOT sit well with my stomach!!  However, this was a touching tribute from people who have next to NOTHING. 

Goat Appreciation Feast/Banquet @ my House

       4 of the Pastor/delegates came to talk to me after the meal.  Basically, they were asking me to stay with them for 2-3 months, so they could refresh my Kilega,..-their native language!  Wow!  I had to tell them I had passage booked back to the USA,..& we'd have to see what God(Mungu) had in mind for them.  BTW, we had mountains of GOAT, bugali(manioc mush), rice, sombe(greens), & baked bananas.  I carefully selected one small portion of something I knew was goat MEAT,.--NOT the entrails, which the Africans like the BEST!!  Ugh. 

     SaSimon, formerly my Dad's right hand man, made his own passionate 'appeal',..:
"Now, to all 3 of you, we are so happy that you came through all your troubles to visit us & present a Bible Seminar, & eat a Banquet with us!  Now that you've 'blazed a trail' into the jungle, we want all the other missionary's kids to come see us as well!  In fact, you come again, & bring them with you!"  To me he said, "we are saddened to hear of the loss of your wife, Carol, & your daughter, Nicole; but that Rogers coming out to the jungle proves it CAN be done!"  Basically, this was an appeal to me, Tom, & Kathy to get our kids to sign up to be full-time missionaries in Congo. The Africans now see us as 'trailblazers',...similar to the original missionaries way back in 1938!!  Tom did his best to explain the logistics, changes & issues,..and SaSimon poured on more 'heat', saying:  "your parents started this work here in 1938, and built this work here.  You can see it is still going on, to this day. We beg you not to forget us,..and to bring us new missionaries to live amongst us!"   Tom gave them a kind response,..which they 'sorta' accepted.  In part, this is what Tom had to say:,..we are trying to set up a Mission Office in the States as a liaison to you here in Congo.  That has not yet been accomplished,.....but may be in the works;  In addition, Tom told them that asking young couples in USA or Europe to commit to a lawless land, with no roads, no electricity, little water, scarce food, mud/stick houses, & lack of safety for them & their families,.....will be a HARD SELL to those young couples! 

     After all this 'palaver' & discussion, I gave my response: "Thank you so much for inviting me to come visit with you dear ones.  I've heard what you said,..and right now my head is SPINNING!  One thing I CAN say, however, is that I am praying for you many, many times daily,..and I will NOT forget you!  So, God bless you, each one!"  We all sang "When They Ring Those Golden Bells for You & Me",..Tom led in prayer, & the Katanti Biblical Seminar was officially concluded.

     Afterwards, we sat on the front porch exchanging snake stories into the night!  We would love to go to Shabunda tomorrow, & catch a returning cargo flight to Bukavu,....BUT,....suffice it to say once again,..
T I A,..'this is Africa',..& there are numerous 'issues' to be negotiated before we can leave!  As I said before, my getting to Bukavu to catch my flights home to USA, was getting more & more dicey,...  As they say in Congo, "Tutaona",...means 'we shall see'.....as I like to say,.."stay tuned",.........