Things are a bit different this year on the food front as each evening we gather around the table of Richard and Ruth Dix, who are overseeing the rebuilding of the hospital and doing some medical training. We enjoy more-or-less American food and great fellowship.

We made more progress on all the projects today: wiring, woodshop preparation, painting, pressure washing, generator enclosure, etc. The weather has been mercifully considerably cooler than last year. This is another of many things for which we are thankful. Please pray for good health – John and Doug were hit with stomach bugs in the last few hours, but are feeling a little better now.

Greeting from the Congo

Everyone is healthy and doing great. We had a little bit of slow start due to the fact we were so tired from the trip. We are now working very hard and many things are getting done. Yesterday the generator was set in its new home and the brick walls are going up around it. Today the big job was getting water to house #2. We needed the water so we could use our gas powered pressure washer to clean the house. This was a big job since had to set a tank plumb it in. All the water has to be hand poured into the tank mounted ten feet above the house. We do have lots of help from the local MAF staff. The block enclosure is almost done around the generator. Other jobs like installing glass blocks in some rooms to allow light have been done also.

We have settled into our home in the MAF hanger with all the comforts of home. We have nice beds, flushing toilet, shower, and all the clean water we want to drink. We have had great food and no one is going hungry. The weather has been in the 80’s with only 1 heavy rain storm Monday night.

The locals are very friendly and always have a smile and a warm welcome. Working with the local staff is a real privilege as they work hard always willing to do anything to help out.

Thank you for your prayers as they are answered all the time as by our successes so far.

Serving our Lord,

Dave B, Brian, John, Keith, Doug and Dave J.

Here is an update from the Congo Missions Team:

We made it to Entebbe, Uganda, where we are now waiting for the MAF plane to take us to Congo. We had a few tense moments when most other passengers had picked up their baggage and left the terminal and we had not seen any of ours. Then all 12 of our crates came in right at the end, all in good shape.

While we were waiting on the plane in Amsterdam to leave for Entebbe, the crew discovered a mechanical problem which resulted in a long wait and finally a plane change. We arrived in Entebbe at ~2:00 AM, five hours late. We decided to just stay in the terminal rather than cross customs into Uganda and get a hotel as per the previous plan. While this actually saved a fair amount of money, we are a bit less “bright eyed and bushy tailed” than we would otherwise be.

We are enjoying one another’s company and feel very glad to be here safely with all of our baggage. We are grateful to God to for the privilege to be involved in this work and very much appreciate your prayers.

John, Doug, Keith, DaveJ, DaveB, and Brian

And another quick update from March 1, 11:00 AM Boise time:

After a short delay for rain, Lary (resident MAF pilot missionary) loaded us up and flew us to Bunia, where we quickly cleared immigration. Then another quick ten minute flight whisked us to Nyankunde. We greeted the ten national MAF staff and other community members whom we met last year. We got settled in, gave DaveB and Doug a quick tour, sorted out our tools and equipment, and got in a couple of hours of work.

Because of our problems with the Amsterdam – Entebbe flight, we are all dog tired and looking forward to a LONG night’s sleep.

This is the second year UBC has sent a team to work with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to help rebuild a mission station heavily damaged in ethnic warfare in 2002. The team members are:

• Dave Babcock (new this year)
• Brian Clark
• John Dalrymple
• Dave Jacobsson (MAF missionary pilot in Congo)
• Doug Schoenborn (new this year)
• Keith Tucker

This year, in addition to preparing more missionary housing, the team will install a generator and establish a woodworking shop. Another Boise team from Summit Church (formerly Second Baptist) will immediately follow the UBC team, together providing four full weeks of focused rebuilding progress. We hope this will be a big step in enabling MAF to re-establish their operations in Nyankunde, where they will be far more effective in their ministry than in their current situation.

For a wealth of information on MAF’s work in east Congo: http://www.maf.org/congo_edrc

We thank you for your interest and ask prayer for:

• Effectiveness in the physical work
• Team unity
• Ministry to MAF local staff and the Nyankunde community
• Safety

We encourage you all to join us as we will be having a real special day coming up this month during our Sunday School hour on November 15!

You are officially invited to join us during this special presentation from our Juarez Missions Team. It will be an all church Sunday School hour at 9:50am in the Activity Center. The 2’s, 3’s and 4’s will be having regular Sunday School in their classrooms. We will not have opening in the sanctuary so take your children in these age groups directly to their classrooms.

The mission team will be sharing about their experiences as they worked together with IFM (International Family Missions) missionaries, Mark & Candi Pryor and their staff. Come see their pictures and slides, listen to what great and mighty things the Lord did as they share their testimonies! You have been a part of this team as you’ve prayed, as you’ve encouraged this team or as you’ve given your support through finances of other ways! THANK YOU… now it’s time to hear their story and who knows maybe you will be a part of the next team to go?!

Come be encouraged, be challenged and be inspired together as part of God’s family!

On this visit to Juarez, we went to a Colonia, which is basically what we would call a subdivision.  When we first turned off the main road, we were surprised by how nice the houses looked.  While driving through the initial rows of housing, however, our hosts informed us that these were homes built by companies for some of their workers.  After passing these initial houses, we came to an open area, and then to the rest of the colonia where the poverty was apparent.  Houses are built out of pallets, and use whatever items they can find to break the wind and keep any body heat inside.  In some cases people had found some wood or tar paper, in others there were sections of wall made out of newspaper draped over the wood of the pallets.  A few fortunate people had found cinder block and were able to build with that.

We were greeted by Pastor Abel, his wife Erica, and other staff of the church, Luz de Vida.  What wonderful, God-fearing people they are!  Despite many difficult issues (including their health), they continue to stay committed to doing God’s work in the colonia, and are even in the process of starting a “daughter church” in another area.

We split into three groups, and began walking through the houses, delivering invitations to whoever we could find and telling them to bring their friends and families.  We weren’t sure how it would turn out – while the people are hungry, it was also cold and windy (it had even snowed on the nearby mountains).  At the designated time, only about 30 or 40 people had arrived.  Operating under the assumption that God is in control, we kept moving forward, and as time progressed more people began to trickle in.  Then more people showed up.  Then more.  By the time everything was in full swing, we had about 150 people from the colonia eating hot dogs, watching a puppet show, listening to music, playing games, talking with us, and hearing God’s word.  All this on a cold day – amazing!

We are going back to the colonia on Friday and going door-to-door to meet and pray with the people in their homes.  Please pray that God will help us reach the hearts and of the people we meet, and that many souls will be added to His kingdom.

Children of the Colonia

Today we visited a “Comedor” – what we would call a “soup kitchen”.  The border crossing took longer than expected, so when we arrived there was already a worship service in progress.  We were able to find some space in the back, and joined our brothers and sisters in worship.  Praise God!

After the service, the room was turned into a dining hall, where hundreds of people were fed.  We brought the food from the kitchen to them, and cleared the tables as they finished eating and more people rotated in to take their place.  After everyone had finished, the comedor staff handed out food supplies to the people to take home with them.  The whole time this was going on, Stacy was seeing people with medical needs in a storage room off to the side – care they are unable to pay for at the local hospitals and doctor’s offices.

After everyone else had left, the staff (who are purely volunteers – they don’t get paid) served us a hand-prepared authentic Mexican meal.  The food was great, but hearing their story and praying with them was awesome!  We were blessed to meet, minister to, and be ministered to by people with such a heart for Christ and the people of Juarez.

At the Comedor

Today our team visited an elderly men’s home in Juarez.  In Mexico, families traditionally care for their elderly, and they are respected as wise family members who have already contributed greatly to the family.  In some cases, however, they are “orphaned”, and have no family able or willing to care for them.  The facility we visited today is run by an amazing group of local people who have a burden for the men in this situation.

While this would have been a great visit in and of itself, the Lord provided something that made it extra-special.  It wasn’t just our team that went there today – we were also able to pick up and bring the children from the home we visited yesterday.  It was wonderful to see the connections the children were able to establish with the elderly men.  They were able to immediately engage the men in conversation, and were even able to share the gospel in their own language in several cases.  Only God could have provided such an effective way to share His love!

Child Sharing God's Love

Finally, our first day in Mexico!

After a morning of prayer (and breakfast!), we loaded up the bus and headed across the border into Juarez.  It was amazing to see the difference between the two sides of what used to effectively be one city (El Paso and Juarez).

We visited a children’s home, where we were greeted by many smiling children and the adults who take care of them.  We talked, ate, read God’s Word, prayed and played together – what an experience!  Unexpectedly (at least to those of use who hadn’t been on a trip like this before), one of the most popular things was the Name Tag station.  The children (and several of the adults) from the home and surrounding area were excited that someone cared enough to sit down and write out their name, and they proudly displayed them on the front of their shirts.  We even had a few coming through the line twice.

The children were plainly hungry, and it was great to be able to provide them with a meal.  What was more fulfilling, though, was knowing they were getting the Gospel.  The food will soon be gone, but God’s Word will take root in their hearts and lives, and is of eternal value.  Nothing else we can provide them with can match that!

Making Balloons