Sunday afternoon.

Here is a picture from earlier this year (2009). I am just just hanging out with the boys, letting the clothes dry, waiting for food to cook, looking pretty cool in my African fabric skirt.

Brothers united

After 7 years of not seeing each other Yannick's (R) brother Andrew came to see him last month. They had been separated when their mother died & the extended family pretty much chased them away. Andrew was able to get our phone number after Michael & Yannick had visited the uncle's house and one of the uncle's children gave him the number. He was choked up when he first came in & saw his younger brother. They sat & talked about the difficulties they had experienced and Andrew was able to encourage Yannick to do well in school, listen to the people over him & to follow the Lord. Andrew leads a prayer group in his church & is on the worship team.

Kamba

Here is Kamba. He is a wonderful comedian... and an expert at getting out of doing his chores.. or delaying to wash his clothes.
He will make you laugh & laugh... He's busy here making noise & is there under the tree blessing the checker game.

Emmanuel

This is the chubby Emmanuel. He can sing and sing. He knows many songs & has a very beautiful voice. Plus he loves to dance. He is in 3rd grade & does very well except when he is irritating the teacher... then he'll be kneeling somewhere while class continues. Through out the day it is very common to hear "EMMA"... meaning that someone is angry at him or irritated at him. He is not bothered and just argues back or goes on to the next place to create a stir. He drives me nuts... then comes back and flashes a smile that makes me forget what the problem was.

Ministry of restoration

Michael & 5 of the boys went to a town near Lubumbashi to see if they could connect with the boys families. They were successful in finding Pascal's family. Unfortunately his mother had died the day they arrived, but his father was very glad to see him. He wept loudly upon seeing Pascal and prayed and thanked God.

(L to R) Shadrack, Michael, Mutombo, Dieu Merci, Joe & Pascal.

Hunger in Africa.

Here is a map showing the places where people are not getting enough to eat. The countries that are red are where the suffering is. Congo is the large country in the center of Africa. It was listed as second from the bottom of all nations in hunger. The report noted that 72% of the people in DRC do not receive enough food.

He restores my soul.

I am very glad to announce that our 11 fourth & fifth level students who took the 6th grade test passed!! We are thrilled because as you see with Yanick in the picture below they are growing up. Yanick is around 16th years old and had no school until he came to live with us September of 2006. He has excelled in school even while he has had to learn to submit to authority & not use his own strength to get through life. I am very proud of him and all the boys who have been doubling up on school so as to prepare for the test and move forward. The Lord is truly a restorer of souls.

Shanick, the scholar

As I've written before, 13 year old Shanick loves learning. I thought that it was sweet that since I was in U.S. he has had Michael send me 3 of his drawing assignments. Here is a picture of him and below is his map of Congo.

Boys will be boys.

Here is Kamba receiving an impromptu bath from his friend, Kambala & Toto. Kamba is never the first to bathe and sometimes just wets his arms, head & legs so as to avoid the process altogether. But at least on this particular morning he got clean before his teacher came.

Early morning baths

Here is Toto helping the boys to get hot water for bathing before the electricity goes.... It was 5:30.

What we're really here for.

Meet Matthew. His uncle brought him as he was a 'problem' for their family. After his father had died last year (his mother died some years ago) he had been sent, in September, from western Congo to live with his uncle. He has now been with us a month and after being treated for Typhoid and his bruises healing from some abusive treatment he is happy, loving school & no problem at all.

Friends

Here is our new friend, Tarzan. She showed up in the compound early one morning and was stoned by one of the boys as a witch before I saw her. She was seriously injured so I spent the day avoiding her & wondering how we'd put her out of her misery. The boys who aren't afraid of cats, spent the day taking care of her & by the next day she was able to walk & is now doing great.

Playing with Alain.

That is Alain behind all the tape. And as you see he is even cuter without the tape. He is 12 or 13 and is in grade 1. Recently he told me that he enjoys school now, that before he was always sad and thinking about the difficulties in his life. Alain is very bright and has a great sense of humor.

Goodbye rain.

Here is a view out of the front door of results left by the last big rain of the rainy season. The compound finally dried out after 24 hours.

Trip to the zoo

We surprised the boys with a trip to Lubumbashi's zoo 2 weeks ago. Most of them had been there before when they were living on the street, but this time their trip was paid for and they entered via the gate and not by climbing over the wall.
Ever the student, Shanick had to write down where each animal came from and it's scientific name.

The gorilla seemed to want his pictures taken (and to show the piece of corn in his mouth) so I did.

So after looking at the monkeys, snakes, ostriches, deer, lions, tigers & alligators (and the ever energetic Kamba & Diedier running and running along the fence with the deer) the boys all loaded up in the mini bus and the rest of us in a taxi and we went home; just in time to miss a heavy rain.

Papa Michael

That's Michael in the middle of some of the 1st boys that he became 'Papa' to. Michael has been a pastor in Lubumbashi for over 10 years. In 2003 he began to have a desire to help the boys he saw on the streets there. As a former African boy (growing up in eastern Nigeria during civil war) Michael has great wisdom to know how to bring the guys in, love them, lead them to the Lord and discipline them. God has really gifted him to know what the boys need to feel at home; how to work with the Congolese nationals; how to negotiate with everybody, and to always stay joyful and filled with faith.

Workers, teachers, members of the ministry.

Here are Misters Aaron (R) & Edward(L). That's Papa Michael in the middle (more on him later). Aaron is a pastor and teaches 6-7 boys in the first level class. He rides his bike for around an hour to get to work by 8 A.M. in the morning.

Edward has been teaching the boys since we first got into the house, Sept. of 2006. He has endured everything from having to use the 1st blackboard that was the back of a door, having some boys physically fight him or throw rocks at him and all that for a beginning 'wage' of $20 per month. He has been very faithful and has even surprised himself, I think, in how much he loves the boys. He teaches the 5 level class.




This is Lovey. Isn't she cute in her traditional Katanga fabric, Congolese outfit. I worried about her in the beginning because she is just as big as a minute but she doesn't back down to any of our sometimes rowdy guys. She teaches Kambala & Ada in 2nd level class and is also a student in the university.