Cooking fuel

This is Dauphine, the man who comes every Thursday to bring the charcoal we cook with. He usually arrives at the house around 8 or 9 in the morning; after riding from his home for about an hour. We spend about $80 per month on charcoal. The bundles of charcoal weigh around 25 pounds each. I see many men in & around Lubumbashi selling charcoal. Many of them ride their bikes for hours & hours.

Jeres.

Jeres & Toto discuss whether or not to amputate Jeres big toe. Jeres of course argued hard to keep it while Toto teased him that maybe it would be best to cut it off since it had a small injury that required too many bandaids. Jeres lost both his parents and has been with us since May. He is eager to be getting on with school and is in 1st grade.
His toe averted amputation!

Wash day.

Every Saturday morning the boys wash their clothes. Well they are supposed to wash their clothes. It has been a battle all along in every way. First just to get them to do it, to get them to wash all their clothes that are dirty, to admit that something is dirty, to not use all the soap (too much is not enough), to not fight over the buckets & basins, to wash more than one person per basin, etc, etc, etc. The battle goes on & on. I usually use the carrot of soccer or showing a DVD to get them started & to finish. But still you'll end up with someone like Kamba with a pile of dirty clothes hidden under his bed or worse yet in a basin of water.

MY hero.

Tarzan, the wonder cat. Responsible for making sure all the rodents, large & small, are either dead or at least stay on the roof. Thanks Tarzan.

Before & After pics

Wanted to show in pictures what the Lord has been doing here since 2005. The picture of the boys receiving bread & tea was taken while they were still living on the street. That is Yannick pointing and looking at the camera. AND here is Yannick today in the suit that our friends in Belgium provided. Transformation. And not just outward but I am thrilled to report that not only is Yannick now dressed, fed & sleeping well but he's learning about the Lord, receiving an education and being reconnected with his family. That is resurrection power!!!

Aaron

Here's Aaron with his 1st level class. He is a good teacher, a pastor and I think an artist. I always like to go in and just look at his writing on the board. Below is an example of his handwriting. In the Congo school system great emphasis is put on handwriting... actually it is more calligraphy than just handwriting. I think it's pretty.

Katanga fabrics

Here are the some of the boys 'modeling' some of the fabrics that I see everywhere, everyday.

Above is Ilunga with the black/tan/white. Below is Yannick with green and Jacque is holding the orange/yellow/white. Most of the women, and some of the men, where clothing made from bright bold fabrics like these. I love to look at all the colors & patterns they wear.