Starting a new year:: November 1, 2010

Tomorrow is the first day of classes, for the new academic year at UCBC. It's hard to believe, but this is our fourth year - this year we should have a class of students receiving their undergraduate degrees!



Please keep our students, staff, teachers and leaders in your prayers. This is an exciting (and challenging) time of the year.

Students at a UCBC basketball game

Family!

Students are getting back to UCBC, many are traveling from other parts of the country, some from outside of the DR Congo. Our teachers have been planning and preparing for months, even since before last year ended... Our staff is faced with the challenge of managing the school and teachers, on a limited budget. And our leaders - they carry the weight of all of these things and so much more, on their shoulders. Keep them in mind tomorrow, and in the next week or so, especially. Your prayers are appreciated so much!

traveling on the back of a piki piki

A common mode of transportation in Congo is small motorcycles. They are readily available... And not always the sturdiest of vehicles... But they get around and can get through places a larger vehicle could not.

"Oh, these bridges..." Some are terrible! Thank God for these little piki piki's!

"We made it!"
Although that's not always spoken, it is a feeling felt all too often... At least by me! ;)
So it's a good thing I don't drive them. I don't have to figure out how to maneuver the roads (or lack thereof) in Congo... And thankfully Noé was happy to drive!

Making coffee

Here is our sweet Mama Odette, helping in the kitchen by pounding coffee with a mortar and pestle. She's a little camera shy... But she always laughs, like she does in this video!

She explains that she is pounding coffee, and then she'll put it on the stove, so they can drink it. She's a sweet and loving woman, and we are blessed to have work with us at the house!

looking around Beni...

Here is a link to a map I made which shows a few points in and around Beni:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=116023567316651285963.000492fdf50b5b3278abe

If you click on satellite on the map, you'll probably get a better idea of what the area looks like... Although it's an old photo and it doesn't get up very close :)

Enjoy!