[Oe List ...] Another Kathryn Howard Letter from the Congo

[Del Morrill]

>From Del:  For those who may not be clear on who's who, Kathryn is Eileen
Morrill Howard's eldest daughter.

Friends and Family,

We have had a good couple of weeks here in Kamina. There have been

many things to adjust to, but feel we are slowly getting acclimated.

It is amazing how in each place that we go, be in inner city,

Appalachia, el Alto, or Kamina, we have to rethink what it means to be

in ministry. Each place has its own unique needs, each organization

has its own style, every person requires something different. One of

the hardest things about being in a new place is not constantly

comparing it to other places you have been, but instead embracing

things as they are and seeing how you fit. We are in process now of

seeing our place here.

Our first week here was mainly getting the lay of the land. Our new

friend Kabongo, who is the district superintendent of the Kamina

district (aka in charge of the UMC projects and churches in Kamina),

has been showing us around to the various churches and projects. It

has been neat to see some of the places that I (Kathryn) have heard

about and seen pictures of for most of my life. It has been

encouraging to see how the money we and various churches have given

has been spent. I am sure we will write more in detail about the

projects in the future, but there is currently some really exciting

things happening in the areas of agriculture, education, and health.

We began learning Swahili this week and have a tutor. We have classes

4 days a week. Our host believes that we will learn it quickly, but I

have my doubts.

The highlight of the past few weeks has been our time at the

orphanage. We are living right next door and so every time we leave

and go anywhere we are greeted by the children. We have been going

over to the orphanage for 1-2 hours each evening with Taylor, the only

other American here, and two of our new Congolese friends, Kaiembe and

Shibona. Shibona speaks great English and he has been really helpful

in translation. It's our favorite part of the day (though we have to

remind ourselves of that before we go since we are generally tired by

evening.) It's fun. We sing a lot of songs with the kids, some in

Swahili, some in French, some in English with easy words and lots of

hand motions...think hokey pokey or Father Abraham. We also try and

play games, but those are hard to come up with (40 kids, no toys,

inside, limited space). Often the evening turns into some sort of

dance game. The kids are great and so creative. They love to dance

and sing and it amazes me what they end up making from things they

find around. They sang to me the other day for my birthday, they

serenaded me with a couple of songs in Swahili. I loved it. There is

something so powerful about hearing 40 orphaned Congolese kids

singing. This time is really fulfilling. The women who work there

are great, but it's hard for them to get all the work done (cooking,

laundry, cleaning....) and give the kids one on one attention. The

kids eat up the love and attention we show them. At times it breaks

my heart remembering the pain and violence many of these kids have

experienced, yet other times I forget and they are just a bunch of

rowdy kids.

People have asked for specific prayers. The first is for safety.

We are feeling secure, but at the end of June there was supposed to be

the first elections in a generation. These have been postponed for a

year because the country isn't ready. (this seems valid to us, not

just a stalling tactic. People don't have identification, no voting

registration has happened, no infrastructure...). Some people are

upset about this and there are marches and stuff scheduled. Nobody is

really worried, but we will be in Lubumbashi (city on the boarder)

just to be extra safe. Please pray that this country will be able to

hold on to its much needed peace.

Also, we always appreciate prayers about adjusting, building new

relationships, knowing how we fit in here, ability to learn as much as

possible, opportunities to serve, language development, understanding

the culture, wisdom in what and how to share things. Dave has been

asked to preach this Sunday. He is going to talk about community and

working cooperatively.

We love notes from home. If you have a chance let us know how you are doing.

Much love,

Kathryn (for Dave as well)