Happy July 4th Weekend!

Look what is NOT for July 4th dinner. SNAKE! Yes, snake tastes like chicken!

July 4, 2009

It is hard to believe that it is already July 4th. Freedom is something to enjoy in all seriousness. Not everyone is FREE like we are in America. It is good to be able to celebrate that freedom this year on home soil! I think of John 10:10 that says “The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ASV” I think of those around the world AND in America who are not free but are bound spiritually by the thief (Satan) and who very much need the Lord to “free” them. I rejoice in that freedom that I have in Christ who gives me abundant life. I plan to attend a picnic at my cousin’s home late this afternoon. There should be about a ten or so of us together. Tomorrow after church I’ll have lunch together with my stepfamily right here at home.

I heard that the Missionaries at the Bongolo Hospital are getting together this evening for a BBQ dinner as they celebrate July 4th. It is nice that it fell on the weekend so that they could take the time off of their busy schedule to be together.

July 5th Update: Check out the parade that they had at Bongolo Hospital yesterday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CazIOPAXYas

Carolyn's Capers from Gabon to Omaha!

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16.

Thanks for praying for me these past two weeks as I traveled from Bongolo Hospital in Gabon to Omaha, Nebraska where I will make my Home Assignment/Furlough home. My last few weeks at the hospital were very busy as I sorted, threw and packed up my “stuff”. I also oriented Eric Hofman to the Hospital bookkeeping as well as helped him with Mission bookkeeping. He was a quick study for which I was very thankful.

May 18th I flew to Libreville and on the 19th and 20th went to the government office to obtain my Exit Visa. Thanks for praying. At that time I also heard that my Saturday night flight out of the country had been canceled and I was given the choice to leave one day later or one day earlier. I chose to leave on Friday night.

Friday night I flew from Libreville to Casablanca, Morocco where I then had a thirty hour layover while waiting for my next flight. Remember, I had flown there one day early. The airline gave me a hotel room. I have a good friend who works near Casablanca so she drove to the city and airport and picked me up. I had a great time as we did some sightseeing together. Above is a photo of me while in Casablanca. The second photo was taken that evening. Yes, I went to McDonald's while there! You might not be able to read the writing but you should be able to notice the "Golden Arches"!After a night in the hotel I then flew from Casablanca to New York City to Chicago and then to Louisville, Kentucky as planned, arriving complete with my luggage intact. Thanks again for praying.

Last week I attended Pre-Council for International workers and then the Alliance annual meeting called, “Council”. It was held at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. There were good speakers and it was fun seeing lots of people I knew. My brother Larry, his wife Leslie and their daughter were also there so that was a treat. Sunday I then flew to Omaha and was picked up by my Stepmom and a friend. We then went to the Village Inn for a supper. Later that evening I went to pick up the car that I plan to borrow until mid August.

I will let you know what I’m up to as my plans unfold. I do know that this JUNE I have several medical appointments, a Bible Study on Tuesday evenings, shopping to do, friends to see and messages and audiovisuals to prepare. I have joined CURVES for the summer so will be exercising many mornings during each week. June 28th I have a speaking engagement in Maple Plain, Minnesota and I am now planning that MN trip. I do not know the exact dates or length of the trip.

Prayer Requests:
1. Praise that I have a car to use for most of the summer but please pray that I find another car to use from August 12 until December 8th when I return to Gabon.
2. Pray as I prepare messages to give in churches. I will be speaking to congregations, men, women, children, youth, and various small groups.

Thanks again for your prayers during this time of transition from Bongolo Hospital to Omaha!

"Christmas Boxes" in April!

This morning it was Christmas in April at the Memba Chapel. For a couple of years Samaritan's Purse has sent the church in Gabon containers of "Christmas Boxes", presents for children in a plastic "shoe boxes". These have not come down into the Southern part of the country where I live but other boxes have. Pastor Joshua Thompson grew up in Gabon as a "Missionary Kid". His California church sent out boxes of gift items for some of the children in this area. This morning Missionary Amanda Kelly, her three children and I had fun handing these boxes out to surprised children, age 2-13. See some photos of the morning.

Make a Difference in Africa

Steve (BongoloPilot) and Alace Straw created a video about Gabon and their ministry. Enjoy and at the same time learn more about the country where I live.
Click and watch, "Make a Difference in Africa".

Almost Easter

March 29, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

It is hard to believe that Easter is just two weeks away. The lesson at Memba Chapel today was on Jesus raising Lazarus back to life and also an introduction to the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Over half of those at church today were early grade school age and did not seem to know about Lazarus. One 8 year old girl, Naomi, stood up indicating she wanted to believe in Christ. I was able to pray with her after the service. As people file out of church they shake the hands of the people who have left before them and then they get to the end of the line to shake the hands of the ones after them. Everyone shakes the hands of everyone else!

I asked you to pray about the Great Commission Fund, the Fund that supports me here on the mission field. Nearly two weeks ago we each received an email that because the GCF was having a shortfall, it had been decided that 30 missionaries around the world would be pulled home from the mission field. They would tell us in the next 5 days who that would be. Of course we all wondered if it was us or others at the hospital. After five days we heard that six missionaries in Africa will be removed from the International Ministries roster after June 30th. None of those six were in Gabon but then again, our field had already been stripped down to only seven missionaries for this new budget year. Please continue to give to the Great Commission Fund so that no more missionaries will need to be pulled from the fields. I do want to give a special thanks to people in my own church, Christ Community Church in Omaha, for their great support of the Great Commission Fund.

Speaking of BUDGET, I have been very busy going through the budget process for both the Mission and also the Hospital. I was so relieved to have those budget proposals done and await the decisions as to if they are accepted or not. At least the bulk of the work is over! YES!

All ten Nursing School students successfully finished all their classes for the trimester and after receiving their "Report Cards", we had a sandwich luncheon for them at Karen Fitch's new apartment (see photo). Lisa Nicky showed us all various slides and multimedia shows she had used while in the States and the students enjoyed seeing photos of themselves and others at the hospital. They are now on a ten day Spring Break which means that we their professors are also on break from teaching. YES! School restarts on April 2nd with my Obstetrical Pathology class. I will teach OB Path each Thursday during April and then give a final exam the first week in May.

On May 1st my replacement for bookkeeping responsibilities will arrive at the hospital so I have been busy getting the files for the two offices in some order so that I will have time to spend teaching him in May. Eric Hofman will replace me as the Assistant Mission bookkeeper and also the Hospital bookkeeper while I am in the States for the six months. Eric's wife Wendy will not arrive until about June 1st as she is doing an Opthomology Fellowship on the Mercy Ship. She is an eye surgeon who will be heading up our Eye Clinic. Eric and Dr. Wendy are coming to us through Samaritan's Purse. By the way, Eric grew up in Omaha and his family lives only a couple of blocks from where my Step Mom lives and from where I will live on Home Assignment! Its a Small World!

Jeff Miller, a visitor to Bongolo Hospital, contributed many hours and days of time to designed a new Bongolo Hosptial website. It is me however who is making all the entries into this new website and it is taking me hours, and days. I had hoped to have it completed by the end of March so that I could publish it using the same www.bongolohospital.org address but it will still be maybe a week or two before I can do that. In the meantime, the "old" website is still up and running but not being updated. I trust by my next update letter that I will be able to announce a totally new Hospital website!

My Home Assignment time is quickly approaching. I will fly from Libreville Saturday night May 23rd and fly directly to Louisville, Kentucky to the Alliance Council. After Council my flights to Omaha are for Sunday May 31st. I will be living with my StepMom so my housing is already confirmed. I do not yet have a vehicle to drive during my SIX months in the States so please pray with me about that. I also have not yet heard where I will be doing the fall "Speaking Tour".

I am leaving the planning of Easter Services at the Memba Chapel up to the Lebamba church, their parent church. I do not know what special plans if any they have for Memba. The Lebamba church sends one man to Memba each Sunday but perhaps others will participate to make Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday special.

Please do remember that CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

In the name of our Risen Lord,

Carolyn

Happy Spring!

It is Spring but where I live in Gabon it is always warm with lots of flowers. Here is the Bougainvillea that is outside my house.

To the right see the red Hibiscus plant that is next to my
duplex. I also have peach Hibiscus in the yard but I prefer the red.









I understand that this orange flower is a Day Lily. Once they bloom, they do not stay around long... a day???





There is a Frangy Panny tree between my house and then next. It smells lovely when in bloom.







In my yard is also a Bird of Paradise flower.
It is not my favorite because it always seems to be covered with ants!

Meet my Namesake!

Last year in February I was teaching Bible Class and one of my Nursing students started into obvious labor during class. Soon she delivered a little boy and she named him Carlin after me! He's here with me in this photo taken a couple of months ago. He turned one year old this month.

White Bread !

I have lived in Africa since 1977. When I first got here I had to learn to make bread. I had many flops, so many that I finally hired an African cook to come to my house once a week to make the bread that I needed for the week. He told me that he would teach me to make bread, that he did not need to keep coming. I got his recipe and got so I could make bread. I did not have whole wheat flour those years.

Next came the bread machine. I have used one off and on over the years but with little success. My bread from the machine is heavy and does not rise. I am able to make healthy bread though as I use whole wheat flower and sometimes add Bulgar. I just does not turn out well.

A few years ago our little town got a bakery. You can see above the bread that it puts out. The long French loaves can be purchased every day but those "fat" loaves have to be special ordered. Each Monday we make our "fat bread" order and it arrives hot on Tuesday. But it is oh so yummy. I have a problem limiting the bread I eat on Tuesdays because of it having just come from the oven! The other problem of course is that it is WHITE BREAD.

I have found a recipe for Hot Dog and Hamburger buns that I can make easily from scratch. When I make them I add whole wheat flour and usually make a double batch. Sometimes I use this dough to make Pizza.

I know that Wheat bread is better for me than White bread but it sure takes time to make it from scratch. White bread is what I usually eat because that is what the bakery makes!

Do you make your own bread? Do you eat white, whole what or multi-grain bread? Do you use a bread maker? Do you make your own pizza crust?

Valentine's Day Wedding !

I wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day! I went to an African wedding today but since they do not celebrate Valentine's Day here in this country, the couple did not choose this day to get married because of the day. In fact, they have been "married" already for 19 years!

There are three steps to marriage here in Gabon. The first is the Traditional Wedding when the families of both bride and groom come together negotiate the "Bride Price". Officially in the country there should not be a "Bride Price" but all families require it. I have only been to one Traditional Wedding in which the "side of the groom" presents items to the "side of the bride". They refuse and say that she is worth more. Then the groom's family goes into huddle to see what else to offer. They hold back items and money to be able to present as the traditional wedding proceeds. Finally the Bride's family agree that the bride price offered for their daughter is enough and the couple then get to sit on the same love seat and are presented as Mr and Mrs, followed by the public "kiss" and of course a meal! These were all it took to get married in the past but not any more!

As far as the government is concerned however this couple are still Mr. and MISS! They no longer recognize Traditional Weddings. A public official must perform the wedding. Since this couple who married today had already been traditionally married for 19 years, they decided to have the official ceremony done in a home.

The Assistant Mayor of the town, a woman, performed the official marriage asking the necessary questions of the couple. One question was, "Do you plan on having a Monogamist marriage or a polygamous marriage! Yes, you read right. They have to chose weather the groom will have only one wife or if he will take more than one wife! Today he chose, Monogamist! A second question was if their possessions would be owned together or if their possessions would be owned separately. This couple chose, "Separate". I do not know why. I suppose these two questions could be considered like a prenuptial agreement that is made publicly at the official wedding ceremony. They exchanged rings, something not done in the Traditional wedding ceremony. It was the Assistant Mayor who pronounced them husband and wife and they kissed.

The third Wedding Ceremony is usually done at the church but since this couple had already been together for 19 years, they invited the Pastor to their home. He asked them some of the same questions that the Assistant Mayor had asked and he symbolically pronounced them husband and wife after having prayed a prayer of blessing over them. Unlike in the States, the pastors here can not sign the official wedding certificate.

Next was some soft drinks and appetizer which in this case was olives with toothpick in them. Following the appetizer was a reception line called the "Presentation of gifts". The guests go up and greet the new couple and leave a gift for them. A large meal followed but I did not stay for the meal today because I had other plans before I was even invited to this wedding.

Well, again, I say HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY all those who follow my blog!

Hospital Staff

The Bongolo Hospital Staff has an extra heavy patient load these days because of a nationwide strike of medical personnel who work in other hospitals. The Bongolo Hospital is a private, church owned hospital.

Pictured are some of the 70 or so hospital staff members. Pray for them that they work extra hard to take care of the medical and spiritual needs of their patients. Pray that they would be encouraged as they minister in this way and that they would not also want to strike for more salary!