A week in the life...

Ok...so while I have only experienced 1 entire week here in the Congo, I can pretty much sum up the excitement of my future weeks.

SUNDAYS!
Let's begin with Sundays! I start my day early on Sundays to make it to church by 7:30am. I have been attending the Anglican Church (our congregation gathered in the picture), which has an English service -- I am enjoying it so much! I want to continue to attend; however, I would really like to take part in a French service also.
On Sundays, the family I live with (my country director, his wife, and two kids: Daniel age 2 and Jonathan 5 months) and I go the "Orchid" (a hotel/restaurant type with this amazing view: see picture below), which is basically the expatriate hang out. It has yummy peanuts and some stale chips to go along with coffee, hot cocoa, or coke. Let's just say, I'm a pro at this place. I have been 4 times already. To end my Sunday, I will rest the remainder of the day, rejoicing in Him. (And maybe write in my blog.)

Daily Rundown
Each week day will begin with a run downstairs for some coffee, a run back upstairs for quiet time and getting ready for the day. Then we leave at 7:30am for our 15min. morning wake-up drive (by that I mean it is ridiculously bumpy on the road to work - keep in mind only 300 km of paved road in Congo). At 8am every weekday we have devotional time as an organization. Such a blessing. First we sing some songs in Swahili (I'm learning...) and then someone generally shares a passage and a thought and we discuss it together. Following our daily corporate worship, we begin our days!

My tasks as assigned by my supervisor: create an entire Human Resources manual (which if you don't know is absolutely HUGE) and composing it in English and French; forming an orientation packet for all new national and international staff (also in English and French); updating our website (when it officially comes out I'll post the link); and anything else that comes up! Let's just say, that will easily fill the next 4 months!

Oh, have I mentioned I committed to teaching English 4 times a week after work? Yea...totally unqualified. But as the staff keeps telling me, "But you speak English!" I'm actually so excited to have this opportunity. It's just another time to engage with each of the staff - who are so amazing!

The Weekends!
Friday nights are filled with dinner and card games with the fellow expatriates in the area. If you know me, I am a sucker for card games, so I fit right in! It's just a nice relaxing evening.

Saturdays are sleep in, maybe walk to town, maybe go to the one coffee shop in town (pretty legit from what I hear!), or lounge around and plan English lessons.

Reality.
While I have a very busy schedule, with many tasks to accomplish, I anticipate there will still be a loneliness. I have four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs...all to myself. In the times of solitude I remember God is not far away, but He is Emmanuel, God with us.

Keep praying for the Congo. Steps are being made towards peace, but there still needs to be transformation at the root of the problem: post-colonial syndrome, ethnic hatred, and a failed infrastructure. Pray that the peace accord that was signed a few days ago stops some of the incredible violence against women and the deaths of many innocent people dying from starvation and disease. So much pain is resulting from this seemingly endless war. Some days I even feel hopeless.

Yet I am reminded by the faithful staff at FHI who pray fervently for their country and who quietly hope, just as Lamentations 3:25-29 (the Message) says:

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God...
When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.

Here is a link to the NYTimes article regarding the situation here:
Congo's Death Rate Unchanged Since War Ended
And here you can find the most recent article on the Peace Agreement.
Is this peace for Eastern DR Congo?

Be informed.