It's Will. This morning I'm writing to you from Sherman, Texas. This update is long overdue.
This Saturday I will have been home for one month. Jill and Bethany have been home a month as of today and yesterday.
I should apologize for my/(our) lack of blogs in the final days of our time in Africa. The last time we wrote was from Bujumbura, Burundi. While in Bujumbura, things began to get pretty tough for the three of us. Central Africa (Burundi and Congo) is one of the most poverty stricken places on the globe, and seeing that daily wore on us over time. Burundi is the third poorest country in the world. We spent two weeks in Bujumbura visiting refugee camps, repatriate camps, deaf/dumb schools, the beach (once or twice), war torn communities, and two of the poorest neighborhoods in Bujumbura (and therefore probably the world).
We saw things that blew our minds and tore up our hearts. Malnourished children was the norm. We saw people who were missing limbs, eyes, and any sense of hope. At this point, I still have not been able to even begin to process the things I saw in my last month in Africa. However, this morning I just wanted to record our last bit of travel and let everyone know that we are home safe.
After leaving Burundi, we traveled into Congo. We stayed with our friend Juma in a small hotel in Congo and were blown away by the hospitality of the church there. I truly felt that those people embodied the CHURCH- a community of Christ followers. While in Congo, we spoke to oprhans, women raped by remnants of the Interhamwe (genocidaires from Rwanda), and churches in the midst of extreme poverty. I thought that the slums in Nairobi were bad until I saw Bukavu, Congo, where 4 million people live in conditions worse than that of the Nairobi slums.
From Congo, we traveled to Kigali, Rwanda. As we drove into the country for the first time, I felt the darkness of the horror that befell that land 14 years ago during the genocide. We stayed with Dale, one of Bethany's friends from university.
After Rwanda came Uganda and a beautiful place called Lake Bunyonyi where we got some much needed rest. Some of my fondest memories of our time together happened at Lake Bunyonyi. We spent three days apart fasting, praying, and processing the last five months of our lives. From Bunyonyi we passed through Kampala and returned via first class seats on Kenya Airways to Nairobi. Three days later Jill and Bethany went home. I spent a final week back in Naivasha with the Hovingh's who are definitely one of the coolest families in the world.
And now we are back home safe. It has been a hard transition and I for one am by no means adjusted. However, we are trusting that God will continue to show us the way and strive daily to be a part of what he dreams for this world. The three of us are keeping in touch and I sure miss the girls.
AND THERE IS SOME GREAT NEWS!!!!!! BETHANY GOT ENGAGED LAST NIGHT... WHEEEEEE!!!! Go Steve...
So... I think that this hereby ends the blog for the Tripod in Africa, mostly because we're not in Africa anymore. However, I find solace in writing and want to do a better job of remembering and writing about the things we saw and did. Therefore, I'm going to be opening a new blog where I'll combine stories and pictures to try and process all of this and dream of a better world. If you're interested, check out that blog for stories of Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Grace and Peace...
Will
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