Post Smith Congo Adventure
We arrived home two weeks ago from Kinshasa, DR Congo. We have
been making the rounds to car dealers and doctors and dentists and are
pleasantly surprised. So far there are no surgeries in our futures but we have
received treatments, Mark for skin spots, a dental crown and he has yet
get a physical, but my post-mission physical was very positive especially when
the doctor said that I returned smaller than when I left.
The car issue is still unresolved but hopefully Janine, my
sister-in-law, will get her car back soon (She has loaned her car to us to get
around).
A short recap of the last four weeks in Kinshasa, there had
been so many interruptions in our work at the Self-Reliance Center because of
the holidays but more so because the “tradition” of going on holiday from
middle of December to middle January. Most Kinshasans don’t go on holiday but
many take their leave-days at the end of the year. There was also a South East
Africa Area Training that took all of the Seminary and Institute personnel and
the Self Reliance Directors (unfortunately the Missionary Couple was not
invited) to South Africa the second week of January. We were left to “keep
things going” but not able to pass on the procedures that had been used. Mark
was able to train the office assistants to do some of the phone contacts with
PEF students as well to get new loans through the application phase. Another
wrinkle, the last day was a National Holiday celebrating the assassination of
the previous “President” of the Congo something to be celebrated because the
current regime resembles the previous one. The current President Kabila is an
adopted son of the previous dictator. Most of the people don’t have a great
love for either of them but not “honoring the dead” could be cause for government
backlash. Officially the holiday was Friday but the employees had to be
compensated for a workday, so they took Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday,
Sunday and Monday off. That did give us some time to pack suitcases, trying to
be sure that none of them weighed over 50 pounds each. We had less to bring home than we took
and some things that we were advised to bring were packed back up and returned untouched.
There were phones and keys and a truck that had to be handed over to someone but
who was available? Because there were so many employees still on leave, Thierry,
the Human Resources Director also acting as transportation Supervisor was
assigned the task. He got back from a trip to Cameroon at 1:00AM Friday morning
and he was responsible to get the Smiths on the plane at 12:00 PM. We were
scheduled to leave on a 12:00 PM flight so Mark arranged a meeting place in Thierry’s
part of town, Masina, near the airport. He said to drive on the “new Japanese
Road” by one “robot” (the French rhymes with "rowboat") and stop at the second “robot” and he would meet us there
and take us to the airport, receive the items that belonged to the Church and
get us through the “check-in” process in Kinshasa. We were unable to find any
“robot” traffic regulator. After we passed three traffic lights, Thierry called
and said that we had gone too far and had left him behind at the second robot. (He
did not have a car, so he has to hop on a transport to get where we were
waiting.) Not a good time to learn that the Kinshasans called traffic light
“robos”. This was confusing because there are actual robots used as traffic lights in Kinshasa - see the picture. We pulled over and waited for Thierry to get some transportation to
where we were stopped.
We had made one trip to South Africa early in the mission so
we had some experience and knew what to expect. Mark took charge and was able
to get all flights connected and got the luggage check from Kinshasa to Salt
Lake City. He received a great deal of help from an officer of the airport who
happens to be an older brother of Christian Mavinga, an S&I employee that
we interacted with daily because our office was in the S&I building. He is not a member of the Church but he
was most helpful. He shepherded Mark through the bag check-in, through customs
and whatever else they required and the “Soeur” sitting “over there” until “we”
are finished. I gladly sat and let the process proceed. Mark has a lot of fun
talking to anyone in French and a little Lingala as well as English so he was
entertained while he waited. The brother arranged to us to go to the VIP
lounge, not one like in Western airports but it was air-conditioned and free
drinks like water and sodas.
As they loaded the plane with the non-VIP passengers we were
still sitting in the VIP lounge. “Don’t worry, we will get you to the plane
before it leaves. “To get to the plane, you take a bus for some distance to the
plane and I “knew” that there would not be any places for our carry-on bags
because Congolese tend to “exceed” the one-only-carry-on policy. Great
surprise, there was ample bin space and plenty of empty seats which made the
flight from Kinshasa to Johannesburg the best of the five.
We made our way to the International terminal in South
Africa and waited maybe 30 minutes to board the 777 Boeing Delta flight to
Atlanta, Georgia, a seventeen-hour flight. The flight was “full” with a few
empty but not in the economy class. We were able to “nap” some but with seats
next to the toilet, rest was “catch as catch can. They do know how to make such
a long flight bearable with a schedule that did allow a good eight hours
uninterrupted “lights out” time. The only problem with the flight, the “East”
winds were forcing the craft to go farther north and east before landing in Atlanta.
Because of the “wind” delay, we were not able to retrieve the checked bags to
go through customs and get them on the next flight, we watched the flight pull
back from the gate. Our bags missed the flight as well but made it to the next
nonstop to Salt Lake City at 10:30 am but there were no seats for the two
stranded passengers. After an hour and a half phone call to Delta we were re-scheduled
to fly to Minneapolis to get a flight from Minneapolis to Salt Lake. Delta
commonly overbooks flights so with the explanation that “everybody wants to go
West” it being a “holiday” weekend (Martin Luther Day). Basically they were saying if you want
to get to Salt Lake City today this is your choice, we were fortunate to have
an option. We arrived in Salt Lake City with beautiful blue skies and
snow-capped mountains. Most of the trip had been nothing to see except Midwest
farms or clouds. What a beautiful welcome home. I know what you may be
thinking, there was a terrible inversion going on in Utah, but not that day and
we had been in “serious” inversion for 18 months. Our two-day and forty-hour
plane trip was over.
We exited the plane, took our carry-on with us and headed to
the exit. There at the bottom of the escalators was a group of loved ones
welcoming us home, Ralph, Janine, Juli, Jen, Kim, Mike, Donavan, Kastli, Blake,
Stephanie, Coy, Keeley, and Julie Hardinger. It was so good to be home. Our
luggage made the 10:30 am flight so it had all been gathered from the baggage
area waiting for the “road-weary” travelers. Julie provided the chariot for our
final leg of the trip, from the airport to home.
During the drive down I-15, Julie was able to share some of
the tender mercies that she and her family had received with the life-altering
experience of the diagnosis and death of Wayne from colon cancer.
As we arrived at our house, signs on the front door and in
the lawn welcomed us home. All had been readied for our return by many of the
family that met us as the airport, cleaning, washing, and providing food and
meals. It is good to be home.
Only one uninvited guest came with us, a virus, could have
been one of the flights had some bad air or it could have been a final gift
from the Congo.
Would we do it again? Sure but not today.
