Mbote, Reasoning(s)!

That’s “hello, friends” in Lingala, for those of you who are uninformed in such things. Of course, that included us until only days ago… so don’t feel bad if you didn’t know that one! Our new vocabulary is only one of the many things that are new and different these days. Virtually every aspect of life here in Impfondo is a new adventure. It is even very different from life in Brazzaville, which is a large city.

Our first 2 weeks have been rewarding at times, and very frustrating at others. We have some of the amenities of home here, but with a much more hands-on feel to them. Language is also a roller coaster of accomplishments and despair. I’ll give a few examples so you can understand what I mean. We have electricity in our house. It is a wonderful thing to have power here so that we don’t have to charge cell phones and laptops at the hospital (which is 3 miles away from the house). However, our power is only 12-volt DC solar power. Our lighting is 12 volt florescent, with a switch on each fixture. The battery is in the bathroom, under a cabinet, along with the load controller and the charge controller. Next to the battery is a small 400 watt inverter, which changes the battery power into 110 volt AC power. It is enough to charge the computers and phones, but that’s about it. Still it is a blessing to have that much. We are also lucky enough to have a small kerosene refrigerator in the kitchen. You have to watch the flame level on the burner, keep the chimney clean, trim the wick, and also fill the tank and clean all the parts once a week. And, the freezer works well but you can’t count on the fridge to keep anything cold. It is very temperamental, at best. Once again, it’s a lot of work, but it’s better than nothing.

The language thing is more work than the fridge or the electricity. At times the barrier seems insurmountable. At other times, when our brains seem to be in a French mood, it’s like watching a movie with the sound just a little too low. You get the basic idea of what’s going on, and you have the body language to watch, but some of the words are just too fuzzy to pick up on. That’s a good conversation. Thankfully, the people here are patient with the dumb Americans, so it only goes so bad the rest of the time. During the good conversations, you feel like you’ve arrived at a level of proficiency, and you could do anything. Then you talk to the next  person, and it feels like you are listening to gibberish (with a “Frenchy” sound to it). Sometimes, when I feel lost for a whole conversation, I just want to quit. Over time, it will get better. For now, we know enough to survive.

The road we live on is the main road through town. It is always noisy here. I think it’s noisier than where we were in Brazzaville. There are only a handful of cars and trucks in town, but there are cheap Chinese motorbikes everywhere! I hear that they can be purchased for only about $200 new, but they start to break the day you buy them. It’s a funny thing; the best stuff available here is dollar store quality Chinese goods. Chinese imports to America are ten times better than the best stuff you can get here. Backing up a little, I shouldn’t say the bikes are everywhere. In a city of 10,000 people, there are about 50 bikes. Nobody just rides them; they are the taxis here. I guess many of them are owned by the police officers, who rent them to the drivers. Then they stop and harass the other drivers that they don’t make a profit from. That reminds me of another thing. There is a very visible police and military presence here, all the time. We haven’t seen any issues from it yet, but with the level of corruption here, the possibility is always there.

In the short time we have been here so far, I have seen lives saved and lives lost at the hospital. I have also heard of several who have made decisions to accept Jesus as their savior. You can never truly know the heart of another person, so we can only hope that they have been sincere. But, that’s why we are here. We hope that our involvement here will help the hospital staff in the ministry to the people. We also need your continued prayers as we attempt to do that each day. Please pray for our protection from the chaos and corruption, and for strength as we deal each day with adjusting to life in Impfondo. The other missionaries say that it will take a few months to settle in, so we’ll see how it goes. We are so thankful for your prayers and support. It is a joy to have you invested in this work with us. The Lord is definitely working here. It’s such a privilege to be a part of that, no matter how hard life is here. We trust that He has a purpose for our being here and that he will provide all that we need to accomplish that purpose, despite our weakness. Keep praying, and watch for another update soon!

Together for His glory,

Art, Danielle & Michael Ralston
Your Missionaries in Republic of Congo

Pioneer Christian Hospital:
B.P. 10, Impfondo, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)

Global Outreach Mission, Inc.:
PO Box 2010, Buffalo, NY  14231-2010(USA)