Day 13: St. Louis

Our last day here was FULL.  But, in a good way!

Church this morning was with good friends and fellow Congo lovers, Dr. and Mrs. Rice – they travel to DRC frequently, fly the best airline (MAF) and work out at the hospital in the village of Vanga.  Our paths crossed a year and a half ago and it’s fun to get to see them – we had Dr. Rice and his medical students over to our house in DRC and we’ve been to his house here in St. Louis.  We were also excited to go to church with them this morning – their church supports the Congolese population here in St. Louis and is really an international mix, including sermons in English, French, and Spanish and one of the worship songs this morning was in Swahili (we think), the language spoken in Eastern Congo.  Actually, we didn’t get to hear the regular pastor preach, because he and a team from the church we on a mission trip…in Kinshasa, where we lived in DRC!  So, it was a fun place to visit and be worshipping with people who are from all over!

Immediately after church we went to a friend’s house for lunch.  The Mrs. is our pastor’s daughter from our church in Tacoma and she and her husband have two little boys, the same ages as Levi and Amelia, along with two more boys on the way!  Levi and their son, Charlie, got along a little TOO well and were being such boys – it was hilarious!

After a long afternoon visiting, we came back to our host’s house for a delicious dinner of ribs and fixings.  And the sweetest gift…a post for later this week for sure…  After dinner Levi was desperate to continue riding the bike and most everyone took a walk around the block.  The humidity here is slightly reminiscent of the weather in Kinshasa, which is great, and Levi wasn’t bothered, despite coming back really sweaty.

We had to rush off after the walk to meet new friends – connections from Matthew’s dad and his wife from Atlanta.  This couple and us have other mutual friends and their six-week-old little girl, who shares her first name with Amelia’s middle name, was such a bundle of joy.  It was a pleasant end to a busy day of visiting.

For the two of us – people who are not naturally social – we are enjoying the visiting deputation allows us to do!  We are excited to share about DRC, or even just chill and chat about whatever.  In the end, finding partners in ministry is the goal, but building relationships with people all over the US is a fantastic means!  We don’t want random financial support, but we really want people who love us, love the ministry we’re doing in Africa, and want to be part of it!  We know we can’t see everyone, but we hope that maybe you are praying and considering about whether you would join our ministry team.  Just a small monthly commitment can go a long way to partner with us – and we hope you feel a part of the ministry to DRC!  If you do feel called to join us, please visit here and sign up!

Tomorrow we take off for a family visit in Milwaukee!