Diving Head First Into Africa!

Please excuse the tardiness of this entry... you will soon find out why it hasn't arrived sooner!

WEDNESDAY: We arrived into Paris after a long day of travel, and excitedly went into the city after freshening up at a hotel. We grabbed an all day metro pass for the city and stopped at the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, walked along the Siene, had a marvelous lunch including french onion soup and chocolate crepes! We picked up GBIM missionaries Rob and Nicole Plaster, and landed in a french bistro for a cafe au lait and pain au chocolat! Oh-la-la... this break was very much needed as we were going on 6-7 hrs of sleep in 2 days. We very much enjoyed our time in beautiful Paris. We all gave our spouses a kiss at the Eiffel Tour as it is le cite de l'amour.... :)

THURSDAY: We boarded our plane for Bangui at midnight on Thursday. We enjoyed the most amazing dinner on the flight- Air France. We arrived into Bagui Airport at 6 AM. Our trip to our housing was the first major culture shock for most of us. As we drove through the capital city we saw the life of CAR every where. We are staying at the sweetest Baptist Misson, with the most wonderful African men. (Andre, our cook, made fresh bread this morning and then with it made the greatest french toast of my life!) We headed off to a small village where ICDI was completing a well. They were just about to finish installing the pump and see if it would work. This small village was a bible school. A lot of the children had been getting sick because their water wasn't clean. Abe had the privelege of priming the pump, and drawing from it the first pure, clean water this small village had ever used. Their response when they first splashes of water poured out was overwhelming. They cheered, danced, yelled, sang.... it was a wonderful moment. Very emotional. We were so happy to share it with them. The women and children all brought up every jug in the village to have it filled, as if they thought it wouldn't last long. They were so excited. What a beautiful way to spend the afternoon.

We continued in Bangui to see the ICDI office where we met many of the godly men with big hearts who have commited their lives to the vision of ICDI; Josue, Farel, Dimanche, Marceiln and David Zokoe. Next we traveled over ICDI's orphan care center, where we were greeted by many beautiful children, who sang and gave us flowers. We met with each of the leaders of the four parts of the center: HIV and True Love Waits, Micro Enterprise Development, Orphan Care (food, medicine, clothing), and the Mme Hibaile's sewing group. True Love Waits oversees many groups in Bangui who encourage kids to be abstinent, and also care for kids with AIDS, and help with AIDS awareness. A woman named Antoinette shared with us her ministry of Micro Enterprise, which gives loans to people in order to help them start a buisness. ICDI has given out 5 loans since Antoinette started, and she showed the huge stack of requests. Two men, with huge hearts, Christoph and Williams talked with us about the Orphan Care. Orphans meet once a week with their group, and frequently visit the Center for health care, nutrition, food, or school supplies. Sadly, a little girl that was in the group died 10 days ago from the HIV virus. Next we met with 4 orphan girls that are in Mme. Hibaile's sewing group. They have been sewing 6 months, and should us a table full of beautiful baby clothes they had made. This ministry is very empowering to these girls sense of value and self- esteem.

FRIDAY: We began our day by meeting the GBIM missionaries in Bangui. They took us to see the amazing new orphan care center and school that is currently being built. We enjoyed lunch with them talking to them about their passion, and they experience in CAR. Nate, Jo, Abe and I had a great conversation with Winona Lake missionary Tina Walker about her ministry with True Love Waits. She spoke with us and answered many questions about HIV, and the viscious cycles of the the Africans lifestyles which lead them to contracting HIV. Please be praying for the GBIM missionaries as they have a huge, and exhausting task. It was wonderful to hear from Tina the way in which some of the teens ARE changing, and are encouraging their peers to change as well. Next we went to see Mme. Zokwe who has been a part of the Micro Enterprise Development. She has been doing a chicken business for the past 2 years because of a loan that ICDI gave her. She showed us their housing, and talked to us all about the complexities of her business. She recieves 800-900 chicks at once! We conlcluded our day by visiting an orphan care group. More beautiful faces greeted us with song and flowers. They sang many songs for us, a handful of kids voluntarily stood up and quoted scripture, and a young boy stood up and prayed for the group. They neighboorhood kids stood around back... and they knew the praise songs. We brought them gifts of pencils, balloons and frisbees. The frisbees we a huge hit. Nate and Joanna taught the group how to play "monkey in the middle." I sat and talked to some of the girls, who thought it was ridiculous that I didn't have babies, and even MORE ridiculous that i was waiting to finish school to have them. They asked Joanna if she had any, when she said "no", they told her she needed to have some. They were fascinated by our skin, and hair. They couldn't get over how fine our hair was. They kept screaming, petting it and saying "Very NICE!" I let mine down, and they braided it for me, and gave me a silk flower to wear.

We have seen so much! Please pray that we will keep up with it all, and not become TOO overwhelmed. We are all in good health, and have had no security problems. We are so happy to be here with our African brothers and sisters, and to meet others. They are a blessing. Abe and I are headed off to bed. We will fill you in on todays adventures, as well as tommorow's worship service... by tommorow. Promise... if there's electricity. :) We are thinking about you all back home, and appreciate your prayers very much. We love you. Lisa, Abe, Nate and Jo, Jay and Deb, Nancy and Jim, And Jim H.

Written by Lisa Wright

p.s. These are the verses that Jim started our day with today:

If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.

Jim also updated his blog at www.icdinternational.org

Deut. 15:7-8