Safe Arrival in Wembo Nyama

I can tell you that traveling in the Congo gives me a whole new definition of “TRUST”! We went to sleep Friday night wondering if anyone would pick us up at 5am Saturday morning. Even though they were ½ hour late, we were grinning from ear to ear to see a bus with “Jeffrey Travels” on the side. Our first “miracle”!

           Navigating Kinshasa to the airport at 6am was an interesting feat itself. Kinshasa is a city of 9 million people with 97% unemployment. Just incredible. Tons of poverty. The ride was not for the feint at heart and Six Flags doesn’t have much to compare….

          We knew we were way overweight for the next leg of flight. We were twice the weight, but we were taking supplies, sawmill parts, etc., to Paul Law and were prepared to pay extra to get the supplies to him. “Jeffreys Travels” handled everything at the airport, and we were never charged for ANY extra weight. We had calculated we would have to pay in excess of $300. Our second miracle!

          That also freed up money to make sure we can purchase Alfred and Kimba’s plane ticket back to Kinshasa…(a little oversight on someone’s part! Yikes). Since there was no way to get cash…our third miracle.

          We boarded a 54 seat turbo prop and it was packed with people. The front ten rows had no one as the seats were stacked ceiling high with luggage and other types of freight. This was definitely not according to ICAO (International Civil Aeronautic Organization)!! Yikes. Who was weighing this stuff? Was it in the right place for take off? So off we went on a three hour tour….

          I guess since I am writing this, you know that we made it. The pilot used all the runway to stop and take off…I closed my eyes and prayed. Fourth miracle!

          Well, we finally landed in Tshumbe and there was Paul Law standing there waiting for us. We got in his Land Rover and off we were for an hour trip on trails and paths to the Wemba Nyama mission station.

          We did stop by the church that the Niceville UMC is building in Tshumbe. I will try to post pictures later. I will preach there next Sunday for the opening Sunday. It is the “talk of the town” and has a Community Life Center impact on the area. I took several pictures and it looks great.

          I am trying to communicate as I can. I am asleep from your 4pm till midnight. Then I am starting my day while you are asleep!! We are 7 hours ahead of you. Until I write again, keep checking the tweets!!

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