Dear Family and Friends,

Bonjour, Greetings from Quebec! We hope this newsletter finds all of you healthy and enjoying the year 2001. It is Easter Sunday here at beautiful Lac Kenogami, and we still have ice and snow on the ground. We arrived in Jonquiere (100 miles north of Quebec city) on January 5, after completing our studies of tropical medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans and spending Christmas in Columbus. It was wonderful reuniting with family and friends over the holiday and having the honor of providing our first minute for mission at our home church, Broad Street Presbyterian.

The purpose of our journey to Jonquiere, Quebec, is to study the French language. French is the official language of the Democratic Republic of Congo, our future destination as mission co-workers. The program is an "immersion" into the language and culture of this region. "Immersion" is a no-English-option approach, and our excellent instructors are very kind and supportive of our efforts. We spend five hours each day Monday-Friday hearing, reading, and speaking nothing but French. We have daily homework assignments, including preparing a presentation of an article from the French newspaper, which we are now able to read reasonably well. Finally, after all our French homework is done, we can relax and turn on our totally French television. By now you might be getting the picture: it is French.

Upon arriving to this area, we were surprised at how "detached" and intimidated we felt living in a community that is similar to our own country, but with one significant difference; they spoke French and we didn’t. Our everyday activities like grocery shopping or filling the car with gas were quite challenging and humorous—particularly Mike’s visits to the dentist! You probably all have had the experience of having to answer questions of the dentist with your anesthetized mouth full of instruments and someone else’s fingers. Mike’s sense was that those obstacles took away his inhibitions, American accent, and mispronunciations and made him sound like an authentic French speaking person with their mouth full. The people of our community are all very welcoming and forgiving of our humble efforts at communication, and we have learned that asking for help is a very rewarding experience for us (the strangers) and the locals. We were fortunate to rent a house in a rural forested area, close to a lovely lake (Lac Kenogami). How blessed we have been with the spectacular views of rainbows and sunrise/sunsets over the lake. The weather since our arrival has been very cold, with our coldest temp registering -28 degrees F. Nancy discovered that opening an outside metal door without gloves is not recommended when one day she found her hand stuck to the doorknob. Ouch! One Saturday morning we learned the real meaning of the word "tempest" when we awoke to 60 mph winds, blizzard conditions, and no heat or water! After starting a fire in the wood stove and melting snow so that we could use the toilet, we were cozy and content until power was restored the following afternoon.

Centre Linguistics, our language school, is very involved in helping prepare immigrants from all over the world adapt to a new home in Canada. We have had the privilege of meeting and hearing the stories of refugees from Colombia, Tibet, and Yugoslavia who have fled their homelands in search of a life without terror and violence. We spoke earlier of feeling detached and intimidated. They have been forced to leave family and loved ones behind and have no way of finding them or even of knowing if they are alive. They have come to a land with no similarity to their former lives. Food, dress, climate and language are all different. Canada has provided for their basic needs as well as a year of language study to help these courageous exiled people enter this culture. In talking with them, we are reminded that man does not live by bread alone, it is God who provides them with hope: "Wait for the Lord’s help and follow him. He will honor you and give you the land" (Psalm 37:34). The faith of these refugees strengthens and humbles us.

The month of March was highlighted with a visit from our daughter, sister, and dear family friend. We all enjoyed visiting a local maple syrup ranch, going for long walks "on" the frozen lake and through the beautiful forests, and basically sitting around talking and sharing. We miss our family and were so happy that they came all the way up here to hang out with us for two weeks! As we mentioned earlier in this newsletter, our destination as mission co-workers is Good Shepherd Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since January of this year there have been profound changes in the government of this already volatile country, with the assassination of President Laurent Kabila, and now the current rule by his son Joseph Kabila. We ask you to pray for the new leadership of Congo and all the dear people of Congo, who suffer from years of war, displacement, exploitation, poverty, and disease.

We thank you for your continued love and support. God’s Peace,

Mike and Nancy Haninger

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 31