Dear Friends,

It is only by the grace of God, we are able to write this month. As many of you know, the only means of communication with the outside world—beyond (say) 20 miles—is the miracle of email.

Scary experiences

Let us back up and share the excitement with you. At one of the buildings in the hospital we keep a computer that serves as the local post office covering the Kananga region. This computer is on 24 hours a day, ready to receive incoming messages from numerous email users in Kananga and Tshikaji. When the main office in Kinshasa calls on the high frequency radio, it sends the messages collected from users and receives incoming messages and stores them on a hard disk. On Monday morning, October 9, we found the hard disk in the computer suffered a stroke and was not able to function. Simon knew what to do when the machine was functioning properly, but knew nothing about the hardware and the software to make the post office function. The usual panic reaction of restarting and tire-kicking went on for a while, until he finally had to admit the hard disk was not going to revive itself. Real panic and utter despair set in, only to be heightened when other users started to ask what was wrong with the email.

He couldn’t ask anyone for help because it is the only such system in the province, and we have no other communication method with the experts in Kinshasa or in the States. Later, he learned that we could communicate over radio, but he had to go to Kinshasa to learn that! Simon put in 18-hour days for two days just to arrive at the same point via different routes. It reminded him of the days of writing his doctoral thesis 25 years ago. In the midst of the chaos, we were learning. Two days of communication black-out, and we felt so lost and disconnected, yet we go days and weeks without really communicating with Him. We’re really lost, but we don’t even know it. The amazing thing is that by arriving at the same broken point several times, Simon started to have some ideas about putting back different links, still groping in the dark.

Wednesday morning at four, the links between the local mailboxes and between the email computer and the computer where all the data are kept were restored. The only one still broken was the radio link between Kinshasa and Tshikaji. The only thing we could do was to wait until 11:30 when the first call from Kinshasa would come—then we would find out whether the link was restored. Not being confident that he can get it going again, Simon had made plans to make a quick trip to Kinshasa. A government travel-permit was obtained by paying three times the normal fee for urgent processing, tickets on both the cargo and the passenger planes were purchased. It turned out the passenger plane was canceled for want of fuel, even though the governor of the province was to travel to Kinshasa on that day.

We all got on the plane and were sitting on the broken seats when we saw a mass of people lining up on the runway: the governor is traveling with us on the same cargo plane! We had to sit in the hot plane while the throne was being built on the forward cargo deck and the departure ceremony was being held. At 1:30 p.m. we took off for Kinshasa. Meanwhile at the station, at 11:30 Haejung was jumping with joy because messages from Kinshasa started to come in through the radio link. She ran to the hospital to send a message to Simon to cancel the trip to Kinshasa and come home, but the message never made the six-mile trip to the airport in the two hours Simon was still on the ground. C’est la vie au Congo!

As we mused on the experience, we were reminded of a few simple truths. Haejung confessed that while the link was broken, she was concerned that John and Kevin would not be able to reach us should they have problems. As soon as the messages came she was relieved that there were no messages from them. No news is indeed good news. We wondered about our complaints about the silence of the loved ones, including God. Our anxiousness must be due to our uncertainty whether our communication link with them is solid. We worry less these days when God answers our prayers with silence, for we know we are in touch and He has no urgent corrections to make in our lives. As Simon was working through the night without proper training, up-to-date documentation, or someone to guide him, he got to understand a bit more about the difficulties the Congolese have in general. In the past, many aid agencies came with good intentions and ample resources and they simply provided for the people. They gave what the people needed rather than helping the people build their productive capacity. When the agencies left, the vision, funds and the knowledge-base left with them, and the Congolese were left with sophisticated systems they cannot manage. A few Congolese who were able to learn the techniques help a lot, but when their motivation is mostly self-centered, they exploit the situation and set themselves apart for personal gains.

We are also trying to "get some results" before we return to the United States next year. Quite often we are tempted to take short cuts in our work to get to results. "Temptation" is simply the desire to get to the results quickly. We used to think temptation was tied to unholy objectives or some selfish gains. Now we know that our goals can be totally honorable and according to His will, yet as our desire to get there pulls us away from the people we serve, and God, we need to pray "lead us not into temptation." Ten days ago, we purchased a tortoise about eight inches long for fifty cents, just wanted to keep him from becoming soup that night. It is a perfect match with our energy level. O if we could just match his patience! God has broken His silence and responded to our prayers, His way.

Our short-wave radio is broken, so we get absolutely no news from outside. It really is not too bad once you get used to it. We know the elections are not too far off and conflicts continue all over the world. It does not seem to have any effect on the daily village life. The most urgent problems in Congo today are the fuel shortage and the transportation problem. Each morning, airline operators are given their daily allocations and have to decide on their flight schedule for the day. Each gas station in Kinshasa has at least two hundred cars waiting to buy a few gallons of fuel. They tell me that drivers stay with their car in the waiting line two to three days. I wish I could take some pictures, but it is not allowed. On the streets they sell gasoline in one gallon bottles and most of them buy just one.

Every available piece of land, private and public, is planted with maize, beans and manioc. Our garden has some pineapple plants and it was a joy for us to watch one grow from the flower to a good-sized pineapple. One morning it disappeared and we were very saddened. We were saying, "It’s not about money, it only costs 30 cents, but we were really attached to it!" But, for the child who took it—we assume it was a child—thirty cents is a lot of money and it is all about money. When our economic condition is so different, it is so easy to accuse others of lacking honesty and integrity. Had it been a $300 pineapple growing in our garden, we wonder how long it would have lasted in the United States.

The Dr. Bill and Sue Sager arrived safely in Kinshasa three weeks ago, but that is as far as they have come thus far. Many people are working on the formalities for their permit to travel to Tshikaji. Simon took advantage of the "unnecessary trip" to visit with them. We pray that they will be able to come and come soon. We need their friendship.

One of the first messages after the link was restored was from Kevin telling us that he finally got the job he was looking for. We are so happy we wanted to share the news with all our friends.

We want to send this message before we have another breakdown.

God bless,

Haejung and Simon

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 29

P.S. We have heard from many friends wanting us to visit their church during our home leave, which begins next summer. We have plenty to time to arrange the details. If you had meant to write, it is not too late.