Dear Friends,

It has been the most eventful month, to say the least. As you know, President Kabila was assassinated in January. All was calm in Tshikaji, but we stayed put and did not venture out too far. Simon rescheduled the visit to Mbujimayi and Bibanga until a later date. We received many messages of concern from you and we thank you. We never felt physically threatened, but the ever-present uncertainty and nervousness was somewhat elevated during the week following the assassination.

In retrospect, we should have known something was up. During the week before the assassination, the exchange rate shot up 45 percent (from 150 to 220) and then came down 20 percent by the end of the week. One week after the death, the rate actually dipped below 150. According to conventional wisdom, during a period of turmoil the exchange rate goes up, as people seek the safety of hard currencies. Either the logic does not work in Congo, or it works very well, reflecting the sentiment of the people.

We are sending this note from Delhi, India, this month, and we invite you to consult a world atlas as you follow our journey. Late in January, Simon was asked by the Worldwide Ministries Division of the PC(USA) to visit the church office in India and assist with financial reporting matters. We were told to travel as quickly as possible and were authorized to travel together due to the security situation in Congo.

On February 4, we went to Kinshasa, this time on real passenger flight. We bought tickets for the Kenya Airways flight to Bombay via Nairobi (Kenya) on February 8, which was to arrive in Delhi on the 9th. On the morning of departure, we learned that the flight was canceled due to shortage of jet fuel in Kinshasa, and the next scheduled flight wouldn’t leave for four days.

A frantic search of alternative routing yielded Kinshasa—Johannesburg (South Africa)—Bombay—Delhi routing, with an overnight stay in Jo’burg. Our plan to spend an evening watching CNN news in South Africa was scuttled when the Cameroon Air plane landed in Brazzaville, Congo, to take on fuel after a ten-minute flight. By the time we checked in at the airport hotel, it was past midnight. Next morning, we went to the airport early for the flight to India. To our dismay, we were not allowed to board the flight because we lacked valid visas for India. Our plan to purchase the visa once we landed in India, we were told by Kenya Airways, would not work. We made a mad dash to the Indian Consulate in town, only to be told that for American passport holders only the Consulates in the U.S. are authorized to issue the visa. No amount of charm, desperate look, appeal in the name of the Hindi God did any good. They agreed to fax a request for authorization to a consulate on our behalf (costs us $20 for fax transmission). We went back to the airport to rearrange the itinerary and found all the flights were fully booked until the following Friday (one week’s wait). We did find seats on the business class for the following Monday and sent an appeal to the PC(USA) office to obtain authorization for us from the Indian consulate office in Chicago. The nine-hour time difference between Jo’burg and Chicago did not permit any direct communication between the two consulates.

During the weekend, we received the discouraging news from Louisville that the consulate in Chicago was not being very cooperative and insisted that we apply directly to the office that covers the region of our permanent address. Not knowing how to do all these from South Africa, we had to make a decision: (1) go back to Congo and reschedule the visit, or (2) wait in South Africa while continuing the efforts for the visa (3) or go to the States and get the visa ourselves. It turned out the additional ticket cost for going back to the States was half of what it would cost to go back to Tshikaji. So we rebooked the flights and, armed with the fistful of tickets, waited until Monday morning to reclaim the passports from the Indian consulate. What a shock to learn that the Chicago office had approved our application during the weekend and we could have traveled that day. Finally, with the visa but no way to travel, we decided to continue on to Louisville. We left Jo’burg at 9:30 p.m., arriving at Heathrow airport in London the next morning, took a bus to Gatwick (the other London airport) for connecting flight to Cincinnati. We should have known that the probability of our bags making the connection was a bit less than a peaceful transition of power in Congo. While telling each other that God has reasons for all these troubles, we went to Louisville in a rental pick-up.

We were able to use the few days in Louisville to meet and discuss with the relevant parties for the India assignment and now we are on the Air India flight to Bombay (via Delhi!) just to return to Delhi later in the day. Simon used to travel several hundred thousand miles per year during his consultant days, but never had to face so many complications in one trip. Through all of these difficulties, we met many people who went way beyond their call to duty to help us make it through the 18 days it took to go from Tshikaji, Congo, to Bombay, India. We are still trying to see what the lesson is in all these detours, but we are certain that we will be able to see it better when our body clock adjusts to the rapid changes. Our work here in New Delhi is to help us become better stewards of the resources given to the Church for worldwide ministries. We pray that the Lord will grant us the wisdom to know the truth and the compassion to share it in a way to further His kingdom.

During the second week in March we will return to Congo to finish the few months left in our term of service. The Rev. Syngman Rhee, the current moderator of PC(USA), invited us to participate in this year’s General Assembly in Louisville, and that means we will be going back to the States at the end of May, one month ahead of schedule. Simon will be preaching during the morning worship on June 15. Please pray for us that we will be able to listen to God’s voice and share with the 2,000 people attending G.A. the message of reconciliation and peace.

We have been in India for four days by now and have started the work, working through a new set of cultural and working relationships. We pray each day, each moment, that we behave as His children and accompany Jesus Christ as we spend a few days in this vast country of history and culture. Those of you in the States, please accept our apology for not contacting you during our brief stay in Louisville. We will do so properly in June.

Will talk to you in March. Peace.

Haejung and Simon

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