Jambo from Congo!

After a long 30+ hours of traveling we arrived safely in Goma, DR Congo! It was difficult to imagine what things may be like here until arriving. Surprisingly, it seems to fit some of my imaginations despite being far different from Arusha. I am amazed by how a group of nine of us, with very unique and separate skill sets, can all arrive and immediately be plugged right into service. Our nurses have each jumped right into their respective specialties, and our doctors have already performed a number of surgeries. Yesterday, our general surgeon amputated a leg! Our IT specialist has already brought great joy to the hospital with basic accomplishments such as installing two printers. Steve has been busy filming interviews, and This morning Pastor Paul delivered a sermon in French. I have been preparing for two sermons (in English, thankfully) that I will give tomorrow morning (MN time = Thurs. @ 10:30 pm) and Saturday morning.

One of the neatest experiences so far has been reuniting with Chelsie Frank. Chelsie is a friend of mine from the Univ. of Minn. days. She has been on staff with CPC as our 'Congo liaison' for two years and is just starting her third year. She is fluent in Swahili and fully in her element and running in her area of ministry. We spent today, and will continue spending time with the kids here at Heal Africa. With Chelsie able to translate i feel i am able to communicate with the kids much more easily than before. Today the kids at the school within the hospital all received letter written by the 4th and 5th graders at CPC. They were so happy that they wrote back! We also gave them puzzles that were made by kids back home,which they absolutely loved.

Please be in prayer:

Thankful for a safe arrival, a wonderful experience so far, total health for everyone on the team so far, and thankful for a wonderfully warm welcome from the people at Heal.

Asking for continued strength, wisdom among our medical team, and for God's presence during the next two mornings that i will be speaking at the church.

Lots of love,
Andrew