Our hearts are very full. As you know, we were scheduled to leave on Monday to go to Kananga. We felt strongly about going where the Lord needed us the most. We were happy to go, even though we were a little overwhelmed at what the conditions would be. When I read what the previous couple's meals were in Kananga my heart was heavy. I realized that Ed's stomach would probably suffer, perhaps severely. (He had major ulcer surgery in 1973 and have over half his stomach and intestines removed.) However, he didn't want me to say anything to anyone. He said the Lord would take care of us.
We have moved out of our penthouse apartment and have everything we own packed in boxes. We are staying in what was the "servants' quarter" for a few days, which is a small apartment where we store extra stuff for the mission.
We wrote to tell Elder and Sister Billings, our predessessors, and told them that we were headed for Kananga. 2 days ago we received their responses. They strongly felt we could do more for the program if we stay in Kinshasa. Eric, our director, was very nice... but he still wanted us to go to Kananga. We were with our mission President and he asked us to forward the Billings' letters to him. Unbeknown to us, he took it to the top, which in our case means the church leadership in South Africa and the men who are over all the construction in this half of Africa. They reviewed the plans for our Construction Training Program and made a huge decision. We just received an official email written to all of us who have any interest in this program. The email said:
"The training program will continue as it is, in the regions of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi / Likasi but we are asked to do things more simply in the two Kasai . (one is Kananga)
There are several reasons for this:
- The construction of these two area will be simplified and much less adapt to training .
- The purpose of the training is to guide members towards future jobs, but the construction of these regions does not like the techniques we teach in the program LDSBC . The training is therefore not suitable for these areas .
For these reasons we change our organization and we will ask to Elder and Sister Gates to stay in Kinshasa."
They will use some of our students who have been in training for over a year with the Billings and us, to continue teaching classes in the remote areas, and we will continue training students and future teachers here in Kinshasa!
With all humility, we feel Heavenly Father is happy with our willingness to go. We are very happy to make our new home in the servants quarters, with hot water, a washer and dryer, a shower, and tile floors... and healthy food to feed my sweetheart...
Life is great in the Congo!
We have moved out of our penthouse apartment and have everything we own packed in boxes. We are staying in what was the "servants' quarter" for a few days, which is a small apartment where we store extra stuff for the mission.
We wrote to tell Elder and Sister Billings, our predessessors, and told them that we were headed for Kananga. 2 days ago we received their responses. They strongly felt we could do more for the program if we stay in Kinshasa. Eric, our director, was very nice... but he still wanted us to go to Kananga. We were with our mission President and he asked us to forward the Billings' letters to him. Unbeknown to us, he took it to the top, which in our case means the church leadership in South Africa and the men who are over all the construction in this half of Africa. They reviewed the plans for our Construction Training Program and made a huge decision. We just received an official email written to all of us who have any interest in this program. The email said:
"The training program will continue as it is, in the regions of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi / Likasi but we are asked to do things more simply in the two Kasai . (one is Kananga)
There are several reasons for this:
- The construction of these two area will be simplified and much less adapt to training .
- The purpose of the training is to guide members towards future jobs, but the construction of these regions does not like the techniques we teach in the program LDSBC . The training is therefore not suitable for these areas .
For these reasons we change our organization and we will ask to Elder and Sister Gates to stay in Kinshasa."
They will use some of our students who have been in training for over a year with the Billings and us, to continue teaching classes in the remote areas, and we will continue training students and future teachers here in Kinshasa!
With all humility, we feel Heavenly Father is happy with our willingness to go. We are very happy to make our new home in the servants quarters, with hot water, a washer and dryer, a shower, and tile floors... and healthy food to feed my sweetheart...
Life is great in the Congo!
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