Happy New Year

We've reached the end of another year... As we reflect on 2012 - we can say it has been an incredible year for us. God has taught us a lot, and He's been good to us.

We plan to spend more time reflecting this evening and celebrating the start of a new year, as well. We hope that you have a safe, joyful time with loved ones.

And we'll try not to eat as much as we did on Christmas!

with love,
Noe and Bethany

Christmas in Kampala

This is our first Christmas as a married couple, and our first Christmas in Kampala! 

So here is a little of what we've been up to.

Merry Christmas!! 

with love,

Noe and Bethany

Pizza in Entebbe

A neighbor's tree... Looks Christmas-y, doesn't it?

Enjoying the nice view of the lake

Eating more pizza

Learning the violin

At the lake

Relaxing at a cafe 

Writing songs

Yummy yogurt

So what's going on?

Hello family and friends!

We hope you had a good Thanksgiving with family and friends. We celebrated in Beni with Stevie and Chris, David and Kassie, and a new young couple Ryan and Kate, who joined us here in early November. It was a good American Thanksgiving in Congo!

We had mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, cauliflower, sombe, rice, steak (yum), cake and even a pumpkin pie! It was a huge feast and one that we enjoyed as we just spent time together.

But we also were worried for and praying for people in and around Goma as there was tension there during that time. As of now, reports say that the rebel group has moved out, and the government of North Kivu (which had temporarily been relocated to Beni) is back in Goma as of Monday. So we wait to see what will happen to bring lasting peace to that area and the region as a whole. People are tired of conflict, struggle, violence, and war. We pray that we will see healing soon.

Things in Beni remain peaceful, quiet, and calm. We thank God for that blessing as other cities saw violent protests against the government and M23’s ability to take over Goma. In Beni, the protesters  stayed home. Typically protests begin / are encouraged by university students who may damage and destroy public (and private) property in a way to voice their frustration. But in Beni, the students said they would not attend class for two days, and encouraged other students to stay home and let their voices be heard in a peaceful way. This was encouraging to the people of the town – it showed a new way of doing things.

On another note, we are not writing this blog post from Beni, but while on a much-needed vacation, in Kampala! We left Beni early on Sunday morning after finishing up many responsibilities at UCBC and home. We arrived safely in Kampala on Sunday night and are enjoying the electricity, rest, and rain. It’s both hotter and rainier here in Kampala… It rained about five times yesterday, and it was so warm and sunny as well! Doesn’t feel so much like Christmas, until Christmas songs come on the radio!

On the way to Kampala, we went through a little section of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, hoping to see elephants near a lake that they frequent. It was around mid-day so we didn’t see even one. However, we did see several hippopotami (is that plural for hippopotamus?) in and near the lake, baboons along the road and in trees, wild pigs, water buffalo, impala, kob (bigger than deer), pink birds in a salt lake that looked like flamingos from far, a small, but fast, young crocodile crossing the road, and wild zebras!!!! It was such a beautiful start to our vacation. We also loved going through the Virunga forest in Congo before getting to Uganda – it’s gorgeous too. The diversity of God’s creation in this area is amazing.  

We are happy to have a little time off. It has been a long several months so this time is so wonderful. Since our wedding in March (and for months before!) we’ve been working non-stop. We plan to be here with a family until after Christmas, before heading back to Beni and work.

We hope that each of you are having a good week. Thank you so much for your prayers for us, for North Kivu, people around Goma, and for the country.

As Christmas approaches, our prayer is that we will not only remember Christ’s birth in this month… But that we would live as His reflection – proclaiming His birth, life, and resurrection – all throughout the year.

Love,

Noé and Bethany

On Saturday, we visited Mama in Oicha, before traveling the next day.

There were so many baboons...

Baboon in the tree

At the Equator!

Lynn Hybels: Collision between the West Bank and Congo

Hey friends

Check out this beautiful post by Lynn Hybels last month, sharing about her calling to and experiences in, both the West Bank and the DR Congo.

It's moving and parts of it brought me, Bethany, to tears. It's lovely. Hope you enjoy it!

Blessings to each of you this week!

With love, from us

A wonderful day

October 16th started out like most days. We woke up before our alarm due to the brilliant sun shining in our bedroom. It was 5:40am.

Noé told me that these are the longest days of the year. Not sure how long it’ll last but it’s already been at least a week… We’ll try to keep track and let you know!

We talked a little about the day ahead of us, prayed together, and started getting ready to leave for work at 7:30am.

Getting to UCBC, I did what professionals should (not) do while waiting for my outlook to download new emails – went on Facebook. :)

Nothing terribly interesting, but I did have a message in my inbox from Hannah – Becky is in labor!

I shared the news with Noé (he’d prayed for her and the baby at home that morning) – we excitedly rejoiced knowing that soon we’d have news of the birth of our little nephew / niece! 

And then I went back to work.

It actually was a fairly productive day, in spite of my almost obsessive checking of email to see if anyone had sent us an update! Nothing arrived before we left to go home around 5:30pm. So, we went home and started to make dinner.

On the menu was a delicious peanut sauce that Noé introduced me to not long after we got married (yay!).

Before getting in the gate, Noé’s phone rang – it was his brother Bethuel. I heard Noé tell him we just got home from work. As I went in the gate, Noé turned the motorcycle around and said, “I’ll be back!”

Wait, what?! He had the biggest smile on his face… He promised he’d be quick, since it looked like it would storm momentarily. With an “I love you!” he left.

So I went to the house with David (me having somewhat of a grumpy attitude – because I wanted to go too!). We started getting things ready to make our dinner:

·         Charcoal for the fire (thankfully, David started it!)

·         Rice – for the boys (see next point). We remove the chaff, and as many stones as possible – in hindsight I can say that we did a poor job with the stones that night :(

·         Potatoes (Hannah Elizabeth, I think I’m turning into you – rice is just not my favorite thing lately!) – to peel and boil

·         Veggies – tomatoes, onions, and green peppers (we need to buy garlic and carrots!)

·         Peanut butter – from peanuts we roasted and then ground into our own delicious peanut butter the day before.

So I peeled the potatoes while David started on the fire. By this time the rain was coming down like it wouldn’t ever stop. I had David bring the fires (or two small stoves) into the house so that we didn’t have to keep going between the house and the outside kitchen in the rain (poor kid, he was soaked).

We put the potatoes on the fire and I started cutting veggies. First tomatoes. And then one of the green peppers. David began picking through the rice. And he went running for the gate since he heard the horn of the motorcycle. Shortly after that, Noé came onto the porch by me – totally drenched (and I thought David had been wet earlier!).

After changing – Noé came back by me holding something we hadn’t seen in over two months. MY PASSPORT!

His brother, who had been helping us with connections in Kinshasa knew that a friend was traveling that day, and asked them to carry our passport (which, rather than staying with the Embassy, had been safe at the home of a close family member – whew!) – to Beni. But he didn’t tell us it was en route.

So when Bethuel called Noé it was to tell him that the passport was at his house – in Beni! He’d gone to get it from the airport himself not long before calling us. He said he wanted to make sure they actually sent my passport and that there was a visa in it before letting us know it had arrived!

Noé opened it up to show me that it really was my passport (my hands were covered in tomato and green peppers) – and went to the visa that Congo gave us… It was really there!! Three years. Haha!

So for the next three years, I won’t have to deal with any of the Congolese Embassies to get new visas… No more $500 bills every six months. Although this one cost more than $500 – it will be MUCH cheaper in the long-run!

And the receipts were there too. Apparently this visa costs $200. So for all of the money that we paid – the official office only got a percentage of it… Oh, Congo.

But – we have my passport back at last! And it actually has the visa stamped and signed (with a lovely Congolese postage stamp on the visa page – who knew there were stamps here?).

Well, after all, I went back to cutting green peppers. They smelled so good – they were picked the day before. Two of my fingers were starting to feel a little strange but I must have cut them while cutting the veggies. And then I cut the onion up. And one more tomato for good measure.

Noé started on the peanut sauce preparation and then I went to wash my hands – the strange feeling was annoying. A little later, more of my fingers felt weird, almost hot… And it gradually (in spite of several hand washings) turned to a burning sensation.

The soap and water were not removing whatever was on my fingers… which was spreading to most of my fingers. I got out the Fells Naptha soap that Mom helped me buy in January (removes oils!). Didn’t do a thing. Then it was getting painful just to be near the heat of the kitchen. Noé suggested I wash my hands with alcohol – good idea, but it didn’t work.

I ran my hands under cold water just for the relief it brought, but that was temporary. Started fanning my hands as the “heat” kept going up. Noé suggested we try lemons – it smelled way better than the alcohol but was just as effective, sadly.

It was now 7pm, dinner was all ready – Noé finished up the rice and peanut sauce with our veggies (which, I had him taste – they weren’t spicy!), and all was on the table. I couldn’t hardly sit at the table without putting my fingers into a bowl of water. It did little to soothe the burning.

I wanted to call Mom or Dad – to see how Becky was, to find out if the baby was born (it would have been 12pm in Chicago), and to ask Mom about a solution to the burning! But we didn’t have a lot of phone credit and decided we would only make local calls.

Noé grabbed a handheld fan and started trying to help my hands “cool” down. David said that sometimes when he or others cut hot peppers and got the oils on their hands, they cover their hands with cassava flour. It hurt putting it on and didn’t change a thing (after 10 minutes – how long were we supposed to wait?!).

Noé wanted to take me to the doctor. I didn’t want to go (burned by green peppers? No way!). And it was still pouring. So we agreed to call the doctor. He suggested Vaseline (we didn’t have any) or palm oil (we have plenty of that!).

I spread it all over my fingers, and the palms of my hands. After about 15 minutes, it seemed like the burning had spread to the palms of my hands (yep, dumb move touching other parts of my body!). Noé was done waiting and after talking to his brother in law who’s a nurse – he decided to go look for a prescription that Jerlas suggested, at one of the pharmacies.

It was just before 8pm at this point – not even 30 minutes with the orange palm oil all over my hands.

David took over fanning my hands while Noé was gone – the rain stopped just as he was leaving! At about 8:30, Noé was back.

While away, I began to feel a little bit of change in my fingers, especially my left hand. When Noé got home, he was thrilled to hear that – and showed me the 4 or 5 different medications he brought home (including creams, pills and sleeping meds? Haha!).

The “pharmacist” suggested sleeping meds, in case the burning didn’t stop; “at least she’ll be able to sleep!” They cost like $0.25 – not a big deal. We knew we wouldn't use them. One of the creams Noé had been reluctant to buy – it wasn’t what Jerlas suggested, but again, the “pharmacist” – was more like Neosporin. Great for burns… But my hands weren’t really burned… They just felt like it!

The other cream was a topical steroid which probably would have helped a lot. But I knew that the burning sensation was going down – after reading the paper with information on the medicine, some of the pain in my right hand had decreased and it was entirely gone from my left at that point! And the idea of using a topical steroid for hands burned by green peppers – just didn’t seem justified.

So we opted to leave the palm oil on my hands – it seemed to be working after all! And at 9pm, sat down to eat dinner.

Everything tasted great. I ate holding a spoon with my palm oil-covered left hand since my right was still burning (not an easy thing to do I tell you!). The food was a little cool by that point… But it was in no way spicy.

What in the world?! Yeah, we still don’t know.

So after dinner, we prayed with David, said good night and I washed my hands! By that point I felt only a slight burning in 2 of my fingers in my right hand – hooray for progress!

It was then 10pm, ready for bed at last! So we decided to call Dad and check on the status of things there. He sounded exhausted and asked if we got his email (No?! Why?!).

Isn't she precious?! 

Becky and Jon’s baby had been born! Alexandria Marie Brown. :) Sounds adorable, I know.

So we talked to Jon briefly – it seems that we called while he, Dad and Mom were eating lunch when Becky and Alexandria rested. Noé and I found out that she had been born at 12:13pm (less than three hours earlier). And if we had called when I originally wanted to – it would have been 13 minutes before the birth. Ha – not good timing, in other words!

After a few minutes we hung up and my formerly-oiled hands felt so much better… But still burning just a little. So we put on some Neosporin just in case – and went to sleep... knowing that it had been a full, amazing day!

Becky and Jon and Marcus had their little girl, Noé and I got my passport back, we found out that palm oil has some incredible ability to soothe burns from weird peppers, and I had the satisfaction of knowing that I correctly guessed the day that little Alexandria Marie would be born!

Thank God for wonderful days!

*By the way – we woke up the next day and all of the burning in my fingers was gone, as was the redness of my skin! Hooray!

September update - in October!

Hello!

We have finally remembered to upload our September Quarterly update! It's a little late... But can be found by clicking on this link!

Please continue to pray for Eastern Congo and the country as a whole. We praise God for continued protection and peace in and around Beni. But we can't forget those in need.

With love,
Noé and Bethany 

With a lovely pastor's wife who blessed us in our home

August Update

Hello dear friends,


If you follow the links below, you'll find some information from us, at last!

The first one is our recent report, here: August Update

As well as our prayer card, here: Prayer cards

Please check out the links to these documents above, read them, share them if want, and remember us in your prayers. We long for God's people to be united in prayer... Not just over us, but together in prayer in all things.

If we're united in prayer, then we'll see the power of the Lord moving in and through and for his people. 

And although students aren't in class right now, we've still been working the last month and a half. But we hope that for the next few weeks we'll be able to have a little time off... We'll still be online occasionally, just not as "regularly!" 

Thank you! 
With love,
Noé and Bethany

June Update

Dear Friends,

The latest update (and the first one in a while) is completed and ready for you!

June 2012 Report

Please read it, share it, and enjoy it!

With love,
Bethany and Noé

More wedding pictures

Here are some more... 

Our chariot 

It was a packed house!

In the church - almost to the front

Lots of people were outside the church as well!

Harvesting some of our peanuts!

At our garden

In the car, on the way to the Congo

The family shopping for fabric!

Near a salt pond in Uganda

Right next to the road! So cool!!

Nathan and Sarah admiring the view from the guesthouse room

All of us in our safari van :)

They are kind of freaky.

Hilarious sign near the National Park in Uganda

At Lake Victoria

with love,
Noé & Bethany 

A few Wedding Photos

Dear friends and family - 
Enjoy! 

Arriving at the office for the civil wedding

After the civil wedding

Outside of church

We tried to see the mountains - didn't, but got a good picture anyway :)

One of the many advertisements for currency exchange.

After touring around UCBC, the family took a little break

Mom captured us "walking" down the road :)

At our guesthouse overlooking Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda - breathtaking.

Mom helping out in the kitchen!

Going to the civil wedding ceremony

Family celebrating our arrival

Outside of the mayor's office

The mayor, officiating 

Noé's Mom welcoming Bethany's Mom & Dad

More celebrations after the ceremony

Outside church for the rehearsal 

Sarah witnessing the wedding

Another currency exchange

Dowry discussions

Part of the dowry

More talk between the families

We're married!!

Love Noé and Bethany 




*updated 31 May 2012