They Taught Us

by John Yoo

John Ludden and I were privileged with the invitation to lead a 2-day Worship Conference for worshipers and worship leaders from approx. 20 churches in Goma. They asked us to teach biblical foundations of worship, the heart of worship and some practical organization of worship ministry. Leading the conference was as thrilling as it was challenging. There was a moment though, that I hope to remember for a very very long time. It came in the form of a concert of praise to conclude the conference. All of the church worship teams (including our "California Team") gathered in one chapel to sing and worship together in one voice. It started with performances from each church, and gradually grew into lively, united worship as we raised chairs in conga lines while dancing and singing to Swahili praise songs. I closed my eyes for a moment to focus on the combined sound and received a tremendous gift. Our Congolese brothers and sisters were teaching me the joy and strength of worship through the reality of their hope in Christ.

(above is a group photo of the worship leaders who participated in the conference)

Reconciliation in the DR Congo

by Peggy Sue Wright

It has struck me that we keep talking about and encouraging ourselves and others that we need to work with the community, that our God, and thus we need to be, is merciful and just, but how does that work in the context of strife and the devastation that comes in the wake of conflict within a community. How do the women who are victims of sexual violence that HealAfrica works with, work with their community that let them down? How does a community find justice and mercy at the same time? How can reconciliation be done in a Christian context in a place that has so much history and conflict? What can we as Christians who are ‘outside’ of the conflict say anything about reconciliation? What do we encourage in our discussions and technical presentations?

These have been threads of thought and prayer for me since we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. How does a community rebuild and what do we as Christians say to others about rebuilding? How does a community move beyond the horrors of genocide and war without building a cycle of revenge that perpetuates itself down through generations? What does our God say about it? What do we as Christians say, and support? How can we even say anything about reconciliation given our position as ‘outsiders’ without being judgmental or hypocrites?

Listening to the different discussions, preachers and prayer, it seems to me that one of the unique aspects of our God is he is communal and in being communal has to reconcile his triune aspects. But also, and maybe for humans more importantly, he is always reconciling with us as we are all sinners and need reconciliation with him. He achieves this reconciliation with us by knowing us thoroughly and intimately and by holding us accountable. Though there are consequences of our actions that God allows, he also is merciful and through the cross fully accounts for and forgives our sins thus reconciling us to him. For us as Christians and humans maybe this means that for reconciliation to happen, and to even be able to happen, in the presence of some of the worst of human evil and sin, we need to know the perpetrator, and hold them accountable for their actions. We aknowledge that through Christ’s ultimate payment, they are to be forgiven, and that as with us that does not mean there are no consequences, but there is full knowing and accountability, there is justice, and then there is reconciliation through dealing with the consequences and through reconciliation through Christ’s amazing gift of grace.
The picture is from the Garden of memory and reconciliation at the Kigali Genocide Memorial looking out across Kigali. It was one of the things that lead us to pray for and think about what is reconciliation in the face of such history. This town and country has to be able to reconcile the genocide shown in the memorial with the town that needs to function now. How amazing that our God can even take care of this and all reconciliations.

Wheels On The Bus Go...

by John Yoo


Sometimes weird things happen in Goma. They almost seem to us like dream sequences.
I don't know what it's like on the moon, but the streets in Goma definitely have crater-sized pot-holes. Lava rock everywhere. My Toyota Camry back at home wouldn't survive a day here. We ride in a bus. Pascal is our driver. We mostly see motorcycles and other buses on the streets...if you can call them streets. From time to time we see a tractor convoy.

Wednesday's ride back to Maji (where we stay) was ... eventful. At first I thought we were dragging a big rock. Then I heard John Ludden say, "yeah, that's our tire rolling ahead of us." Final Diagnosis: Left Rear Tire. Completely torn off the axle. There we stood on the side of the road - ready to walk the rest of the way home. And then all of a sudden, Joseph Ciza was standing among us. It seemed that he had beamed in out of nowhere. In reality, he was riding on a "moto", saw us stranded, and stopped to see if we were ok.

This was one of our many speechless moments.

Brightness Amidst the Haze

Land of the Long Grey Cloud

That is the Maori name for New Zealand, and it could well describe Goma during July, the middle of the dry season. Although instead of clouds formed by the evaporation of water, these clouds are formed by the fine volcanic dust that hangs in the air. The dust is in and on everything, giving Goma a gray tinge to go along with the gray smoke spewing from the Volcano, the gray lava rocks that form the walls and foundations of buildings, fences, and homes, as well as the roads most people take to their homes. There are, however, starkly contrasting exceptions to the gray. They come in the form of the wonderfully colored dress (vibrant reds, yellows, greens, and blues) of both men and women, the spirited greetings we receive from the HEAL Africa staff, the music at morning worship, and the generally optimistic and spirited personalities of our Congolese friends here.

As clichéd as it may sound, the people are truly the sliver lining of this place on the Eastern border of the DR Congo. Which is why it is so painful and saddening to see and hear how difficult the lives of many are, largely because of those who decide not to be part of the silver lining and instead choose to create divisions and war, tearing at the fabric of their societies at the expense of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children.

This week our team has blended in to the rhythm of HEAL Africa extremely well and this morning I was told by the personnel manager that we brought a “very good team based on the feedback he has received from all of the staff we have had the chance to interact with. At the moment half of our team is in Minova, about an hour and a half east from Goma around the lake. They will be returning this afternoon after a 2.5 day conference for local community leaders with a focus on gender equality.

It is hard to believe how fast this trip has gone by. Just three more days here in Goma and tomorrow is a full one! We will go to chapel in the morning at 7:30 as we have done all week, and then we will split up to go to 3 different churches. Tim will be speaking at our translator Zico’s church, Yvonne will be preaching at our friend Pastor Samuel’s church, and I will be speaking at our friend Bizi’s church. Those services will run from 9-noon. Three hours of church, which I know from experience will feel like an hour at most. There will be a lot of singing and dancing. Than from 2pm – 5pm John Yoo and John Ludden will give an hour praise and worship training followed by a concert of local praise and worship bands, including your very own First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley Goma Team Choir. A full day indeed!

There's No Time Like The Present

By Leah Tang

I’m struck by how time moves here. The sun rises around 6 and sets around 6, every day, every night. There really isn’t anything like an appointment schedule in the clinic, or a sense of highly scheduled days. A few anchors in time exist, but everything else is “tentative and flexible,” just like our mission team’s itinerary.

Some of our team members are meeting with various individuals from outside of HEAL Africa. They have to coordinate their schedule, confirm their meetings, and arrange travel and/or translator availability. Things have to be pretty punctual. Others of us are working with HEAL Africa staff. I am working with the Hospital’s and the Outreach Programs’ accounting groups. Their needs are similar, but different, so I generally don’t try to meet with both groups together. I try to schedule times to work with each of them, but because their workload is so dynamic, our meetings are rarely confirmable. I will find myself juggling the tentative availability of different groups, having 90-120 minute meetings spontaneously, or having afternoon sessions suddenly cancelled. If this was back in the states, I’d be frustrated and fit to be tied. But this is the Goma-Leah and I’m just going with the flow, working things in, adapting, and accommodating to changes.

I’m astounded by the flexibility of the HEAL Africa staff. My initial concern during our first few days here was how much of an impact and inconvenience we were creating for both patients and staff. The staff would drop everything they were doing to tell us about their area, their work, and their challenges. I’d squirm to move on so that they could return their focus onto the patient. Now I see things a little differently. They work things in, they adapt and they accommodate. Patients do get seen and cared for; work does get done.

What do I take away from this reflection? Maybe we are too structured back home. I think that if we could schedule when Jesus returns, we’d probably schedule our activities around it. Maybe things get done when things are “ready” to get done, and not always in accordance with our mortal schedules. Maybe, in a world so fraught with political and logistical changes, the only way to get things done is to be flexible and to let things happen in God’s time. The HEAL Africa staff here seem to have faith that things would get done. As Ryan reminded us in his sermon this morning, “God is always on time.”

Kigali Roosters to Spectacular Lake Kivu

by Charlotte Martinez

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Awakening in Africa...to crowing rooster, of course. Red ball of sun rising over the hill.  Good sleep after after an evening of hilarity with the Lincoln's, Ryan and Liz, who served us a delicious meal of goat and fish brochettes, grilled with veggies and crazy good potatoes.  Re-connecting with John Ludden, his face glowing as he shared his experiences the last four weeks in Uganda.  Ended the evening in prayer together.  Such Shalom.

Today was our visit to the Genocide Museum.  Beautifully, tastefully done.  Painful experience; deep grieving.  Beautiful gardens with names like THE HOPE GARDEN, THE RECONCILIATION GARDEN...rooms of photographs of families and loved ones.  Brutal period in Rwanda, but great hope as we witnessed building and stories of reconciliation.

Fantastic drive from Kigali to Goma.  Some of us kept repeating, "We're in Africa!"

After a lengthy, dusty wait at the border crossing, arrival a Maji was stunning.  We gasped with wonder as we wandered the gorgeous grounds...beautiful gardens, lawns overlooking Lake Kivu.  I still can't believe we're here.

We're Here!

by Leah Tang

Sunday, July 19, 2009

It took us about 36 hours from the time we met at SFO to the time we checked into out hotel rooms in Kigali early on Friday late morning.  There were two red eyes, three plane changes, a "bus stop" in a fourth country (Burundi) before arriving in Rwanda.

I won't give away the events or details since our arrival (you got a hint of that in Charlotte's posting), but I will leave you with some tantalizing highlights:

• Grilled brochette at Ryan and Elizabeth Lincoln's
• The Gisozi (aka the Kigali National Memorial or the Rwandan Genocide Museum)
• The Rwanda-DRC border crossing
• Maji Matulivu and meeting Lyn Lusi
• Singing at Bizi's church
• A skit about the corruption of a pastor...at the ordination celebration of Pastor Bolingo
• Tour of HEAL Africa

We are thankful to have arrived safely and begin our orientation to HEAL Africa.  The people we've met thus far are truly inspiring, both in the challenges they face daily, their commitment to servie, their faith in God, and the love of their people.

We are also so grateful of our friends and family who are supporting us on the trip.  There will be several more posts before our mission is done, so check back soon!