Louis (or Friendship and Loyalty)

When Douglas lived in Bunia in the 1990s, he had an employee named Louis* who cooked him delicious meals and ran the house.  Louis is famous among expat missionaries in Bunia for his wonderful cooking and for his gentle and happy spirit.  He has always believed it was part of his ministry to serve missionaries in this way.  He has a real gift, and he uses it in service.

When Douglas moved back to Bunia -- with Jennings -- Louis came to find us.  He had been told we were coming, and he wanted to know when we would need him.  It was several months before we were in our own place, so we had to keep putting him off.  In the meantime (we later found out), he had job offers from various United Nations employers, where he could have made very good money.  But, he said, he had to wait for Douglas.  The U.N. also would have required him to work Saturdays and possibly Sundays.  He does a lot of work for his church, as an evangelist and in child education, so working all weekend would have been quite a hardship.

He's been working for us for a little over a month now.  We could not be happier.  He does wonderful work, he takes care of many of the time-consuming aspects of daily life in Congo, and he is a joy to be around.  He teaches us a lot about the history of this area and about the church.

A few weeks ago, he came to Douglas saying he had a "dilemma".  He had been offered another job, running the kitchen of the guest house.  It would be quite a good position: interesting work cooking for a variety of guests, bringing a salary higher than what he makes working for us.  We told him that we would support whatever decision he made.

A few days later, we asked him about it.  He said he had talked to his wife, and they had decided to turn it down.  Again, he would have been working Saturdays and some Sundays.  And his wife and he both want him to keep working for Douglas.  He said they remember well how Douglas helped them, back in the early nineties, when their third child was born.  It was a difficult c-section delivery.  Douglas, he said, dropped what he was doing and came and spent the day at the hospital with them.  He remember that Douglas didn't get any food that day, and he even had a nose bleed.  They were so touched by his kindness that they still talk about it.

We will do our best to "do right" by Louis.  He certainly is doing right by us.

* name changed for privacy