Back in Bunia!! (by Jennings)

A year or so ago, I drafted a blog post reminiscing about all the things we love about our life in Bunia, and wondered if we would ever get back to that "normal" life... the life we loved, that was interrupted by my cancer.
Well, here we are!!! We are so thankful to God that He has allowed us to return.
Much is the same. Same house, same furniture, same employees, same dogs, same office. We're all a bit older, and I do feel the effects of the cancer treatment on my body. But it's been mostly a very smooth transition back to our Congolese life.

Front of the house (our entrance is on the right)

Dogs playing their weird little game

Kitchen wall above counter, with the new tea towel my stepsister gave us for Christmas. I love the light in the morning, and just love our house generally

Front of the office where we work

But much has also changed. The house was empty for about 6 months. The kitchen and bathroom drains were both clogged when we arrived, so we called a plumber immediately to fix that (yay!). The yard is overgrown, and we're working on that bit by bit (I'm learning to use pruning shears, and Douglas is getting a good workout with the wheelbarrow). We aren't receiving city power, so we run the generator for a couple of hours every night to keep the fridge going. Our landlord is helping us get reconnected to city power, and we're going to build a more robust back-up system. The fence between us and our neighbors (who are building a 5-story building) had partially broken down, and the drainage ditch between us was clogged, so that our compound flooded when it rained. We've had those things fixed. Also... a family of rats had moved in while we were gone. All things to work on, bit by bit. But the house very comfortable for us.  

At the office, the biggest change is that our little group is growing... and this is a wonderful change! Since we left in November 2018, a new couple have joined our group from the U.S., and a woman from the U.K. There are two new Congolese staff members, and translation teams are coming through more often. When there are Scripture checking sessions, those of us in the translation office find other places to work so the session can be in our office.

Douglas is working with his teammate Dr. Bagamba as he has for the past 9+ years, in Stragetic Research. They've just held an International Mother Languages Day (February 21) conference. Douglas gave a prensentation on results of research he and Bagamba have been doing on use of the Ndruna New Testament... more on that in a future post. Douglas is also our Field Security Officer, another major role.

We celebrated Douglas' 60th birthday with friends here! It was the third such occasion, after we celebrated with family in Birmingham and in Greenville.

Birthday celebration for Douglas

My (Jennings') work has changed quite a bit. Until July 2019, I was the translation coordinator for a group, an admin job that took up most of my work time and that I found very stressful. Last July, I trained our new coordinator, a former translator. He is doing a wonderful job! I am now back to being a translation consultant only, and I couldn't be happier. We now have a team of consultants and consultants-in-training in our office... 3 expats and 3 Congolese... who can share the work of decision-making, planning, working with teams, leading workshops, etc. I have to say that it is wonderful to be out of the "driver's seat". I've often thought that I work best as a team member, not as a leader. We also have two new people who worked in languages in other parts of Africa, and they bring new ideas of how things work elsewhere. 

Translation Department meeting at office

New coordinator (front) leading a workshop for translation consultants

In April, I'm planning to work with a new translation team in Isiro, on Genesis. I'm also hoping to participate in a trauma healing workshop for children while I'm there. Trauma healing is an area that I'd like to explore. There is such a tremendous amount of trauma here, from war, rape, disease, etc. 

I decided to come back working 75% time, rather than full-time, partly because I'm still a bit weak from the cancer treatment and partly to have time to do things other than office work. That has given me the freedom to do things like visit a dear friend who just lost her husband. I've also started giving basic ballet lessons to a young American girl... that has been a refreshing and fun thing to plan and do! (The next time you're stressed or worried about something, try googling "ballet for 7-year-olds". It's the perfect remedy for stress.) We've also been going to exercise at the United Nations gym. They have weight machines, some cardio equipment, and a sports field that I like to walk around.

Sunset from the MONUSCO (United Nations) sports field. The large building under construction is our next-door neighbor.

The town of Bunia is also changing. There seems to be a lot of construction.. new homes, businesses, etc. The road from the airport into town is now fully paved.

The main boulevard through town

On the down side, there has been horrific ethnic fighting outside Bunia has led to thousands of displaced people, in camps on the outskirts of town. Here is a link to a summary of the situation. There are also many children begging on the street. The main local Protestant denomination has a house and ministry to street boys, and Samaritan's Purse also works with street children. 

Future developing: While we were gone, many exciting things happened. A new class of translation students started coursework at Shalom University. When they finish, they will help start translation projects in their languages. Our team of translation consultants is also growing. One consultant-in-training finished his training and was named a full consultant a year ago (this requires making a detailed application to the Francophone Africa regional administration). Two more women have started as consultants-in-training. They all work with translation teams, helping them improve their work and get it ready to be published. 

Rev Masumbuko (left) working with Havu translation team in Goma

We are thankful for the time we had in the U.S. in 2019, for the excellent medical treatment I received, and for time with family and friends. It was harder to say good-bye this time, since we had had so much time with loved ones there. It is a great privilege to have more than one "home". But it also means that transitions are bittersweet... being present with some means being absent from others. We're also more aware of the fragility of life and of health. We want to make the most of the time we have here.