What Time is it in Bangui?

This is a free service for the enrichment of your blog reading experience :). Since I've been having so much trouble trying to keep track of what time it is in Bangui when I am posting these blog entries here, here is how to find out. I am posting here a link that you can bookmark on your computer. Hopefully this will help you as you think about what our team might be doing in Bangui at any time.

Have a good time!

Pygmies' Progress

[Blogger's note: The italic portion of this entry was written by Barb Teach, the other was written by Heidi. Enjoy. And please keep posting those comments! Also, on a personal level, it was so good to see some pictures of some of the Pygmies I recognized from my previous trip. And I do have to agree with Jeana, they look a lot better than the last time I saw them. Once again, this is a reminder that our church, by God's grace, is having a tangible impact half way around the world. I praise God for that!]

Monday started off with a visit to Mr. Zokoe, a former government official in Bangui, and now an employee of ICDI. We had to visit him so that he could sign them papers allowing us to leave Bangui (to visit a village of Pygmy people). We were also able to talk with him about his life and share about our lives in America. Without his help, getting out of Bangui would have been extremely difficult. He also picked us up from the airport (back on Thursday), and made it very easy for us to go through customs and leave the airport. We thank God for his help!

After our visit with Mr. Zokoe, we traveled to Mbaiki falls, and had a picnic lunch. Walking through the rain forest, and arriving at the waterfall, was just breathtaking. Walking through the rain forest was a neat experience, let alone seeing the waterfall! We had a full African experience, because it eventually started pouring down rain, giving us our second shower of the day.J Unfortunately, the jeep got stuck in the mud…but we eventually made it out! Thanks to the ICDI employees!

On our way back to Bangui, we stopped at a Pygmy village and spent time playing with the kids and giving the village medical care. We took the kids a little bit of America, because we gave them four bubble wands/sticks. It was great watching them chase the bubble and pop them. We left the bubbles there for them to continue having fun! I’m going to let Barb write about our medical experience there.

Today was the high point of this trip so far because I got to see the fruits of 2007 labors. I was so rewarding to see the latrines finished. Where there had been just rotted trees and some grass, there are homes and some made from brick. So many faces looked familiar. The people looked cleaner but there is still a lot of teaching and instruction. We had great interpreters. Jeana would clean the wounds, Heidi would pour the peroxide on cotton balls and get Neosporin and band-aids or dressing ready and I would dress the wounds. The circumstances are very different from sterile fields in the states. Here, I had to shoo the flies away many times.

We also assisted a woman leper with a huge wound behind her leg almost to her bone. She had several toes missing on one foot and the other only half there. Jeana said she looked pretty good compared to her last visit. We left her all wrapped up and clean.

Before we left, they asked us to see a very sick man. He was suffering from a fever and other symptoms. We gave it our best and I prayed for him. This is why I became a nurse and I will thank God every day that I got to use what talents he gave me for His glory.

Before we left the village we gave medical supplies to the chief and explained again how to use them. Thanks to all who donated supplies. Now I have a better idea for what to bring next time. Thank you Wooster Grace for your support and prayers. It is humbling to be here. This team is awesome to work with. Take care and God Bless.

In His Service, Barb Teach

Tomorrow we are going to be doing medical care at the Mercy Center for the orphans from the Orphan Care centers.

Thank you again for your prayers! (Remember- write us comments! We like “hearing” a taste of home).

Heidi, on behalf of the team.

Send Our Team Some Wooster Grace Love!!

[Blogger's note: to all our faithful readers, 1000 apologies for not being able to blog Sunday or Monday. Right after teaching at 11 am on Sunday I got on a car and drove to Washington, D.C. with my daughter, Carissa, who needed to go there on an unexpected trip to pick up a passport (they messed up on processing her documents!). So I was on the road for 20 hours on a whirlwind "tour" of the Capital and didn't get back home until 11:45 p.m. last night.

Meanwhile, I am posting here the last post I received from the team, which refers to activities from this past Sunday. Also, you need to know that the team was contacted via Skype to one of our ABF's on Sunday morning. Bill Teach shared with me that Barb mentioned she was concerned about her leg, so we need to pray that it will stop bothering her. I know Bill is concerned. And Jeana had poison ivy, which she believes she got on the flight to Paris -- don't ask me how you can get poison ivy on a plane but that's exactly how she believes she got it and by Sunday it was on her hand, both arms and stomach. Please, pray for Jeana and for the whole team to stay healthy.

Finally. If you are reading this, make sure you post a comment to the team. Having been on a few of these trips over the years, I know how HUGE these comments are. They can brighten the beginning of an inauspicious day or put a smile on their faces after a long and hard day (or both!). If you are not a google member, you can still post a comment by doing it anonymously. Make sure you write your name at the end of the message. If it doesn't work the first time, please try again. Let's flood their inbox with messages of love, we can do it!]

Here is the post:

Today was another full day for us. We started out going to one of the Grace Brethren Churches in Bangui. We decided to go to the Sango service as opposed to the French service because we all know a little more Sango than French and the Sango service started at 9:30 as opposed to 7:30. The service was two hours long. Since they don’t have bulletins or power points, all announcements were read, twice: once at the beginnings and once at the end.
We were received by the pastor before the service in what we named the African Greenroom. After the service and greeting people, we again were taken to the Greenroom and given Cokes and Pineapple pop.
After lunch I was able to make a Skype, (a free Internet phone/video connection like the one used when we spoke to Pastor Bob when he was in Cambodia), connection with Tim in our ABF class. Bill was able to see and talk to Barb. It was funny because Tim positioned the computer so that I could see people coming into our ABF room. I would call out to people by name as they came in and say “hi”. It was great to see so many on Skype. New Horizons. It was like I was there and a part of class. Thanks to everyone in New Horizons who talked to me and prayed for us today!
We left after that to visit our 3rd orphan group. At this group we met a 19 year old named Domitil Bekas. He started in this group when he was young. He started when the group did. He is now 19 and waiting for the woodworking shop to be furnished so he can learn a trade. He is very excited about it. The tools we purchased have not yet arrived. Once they do, the shop will be ready to begin training students. It was really neat to meet a young man who will directly benefit form the woodworking shop that our church helped to build and furnish.

I am also including a picture of a little boy who kept beating me at the foot game that is played along the lines of Rock, Paper, Scissors. It was so funny.

We have been giving a soccer ball to each group we meet with thanks to some soccer players who donated their soccer balls. I am including pictures of all three groups we have met with thus far.

Tonight we went to an English service. It is quite a mixed group of nationalities, but everyone speaks English to some degree. There were people from England, U.S., other African countries and the CAR. It was a taste of heaven as we looked around at the many different faces. When we walked in, we saw the Sawers, a family from England working with Wycliffe Bible Translators that we met in 07 when Val and Zac were with us.
It was so cool because they had three children our children’s exact ages and genders. Val and Zac had a great time with them in 07. Zac and I sat with them. Judith, the mom, was up front getting ready to lead the singing and saw us come in and sit with her family. She told me afterwards that it was such an encouragement to see us come in because she sees many people leave, but not so many return. Their 20th anniversary is this week, so we invited the children over one afternoon this week to play with Zac and to give them some time alone. Before we left, we made sure to get a picture of Zac with Peter, Zander and Rachel.


We want to let everyone know that we LONG to see comments on the blog. So, please, please, if you are reading this, leave us a comment. It is such an encouragement to us, and we check it every day hoping to find some there.

Jeana Harley

Loving and Feeding the "Least of These"

Today was as incredible as we anticipated it to be. We headed out early for the Mercy Care Center (ICDI’s Orphan Care Center). When we arrived, we were greeted by 21of the 42 orphans who are sponsored by people in our church. Two of them approached us with bouquets of flowers and greeted us in unison, welcoming us and telling how happy they were to have us there representing all of their sponsors from Wooster Grace.

I must tell you, after staring at their faces on the board I made for our C.A.R. orphans, for many months now, it was an emotional moment standing in front of them and seeing their faces in person. On behalf of all of the children, I send greetings and much gratitude for what you are doing for these kids!
After introducing ourselves, we began the hand-in-the-paint project. The kids had fun putting their hands in the paint and putting their prints on the sheet. We also had them put their hands on a piece of paper which we will bring back for their sponsors. We also had the ICDI staff who works with the children put their hand prints on the sheet. I am not sure who had more fun, the children or the adults!

Several children couldn’t be there because school is out for the summer and many have to go to the family gardens to work. These gardens aren’t like the one’s in our backyards. They are often miles away from town and basically a field in which they work by hand. We hope as we meet with the orphan groups, that we are able to catch a few more of our children, and get at least a traced handprint from them.

We also took pictures of each child to bring back to their sponsors. Then we went outside to play games with the children. Zac, of course, played soccer with the boys, ending up a muddy mess because it had rained earlier in the morning. Barb, Heidi and I sang and danced to more games. We are learning lots of new games to bring back. The children had also prepared verses which they recited for us as well as fables and lessons from school. Zac shared the verses he knew in Sango too.

We provided lunch for the children. Nurse Rebecca and one of the tutors, Flavia, prepared the meal. It was a typical African meal of gozo (manioc root) rice, chicken and beef in a wonderful sauce. Unfortunately, most people don’t get to eat all of that at one meal. This was a special occasion, though, and a celebration.

One little girl, Jemima, looked very sick when we arrived. Barb went right over to check her out. She didn’t have a fever, she was just very lethargic. Others had to carry her around. She had no strength. But as she began to eat, she began to perk up, smile and become full of life.

We asked Williams, the center’s assistant director, about her. He said she it is possible she may have not eaten in a while. Sadly, many times children do not eat for 2-3 days. Even though food is provided to the orphans, there are so many other children in their home that also need food, that it gets spread rather thin. It’s a hard thing, but who can blame a mother for trying to stretch out that food to her own children as well as her relative’s orphaned child?

That should be another reason why we need to do more and not less to help these children. I am including a picture of Jemima here after she ate. (Sorry, the picture is a little dark, but hopefully you will be able to see her beautiful smile). This meal was a great blessing to these children. One boy finished off Zac’s plate. He wasn’t all that fond of "gozo" (manioc root). On behalf of the children, I say a BIG thanks for providing this meal for them!

After lunch, we presented the children with their gifts from their sponsors and some extras we brought along so that every child could have something. They were all so grateful and excited. What a privilege it was to be there representing all of you. It has been an honor to be with these kids too!

The afternoon was spent in orphan group #5. We listened as their leader, Vivian, shared a Bible lesson. They too recited Bible verses for us. Then we played soccer and danced and sang to games. We can’t believe how many different songs and games these kids know. We heard only a few repeated ones from yesterday’s two-hour game time. It’s been fun though. There are lots of games where you seem to be challenging someone else. Most have to do with doing certain types of dances. We white women always seem to be picked the winners, but in reality, we know they are just really being kind. Next to these girls, white women can’t dance. We have video to prove it...

There was one girl in group #5 who just laid down on the bench while everyone else played. I found out that both of her parents died of AIDS and she also has it. Nurse Rebecca is working to get her medicine.

We learned today about the fatalistic beliefs of this culture. People believe that if you have had something bad happen to you like loosing your parents or getting sick, that their must be bad spirits around you. Others then don’t want to get too close to you for fear that they might catch some of those bad spirits and suffer the same fate. This leads to those people who need help the most, being the very ones who are shunned and helped the least. The only times these kids get special attention is in their groups and when people like us come to visit them. Praise God we are here being His arms, His hands and His feet to these children.

I was able to spend a little one on one time with the two children our family sponsors. Ruth lost her father when she was 7 and her mother last year when she was 16. She is really good in sports and likes to play sports at school. She wants to be a nurse when she grows up. She has a very large family with 9 siblings. She is the youngest, but unfortunately her siblings are struggling and unable to take care of her. Mathurine is 10. He lost his father 3 yrs ago. He has many siblings as well. He loves to play soccer and draw. He would like to work as a minister in the government. It was great to get to know them a little.

Thank you for praying for us here!

Jeana Harley

A Voice For Those Who Have None

The morning started with Zac’s arm being eaten by a lion. Luckily, Barb is a nurse, so she was able to bandage his wounds. I’m just kidding! Zac thought it would be fun to play a joke on our readers. It is true that his arm was eaten by a lion, but it is a statue, not a real one. (Let me repeat again, it was not a real lion.) Make sure you see the picture though.

After breakfast on Friday, we went to the Mercy Center, which is owned by ICDI. The Mercy Center includes a medical room, sewing room, classroom, and offices. Nurse Rebecca organizes the medical room, and takes care of the orphans. The sewing room has many sewing machines, operated by orphan teen girls. These girls are taught how to make clothes so they can make an income for themselves in the future. The clothes they make are so beautiful! In the classroom, two tutors teach the orphans who need extra help with school work. There is also a large front yard for the children to play in, including a basketball hoop. J After a tour of the center, we were taught very basic French, by the two tutors, so that we can help the orphans with their school work, too. The best part of the lesson was learning the French variation of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” After we learned the French version, we became the teachers, and taught them the English version. We all laughed a lot and had a great time!

Friday afternoon we went to Orphan Care Center 1 and spent time playing with the orphans. When we first arrived, we sat down and observed the ceremony they had prepared for us. The whole group sang and danced, followed with a time of us introducing ourselves. After we were done, we joined them in dancing and singing. After Zac danced the first time, he was an instant favorite. The girls especially liked watching him. J Eventually, we split the genders and Zac played soccer with the boys, and Barb, Jeana, and I continued to dance and sing with the girls. We are all thankful for the time we spent at the Orphan Care Center because we learned more about the Bangui culture.

In the evening, Jeana led team time and shared what she learned in the morning during her time with God. She read from the book, Unlimiting God, about how joy is fulfilling because it comes from God. It was neat to hear her read about joy, because we talked about how we had seen joy while we were with the orphans. The children there were so joyful despite their circumstances. Their smiles were ceaseless.

Yesterday, I was reading Psalm 10, and found these verses:

"You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

defending the fatherless and the oppressed…" (verses 17-18).

I think these verses describe our purpose here in Bangui. We are allowing God to use us to encourage, listen to, and defend the afflicted and oppressed in Bangui, C.A.R.

Tomorrow, we are returning to the Mercy Center in the morning, and will be visiting another Orphan Care Center in the afternoon.

Thanks for your prayers!

Heidi Biehler, on behalf of the team

[Blogger's Note: My blog is not allowing me to move pictures around the text, so the pictures will generally appear atop the text unless I am able to fix this. I apologize for this incovenience.]

More Pictures from our Team

Today, Friday, June 26, I didn't receive any new e-mail from the team. But I did talk to both Tim and Valerie Harley, who spoke to Zac and Jeana via Skype. Zac is still under the weather but everyone else is doing just fine.

They spent the day with the orphan kids and the kids sang and danced for them. Valerie said that the kids laughed a lot as they saw Zac join them in the dance. Apparently Zac is not too sick to pass up an opportunity to show his "moves" to the orphan kids.

Here are some of the pictures I got from Jeana yesterday. They are of Zac and Barb standing in front of the oldest tree in France, Heidi in front of Notre Dame, the new guest house belonging to ICDI where they are staying and a picture of the team that was taking just after we prayed witht them on the church parking lot as they were headed to Cleveland Hopkins.

Keep praying for the team please. I will post things here as soon after I receive them as possible.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

Day One in Bangui

The Team doing the Paris thing

Thanks for all of the prayers for the luggage to be ticketed all the way through to Bangui. It would not have been fun to have to pick up all of the trunks in Paris. But, the gal at the United desk in Cleveland happily checked on getting them checked all the way to Bangui. She questioned her superior on the ability to do this since we had such a long layover, but since our flight to Bangui was the first, (and only I may add) she could do it. It was so easy. I didn’t have to beg, plead and cry, as I was prepared to do just in case. God answered those prayers!

We had a good flight to Paris where we found the Ibis Hotel, were able to check in by the hour, drop our carry-on’s, freshen up and head into the city. The subway is fun to navigate (ok not really). Once you learn that arrows pointing up actually mean you go down and arrows pointing down mean to go up, it gets better. We did retrace our steps a few times to get on the correct tram. We saw all that the team had requested. Heidi wanted to see Notre Dame. The architecture was amazing. Everyone wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, so that was our next stop after lunch at our favorite cafe. Then Barb and Heidi requested the Arc de Triumph, so we stopped there. We finished the day off with Zac’s request to see the big Golden Arches and have some real FRENCH fries. Then it was back to the hotel to check out and grab our stuff and head to the airport.

While waiting at the gate, we were able to practice our Sango. Some of the Africans returning home on the same flight surely wandered way three women and a child were on their flight. This gave us an opportunity to strike up a conversation. There was one man named Israel who approached us and spoke to us. I asked him if he knew about ICDI (in Sango, I am so excited) and he did. Then Zac said, “Nzapa aye ti mu na mo matabisi ti fini ti lakwe lakwe.” Which means, “God wants to give all men eternal life.” Israel was impressed Zac also knew some Sango. He stopped back a few more times before boarding to talk to Zac. He didn’t speak much English, but it was fun to watch the interaction.

Our flight down was good as well. Zac had a cold before leaving and experienced great discomfort when we descended on both flights. After a little rest this morning though, he is doing better.

We had a great breakfast after greeting many old friends at ICDI and meeting new ones. Maurice is our guest house director and team organizer, so we had a meeting with him after breakfast to go over the schedule. A highlight of the trip will be Saturday when we will host all of the children sponsored by our church for a time of games and lunch. We will present gifts to each child, many sent by their sponsors, and create a display with their handprints similar to the one made by our orphans at Grace Place.

Today yet, we will be helping with an English lesson and possibly taking a tour of Bangui. Ok, I just went into our room and all three of them are sleeping. I am fighting the urge to do the same fearing that I will not sleep tonight. Perhaps the tour may wait for another day.

Thanks for all of the prayers!!!

Jeana Harley

Team Arrives Safely in Bangui!

Hello everyone:

Thanks for your prayers. I got an update from Jeana tonight and some pictures. I tried to post it here but my computer is not cooperating with me. I will try to post again tomorrow.

The team arrived safely in Bangui. Zac had some discomfort from a cold that he already before he left, but after resting he felt better.

From what I could gather, it looks like all their luggage got there without any problem. Praise the Lord!

Blessings,

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
itrindade@woostergrace.org

Team is Headed to Bangui!

Hello everyone:

Our CAR team departed yesterday and they already experienced God's provision in a big way. There were concerns about whether they would be able to check their luggage (not regular luggage, bit trunks!) all the way to Bangui. The travel agent had communicated to them that they were going to have to collect their luggage in Paris, hang on to them for the day until they took their flight to Bangui at night.

Praise God the person at the counter in Cleveland didn't even ask any question but went right ahead and checked their luggage all the way to Bangui!!! This is exactly what we had been praying for.

I just got a message from Tim Harley saying that he had spoken with his wife, Jeana, and they arrived safely in Paris, were able to secure a hotel for a day and everyone got to see what they wanted to see in Paris for the day. They were getting ready to board their plane to Bangui, which is another answer to prayer since the flight had been overbooked by about 20 people!

Please continue to pray for our team -- for safety, unity, and a fruitful and exciting ministry in the lives of the orphans and other people in the C.A.R.

I will keep you posted.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

Bangui... ready or not!

On June 23 a new team from our church departs to the Capital city of Bangui, Central African Republic. While there, they will be working with the Orphan Care Center, bringing much needed relief to staff there and helping with different projects around the center. They will also visit orphan care groups throughout the city and love the children to Jesus.

Please pray for Jeana Harley (team leader), Zak Harley (her 10 year old son), Barb Teach (making her second trip) and Heidi Biehler. Pray for safety and good health for all team members; for them to be a blessing to workers and the children at the orphan care center; for Christ to be glorified through all their efforts; for our church to be impacted through this trip.

I am hoping to put periodical updates here from our team. Stay tuned!

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
itrindade@woostergrace.org