26 August

Yesterday night the Straw family, Steve, Alace and their three kids Joey, Megan, and Sam came in. We all went to the airport and watched their plane land. We got their attention while they were walking between the plane and the building in that bridge tunnel thing that they attach to planes and waved. They came in about midnight and it took a bit for them to get through the visa line. We all went back to the Solvigs where they are staying at the guest house for a few days.

 

Today we all met up again and had lunch and then went to the beach.

 

Lunch was cool though—they had some food for the Straw’s and Solvig’s there, so we got food  and brought it back and ate with them. We got a roasted chicken that had garlic and carrots and things stuffed in it and then rosted in a little rotiserie on the side of the road. We got fantastic fresh bread too and made sandwiches. It was really tasty.

 

The beach was nice. I walked with Meredith and Alace for a bit. And then I listened to Alace and Lisa talk about Lisa’s work at Bongolo. I met Lisa last night too. She went to the airport with us all. She’s a nurse at Bongolo, but she’s headed to the US for a few months to travel around and talk. She’s really nice and is very excited about the things that God is doing at the hospital in Bongolo. She randomly met a French Ex-pat who now lives here in Gabon who introduced her to one of the president’s sons who was in the coffee shop they were in.

 

I just rested on the beach because I’m trying to get over a nasty little cold. Yesterday I felt awful. But I’m doing quite a bit better, but now it’s turning into a gross chest cold thing. Thankfully Meredith had some cold medicine (I’ve gone through two little packages of different kinds that she had, and I’ve got one left, but unfortunately Meredith thinks she’s getting it now...)

Anyway, we came back to the Solvig’s after the beach for a cookout welcoming party for the Straws. There was another Missionary there, Romy, who is originally from Holland, but she’s been in Gabon for I think 10-11 years now (I forget which). She works at the Bible School here and at the clinic. We had a really long conversation about why I’m here and how I know God called me to Gabon. She was really encouraging, and explained that she understood that hard to describe pull that God puts in you. It’s funny how so many people that I meet understand exactly what it is to be lead by God and to know beyond a doubt where he’s showing you to go or what he’s showing you to do, and yet there doesn’t seem to be any good way of describing it and certainly no way of proving it.

 

She told me how she ended up here after working with her husband in Nigeria for a while. Then they went back to Holland for 2 years before getting ready to come to Congo, but then the war broke out and it turned out that there was a perfect spot for them in Gabon.

 

She encouraged me to really take in everything I can here, and encouraged me that God would show me what I’m supposed to do.  It was really nice talking with her. She lives just down the road from us too.

 

The Straws are really nice also. The weird bit is that Steve has the same name as my dad and plays the drums and guitar... Alace likes books and we’ve already talked about Dante’s Inferno a bit, so she’s pretty much fantastic. And there kids are really neat. I talked to Joey a bit last night and then Megan today. She joined Meredith and I in our D’jino Pamplemousse (grapefruit soda) club. We’re all a bit addicted to it. Meredith said they only make it here though, so I don’t know what I’m going to do once I get back. That’s a bit in the future though!

 

There were other missionaries there tonight too, Sarah and Garret and their three little boys. I didn’t talk with them much. I guess they just felt God calling them here and they came without knowing French or anything. They’ve started a church and have a translator to help with that problem.

 

It looks like the plan for me right now is to go to Bongolo for a bit to help out a missionary family. They are both doctors and they have two little kids and I’d help watch the kids. It looks like I should get a chance to help out in other ways while there too. I’m pretty excited about it. I think that next week we will be able to talk with them and hammer out more details and hopefully work something out, but for now that’s what we’re looking towards.

 

Alright, well I’m off to bed early tonight so maybe I can get over this cold!

 

Jessica