Yesterday was a lot of sitting around and hoping. Now that we have arrived at Nundu I know why we waited the extra day. The road was long, slow, bumpy, and very muddy. I’m so glad God protected us from getting caught in the rainstorm while on the road. We crossed 7 rivers with water (they seemed like creeks once we came to the RIVERS we had to cross). We crossed 3 RIVERS! By crossing I mean actually going down one bank, though the sometimes, cover your wheels, get the body of the car wet, water and climb up the bank of the other side. There were stretches of road that were just filled with a few pot holes. There was other parts that were all mud and no road, some places 1-2 ft deep. I, along with the Congolese women, were amazed at Alice’s driving. I kept telling her how great she was doing. She would just reply, “I’ve had some practice.” It was 6 hours before we pulled into the mission station but Alice filled the trip with stories of her and Randy’s life and about their time in Nundu. They were great stories, I loved hearing them. They were interrupted though by continual greeting of many onlookers and fellow travelers. “Jambo” we would echo back and forth. As we neared the station the “Jambo” was replaced by “Matthewson!” I was so surprised by the fame of my travel buddies.
Once we arrived the crowd of men grew and grew. A pastor prayed for us after singing at least 3 stanzas of an unfamiliar hymn sung in Kiswahili.
Cleaning and unpacking took us all evening stopping only for dinner, then back to work. Bucket “shower” and now time for bed. This is a beautiful place and I’m excited to see the station tomorrow.
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