Lebamba, Porcupine and Painting

Tuesday, July 28
Shopping in Lebamba for food and supplies is always an adventure for us. Joanna purchased some "cabbage" which looked like collard greens to us. She also bought sweet potatoes which look similar to the sweet potatoes we purchase from Wegmans. Bananas were available and Joanna bought some since the bananas on their trees are not yet ripe. We saw Efusa, Joanna's shop-owner Muslim friend, who helped us purchase the above produce. Cecado which is the four aisle supermarket in Lebamba had butter this week so Joanna bought 5 pounds at $5.00 per pound. The Island store had brown eggs this week and Luke bought 1/2 pound of nails there too. Still no bottled gas but diesel fuel for their Toyota Landcruiser was available and Joanna bought some to replenish their two tank supply at a "full service" gas station which means they pump the gas; no self service available.

Saw many goats in the roads, many hens and chicks and lots of roosters running free. Joanna tells us that everyone knows who owns which ones.


Luke & Sarah slept over with us in our apartment in Triplex One. We had pasta with red sauce but no cheese (Aden, we thought of you!). Played a couple of rounds of Uno; had three desserts (1/4 Hershey Chocolate bar, twizzler, and a Gabonese fried dough ball) and went to bed late.

Wednesday, July 29
Slept in late. Had breakfast in our apartment with L&S. Began reading a couple of Luke's school books aloud with both L&S.

Checked in with the research fishermen again. Got a tour of their equipment and some of their recently caught specimens. They gave L&S 3 fish each to add to their tanks and a special Cornell lab tee shirt showing the electric fish including the one named after Bongolo!

As we continue to interact with the missionaries and the residents, we become more amazed at what God is doing in this place. By God's grace, lives are being changed; folks are coming to the Lord and people are treated for their diseases and injuries at the hospital.

Most nights after L&S go to bed between 7:30 and 8, we are able to spend some time with Joanna & Keir. It is a great time for us to share what is going on at home with our family, our church, our friends and with us personally. We hear stories about some of the joys and challenges they have been through. We treasure these times.

Thursday, July 30
The painting project has started! Dave, Michel, Luke and Joanna began painting the shed on the property. It ann the house will be a beautiful yellow on the top half with brown at the bottom. Four pints of yellow tint were required to change the color of 3-1/2 gallons of white paint... much more than anticipated. The sides of the house required a little more work as Dave endeavored to tape newspaper up at the windows to lessen drips, spills, etc.

Paul & Meladee invited us all for a dinner of bar-b-qued chicken on the grill. We enjoyed getting to know them. They are among the newbees on the station and hail from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Paul is the new maintenance supervisor.

Friday, July 31
The second truck arrived with the remainder of the food order from the container. Christmas in Bongolo in July! Most everything arrived including enough peanut butter to feed an army! Plus a recliner, a sofa, cake and brownie mixes galore, a table saw, a welder and some medical office equipment and of course, the canned and dried goods for all the missionaries for the next 12 months. The distribution went smoothly with the new system.

Back to the painting project! Dave, Michel and Luke painted in the morning. Dave has a new system for covering the windows and trim; he's using masking paper now that was left by previous short term missionaries.

Joanna, Sarah & Diann drove into Lebamba to purchase more yellow tint. Four stores later we had the required number of bottles to finish the job (we hope!).

Danny, the son of the hospital pastor, highschooler boy next door, rode home with us from shopping with his 50 pound bag of rice and a few groceries. We mentioned that we'd really like some lettuce and more "cabbage". He knew that Pastor Jean Marc had some. We stopped; Danny made the deal for us and even cut the produce fresh from the garden by the hospital. Later he joined the painting project.

In the afternoon, Jacqui came to teach Joanna & Diann how to prepare a porcupine. Fortunately, she had cleaned and cut it up earlier in the week and had frozen it. A lot of garlic and a two onions made the porcupine taste and smell delicious. Jacqui also brought mashed plantains which teamed well with the "cabbage" and the sweet potatoes. We had our first homecooked-in-the-Thelander-home Gabonese meal.

The Thelander house is a revolving door of folks coming and going with needs or just stopping to say hello. Tonight Keir got a call from the new opthamologist on the station, Dr. Wendy. She and hubby, Eric, have a rat in their attic pantry"...what should they do...". Someone else needs a repair on their computer and so it goes.

It is wonderful being here watching Luke and Sarah interact with their Gabonese friends and other MKs and with each other. They have matured so much since last year when we visited. Luke has lost 3 teeth and has a fourth one very loose. Sarah sings most of the day, just like her Aunt Deborah did at that age. They are a delight!