The Van Booms went to Africa
Thursday, March 30, 2017 |
| The Boys wrote in their Journal each day, here was the start of one entry |
Congo isn't exactly a tourist destination, but its a place to come to experience a part of the world vastly different from your own.So the boys got passports for the first time, a ton of vaccines, invitation letters, visas and lastly tickets.
First time on an airplane and the Van Boom boys, ages 5, 8, 10 and 12 came to Congo.
We had all 10 of our squished into our 3 bedroom house. It was a bit like a Tetris game getting everyone in but we did it.
I am a drill master when it comes to adjusting to time changes so they arrived late one night and the next day I had them across the road working on a house that we are currently doing construction on.
It was such a blessing to have Bryan and the rest of the family here helping with all the construction work and it was a breath of fresh air to have their enthusiasm and help.
Nick then took Bryan to the Hanger to show him a day in the life of the WDRC Program and while there Bryan helped design a set of stairs for our office addition that is going in at the hanger. Lindsay brought us some paint items and help us one day put on a paint party for all of the ladies! 
It was so much fun to have Lindsay there to hear about some of the daily struggles that us ladies face living here in Congo and hearing from a 'supporters' point of view how what we do is perceived from those looking from the outside in. We were also able to take Lindsay fabric and art shopping one day and get tailor made clothing for the whole Family! 
Some of the time that was here was just regular Congo life. Learning how to deal with the power being off all day, what to do when your car breaks and it takes weeks to fix or when you don't have the right tools for the job.
They had the privilege as well to go and visit a Care Point with a ministry Christ's Hope; that does some great work supporting at risk children in Kinshasa. They even got to walk home from the centre with their new sponsor child to see the conditions of which she lives. I believe it was a humbling experience to see a family the same size of their own living in a space the size of one bedroom. It really puts into perspective how a lot of the world lives compared to North Americans.
Then Nick got to really show what MAF does here in Congo and we took the Van Booms out to Vanga. It is a village with a mission hospital that we often fly to. We were able to fly in, see the village, swim in the river, tour the hospital, go to church and have an authentic Congolese meal. 
After our visit to Vanga, we had a few days to rest and then they headed off to South Africa for a Real Safari Adventure! Thank you so much Van Booms for your visit and for the encouragement you were to us and our team here in Kinshasa!
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| Off to South Africa! |
1 comments
Thanks for sharing this experience with the VB clan there. God's blessings on your continued work there!
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