Unh! Unh! Unh! Jesse leaned over the chain link fence and made the
baby crocodile distress call that his father and grandfather had
taught him. Judie, Zach, Neema and I watched in astonishment as all
four of the crocodiles Burundi's "Living Museum" climbed out of their
ponds and lumbered toward him. I found myself hastily stepping
backward. With crocodiles converging on us from all directions, a
wire fence suddenly didn't seem like a good enough barrier. "Wow,"
Judie exclaimed. "I didn't know Jesse spoke crocodile!"
Speaking crocodile, though impressive, is only one of Jesse's many
linguistic feats. These past few weeks he has focused mainly on
speaking legalese, as he has written letters petitioning "His
excellent highness and chief of the commune" and other officials to
obtain the required travel documents for the ten people that will be
travelling with this coming Monday, when they head off on their eight
day trip to take evangelistic films and Bible teaching to seven
assemblies in Congo. Jesse can't wait to be done with all the red
tape and actually be on the road doing what he loves best—interacting
with Africans and sharing the good news. Please pray that he will be
able to get all the needed paperwork for the people and the cars
together in time, that they will have a safe trip, and that God will
use this trip mightily to encourage His people in Congo and to draw
others to Himself. Pray also that Jesse will find the Swahili words
he needs popping into his head just as he needs them—he knows Swahili
but it's been a long time since he had to preach in it…
The rest of us have been dealing with languages too. Judie Fiegel,
who flew in from South Carolina on the sixth of June, has been
teaching English. She taught a group of 14 at Ken and Melli's new
Homemaker's School for girls who never finished primary school because
of the war, and she taught a group of 40 kids from the high school
Sunday School class I work with. (We asked for fifteen but it kept
growing and growing… hooray for Judie's flexibility)! She has been
an incredible blessing to us as well as to her students, who were
encouraged not only by getting to learn some English but also by
feeling like someone from far away was interested in them and in
Burundi.
Since Jesse has been so busy, I have been taking Judie around and
muddling through things in Kirundi. I spoke at the church women's
meeting with a translator but said one sentence myself in Kirundi that
got rave reviews—they even mentioned it in the church announcements:
"Madame Jesse is doing well learning Kirundi—she spoke some at the
Ladies' Meeting. Pray for her that she will be able to speak without a
translator soon!" I am continually amazed at how much it means to
people here that I am trying, and sometimes overwhelmed with the
pressure and desire to know Kirundi NOW.
Zach's Kirundi is improving fast enough to make me jealous—last night
as I finished a Sunday School seminar I asked him to say goodbye and
he said "ijoro ryiza" (goodnight) instead, much to everyone's delight.
Even Micah is getting his fingers in the language pie—cooing and even
making some consonant sounds. He'll get to show off to some of you in
just a few days! Micah, Zach, Judie and I leave Thursday for our
thirty hour trip to the US. Our longest flight departs at bedtime, so
I'm hoping the boys will sleep. Pray for us!
I'll update you on the progress of the Congo trip and how the
preschool is coming once I get to the other side of the pond!
Joy
