Living in Africa is an Adventure

Sunday we remained in Bujumbura and were blessed by a church plant that has been established there. The church is an inspiration for Africa as there are missionary pastors sent from Nigeria, Kenya and other countries who are fully funded by their sending churches! Africans are challenging each other to mobilize their own people for change and for Christ. The worship was an amazing experience which reminded us that God goes before us AND He is behind us, he is with us every step of the way! This was a much needed reminder for what was ahead of us.

Monday we started our adventure to Gitega, the city where we will be living. Our van started out with us and all of our luggage. Just under half way to Gitega, we had to make an emergency stop as suddenly our van started smoking inside. We all piled out of the van and us “muzungus” became quite an attraction sitting on the side of the road. Quickly, children surrounded us and eagerly watched our every move. The hardest part was keeping the kids safely on the side of the road….which really, there is not much of a side to stick to! Our van’s radiator overheated so it had to get cooled down. Luckily we had 3 boys who could run and get water to drench the radiator to cool it down….smoke was pouring out of the vehicle! After cooling it for ½ hour, we all got in and started on the journey again. I suggested we stop to let the engine cool longer as the road we were travelling was mostly driving up a mountain side, but our driver wanted to keep going. A fIew minutes later, smoke started coming again….so we all piled out and sat on the side of the road. This time, the van was not going anywhere so two taxis were sent to pick us up. After sitting in the sun for 2 hours, the taxis arrived with a good drink for us and we were able to pack all our luggage into both cars!

As we continued on our travels, we had an encounter with the police which prolonged our already tiring trip. Because most of our luggage was in 1 car and we were all in another car, the police tried to say that our cars were not together! Imaging that! Where else would the taxi driver get a car load of luggage from Canada? The police then asked for a bribe….Charles agreed to pay if they gave him a receipt…instead of 5,000f, they said with a receipt it would cost us 50,000f. Charles insisted we needed a receipt. We prayed while our drivers discussed with the police. Awhile later, they came back saying they were letting us go…without paying anything! We continued on our way with the last leg of the trip uneventful. In the end, what should have taken us 2 hours, took us almost 6 hours.

We arrived in the early evening at our house we will be renting. Everything went smoothly for getting settled into the house and we had a great meal waiting for us when we arrived. Tuesday we spent the day getting settled and we were able to unpacked a bit. We also checked out the school for our kids, which is only a 10 minute walk from our house. We were surprised to find out how advanced the kids at the school are. In grade 1, they learn handwriting and they start multiplication / division tables! By grade 2, everything is in the long handwriting and they are doing all their multiplication/division tables by memory. Joshua is also attending school, and he will be having homework sent home! We will have to hire a tutor to help get the kids caught up with the other kids, but with a little work, it is possible.

The first day of school started off an exciting adventure for all the kids. We left home at 7:15 as school starts at 7:30am. As we entered the school area, we were immediately surrounded by a mass of kids who were intriqued by the “muzungus”! It was a bit overwhelming for each of my kids to have their heads and arms touched by a mass of  kids who rarely see white skins.  The teachers do their best to get the kids away but there are so many that when 5-6 leave, they are replaced by more curious eyes and hands. There were no tears the first day, except for mine! It was a challenge to leave all of my kids in the care of someone else. By God’s grace, I made it through the morning. Joshua goes to school 7:30-12:00 and the other kids go 7:30-1:00. We did not send any snack for the kids, which we learned that at this time, we need to send a small snack for our kids and the school is agreeable for us to do so.

The second day of school did not go quite a smooth! Elijah was crying and Joshua would not let me go! We eventually were able to get them settled and according to the teachers, they all did well the rest of the day. On Tuesday and Thursday, Savana and Elijah go back to school for an additional 2 hours. Starting tomorrow, 4-5 days a week we will have a tutor come to help Savana and Elijah get caught up with what they need to in school….this will be an additional 2 hours of schooling each time! Hopefully it won’t take long for them to get caught up.

Another adventure we had to day was looking for a vehicle. We took a few vehicles for a test drive…and yes, I got to drive in Africa! I was so paranoid as there are very few rules here. One driver told us, “this road is one way”. I asked him how would I know that road was just a one way…..his response….”This is AFRICA!” Oye..at least the roads in Gitega aren’t as busy as the ones in Bujumbura so we should be able to get comfortable here before driving in the big city. The process is definitely an African process for buying a vehicle. We stopped by one grocery shop and talked to the lady to see if she knew where we could buy a vehicle. She phoned her husband and in a few minutes, we had guys bringing cars/vans/SUVs right to us! We are still in the process for finding the right vehicle for our family so please pray for us as we work through this process.

Tomorrow we hope to get to GIA to meet staff and students and start to fulfill our roles at the school.

 

God Bless,

       Charles & Darla Balenga

For those who would like to donate towards our mission, you can donate on either YFC Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website labelled “Burundi Mission” at the following links.

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate

http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate

  
 

Flood

We went to the Youth For Christ office on Friday and had a great time meeting with the staff, Freddy the director and other fellow missionaries, Josh and Nadine.

While we were there, we got a call that we needed to return to the guest house we were staying in. Earlier in the day, we went to have a shower but the water was out. In the process, the shower tap did not get turned off all the way......and we ended up with a flood!!

Water filled the shower area, over ran down through the hallway, ran through the living room area and out the front door....it was when the cooks saw water coming out the front door they knew something was wrong. This was the first time I saw the benefit of having all tiles and cement flooring.

We have to thank God that there was only one of our pieces of luggage that got wet in the process! Things could have been a lot worse. We have to thank God for his protection of our belongings.

Travelling to Africa with 4 Kids is an Adventure

PACKING

 

Our last few days in Edmonton were very crazy!! It is true, things do come together at the last minute! We had been trying to sell our Dodge Journey the month before but THE DAY before we departed, we had a buyer. Between completing work, packing for Africa and packing the house, there was little time for sleep. Through the difficulties of dealing with tiredness and uncertainties, God showed himself to us in many ways. We had encouragement and wisdom shared from friends who have walked the path of being missionaries. We had friends come and offer to help us pack and clean….even on our last night, a family came over at 10pm and helped us pack and clean until 2am….Jeannette, Hannah and Yan…we thank you so much. We also thank Deborah and Mark for giving us the opportunity to use their house to stay while we were packing....you are such amazing people! We are also thankful to my sister, Donna, and Ryan for all their help with packing, cleaning and driving us to the airport.

 

TRAVELING

 

We made it to the airport at 10am Tuesday where again, God’s mercies were showered upon us. Our check in went relatively smoothly, security was uneventful and we got settled in the first of three planes. We were amazed as to how well all our kids travelled! Elijah really shone through….he is my quiet one but he sat in his chair, figured out he seatbelt system, figured out the TV system and then helped out his brothers. It was good to see him thriving on the plane. Savana was also a big help with Joshua, which made the travel a bit easier. Lastly, the stewardesses were amazing and so helpful! They were encouraging, they spent time talking with the kids in French, they helped us wherever we needed. This was our experience with all three plane rides. We flew Edmonton to Montreal, then to Brussells, then to Bujumbura….our destination! We were met at the airport by the YFC team, as well as some other friends.

We arrived at 9:30pm and the local temperature was 26 degrees C! Many of you are familiar with the African way of doing things at the airport….thankfully, we had no issues. Usually there are people hanging out at the luggage pick up area who “help” you and then demand money. Even when Micah and Elijah were pushing carts with large pieces of luggage, these men seemed to stay away. Praise the Lord, ALL our 12 pieces of checked luggage made it to Bujumbura without even as much of a dent; including my guitar. (Before we left, a good friend, Evelyn, had the fabulous idea to pack diapers around the guitar for extra padding….helped me get extra diapers on the trip and protected the guitar as well.)

 We made it through the Bujumbura customs without having any of our luggage checked…this made for a much quicker process! After our visas were looked at, we were allowed to go. Prior to our trip, the Burundian Embassy granted us free visas for 1 month for coming to do volunteer work. Having these visas made our arrival process much shorter. We were met by the YFC team, as well as some other friends. We were able to fit all of our luggage into two vehicles and we were on our way to the YFC guesthouse! On our way to the guesthouse, from the airport, Savana says to me. “I thought we were coming to help in Africa, we haven’t helped anyone yet!” I guess she is ready to “get to work”!

FIRST NIGHT

Our first night in Africa was a bit interesting. The kids went to bed at 10:30pm (which is 1:30pm AB time) and at 2:00am a thunderstorm came and woke all the kids up. Needless to say, we were up the rest of the night, ate breakfast at 8:00am, and by 9:00am we had the kids lay down for a sleep. All the kids slept until 2-3pm….hopefully we will have a bit more “on schedule” night!

We spent the afternoon just hanging out and catching up on more sleep....and exploring the bugs. Thankfully we have not had an over-exposure to bugs as of yet. Other than the routine ants, and the odd fly, we have met "geckos". Luckily the kids have just seen the small ones...hopefully they will get used to them before they see the larger ones! Joshua is the only one that seems to be sensitive to bugs at this time. Please pray he gets used to them quickly.

At one point in the day, Savana, says, "mom, my ears are funny". I asked her what she meant. She replied, "the sound goes in and out, in and out". I replied....that is the sound of peace and quiet my dear....no TV, no radio, no noise except the crickets in the background! As well, Micah asked me "why is there snow in Canada, but so hot here in Africa"......I could only give  a brief answer as I had to think about it!

We also have explored new fruits!!! Small, sweet bananas are a huge hit, as well as fresh pineapple. Where we are staying right now, we have an avocado tree, an  orange tree and ?dragonfruit? tree in our front yard! Pretty amazing to be able to pick fruit straight from the tree.

PLAN

We plan to stay in Bujumbura for two more nights and then head to Gitega. Tomorrow we will venture out with the kids and do some exploring....maybe even see some hippos at the river!?! Overall, we are thankful to God for his Blessings, for His direction, and for his provision in this venture for our family. Please continue to pray for us and our needs. We are still raising our needed financial support to be here, if you would like to contribute, you can do so either through Bridges of Hope International, or Youth for Christ Edmonton websites. We are also praying that God will provide a vehicle for us while we are here....we need approx. $7,000.00 for this.

THANK YOU for being a part of this venture with us. We would love to keep in touch so please let us know what is happening at home and in your lives. It is after midnight so I will end with this. God can and will do things immeasurably in your lives, just let go and give Him the opportunity. You never know where you will end up!

 

Tickets are purchased

We are now counting down the days....January 21 is the day we leave! So much to do before then....starting to cancel accounts, clean out the house, and pack. Each day I think of more things we need to do...it's amazing how tied we get to things here in Canada.

We are still needing to raise more funds. Our hope is to be able to stay for a year in Burundi but right now we will plan to come back in the beginning of July to do some more fundraising for a month or two and then go back. God is in control of everything, and we are trusting in his leading in all this.

This Saturday, January 11, 2014, Ethiopian friends are having a fundraiser at their place.....just west of Edmonton off Hwy 16....starting around noon and will go throughout the afternoon! There will be an Ethiopian flavour to the afternoon but it will be a fun time of food, dance, culture and making new friends.All are welcome to attend, please let me know if you and your family would like to come so we can make sure we have enough food. It will be a time where Charles and I will also share about our mission to Burundi. This will be the last event before we leave! If the Lord is leading you to be a part in this adventure with us prayerfully, please send us an email so we can keep in contact with you; if He is leading you to financially be a part of this, you can donate through either Youth For Christ Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website....please earmark donations with "Burundi Mission". A special thank you to everyone who has already decided to walk this journey with us!

The kids have returned to school for 2 more weeks...which will hopefully give me a chance to get more done! Micah and Joshua are home but they are pretty good at entertaining themselves....or I may ask them to help mommy pack :) Not sure how that would go!

I have two to three more shifts to work and then I will be dropping to casual status at the hospital. I will return within the 6 month requirement to work a few shifts.

We ask you to keep our family in your prayers over the next couple of weeks as we prepare to make this move. We especially ask for prayer regarding our house here in Canada. We find out tomorrow if it is sold...the family is just waiting to hear back from the bank. If this falls through, we have a management company to rent our house for us while we are gone. Pray for God's will to be done in all of this!

We encourage you to keep correspondence with us as we appreciate hearing from each of you....this will especially will be important once we are in Burundi...it will be good to share with our kids what is going on in Canada!

Thank you and God Bless,
              Charles and Darla Balenga

Preparing to Go to Burundi

Hello everyone,

     As we continue to prepare to move to Africa, I am constantly reminded of how much work there is still to do in the preparation process. I am one step closer to figuring out the whole blogging thing....which has been a process. The following is a list of prayer items:
       Our house has not yet sold...there is a family who would like to purchase it but they need to see if they can get a mortgage. 
      We are having one more fundraiser event on January 11, 2014....it will be at an Ethiopian friends house so there will be an Ethiopian flavour to the afternoon. (They will do the Ethiopian coffee custom). All are welcome to attend. Contact me for further details if you would like to come!
       Please pray for our funding. We may need to either postpone our trip until we can raise more funds, or we may have to go for a shorter time and do more fundraising and then return to Burundi for a longer period. Youth for Christ Edmonton is accepting donations on our behalf as well as Bridges of Hope and ERBC.
     
    Thank you for all your support. We continue to trust in God in all things.

  God Bless,
      Charles and Darla Balenga


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