Where oh where Wednesday: the center of Africa

Depending on how old you are, you might know this country as Zaire or Congo. If you know it as Congo, you might have to ask yourself which Congo. This is the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. 

The country started out in history books as a free state, a private “country” owned by Belgian King Leopold II. The atrocities that took place there have continued to shock people throughout the decades that followed - as they became known. The Belgian government took over the colony because of many of these atrocities. But they continued the exploitation of the country until its independence in 1960. 

Names like Lumumba (who was assassinated), Mobutu and Kabila are perhaps well known, each for their own reason. Mobutu was the one who changed the name of the country to Zaire, attempting to return to a more original name. The Congo river was also known as the Zaire. The name came from a Portuguese adaptation of a local language name. 

Kabila changed the name back to Congo. But there are two countries named “Congo”. The Republic of Congo is on its border, which is why it calls itself the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Kinshasa and it is the 2nd largest country in Africa, the 11th largest in the world (according to Wikipedia). Over 124 million people, mostly French-speaking, call this country home. 

Most recently, the DRC was one of the surprise darlings at the World Cup held in the United States. They reached the knockout phase after having kept Portugal to a tie. In the knockout phase they went ahead against England before finally losing 2-1 and dropping out. Their play was exciting and inspiring. 

Memories

We are busy cleaning out the house. The house has sold (within 2 weeks) and we are preparing for movers to come in November so that we can return to the US in December. This is sooner than we first thought, but will work out well. It just means that there is still a lot that needs to be done in a shorter amount of time. 

Most of this is going through all the “stuff” that has accumulated. You notice I don’t say we accumulated it - it just somehow appeared. However it arrived, it now needs to be gotten rid of. Some of that “stuff” is stuff that people can use and we are trying to find good new owners. We have people who have already taken a good bit of our furniture. Other things have found their way to the recycling store. They take book, clothes and anything electronic. 

The hardest thing to deal with is all of the paper. You know the things - all those papers that you saved because it was important (like bank statements from 30 years ago, ALL of the kids school papers and much more). There are also some papers we brought with us when we first arrived. I found them in the cellar where they have been these past 30+ years. And still, we will be taking some of that with us. The rest is going into the trailer to go to the container park with all the clothes that have gotten wet in the cellar and are not useable any more. 

Coming across pictures brings back memories. It is fun to take some time to look through all of those memories - as long as it doesn’t take too much time. Today I also found the letters we sent each other when we were just dating. Airmail letters, the thin paper covered in the tight scrawl so that as much could be said as possible. We came across pictures of us both very young, attending a banquet at York College. There is even one of the concert which was the moment when we first met. 

It is amazing to come across some of these things. But it is also exciting to know that there are still memories to be made. We are sad to be physically leaving our church family, but we are also excited to see what new things will come in this season of our life. 

(Dave Rampton, Keenan McClellan, Scott Raab, Brett Osborne, Bret Carter)

Whensday Wednesday: Day of the little Prince

We missed a Wednesday and have skipped a whatsit, so we have now landed on a Whensday. Yesterday was what’ is called “Prince’s Day” in the Netherlands. This is a sort of political holiday dating back to the first King of the Netherlands in 1814, although the name was originally used for the celebration of the birthdays of the princes. There are all sorts of traditions linked to this day. 

The King and his family show up on the balcony of the palace, but first they ride through the city of The Hague in a golden coach. When they arrive on the balcony, most eyes are on what the queen is wearing. These days people are also looking at what the princesses are wearing, since the king has three daughters. Amalia is the one who will follow her father to the throne. 

Another tradition is all about the politics. This day (the third Tuesday in September) is when the government presents their budget for the coming year. The prime minister carries a suitcase with the plans which he is supposed to present to parliament. But tradition in the last years has been that all of the information in the plan is leaked to the media before it is ever presented to the parliament. 

In the end, the king goes to the Knight’s Hall in The Hague and reads a statement about how the government is going to help things along in the coming year. The statement he reads was written by the governing coalition - not by the king. Of course the current coalition is a fragile mix of left, right, middle and green. It was an interesting speech. Lately the news has told us that the prime minister uses AI to write his speeches, which is why they are so boring or seemingly inappropriate when feelings are needed. 

Still, most people simply enjoy looking at the hats, dresses, and shining gold on display. The kids get a day off of school and everyone enjoys a holiday of some sort. 

Connections

This past weekend was Family Day down at camp. In the past this day was planned at the end of Family Camp, but it became clear that it could be better organized on a different day in order to really focus on getting people together. One congregation in Belgium usually organizes the day and people from around the congregations in Belgium and the Netherlands come to share the day together. This year the day was organized by both Roeselare and Brugge. 

The nice thing about this day is that we all have the possibility to see people we do not see very regularly. In our situation it was also a time to say goodbye to some people we may not see again, since we are moving. It was exciting to see that at least a third of the people there were from the congregation in Maastricht. It is exciting to see the connections that exist between the members of the various congregations and to see new ones forming. 

These connections between brothers and sisters in Christ are so important. In Maastricht we hold a special contribution every 3rd month or so, giving to any need we are aware of. This past month we gave to the church in Colombia who are recovering from a devastating earthquake. But we are able to give because of a sister in Maastricht who is from Ecuador. Her family has connections with the church in Colombia. And so we are all connected to one another and the church there can help those in need. 

Just last week we held our singing day with the church in Cologne and met new people from that city/country. This is something we have been doing for years. We are so thankful for the possibilities to nmeet new Christians from near and far. On this day we met some new brothers from Ukraine who are living in Cologne. But we also re-connected with brothers and sisters from Cologne who we have know since 1991 when we first arrived. 

Connections come in all sorts. As a sign went up on our window that the house had been sold, many of the people that pass by our house every day - walking the dog, walking with the kids, jogging - stopped to talk with us and see if we were really leaving. Some of them are parents of kids that went to school with our kids. Some are just our neighbors. Some just smile and stop to talk when I am out front pulling weeds. The ones who know us stop for longer and wonder about our next steps and the passing of time. 

It amazes us that this passing of time can also be helpful for some. As we plan to get rid of things in our house - which is necessary in getting ready for the move - we are thankful that there are people who can use some of the things in our house. We love helping a young couple and being part of the stepping stone in their young life together. And their parents know others who can also use furniture and more. So the connections help others to move into a new season of their life as we are moving into a new season in ours. 

Our house will soon seem to be regressing to the time when we first arrived. We are moving from moment to moment of saying goodbye to people we know. Our days now are taken up with figuring out what we can keep and what needs to go (and how to get rid of it). We keep running across old memories. But we are thankful for all the connections we have had through the years and are even building as we move forward. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Lucca Brughmans

His name probably doesn’t mean a thing to you, yet. And if you do not follow soccer, it may never really hit your radar, unless the World Cup comes to your city. Lucca, follows a line of many that starts in Genk, just down the road from us. Genk is the local professional soccer club and it is known especially for one thing - training goalies. 

Perhaps you have heard of Thibaut Courtois. He is the goalie at Real Madrid, one of the best teams in the world. But before he went to Real Madrid he played for Atletico Madrid, making quite a name for himself. And before he was in Madrid he played for Genk. He started when he was younger than 18 and moved on as one of the youngest goalies in the game. 

There have been others, who you may or may not recognize by name: Sinan Bolat, Logan Bailly or Koen Casteels. They all started their time with Genk and moved on to internationally known clubs where they have made their name. And now it is Lucca’s turn. Yesterday was the end of the transfer season and Lucca was sold to Liverpool for an amazing amount. 

For the moment he will remain playing at Genk, but soon, if all goes well, he will make the move to Liverpool. There he may enter history as one of the many amazing Belgian goalkeepers: Thibaut Courteous, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Michel Preudhomme, Logan Bailly or several others. 

Lucca Brughman, who is only 18, was sold for a record sum of 35 million euro. He will keep playing for Genk until at least January, but is looking forward to his new adventure in England. In the meantime, Genk supporters are wondering who the next big goalkeeper will be.