September Update from The Congo

Dear Friends,

Again I apologize for the long time in between my updates. The days seem to be going by so fast. Sometimes I think I feel so used to my life here that I forget I should stop and write about it.

Here is what I have been up to the last few weeks.

The last weekend in August was a Corps Cadet Camp (Young Adult Camp). This was a great weekend of fellowship and Bible Study. I made lots of new friends from different corps (churches) around Brazzaville.

The following week was the youth camp for the Brazzaville 2 Division. At this camp I got to meet lots of children from different corps (churches) around Brazzaville. The camp was help at the High School in Kinkala, which is about 75km outside of Brazzaville. So I got to see a new part of the Congo. Because the camp was help at a High School there was some question about whether it would be ok for me to stay there the whole time, but luckily the night before we left I found out the Divisional Commander was able to make arrangements and I would be able to participate in the camp. During the camp I helped with one of the high school aged groups and also just had a great time interacting with the children throughout the week. Something I will never forget is when we went to church on Sunday. The whole camp walked from the High School to the Kinkala Corps (church) and it was not exactly a short walk. There was even a time where I felt like we were climbing a mountain, or I could be exaggerating a little because I was walking with two young girls and well you know how kids exaggerate when they have to walk a ways.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience camping in Africa. It is very different from home. I knew it was going to be a while new experience when the vehicle taking all of the campers out to Kinkala pulled up and it wasn’t a bus but a big truck. Luckily for me I got to sit in the front with the driver, but everyone else had a very rough ride out to camp. The camp was not actually at a camp, but a high school. So, the students slept on the floor in some of the classrooms and all of the meetings and classes took place outside. Something that really struck me at both of the camps was how much can be done with what seems like so little. Compared to the camps at home it would seem like they really put a camp together with nothing here. But everyone still had a great time and learned some good lessons.

This week there is a seminar for the teachers to help prepare them for the upcoming school year. The first week of October is when school starts so now I am finishing up my summer English class and making preparations for what I will do during the school year.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski