World Missions

Dear Friends,

Last week I wrote that one of the teachers I work with lost her older brother. This week I went to my first funeral since I have been here in the Congo. Well, it was not exactly the funeral but it was what they call, “La Veillez” ( I probably spelled that wrong, but I think it means something like mourning). What happens here is a bit different than what happens at home when someone dies.

This is how it was explained to me: More »« Less

Dear Friends,

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit another primary school. It was a very interesting experience. The program director from the school had come to my school to give an estimate for some more desks (we have so many students now that we need more desks for them). When he met me he asked right away if I could come and visit the school where he works. I thought sure why not, it could be fun to see another school and meet the children there. So saturday morning one of the teachers I work with came and took my roommate Josephine and I to visit the school. It was a very nice visit. They had asked all of the students to come to the school that day, so we got to meet the students as well as the teachers and staff of the school. They showed us around their compound and told us about the programs that they have at the school. This school has a lot of students who have been abandoned or are orphans, and students who for one reason or another haven’t been to school in a long time and so they are not at the level that they should be. There are also some classes teaching skills such as sewing.

The thing that stuck out to me most though was when the director was talking about some of the challenges they have at the school. One of the things they struggle with is getting the children to understand the importance of going to school. There are many students who choose to go and break rocks into smaller pieces to earn a little bit of money rather than go to school. We were even shown an attendance chart and we could see that during the times when there is less rain and more rocks to break the attendance at the school drops considerably, then when it starts to rain more the attendance at the school goes up because there is less opportunity for the children to go break the rocks. Oh yeah and these are children that are 6, 7, 8 years old that are going to break the rocks. When I heard them talking about that I just couldn’t stop thinking about how sad it is that children have to make the choice between going to school or breaking rocks in order to survive.

Back at my school, things are going very well. Many of my students are beginning to greet me in English when they see me and I always have lots of children asking me if today is the day I will be coming to their class. Pleas keep one of the teachers I work with in your prayers, her name is Lydie and she found out yesterday that her older brother has passed away.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski

Dear Friends,

Busy weeks and even busier weekends make for a very tired Tracy, but the good news is I can see more calm weekends in the near future and all the activities equal so many great memories.

Last week I started teaching English to the primary classes. So far the classes have been going really well. The children really enjoy learning English, everyday there are many children asking me if I am coming to their class today. Each day I go into a different class and work with them for about an hour.

Over the weekend there were several activities. Saturday morning was a seminar for Sunday school teachers and youth leaders. It was good to see many people that I know from different churches around Brazzaville, but unfortunately I don’t think I really got much out of the seminar. Of course this could be because not long after the seminar started it started raining and it was raining hard. When it rains here it is very loud and it makes it very difficult to hear anything.

In the afternoon we left the seminar for a youth concert. The Youth Choir in Mansimou was having a concert and they invited the junior timbrel group from Nzoko to play. The concert was a lot of fun. The children all sang really well. When I listen to the children sing I often wish I could bring them all to the US to put on a concert there. Perhaps the most exciting thing about the concert though was when the power went out in the middle. It got very dark, like I couldn’t see the person next to me dark. It also got really loud because when the power went out everyone at the concert started singing and dancing. It was like a big party.

On Sunday I got the chance to visit another village with the Chief Secretaries. I thought the last village I went to was difficult to get to but the road to this village was way more rough. From the time we pulled off the main road to when we arrived at the church, we had to stop about 4 times to put more water in the engine because it was overheating. We were driving on a very narrow dirt road. At times there were lots of trees on both sides and it felt like we were really in the jungle, and at other times there were specular views on both sides. During the service there was a time when they allowed the children to ask me questions. Unfortunately this didn’t quite work out as planned. We were thinking the kids would probably ask questions about where I am from and how life is different there. But instead I got questions like: Our women’s group doesn’t have a flag, what can you do about that? and Our school doesn’t have desks, what can you do about that? and We want to learn English too, why don’t you come and teach here?

Thank You again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski

Dear Friends,

My summer vacation ended quickly when school started on Monday. My last couple days have been quite hectic and tiring, but it is a good tired because I am glad to be back at school and working with the children everyday. There are many many children at the school. The Director told me Monday evening that there were close to 200 children the first day and there are still more coming to sign up. This is way up from last year, where we had just over 100 children at the school. I am not sure how they all fit, but someone it works out. More »« Less

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. More »« Less

Dear Friends,

I am sorry for letting so much time pass since my last update. It seems odd but since I have been able to access the internet from home I have been forgetting to send updates on what has been going on here.

The month of August has brought me some great memories. The first weekend of the month was a territorial music festival. It was fun watching all of the different groups perform, but it was also a long and tiring day. It was probably the longest meeting I had ever been to; there were 34 numbers on the program, and the meeting started at 10am and finished close to 3pm.

The next weekend: More »« Less

Dear Friends,

So, Saturday afternoon I am squished in the middle of an African bus, sitting in between two seats, bumping along down the road, on my way to the farewell service for the Territorial Youth Secretary, and the topic of conversation all around me is the Officer (Pastor) moves. Who is moving where? Who is replacing who? and so on and so forth.

More »« Less

Dear Friends,

This weekend Congo had their presidential elections. It was interesting because elections in Africa are very different from elections at home.

On Sunday, voting day, everything was closed. Everyone was supposed to just stay home or go out to vote. I joked with the kids that we switched the days this weekend, because we even had to hold church on Saturday morning instead of Sunday morning. So, we said that Sunday came before Saturday this week.

But I think the biggest and perhaps the saddest difference between elections here and there is the lack of enthusiasm or excitement about the election. Basically most people here were not that excited about the election other than they wanted to make sure the right person won so the country remains in a peaceful situation. Although there were thirteen candidates, that didn’t really matter because the president was going to win, and if he didn’t he would make sure he did. It seemed to me like the election was just for show.

Its good to live in a country where I feel like my vote counts.

Things are going well with my english class. I have about 7 students depending on the day.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski

Dear Friends,

This weekend while most people back in the USA were celebrating the July 4th Independence Day, The Salvation Army here in the Congo was celebrating Founder’s Day. Saturday afternoon there were meetings at all the corps (churches), an officer (pastor) from a different corps came to teach about William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, and his mission for starting The Salvation Army.

Then on Sunday there was a divisional united meeting where hundreds of Salvationists were encouraged to stand up for the Mission. Christ has given all of us a mission and we all need to stand up and follow it. (If you are not sure what that mission is, then you need to look no further than Matthew 28:16-20).

So, that is the latest news from The Salvation Army Congo Brazzaville Territory, but what is going on with Tracy?

Since school is not in session now, upon the request of many people, I have begun teaching English lessons, open to anyone who would like to learn English. So far, I have two students. I was a little surprised at first because several people have told me they want to learn English from me and they are going to come. I am told that there will probably be more this week, and hopefully more people come. But the way I see it, even if I only have two students I will be able to get to know them well and hopefully God will use me to be a blessing in their lives.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Tracy Pilewski

*UPDATE: Since I wrote this letter, I now have 6 students in my English class.