Day 7 - Brazzaville, Congo - Sunday, May 3, 2009

Sunday! Confirmation Day, yeah, it’s Confirmation here in Brazzaville. The Apostle Dzur will also conduct a Confirmation Service next Sunday in Pointe Noire. We picked up the Apostles at 10:15 and proceeded to Tsaba on rough roads again. The RAV 4 barely made it.

After parking and crossing the “creek”, a Sunday School choir greeted us in front of the church. The church was packed. All benches full and even ~ 100 standing at the side and back entrances of the church. We found out that we were 1,800+ in service. I remember seeing this church being built by Stephen Deppner, so I’m guessing it’s about 5 years old. One of three churches we have in Brazzaville for the ~ 300+ congregations of the Brazzaville District.

The Apostles brought their jackets, I’m only a District Elder so I can get away without having one. I don’t even pack one. Apostle Dzur decided to put his jacket on but changed his mind for the service on Monday night. It was “s t e a m y” in the church. 35 + 10° humidity. Sunny and hot. I could see the sweat soaking into his jacket and pants.

To save time, the service was translated from English directly into Lingala instead of English > French > Lingala. Apostle Kabengele did the translation. He will be known in future blogs as Apostle Kab or Kabbie, just so that you know it’s not 3 different people or that they’re triplets. Both Apostles and I were called to serve. The Apostles and I served in French and other brothers translated from French into Lingala. I translated for Apostle Dzur from French to English at his seat while the Apostles were serving.

The word for the service was the same as the Confirmation Bible Text that we had in Canada and since not all of the district experienced Confirmation I will refer to it 1 Chronicles 29:17 about “testing the heart”. Apostle also stated that “Jesus is our best friend”.

A festive congregation including our 75 confirmands supported the 2h15m service. The Confirmation Ceremony was similar to the Confirmation Service District Apostle Wagner conducted some years ago in Kinshasa for 2,000+ confirmands. As each confirmand received their blessing, they shifted to the right to receive Holy Communion. Apostle Dzur gave each confirmand their “own” blessing by stating one sentence over each confirmand as his hand was on their forehead. So, minimally 75 sentences……took about 15 minutes just for the blessing.

After service there was a photo opportunity for the confirmands and then everyone and their grandmother wanted a picture with the Apostle Dzur. It’s interesting to see the occasional brother (not sure?) earning a living by taking pictures and then handing out “tickets” to claim their photo at a later date for an amount. Of course this is “cash in advance”. I’m sure there are photos that are never claimed.

Have I told you how expensive it can be in Congo (Africa)? Maybe we as visitors and expats only “frequent” places that are really out of the reach of an average Congolese but things are expensive. OK to have fou-fou or manyok or rice with a little gravy + (don’t forget) baguettes wouldn’t necessarily break the bank but, outside of this, nobody can afford the prices in Africa. The issue is tax/duty and transportation of goods. Some luxury items have 100%, 200% or even 500% duty on them. Whether that’s the official duty or includes “formalities”, it really doesn’t matter. Think about a $200 (CAD) keyboard costing $1,000 (USD) here in Africa. My music budget can’t afford it and forget the local brothers and sisters. We have 3 keyboards + 1 organ in the whole country. This is a musical country. We need to help them somehow!

Service started around 10:30 AM + 2h15m + 30m (photoshoot) = 1:15 PM. By 1:30-1:45 PM, the three of us, four of us, six of us (it changed all afternoon) were in the Apostle Dzur’s room at the hotel until 6:30 PM.

Aside; this is where I have to explain that some things cannot be explained. Really there are things that need to be kept confidential and private. Some of these stories may come out one day in conversation but some things are better left unsaid. So if there are holes in the blog or where it seems that the blog just stops or isn’t detailed enough, there’s a reason. The above paragraph is an example where 5 hours went by, it wasn’t nothing, but it’s not something the whole world needs to know either. Other than that, I’m trying to be as candid and observant as possible. Problem is that, all of a sudden, I can’t keep up with the daily blog (I’m writing this in Douala, Cameroon on Day 12).

Now back to our story…..

While in the Apostle’s room, we needed to summon one of the brothers. To ensure discretion, we asked him to go and buy us some croissants and bring them up to the room. I’m sure glad he did. Some of the best croissants I have ever had in my life. Only about 2,000 calories each and these were plain. Imagine the chocolate or cheese ones. About a pound of butter in each one. I like to exaggerate. This became our lunch for the day. Oh yes, that and beer. Don’t be surprised! Yes, we drink beer. Three reasons; it’s cheap (cheaper than pop and water), it’s usually cold (and cold beer is great in hot weather), and we like it! And on top of that, it’s available everywhere. Congo has 3 main brands; PRIMUS, MUTZIG and NGOK’. I think I mentioned before that in Rwanda I had one beer in 3+ days. Well that trend has changed. I think I broke Rwanda’s tally in about half an hour. Without going into an exhaustive explanation here, PRIMUS is owned by Heineken and is found all throughout Congo-Brazza, CAR, Kinshasa, etc. It may even actually identify you (in Kinshasa) from which district you come from. MUTZIG is based on a European recipe and is really good, and so is PRIMUS. NGOK’ (le choc) is actually a local word for “crocodile” (also on the label) and has a “dry” taste. My least favourite but I guess beggers can’t be choosy (as long as it’s cold). Ironically, all three are brewed at the same brewery, so there’s no real competition just everyone has their taste.

The beer is about 500 CFA (XAF pron. SAYFA) each (at local joints and at “beer stores”, double at most restaurants) and contains basically the same amount as 2 beers in Canada. 500 CFA = $1 USD. These are Central African Francs. Unlike the FRW (Rwandan Francs) that are unique to Rwanda, CFA (XAF) is a currency that is shared by all Central African countries except Congo-Kinshasa (DRC). This includes ¾ of the countries that Apostle Dzur is responsible for so it makes it a little easier to only have to carry one currency for three countries (Congo-Brazza, CAR and Tchad). The best exchange rate is Congo-Brazza so I was happy that this was my first stop of the three. OK, if you don’t want to read of illegal activity, close your eyes and read the next blog. Yes, we sometimes exchange money on the “black market”. By doing so we get more local money and, in turn, save the church money. I don’t know how “black market” it is because everyone knows where it is and I even now recognize “our man”. Along one of the major streets downtown as you approach “the Beach” where the ferry and private boats take you across the river to Kinshasa, is the “Currency Exchange”. Instead of 500 = $1, you can get 510, 515, 520 or even 525. As long as you have “current currency” and nothing from the “Jesus series”, really it should be the “Judas series” as he was the one to exchange Christ for money. OK, I know a little bad taste (I’m stuck in Cameroon, what do you expect?). You can exchange USD or € into CFA or back. The reason it’s so close to “the Beach” is because you may also need to exchange CFA into DRC Francs and often those traveling need foreign currencies. It’s funny. All of the “money changers” sit on these folding chairs all in row on about 300 mettres of sidewalk. I think if I would have taken a picture, they would have thought I was the police or spy and trouble would be brewing.

I digress. Eventually (~ 7PM) we went to The Chinese Restaurant. Many places are names like that. The Chinese Restaurant, The Buffet Restaurant, The Lebanese Place, The Indian Restaurant because often we cannot remember the real name. Climbing two floors up an interesting building and we arrived at The Chinese Restaurant. Guess what we had? SOUP! We did “true Chinese (family) style” and kept ordering until we were full. The four of us were there together; Apostle Dzur, Apostle Kabbie, Apostle Kalala and myself. Supper’s on me tonight. Running out of money!

We ordered some chicken, pork, beef, rice, (can’t remember what else), oh yeah, soup. Now I said we ordered chicken, pork, beef but when the Apostle saw the RAT running out from some corner back under the table (about 6” long), I had a sick feeling to my stomach. It was time to stop ordering and eating.

Back to drop me off at Hippocampe and then the Apostles went to Olympic. I slept from 11 till 4 and then up for 2 hours and back to bed for another 2+.