Summer 2019 photos with family

2011- Eight years ago, we were waiting for my niece to arrive, and it was watermelon season.

2019 Now, it's my turn and watermelon season again! We're so grateful that God led us to be near family as we wait for little girl to arrive.

It’s sweet to be surrounded and supported by my sisters, mom, and other lovely ladies during this time. It was a lovely shower and I enjoyed sharing some cultural differences I expect to experience in Congo with baby, such as that she must always wear a hat and socks or I will be shamed by well-meaning Congolese friends and strangers alike!

This soon-to-be father celebrated with my dad by getting away into the mountains for some peace and quiet.

For the third Sunday in a row, we’ve gotten to share with different churches about what God is doing in Congo, and it’s been great!

Had some sweet family time with all the Dawson siblings together ! We even got away for a breakfast without kids at a local taqueria. (Missed you, Danielle!) It’s so nice to be present for these moments. At the same time, I missed the funeral of a dear family friend and lamented how living abroad means we mostly miss the big events. It’s a bittersweet journey. Thankful for today !

Mark is still coaching frisbee on this side of the world! Glad that he gets to be part of Sports Camp at one of the churches that supports us. And I love the New Mexico sky!

Last few Congo photos before our US trip

5th annual prayer breakfast for students and leaders of our city is finished! It was a big undertaking, and I’m so grateful for these fine-looking young men who helped make it happen!

First ever ultimate frisbee tournament in Bukavu! Organized by the committee of players who will keep things going in our absence. We love this crew and will certainly miss their energy during our trip to the US this summer.

May photos thus far

Sorry folks, I guess this is getting to be more of a monthly thing than a weekly thing for now. I hope you still enjoy the photos, if you haven't yet seen them on other social media. ;)

We moved into a new house! Here are some pictures of it. We are so happy and thankful for a garden, solar panels, water tank all our own, easy parking, and the list goes on. We’ve been busy settling in and nesting.

Our new place even has a soursop tree! This is Mark’s favorite fruit and is hard to find.

And here's what our nursery is looking like!

Cool, calm sabbath morning in our yard. Especially grateful after our adventure getting home from the evening church service last night! It rained a ton during the service. Cars were stalled on the main road, and so we had to take a dirt road that everyone else was on and there was only room for one way traffic in a lot of places. What usually takes five minutes took two hours! Thankful for our peaceful haven at home.

Our friend Patient runs a food booth at a local university. He wanted to learn how to make Mark’s chocolate chip pancakes, and here they are when Mark taught him how!

Amazing capacity to fill cars to their limit!😮 #justanotherdayinbukavu

 Mother’s Day 2019. God has a unique plan for each of us. Third trimester already! Heading to the US in three weeks to get ready to welcome Baby towards the end of July! 🎉

 Mark went on a hiking adventure to Kaziba last Friday with our friend Frank. This gigantic waterfall is visible from the dirt road, but the outside world knows nothing of it. #congobeauty #greathikes Mark stayed in Frank’s grandfather’s old house, and got some locally produced and roasted coffee for me too! ☕️

April has flown by!

If you are reading the blog and not on social media (facebook or instagram), I'm sorry for neglecting you! I think there aren't very many of you, but you are still worth the time.

April has flown by, largely because it was so busy! Here are pictures from the month!

Dinner: before and after. Fresh Lake Kivu tilapia, pounded cassava leaves with ground peanuts and maize meal cooked to gummy « fufu ». My favorite local meal!

Team building with the new cohort of young people une the intensive Nehemiah Program of Congo Leadership Institute. #worldchangers!

We have a vacation Bible school this week. Today was day 2 of 3, and we had 93 kids at least! Phew! Prayers appreciated as I am worn out! Tomorrow I lead games again as well as teach the lesson on Jonah 3 about repentance.

We made it through VBS! Sometimes it wasn’t easy as our crew of adults was very small, and I struggled with how it could have been so much better (enneagram 1!), but in the end, the kids had fun and heard God’s word, so we leave the results up to Him.

We made it through Easter and the three preceding weeks that were super busy. Now we’re taking a break! And today was a gift. We went to a fancy hotel for a meal. They were doing renovations. 😕 But they welcomed us into one of the cottages, made a fired and served us delicious food!😍

We are back home after a lovely 3-night R&R near the rainforest in Rwanda, about an hour east of Bukavu. It’s not tourist season, so we had the hotel to ourselves and didn’t do any “activities” other than walking around, reading, and watching the wildlife!

Special for those of you who follow the blog! (we haven't made a big social media announcement yet). If you didn't know, that's me with a pregnant belly! Almost to my third trimester!

Catching up on March photos

“You’re really Congolese, like born here!” - comments from a friend seeing my pants rolled up walking through the mud.

Cell group fellowship night was a great success!

Women’s meeting fun! More to come when I’ve rested and can think clearly

Part of everyday life here: lots of helicopters. This one flies close to our house at least twice a day, and I finally caught it on camera! Often, they’re UN helicopters. They all make lots of noise! This is one result of really bad roads. 😉

went to this crazy busy part of town to visit a friend from church at her workplace, the auto parts store her husband owns. It was an interesting experience and sweet that they were so happy that I came. Sometimes it’s the small things, just our presence.

This view doesn’t get old and continues to refresh my spirit. #thankful

photos first half of March 2019

We’re proud of our Bukavu Frisbee players who conducted their first training yesterday for a group of 80 youths who are part of a peace club.

Our local tire repair shop. A generator welded to an air compressor. And we sure are glad these guys are all over the place because, with the condition of the roads, we give them a fair amount of business!

“At LePhare Bukavu, we hope to be a biblically functioning community of believers that shines the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our neighborhood so that Christ’s redemptive purposes can be accomplished through the transformation of our city.” (Vision statement)