Yesterday we went to an Aka village that was about 6 miles south of the Mission to do the clinic, and today we went to an Aka village around 8 miles north of the Mission. Driving in Congo is always an adventure; it is almost like a video game. There are enormous potholes all along the road, they are more like craters than holes and they are often filled with thick mud or water. If you get carsick easily, driving in Congo is not your cup of soup. And if the potholes weren’t enough to avoid, there are also tons of crazy motorcycle drivers, goats, and often herds of cows (pictured below)!

Today we were headed to an Aka village on the opposite side of town so that we could visit their church and go on a hike through the jungle.

Oh, also, when you drive somewhere, you never have less than 10 people in the car! So while we were headed to the Aka village we picked up about 20 Aka children to come to church with us; so there were about 27 people packed into Mama Sarah’s truck! It was such a blast because we taught all the children how to sing “In the Jungle” as we were driving down the bumpy road! Well…we actually just taught them the “wee-ma-wet-a-wee-ma-wet” part of the song and us mundeli sang the harder lyrics, but hey, they got it down!

Today we were headed to an Aka village on the opposite side of town so that we could visit their church and go on a hike through the jungle.

The church was small, had a dirt floor, and benches were made of plywood balanced on large stones (pictures below). People dressed in the best apparel they had, which was sometimes very close to nothing. Most of the younger children had a large shirt but no pants or underwear. The service was so joyful and so real. People worship God all over the world, but I’ve never seen such a passionate and real form. These people have absolutely nothing, but they still sing the loudest praise to God; one song often continues for 10-15 minutes!

After the church service, we all changed into pants and gym shoes, ate some small snacks, and then headed out on a hike through the jungle behind the village’s “medicine man” and a bunch of Aka children. I say “medicine man” because the Aka like to use a lot of natural plant-medicines to bring down fevers, soothe aches, draw out poisons, and much more! So on our hike this man pointed out those plants and what they are used for (they use the bark of this “bleeding tree”—pictured below—to soothe eye pain; I took this picture though because like WOAH the tree is bleeding!). There is also another picture of some leaves…but it’s not just leaves, can you find the surprise?

The hike took us about 2 hours because we stopped so many times to learn about the plants and also to try different fruits growing along the way. One of them is called coco, (not chocolate) that feels like you are eating a nut that was stuck inside a slug, but it was delicious!

After a long day of hiking and singing we headed back to the mission, showered, and then had Sunday Night Live. For this week’s Sunday Night Live, Priscilla and I shared our testimonies. It was kind of crazy telling my testimony to mostly strangers, but as a Jesus-lover I do believe that there is no better place to start when getting to know someone.

Goodnight!