This week Stan describes what their home was like on the mission station when he was a child and then describes its condition when he and Brad returned to Congo in 2008.

“When we lived on the station, the homes were built of brick with cement floors. They had screen doors and windows. My mom had a garden and a hired Congolese gardener.

“The station had its own diesel-powered generator for electricity. We ran the generator at noon for an hour everyday. This was the designated time we used our radios to contact the other mission stations. (Stations where anywhere from twenty to one hundred miles apart in our province of South Central Kasai.) We kept in touch with each station through the noon radio. We also ran the generator in the evenings for light in our homes and of course the generator provided electricity for the hospital.

“One of the missionaries had hooked up old crank telephones at each of the six missionary houses on our station. These gave us a convenient way to communicate. Each home had their own ring (a combination of long and short rings) just like in the states years ago.

(Over the years I’ve heard of many ingenious missionaries like this man. They creatively made do with available resources. –note from SuZan)

“When we returned to Congo we found that the village pastor and his family live in our old home. This is good. We’re glad they’re making use of it. However, it’s sad that the roof leaks and the screens are all gone. The windows are boarded up so it’s always dark in the house. And of course they have no electricity because the generator is long gone.”

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©2015 Hope4Congo