Mumena

The second rescue unit we visited was a half hour closer to the base than Lunsala. When we arrived we quickly set up our tents and kitchen area. Within the first hour we realized that this unit would be vastly different from Lunsala. In Lusala the unit was a bit out of the way and we never had more than fifty children to teach at a time, but here in Mumena the unit was right in the center of the village. For four days we taught over 150 children in each session, ranging in age from three or four to sixteen and seventeen year olds. Before supper on our first night there we were sitting in our kitchen area reading and crowded around the edges of the open air hut, just giggling and touching our skin and hair in awe were over ninety children.

The Children

While the children at Lusala had been shy and timid at first, the children here in Mumena were so enthusiastic and so eager to learn. It was a joy to witness the smiles on their faces as we instructed them, and to hear the shouts of excitement when they had finally mastered a sequence of steps. During our presentations each morning and afternoon we were leading fifty to seventy children to the Lord Jesus Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!

The children during one of our presentations.

Teaching the drill (and advertising the Rebelution, hehe).

The Facilitators

In the converse of Lunsala the facilitators at Mumena were somewhat more shy that Daniel and Joseph had been. Smart and Bonifice were happy to have us there, but were a bit timid because of their unfamiliarity with the drill. They had also only been acting as facilitators for seven months. Nevertheless, they soon warmed up to the team and before long we were singing with them and getting to hear their stories.

Smart translating a Gospel presentation.

Bonifice teaching Sunday School.

Lessons Learned

At Mumena our team really learned to not make assumptions that all the rescue units would be alike, or that all the children would learn at the same rate or with the same level of enthusiasm. By the end of our time there we were looking forward to how the next unit would be different instead of expecting it to be the same. During one afternoon the facilitators took us on a walk to visit some of the villagers and to see how they lived. One woman we visited was an elderly widow named Rosa who was in her mid 70's. She lived in a tiny brick hut and when Smart asked her when she had eaten her last meal she couldn't remember. Not withstanding she had a huge smile on her face the entire time we were there. Our eyes were opened to both the poverty of the people and their constant joy and will to survive. Mumena was also where the Lord really began to reveal Himself to me, and where he won a great victory in my personal life and walk with Christ. All in all it was a blessed time and we were on out way to our third and final unit, or so we thought.