WE WERE TOLD TO LEAVE

When things seemed peaceful and we had developed a new routine it looked like we might be at Rethy for a long time. MAF flights were again coming in from Nairobi to Bunia and Nyankunde had some resident pilots. There were missionaries in Bunia. A number of the DIGUNA missionaries returned to Bogoro and began work on obtaining their residence visas for Congo. Before the rebellion, MAF had maintained a regular flight schedule with connections to Rethy several times a week. Maybe they would start that again.

Many of the local people wanted to know when all the missionaries would come back, but others appeared to be more interested in the empty houses. Since the hydro plant was still generating power, the demand for electrical wire, switches, and light fixtures was such, that what was removed from the abandoned houses, could easily be sold. Kwani made an announcement to tell the people to stop looting the houses, assuring them that the missionaries could not take their houses with them, and that the houses would belong to the church.

I was asked when AIM would send someone out to begin repairs on the empty mission houses. At first, I was amazed that such expectations would be expressed, but I guess it made sense, because we were fixing up a house for Debbie Wiesenberger, the one planning to return to set up school for the MAF and DIGUNA missionary children.

After the CECA 20 Executive Committee meetings in Bunia I returned to Rethy to enjoy my son in law, Jeff Falke, and his family’s visit. They had arrived at the Rethy airstrip and were welcomed by many. With the lack of MAF flights for over a year, the interest in seeing the plane, and what was happening out at the airstrip, had increased tremendously. The arrival of a family with little children generated a lot of talk because the children were so small and had white hair. They were friendly too, and went into the arms of some of the women who offered to hold them.

Jeff had brought his keyboard with him and the music he created was an attraction to the local children. They no doubt laughed, watching Jessie fail to catch the chicks she followed around in our back yard. The hen kept the pace just a little faster than Jessie could toddle.

Those who most appreciated Jeff’s musical skills were the young people who formed singing groups and loved to travel around to different churches to sing. Jeff explained how to use the cheap keyboards they had bought in Bunia. Jeff used his keyboard in church too. Pastor Burra knew enough English to share with him that he needed help to set up a CB he had. It was very probably one abandoned by the missionaries when they evacuated. We were so glad Jeff and Amy had brought their family to visit!

The children were a top attraction during the observation of the Congo Independence day, when a parade passed by us on the main road. More and more kids stopped to see the little white haired children watching everything from near the bookstore. The temptation to touch the blond hair was irresistible, it was so different from their own tight, kinky, black hair. The interaction was friendly among the children. We knew, however, that the stress between the Alure, Lendu and Hema tribes was increasing. It was sad to realize that the ownership of the former mission property had become the focus of so many.

To have the management of various services that had the potential of earning money was an even greater temptation. The optical services initiated at Rethy had the potential of helping many people see properly, so they could read. Men had been trained to do the eye exams, prescribe the necessary corrective lenses, order and cut the glass to fit the frames. The charges for the services paid the skilled workers, and maintained a basic inventory of frames and lenses to treat the most common ailments. Mr. Foniyo Ganda had worked closely with Paul Buyse and all had gone smoothly for years, however the Lendu had taken over that service and an effort was being made to verify the accounts.

Etsea, the CECA 20 President in Bunia, asked that Ellen review the books. They knew she had done the accounts at the Rethy Dorm for years and was totally reliable. Since she was neither Lendu nor Alure, she would not favor anyone. The men cooperated with her and she was given the order, invoice, receipt, and accounting books. She also got some unsolicited input from various sources about the character of the two men who handled the different parts of the transactions, checking on each other. One was a Lendu and the other an Alure.

It was a meticulous and time consuming task. It turned out that the Alure who was accusing the Lendu of embezzlement had issued receipts to customers at the airstrip for orders delivered, but the money had never been never recorded in the accounting books. The report was sent to Etsea, the church president, in Bunia.

Without doubt our popularity with the local Lendu leaders was not enhanced. My initiative earlier to settle some accounts for the Koda Hydroelectric service, without having the money pass through the hands of the director, Kwani, resulted in an extremely long, strong, reproof from an angry Lendu man. Declining to personally order and pay for parts from Germany for the turbine speed regulation system didn’t help either. I was a customer, I told him, not the electric company manager/owner.

I was grateful that we had completed the audit of Editions CECA just before the evacuation. Though some of the men no longer worked at the press, we had less work to do and I had no concerns about the accounts.

The Zande hymnal we had been preparing for printing at the Rethy press, was never completed. We were convinced, by one highly trained in music, that we needed to upgrade the book and not just reprint the old songs. It needed to have a number of things added in order for the songs to be properly sung. We were told that the music, using the “do-me-so-fa” system, should be added following the words of each song. Most of the church members knew their favorites by heart and didn’t know the “Sole-Fa” system. I believe the new book was eventually printed in Kenya.

Work on the radio studio building was progressing steadily. We had poured the ring beam at the lentil level and added four courses of bricks to the top for the trusses. Mugasa brought the cypress lumber for the trusses to our back yard where we carefully laid out the first king-pin truss. To prepare the pieces, I had only the Milwaukee circular saw Ellen’s dad had given me, but though it got hot, it did not fail. I built each truss to match the first, and got Mugasa to haul the set out to the studio building site. The trusses were passed up by hand, spaced, and aligned at the peak with a string line. Everything was tied together with the cross-braces and purlins to which we nailed down the corrugated galvanized iron roofing.

When we took the Falke family out of Congo by truck we stayed with our friends, the Stoughs, in Kampala. From there we took the bus the rest of the way to Kijabe. On our return with Jeff, we got a puppy from the Stoughs which he promptly named Pepsi. That pup was a special replacement for the one lost the first time we evacuated and was lots of fun for all of us. Of course Jeff enjoyed riding his motorcycle and drove the pick-up every time we needed it. We were working on the plastering and finishing off the interior of the studio. Jeff was also learning about simple electrical wiring as we installed the switches, outlets and light fixtures in the main part of the building.

We began hearing of tribal tensions escalating in the Blukwa area as the Lendu and Hema tribes both wanted to claim authority over the church, the mission station, and the large secondary school that had been developed there. The church authorities in Bunia, and our mission leadership, knew far more than we did about the dangerous developments in several other locations including Bogoro, Nyankunde, Linga and Rethy. We received a message from the CECA church that we were to make preparations to evacuate immediately!

That decision resulted in Karen Lewis and their two boys coming to Rethy. Gregg, Keith and Margaret Ferdinando would come on a later flight from Bunia. It was only 40 kilometers to the Mahagi border so I took Ellen and Karen in the pickup while the boys took turns following on Jeff’s motorcycle. They stayed at Goli while I returned with the truck to care for things at Rethy, and to receive people from Bogoro and Bunia who were evacuating through Rethy. The Herrmanns and Gloria used the truck next and then took the bus onwards to Kenya.

Ellen and Karen had several days with the boys at Goli while they waited for Gregg Lewis and I to catch up with them. The mission had established a crisis team to assist in case of such an emergency and arranged for Ellen and Karen to be in touch daily. They faithfully went on the radio and repeatedly reported that Jeff had not found me at the border. It was only a few miles for Jeff to ride to check Uganda Customs and immigration to see if anyone was stuck at there. The women went daily to the market to get what they could find to cook for meals. The meals were varied, they had rice, beans and tomatoes, or maybe tomatoes, beans, and rice. They did find eggs from time to time.

Marko Chura continued to care for and feed our guests even though Ellen was already in Uganda. Manasse kept things clean around the house and made fires to be sure the water was hot for dishes and baths. We were continually thankful for the harmony between the two men, one a Lendu and the other an Alure. We had never before thought much about tribal loyalties and considered all the Christians our brothers in Christ.

All was still peaceful at Rethy, as far as we could see, yet the reasons behind the evacuation order must be valid. People continued to depart, but a group of about twenty DIGUNA missionaries returned from Mahagi to tell me that they hadn’t been allowed to leave the country. They didn’t have any passports, since they had sent the documents to Kinshasa with applications for residence visas. The Mahagi immigration officer had called for me to come.

The Bunia authorities normally issued an “Attestation Tenant Lieu de Passeport”, for anyone who wished to send out their passports for services. The paper wasn’t very fancy, had no serial number, and cost the equivalent of $50 per document. I had no authority to speak with the officers and my French wasn’t all that good, nevertheless I went to see if I could help.

They seemed pleased to see the Muzee, though I didn’t consider myself an elder. I understood most of what was explained to me, about the serious nature of the violation these people had committed. They were in the country with no papers, no visa, and not even an “Attestation Tennant Lieu de Passeport.” I explained, the best I could in my simple French, that these people had entered legally, but now they had to leave the country. Their passports had been sent to Kinshasa. The officer maintained that they had no “Visa de Sorti et Retour” and they could NEVER come back. I explained that they had no need to come back in view of the crisis. I agreed that, yes, they had made a serious mistake in not buying the “Attestation tenant lieu de passeport” in Bunia before sending out their passports. They should have done that.

Gregg Lewis and Dr. Keith Ferdinando entered, to join the group listening to our lengthy discussion in the store where someone had set up a small table and a couple chairs for us. I was relieved to see them. Both had excellent French and Gregg was our field leader. I asked them to please take my place. The officer said the Muzee should keep on talking. I guess he had found an honorable way to accept payment for the missing Attestations and the DIGUNA party could be processed. Had I been called in to negotiate a reasonable bribe to settle the problem?

They also processed my passport in Zaireand Jeff rode his motorcycle back to tell his mom that dad was at the border. The crisis committee was duly informed. We declined, however, rushing to Kenya to join the debriefing session set up at Kijabe by the Crisis committee for the Congo evacuees.

We promised Jeff and his friends we would stay at the Stoughs in Kampala as we had accepted their invitation to stay there and use the pool. The boys took the ANNK bus and the adults the pick-up for our trip across Uganda to Kampala. Jeff returned his puppy, Pepsi, to its mother when we got there.

Maybe we were in denial since we fully enjoyed swimming in their pool, not thinking at all of what had just happened in Zaire before we headed for Kenya the next day. We missed the debriefing meeting at Kijabe.

The Lord had promised to be with us and that was certain.