Good-Bye Libreville....Hello Bongolo.

Alicia Typing...

Hello World!  We realize it has been a while since we have written, and we just want to tell you that the last 2 weeks have been quite an adjustment.  Just to prepare you for what lies ahead...we have posted 29 photos to show you what has been going on the last couple weeks, and how God has been helping us adjust to our new home...Bongolo.  

The last couple of weeks we said good-bye to several people in Libreville.  Some we just met since we got here, and some we have grown to love even more than when we first met them in 2009.  

We said good-bye to our French instructor, Jean Jacque.  In this picture we are giving the thumbs up  because we are now fully fluent in French (wink wink).





This is the guard that works at the guest house in Libreville.  I tried to ask him (in French) if he would take a picture of the three of us (Dan, Jean Jacque and I), but he walked away.  We ended up taking the above picture using the camera's timer feature.  A few minutes later, the guard showed up in his full-on security garb, ready to take a photo with us looking very official.  Apparently, our communication skills still have some kinks to work out!

We also said good-bye to our favorite Gabonaise people.  We had a very nice dinner, danced, and sang the night away.  We truly miss this crew now that we are at Bongolo.  

So then, we packed up all of our stuff and we moved down to Bongolo Hospital where we will be living for the next part of our life.  

This is a picture of the banner that was made as our welcome by two of the missionary children here.  Their names are Sarah and Luke.  In case you can't read the signs, they say, "Welcome to the Jungle, Uncle Dan and Aunt Alicia."

They definitely were not joking when they said, "Welcome to the Jungle".  This is a view from our backyard.  You can see the river in the back that powers the hospital with electricity and gives us our water supply.  

Dan and I also became pet-owners once we moved down to Bongolo.  We now have 2 cats...

Meet Dixie

Meet Domino...Have you ever seen a cat lay like this?  Me neither!

We finally moved into a space of our own.  It is called "Foyer".  It is an old missionary children's boarding house.  It is so huge!  Dan and I find ourselves yelling "Marco" and waiting for the response "Polo" quite often in order to find each other in this house.  We can sleep at least 28 people in beds here, not including the floor space we could use for air mattresses!  It is an awesome space, and we cannot wait for it to be utilized for teams.  

"Before"

We went to work starting to make this space our own, so we did a little re-arranging (and by a little, I mean quite a lot!) Here are a few examples...

"After" 

There are still some things that need to be done...like new paint.  

"After"

"After"

"Before"

Here is our very own Master Bedroom.  We feel so spoiled in here.  We will probably never  have a room like this ever again in our lifetime.  

"After"

This is the view from our bedroom window.  More Jungle!

So, of course we had to orient ourselves to the Jungle, so we did, what we like to call some 

"Jungle-Tromping".

There is a really nice path that leads down to the river.  The jungle is such a great reminder that God truly had His hand in the detailing of His earth.  There are so many things to see in the jungle.  Every time you look somewhere else you discover something new. "Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed‑bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.' ...And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1: 11 ‑ 12)

Bamboo is so BIG!

This is Dan holding a bamboo he chopped down.  The whole
stalk didn't even make it into the picture!

We are still in the process of making our house a "home".   And what makes a house a "home" better than a few get-togethers, guests, and dinner dates?  

We hosted the Bongolo Easter Egg Hunt this year.  It was so much fun hiding the eggs and watching the kids find them.  The little girl on the left (Christine) was so excited when she realized that there were things hidden inside the eggs.  It truly made me smile!

We also got to dye Easter eggs this year.  Yay!  It is the little things that can truly mean a lot.  Dying Easter eggs really helped Dan and I feel a little more at home.  It is hard being away from family, especially around the holidays.  The missionaries here did a great job filling in as family this year.  Everyone is kind of in the same boat around here.  

Speaking of the little things that can truly bring a smile to your face.  We saw this the other day in Libreville.  It reminded me of my sister(she used to drive one)...it instantly brightened my day and I decided to take a picture and post it on the blog.  This is definitely not something you see every day here in Gabon.

Another thing that is truly awesome to witness is the Holy Spirit moving through the Church here.  The people here are so on fire for God, it is truly inspirational and a true testament to what God is doing in their lives.  In saying this, we want you to realize that this also means that church services can sometimes last up to 5 hours.  A few weekends ago, we saw this at church.  How could you not smile?    

That is all for now...

Please stay tuned for a post this weekend on what we have been up to lately.

Love from the Jungle,

The Lewans