Horla

This is Horla. She lives in Brazzaville-Congo, where my husband has recently spent over a week teaching liturgy and hymnody to French-speaking African Lutherans using the (relatively) new hymnal from the Lutheran Church in Canada: Liturgies et cantiques luthériens.

Horla was an attendee at the conference my husband led. She lives in the church/parsonage where the conference was held, having been taken in by the pastor when she was forced to leave her home (for reasons unknown). She earns her keep by helping out around the church and house, so at times she missed part of the conference. On the other hand, since she lives at the parsonage, she benefited from having greater access to the hymnals, which were kept at church when people went home for the night.

Towards the end of his time in Brazzaville, my husband was singing with a group of women and asked for requests. Horla selected "Humble et doux Jésus" which we know as "O Jesus So Sweet, O Jesus So Mild." This hymn was not taught during the conference; Horla had discovered it on her own. Phillip taught it to her in short order and then videotaped this conversation with her. At the end of the interview he prevails upon her to sing the hymn, even though, as you will observe, she is shy about doing so at first. I invite you to watch. I think you will agree that she does a beautiful job, as do the ladies who join in for later stanzas.

Life Update

*Sigh.* I am not the blogger I used to be. Almost a week without a post, and at this point I am little motivated to write anything that would require serious thought or wordsmithing. So instead you get an update post.

Yesterday was a week since Phillip left for Congo. I have received one Facebook message from him on a borrowed smartphone and two phone calls made on a borrowed cell phone. He arrived safely at his destination but took a cold (the same one I have) with him. A friend remarked, "Better to take something over there than bring something back here." She has a point. Other than the cold he seems to be doing okay. I was worried he might lose his voice, not a good thing when his reason for being there is to teach singing all day. But his voice is holding out, as is his stomach, and he is in good spirits. During one of his short calls he told me that there are many challenges to the work he is trying to do--there was no time for elaboration--but he was extremely upbeat about all that is being accomplished. He was on a particular high that morning because he and his class had just finished recording "Oh, Lord How Shall I Greet You" and his students were loving singing it. (A major part of the work consists of recording teaching tapes for use in the parishes of those who are attending the workshop.) He said it is very interesting to go back after a year and see how the things he taught last time have fared. Some have continued to be embraced, one or two has been set aside, and others have been slightly adjusted. :-)

As mentioned, I have had a cold, and that has severely impacted my ability to make the most of this week. I had plans for much higher levels of productivity but lost a good four days to the cold (it is a doozy). I sat in bed and watched the 9/11 observances and was alternately depressed and inspired. Both President Bush's and President Clinton's speech at the dedication of the Flight 93 memorial fell into the second category. I was impressed by the progress that has been made on the Ground Zero memorial. People say that ten years is too long--that we should have already slapped up another building by now. I disagree. We needed time to clean up, to grieve, to consider what to do. Anything worthwhile does not get done overnight. I think New York City should be commended for the memorial and the progress they have made on it. If you haven't familiarized yourself with it yet, you should do so. It is beautiful.

I started returning to some feeling of normalcy on Monday, so we did start school, sort of. I tend to be the kind of person who wants to wait until the house is clean and everything is in order before I can wrap my brain around intellectual pursuits. I decided if I waited for those things to happen before we started school we would be on vacation until January. Of 2015. So we started, amidst the chaos that continues to be my house. Caitlin and Evan are so far enjoying their extracurricular classes and activities. Bowling is supposed to start Monday after being postponed for one week to allow for more sign-ups. I'm hoping it doesn't get cancelled.

We had a voters' meeting at my church this week and there were two awesome outcomes. One, the voters approved some major repairs to our aging organ. Two, we approved the calling of a third pastor for youth. I am so-o-o-o-o excited about the person we have called and hoping and praying that soon he and his family will be joining our church family.

Today is full so I better run! Piano student this morning, haircut and orthodontist appointment for Caitlin (her braces are coming, Evan got his a few weeks ago), homeschool co-op, and tonight a little R&R. The plan is to make s'mores on the grill and watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Boy, these life update posts are much easier to write than social commentary. Maybe I should do more of them.

P.S. My daughter has closed her old blog and started a new one. It's worth checking out.

Back to Congo

Last year around this time my husband spent ten days in Congo teaching hymns and liturgy to French-speaking African Lutherans. He was invited to go there by Pastor James May of Lutherans in Africa. Pastor May was my husband's co-teacher and traveling companion and is also now a good friend.

It was a trip my husband will never forget. You can read much more about it under the listing for Congo here on my blog. Next week he will be returning for another round of teaching. As he did last time, he will also be delivering several boxes of Liturgies et cantiques luthériens for distribution to our fellow Lutherans there.

Last year when he did this I was quite nervous about the distance he was going to be traveling (21 hours of air travel to get there) as well as about his safety. That is still in the back of my mind, but I find myself right now thinking less of those things and much more of what it is going to be like when he arrives once again among his friends in Brazzaville. For they are most assuredly friends, and I can only try to imagine the joyful reunion that will be experienced by both my husband and the people he came so quickly to love and who came to love him. When he said goodbye last year he was presented with several articles of African clothing. One of the things he is looking forward to doing is taking back a picture of our family wearing the clothing we were given. Here is a photo of me, Caitlin and Phillip doing just that at a recent presentation on his trip that Phillip gave at our church.

Phillip will be leaving next week on Thursday. I would appreciate your prayers for his safety and well-being as well as for his work, that it might be a blessing to the Congolese Lutherans. I thought I would leave you with this video from his last trip. It is a drive through the streets of Brazzaville a day or two after his arrival. The other two people in the video are Pastor May and Pastor Mavoungu of the EELC (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo). You can get an idea from the video of the living conditions in Brazzaville. But what I am most struck by is the joy of these three men as they do the Lord's work. Shortly into the video they start singing. After a stanza or two of the song, Phillip interjects a comment. The comment is acknowledged, but notice what happens next. Instead of returning to conversing, Pastor Mavoungu picks back up on the next stanza of the song. He will not be distracted from singing! Phillip told me that this is typical: once his Congolese friends started a song or a hymn, whether in a formal (church) or informal setting, they did not stop until they sang the whole thing. We in our hurry-up, cram-it-in, cross-it-off-the-task-list lives could learn from those priorities.

If you would like to support Lutherans in Africa and specifically their efforts in Congo-Brazzaville, let me know and I will put you in touch with the right people.

Final Group of Congo Videos

More Congo Videos

Célébrons l'Eternel (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty LSB 790)




O Merveilleux Amour (What Wondrous Love Is This LSB 543)




Jésus-Christ est le même hier, aujourd'hui, et éternellement HEB 13:8 (This one is not in LSB. ☺But my husband loves it so much I have a feeling it's going to show up stateside one of these days. Maybe in a Chicago burb near you.)

Hymn Singing in Brazzaville

Pastor May recently made these available on YouTube. I think Phillip will be offering some reflections on them in due time, but I can't wait until then to share them with you. Aren't they wonderful? And isn't it incredible to think of our brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world singing with such joy and enthusiasm the same hymns and liturgy that we do here in the USA? (Would that all of our churches always sang these songs with the energy and gusto you see here. And without an organ, no less. Imagine that.)

You will notice that Phillip is not leading the singing in these videos. That is because once his teaching was done it was important that others take over as songleaders. He was only there for 9 days, after all (of which there were only about 7 days of actual teaching). The goal was to help our fellow Lutherans in Brazzaville embrace these songs long after he and Pastor May left. I don't think that's going to be a problem, do you?

C'est un Rempart que Notre Dieu (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God)



Ecoute l'appel de Dieu (Listen, God Is Calling)



Je suis un enfant du Père (God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It)



And here's a short video of Phillip teaching some harmony parts on "Il est né"

New Friends

Greetings from Brazzaville from Cheryl on Vimeo.

In case you didn't hear . . .

He's home!

We're talking hours, now

I removed the "MY HUSBAND'S HOME!" countdown widget from the sidebar. Even though it showed hours, minutes and seconds, it was only actually counting down days because it only allowed the countdown event to be identified by date, not time. Today I went looking for a new widget, one that would let me count down to Thursday at 12:35 p.m., which is when the Cantor's plane is scheduled to land. But after spending the ten or so minutes I was willing to give to that venture, I still came up empty. I am surprised it turned out to be so difficult. But everything I found that was in the customizable, all-purpose countdown widget variety was only capable of showing date, not time. Fine. Widget or no widget. HE'S GETTING HOME IN LESS THAN THREE DAYS! For those of you that are math-challenged, that's less than 72 hours! I talked to him briefly on the phone today. He warned me in advance that the time on his calling card was low and we could be cut off at any moment. So we said our "I love you's" and exchanged a few pieces of news and wouldn't you know it, just as we were settling into a comfortable chat, I lost him to a busy signal. Ah, well. I'll get the real thing soon enough. Well, actually not soon enough, but soon. Word to the wise: don't go looking for me Thursday afternoon. I've got a date. :-)

Update on the Cantor

Il est arrivé!

Phillip arrived in Brazzaville Monday night at around 6:00 p.m. Congo time. We are six hours earlier here, so that amounted to almost 24 hours of travel from the time I dropped him at the airport. He was greeted by President Mavoungou, the head of the Congolese Lutheran Church. The day after his arrival Pastor James May of Lutherans in Africa joined him and from what I understand they are now off and running, working daily with the local pastors and musicians. I have received several emails from Phillip, but in order for him to use President Mavoungou's computer the generator must be turned on, so emails are short. He is also typing on a French keyboard, which makes it hard to type very quickly. The first time he emailed he took time to try to make it accurate, but the last few have looked kind of like this:

OK internet is sloz qnd iùve got to run: ils ,ùqttendent1

zill prqy for q good qnd sqfe move!

are you getting ,y phone ,essqges

LOVE YOU!

The "good and safe move" part is a reference to the fact that we are in a few days moving my mom to our home. As you can see, the z on the French keyboard is where our w is, and the q is where our a is and the comma is where our m is! After a few rounds of this I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. By the time he comes home I will no doubt be fluent in French keyboard!

I couldn't help noticing that he did make sure those last two words were spelled right.☺

In addition to several emails, we have received several voicemails as well. He cannot be reached on his cell phone but did purchase an international calling card and has found a phone there to use. Unfortunately we have missed both of his calls. But it was wonderful to hear his voice, and from the messages it sounds like he is staying healthy so far, which is great news. One of my biggest concerns was that he would experience gastrointestinal distress, but that hasn't happened. He was well instructed in all the things that he needed to avoid, and he also took along a Steripen for water sterilization. He is, however, experiencing some vocal distress, which is not good considering that he is spending his days leading people in song, so if you think about it please pray not only for his general well-being and his and Pastor May's work but also for Phillip's vocal condition. We don't need him getting laryngitis while he is there.

One of the challenges he faced immediately upon arriving was his cash situation. He took plenty of cash along to pay for things like his own room and board and the feeding of the pastors and musicians that are coming to learn, but when he went to exchange U.S. dollars for local currency he was told that they wouldn't exchange any pre-2001 bills, period. Not only that, but the bills marked 2001-2003 are exchanged at a lower rate. What's up with that? If anything, considering the U.S. economy these days, I would have expected the opposite!

One interesting thing is that he found out that the local musicians are in possession of an electric guitar and a piano. This is a surprise! We anticipated percussion only. He has not reported back yet on the condition of those instruments. My guess is that he will only utilize the piano if it is in decent condition. A bad piano is more of a hindrance than a help. Phillip does not play guitar (not much, anyway) so if they want guitar music one of them will have to provide it!

Thank you for your continued prayers. Seven days to go!

Parting Shot

The Countdown Begins

You may have noticed a new gadget in my sidebar. We're going to be doing a lot of counting down in our house over the next few days and weeks. Phillip leaves for Congo Sunday after a full morning directing musicians and choirs at church. Right now we are counting down the hours until I have to take him to the airport. There is still so much to be done. Today we'll be spraying all his clothes with insect repellent and weighing hymnals to figure out the best way to pack them so as to avoid as much transportation cost as possible.

He has never gone this far from us before. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it when I drop him off at the airport on Sunday. Up to now I think my strategy has been to do or think about something else and block it out of my mind as much as possible. But the man is going to Congo. It will take him a good 24 hours or more to get there. He will likely have no phone or internet access during his trip, so I will have no clue about what he's doing, where he is, whether he's sick, or whether he's safe. I think I'm getting the very tiniest hint of what military families experience when their loved ones are deployed. For us it will only be ten days. But what a long ten days it will be.

I would appreciate your prayers for the well-being of my husband and his traveling partner, Pastor James May; for the success of their efforts to facilitate the singing of God's Word among our fellow Lutherans in Africa; and for the well-being of our family here at home while he is away.

He's Going

In September my husband will depart for a 10-day teaching and recording trip to Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo (not to be confused with Democratic Republic of the Congo), to promote the new French version of the Lutheran Service Book. This hymnal, Liturgies et cantiques lutheriens, will be the first thoroughly Lutheran worship book to be used by the churches there. It has already been introduced in parts of Togo (see Kantor Jonathan Mueller in action here) to a great reception. My husband will be traveling with Rev. James May of Lutherans in Africa and will be training local pastors in the liturgy and making recordings that can be used in local congregations for teaching purposes. He is especially suited to this work not only because of his musical skill but also because of his proficiency in the French language and his appreciation for African music.

Much financial support is needed for this project. Travel alone for Rev. May from Nairobi and for my husband from Chicago will cost thousands of dollars. They will also be purchasing and shipping/carrying hymnals to the churches in Congo, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Cote D'Ivoire. And of course, there will be expenses incurred on the ground for room, board, local transportation and daily needs.

My husband has already started the process of preparing for travel to Africa. There is still much to be done and I will be keeping you posted and asking for your prayers as the trip nears. In the meantime, if you would like to make a donation in support of this trip, you may send it to Bethany Lutheran Church, 1550 Modaff Rd., Naperville, IL 60565, and label it "Send the Cantor to Congo!"