DEAR FRIENDS,

As many of your know we have been in deep prayer for our Congo visas. Many of you have participated in this prayer alongside us. It seemed like our arrival in Congo was being pushed further and further away. The visa process had all but stopped and we were in conversations about what to do if we couldn't enter Congo. After many weeks of waiting, and with much prayer and action on the part of our organization and partners, our visas were granted just 2 days before the date we needed them!

Language learning has been fun and we look forward to continuing it upon arrival in Kikongo. We may even add another language or two. Katrina continues to work on her agriculture degree and is excited about taking a soil science class in the fall. By the end of her class we will probably know exactly what the soil in our back yard is made of.

Thank you for all your love, the cards you write, and the finances you sacrifice so that we can teach at the Baptist University of Congo. Without you, we can do very little.

Your Co-Workers in Christ,
Kyle & Katrina Williams

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT?

We have began saying our goodbyes to France and have started packing up the apartment. As we fill boxes and are confronted with what feels like an impossible task, we ask ourselves "Should we take it, or leave it?" as each item goes into a box. What would you take if you were going to a desert island? This is a hypothetical question for many, but not for us.

There are some obvious items that we must take: mosquito nets, bedding, kitchen supplies, clothes, and first aid supplies. But then there are the less obvious items: tools, games, solar panels, a bike, spare bike parts?

The thing is, we have no idea what we are about to step into, or rather, what we about to step away from. What is necessary to take when the nearest store is a 12- to 24-hour drive away? I grew up within a 10-minute walk from the mall. Even in Nicaragua we could get a taxi and be at a shopping center in minutes.

Alaska may have been the most isolated spot where we've lived, but during the last few years Amazon even delivered there. Do you think it delivers to Kikongo?

My hope is that after our time in Congo we will have learned to be content with much less. And that all these things that seem necessary in life now just go back to being things again. I tell myself that people lived meaningful lives before MacBooks and iPhones.

We got to see the French coast for the first time just a few weeks ago. The kids loved exploring the tide pools and swimming. It was so nice to see the ocean after what felt like a long time.