Pierre

A boy named Pierre just came to our community from the boonies of the Democratic Republic of Congo to receive operations for severe scoliosis. He was orphaned at a young age and has been taken care of at an NGO in the Congo that our church partnered with this past year to help support their feeding programs. Now--through twists and turns and miracles and God's hand at work in the hearts of Consulate employees (to get passports & visas), U.S. senatorial officers (to help get the visas), church members, St. Louis University Hospital doctors, and basically everyone who has had a chance to meet and/or pray for this special kid--he is here, and we are blessed.

Doctors at SLU said they would donate the surgeries for this little guy, and a family from the church has adopted him to stay with them while he stays in the states for up to six months. They have been watching Veggie Tales and learning how to eat "fofo". When he has come to visit the church office these last few days, he has had a big smile on his face. I've learned four things in his language:
Mbotu--Hello
Sanga nini--How are you?
Tokomono na nsima--See you later!
daidai--sticky (this last one is especially helpful. I'm not sure why it stuck in my brain, but it did. ).

I see the blessing of God's kingdom in strange ways every day. And I love my job.

valentine's day. makings of a mix

if we could only see.

find love . clem snide
look for me as you go by . the innocence mission
metropol 47 . mark kozelek
unchained melody. u2
i want you to be my love. over the rhine
lover, you should have come over. jeff buckley
latter days . over the rhine
gathering dust. david gray
high and dry. radiohead
all mixed up. redhousepainters
we dream an ocean in ohio. linford detweiler
sweet thing. van morrison
sunny sunday. leona naess
i don’t think i’ll ever get over you. colin hay
every street in town . greg brown
with or without you . u2
which will . nick drake
pictures of you . cure
signed, sealed, delivered . stevie wonder
you’re just too good to be true. lauryn hill
love and some verses . iron and wine

latest viewing

I watched this movie last night. It's kind of home video-ish--I actually stopped it, thinking that I hadn't started it at the right place because it looks so low budget. But you get used to it, and I even enjoyed the rawness of it. And its a great story.

Also, I got it from UCity library, so it was free. I always forget what a great collection of foreign and old movies they have there. Ahh UCity library: wearing corduroy pants and cardigans that are worn out at the elbows. Oh how I love you. I've decided to try to spend the next few months renting movies from there rather than getting the latest blockbuster fluff. We'll see how long that lasts.


Another from the good ol library was "In the Time of the Butterflies", which also happens to be a great book by Julia Alvarez. The book is better, as is almost always the case. It's a rather chilling story of a family of sisters who stirred up what turned out to be a not-so-quiet revolution in the Dominican Republic under the regime of the dictator Trujillo. The movie was made in 2001 and has Selma Hayak as the star power, and it was well acted. It's always kind of nice when people who are famous use their notoriety to tell stories that need to be told and stand up for causes that need to be heard.

Kinda like Bono. I finally got a chance to read the prayer breakfast homily text in full. I gotta say, I know that the "evangelical" church doesn't like to admit it, but that was some preaching. Can I get an amen?