Congo Kid - Life Stories

This is the 7 th episode in this 7 part series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo. The work started in 1920 with Titus Johnson being the visionary and initial driver of establishing the work. The last 6 episodes has been a detailed journey of the founding of our mission, the long journey and process to establish mission stations in the Ubangi area, the physi...

Clarice Hogberg Friday Market – Limpoko Dr. Titus Johnson – Sweden Dr. Titus Johnson – Order of the Leopard Ceremony Memory Bench – Elizabeth Hope Carlson Village / Canoe – Limpoko This is the 6 th episode in this 7 part series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo. The work started in 1920 with Titus Johnson being the visionary an...

Karawa station Dr. Paul Carlson Funeral Cessna 185 – 9Q-CMU This is the 5 th episode in this 7 part series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo. The work started in 1920 with Titus Johnson being the visionary and initial driver of establishing the work. Episode 1 discussed the difficult journey to get to the Ubangi region in NW Congo and the long process...

Goyongo Chapel This is the 4 th episode in this 7 part series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo. The work started in 1920 with Titus Johnson being the visionary and initial driver of establishing the work. Episode 1 discussed the difficult journey to get to the Ubangi region in NW Congo and the long process to establish the first 3 stations. Episode 2 saw 3...

  Timothy Lambie Norton Grave – lived a day and a half Evelyn Noren – Struck by lightning This is the 3 rd episode in this 7 part series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo. The work started in 1920 with Titus Johnson being the visionary and initial driver of establishing the work. Episode 1 discussed the difficult journey to get to the Ubang...

Founder of Lycee’ Lua, Bau, D.R. Congo Ship sunk by German submarine 12-2-1942 Sunk by German U-Boat 12/2/42 Kala, D.R. Congo Marion Nelson Memorial Church Ruth Robinson – Died 3 days after giving birth This is the 2 nd episode of 7 in this series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo, that started in 1920. Titus Johnson, who you heard about in Epis...

Titus Johnson – Bicycle as primary means of travel Titus Johnson Africa D.R. Congo – Ubangi region is upper left corner Reinhold Andersson Grave – Died from Blood Poisoning Stanley David Tweed Grave – Kala, D.R. Congo This is the first episode of a 7 part series about the mission work of the Evangelical Free Church in the Belgian Congo, starting in 1920. It is a long journe...

This is part 5 of 5 of the series titled: The Boarding School Dilemma – Balancing Mission and Family – The Conclusion: Moving Forward From Here. This series started with laying out the challenges and issues of reconciling mission and family when sending kids away to a boarding school was the only option and explored various dimensions in the subsequent episodes.  The Ubangi Academy (UBAC) institut...

Kids and a few parents – Heading to UBAC Band Concert at UBAC Graduation Processional This is part 4 of a 5 part series, titled: The Boarding School Dilemma – Balancing Mission and Family – The Kids’ Viewpoint. So far in this series, you learned about the challenges of handling the dilemma of serving in missions while sending your children to a boarding school for 8-10 weeks at a time. That...

Parents watching band concert Kids loading into the plane for return to UBAC Truck loaded with kids heading back to UBAC This is part 3 of a 5 part series titled: The Boarding School Dilemma – Balancing Mission and Family – The Parents’ Viewpoint.  Part 1 laid out the dilemma of the issue and how few parents have discussed the experience with their children. This was followed by Part 2 that drille...

Dorm Kids / Congolese soccer team UBAC Class of 1983 – With their parents Outhouse door with numerous inscriptions of love and couples Ubangi Academy – School building This is part 2 of a 5 part series, titled : The Boarding School Dilemma – Balancing Mission and Family – The Ubangi Academy.  Part 1 shared about the dilemma of serving in missions and family separation of a boarding sch...

Dorm view of Tennis court – Ubangi Academy, D.R. Congo View of soccer fields – Ubangi Academy, D.R. Congo     Aerial View of the Dorm and School     Many people feel God’s call to serve in missions. With that is the responsibility of raising their children and ensuring they are educated. This can prove challenging, depending on the foreign country one goes to. In my...

                            The Rwanda Genocide that occurred in 1994 was one of the most recent large-scale genocides in the past 50 years.  The Hutu vs. Tutsi tribal conflict that many of us recall was horrific on so many fronts. The sheer numbers of dead (between 800,000 to 1,000,000), the nature of the butchery and the destr...

This episode contains four (4) Short Stories. The first one is telling the difference between “who you know” and “who knows you”. Which is better in life and in business? Well, Short Story # 1 will answer that question for you. The second Short Story is about how to check for the freshness of chicken eggs. How to confirm they were or weren’t fertilized or rotten or not. It was quite a process. The...

This episode is about teaching in a Congolese High School. The physical conditions of the classrooms, and lack of supplies and textbooks made the job extremely difficult for both the teachers and students alike. I was a high school professor at Institute Kimia in Gemena, D.R. Congo in the 1982-1983 school year. Having finished my sophomore year of college, I returned to Zaire / Congo and one of my...

This episode is about a gopher. Not the little critters that tear up golf courses and your back yard, but a specific role that I played for 1 year as a Gopher; as in “go-for this” and “go for that”. I tackled this job to essentially provide logistics support to our mission in Gemena, Zaire/D.R. Congo by helping with transporting fuel, people, freight and driving all over the region. In addition, I...

Death, funerals, grieving and the associated rituals vary from culture to culture. This episode explores the differences and similarities as to how Americans handle end of life and grieving vs. how Congolese do. Though death is much more prevalent in Congo, they don’t prepare for it for cultural reasons. Then, when someone does die, the question of “who” caused the death must be...

This episode is the story of a special Lake in the NW corner of the D.R. Congo, Africa. It was called Lake Kwada. Kwada, in the Ngbandi tribal language means “Big Water”. The Mbanza tribe also has ties to this lake, as Kwada in their language means “Death Here”. More on that in the episode. Lake Kwada became a place of rest, relaxation, vacation, rejuvenation and restoration for numerous missionar...

This episode is literally just a bunch of various hunting stories from Congo, Africa. Stories from the 1950’s until the late 1970’s are shared here in this episode. Hunting for and encountering Hippos, Guinea Fowl, Antelope, Monkeys, Chimps, Buffalo (and being gored by it) and other wildlife. Or how about almost being stampeded by a huge herd of buffalo at night? There’s also a s...

Hunting was a part of everyday life for a kid growing up in Central Africa. It was a source of food, a sport, and a deterrent to the African’s garden destruction. From a hand-made slingshot to a BB gun to an air pump Sheridan pellet gun, then on to .22 rifles and .12 gauge shotguns, this episode recounts my journey with hunting in Congo. Hunting brought knowledge and survival techniques of the jun...

  Soccer was prevalent overseas in the 1960’s and 1970’s before it gained a foothold in the USA. Growing up in D.R. Congo exposed me to the sport at a very young age and I grew up playing soccer almost every day. So when I came to the States in Jr. High and in High School, I was the most skilled player. Then I joined my college team and enjoyed a 4 year career. This episode tells my story of...

This podcast episode is actually the culmination of a Radio Broadcasting class I took at Saddleback College in the Spring of 2022. My hope in taking the class was to improve my podcasting efforts. I’ll let you be the judge as to if a semester of 4 hours a week actually helped. My instructor asked me if I wanted to do an extra solo show that was not part of the class curriculum. I jumped at t...

  Congo’s history is one of difficulty, exploitation, political unrest, corruption and challenges for the common man. This is Part 6 of a 6 part series of the country’s history, mainly reflecting on the strength, courage, perseverance, joy, and contentment of the people, despite their circumstances. Part 6 explores where they find joy and happiness while living in corruption and in seemingly...

The story of Congo’s history is not very well known. This country has been exploited for its ivory, slaves, rubber, copper, uranium, coltan and other minerals. It’s had political unrest for years, has been governed by dictators, experienced wars, financial chaos and economic unrest. This is Part 5 of a 6 part series of the country’s history. Part 5 starts with President Mobutu’s exile in 1997 and...

  This is part 4 of a 6 part series on the History of Congo from the 1991 evacuation when President Mobutu’s government was faltering and the expatriots evacuated, through Laurent Kabila’s rebellion to overthrow the government in 1997. During this time, the country experiences political turmoil, multiple governments, out of control inflation, genocide of Hutu people living in Zaire, and anoth...