On Oct. 30th, we took 3 young missionaries from Bujumbura to the airport so they could leave for the mission home in Ghana.  They are all 3 going to serve in Kinshasa, Congo after spending 2 weeks in the MTC.  The first one we picked up was Egide.  This is a photo of him and his family out in front of their home.  Goodbyes were said here, as there is not enough room for everyone to come with us in the truck.

     Next we went to pick up Desire, the young man we helped with his missing teeth.  The rains had made a mess of the street leading up to his house, so Gary had to go fetch him on foot and help carry his luggage back to the truck.

     The interesting part was when we attempted to get out of where we had parked.  We had gone  through a severely steep trench to get to where we were, and then, wisely decided discretion was the better part of valor and opted to walk from there.  Well, after loading the missionary and his belongings into the truck, on the way back through the trench, things got a bit iffy.  We had the truck in 4-wheel and launched into the water-filled ditch only to go nose first down into the muck where we hit a large rock with a disturbing crash and sudden stop.  Everyone in the neighborhood was watching by this time, and I had visions of not making it to the airport on time for the missionaries' flight.  But, Gary was able to get it to reverse out of the hole, and then we went around the rock.

This is a photo of the large dent we put in our front bumper.  Our poor truck has picked up several dents and dings since we arrived.  Some I don't know where they came from, others I definitely do!

We got the boys to the airport on time.  They seemed so young, so green, so scared!  They will be different young men when they return.  They will learn a lot, mature a lot, and hopefully bring the gospel to those who are waiting and ready to hear the truth.