Introducing Salem Hélène Mokouendza

She was born on the 18th but I’ve delayed posting because we just couldn’t seem to decide on a name. Well, we’ve finally named her, and here are some pics of her first few days on the outside.

Meeting the family!

Going home from the hospital

We couldn’t get our very skilled midwife so we opted to go to the hospital instead of staying home this time. It was a really bad experience with medical staff lacking skill and I might continue to have nightmares about it for a while yet. However, we all survived the ordeal and came home with a beautiful baby.

The bedroom bed set-up (before and after)

Note: as you can imagine this has not been working well and we’re “looking for answers.”

Orcxance’s younger brother Many, his wife Felie and their son Vanquer. We are so glad they came to stay for a while and Felie has been an amazing help.

Salem means “peace.” There were many opportunities during my pregnancy to not feel peaceful, and we’ve had some big disappointments and many months spent waiting, as well as some intense illness that was life-threatening to me and our baby. God’s peace filled up those troubled places even in the midst of our difficulties.

Hélène means “shining light” and we chose this name after Orcxance’s grandmother that he was closest to. This name reminds us that we are to shine brightly for Christ during our short time here.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” -Ephesians 2:13-16

Aravis Leanna

She’s 1 year old today! What a year it has been! We find ourselves doing a lot of the same things we were doing just about this time last year; adjusting to a new baby, losing sleep and remembering to be thankful despite many challenges.

Aravis is a beautiful little girl with a sweet personality. She made it through her first year which is a big deal for kids in Congo. We celebrated with balloons and a little bread cake (thanks for Papa for getting these things).

It’s not been an easy year for us, but almost every time I look at Aravis I am reminded of God’s mercy in letting us keep her a little while longer. At one week old she nearly died of neonatal sepsis, and here she is one year old and doing just fine. We are so thankful.

New dress

Eileen modeling a new dress I sewed for her yesterday

Eileen Shiphrah

Football

these girls were all ready for a soccer game that didn't happen...

Molly Amourai

4 years old!

Wedding Party

We went to our first Malian wedding celebration for our young friend Aïcha. It was actually only part of the celebration: an afternoon just for the ladies involving lots of food and fancy outfits. Although it was an all-day affair, the girls and I just showed up mid-afternoon and stayed only a few hours. We were served the typical Malian party food, a plate heaped with rice topped with eggplant, cabbage, beef and plantains. There were at least 4 other pregnant women there besides me and about a million little kids and babies. It was the biggest Malian party I’ve been to yet. Many of the women came dressed up, or in casual clothes, and some changed into fancier clothes while there, while others came fancy and changed into even more extravagant outfits. I’ve been to quite a few Malian parties and was already familiar with many of the women, but this time a lot of people showed up that I’d never seen before, including some of the most beautiful and elegant women I have ever seen (and not just because of perfect make-up). Eventually the bride herself showed up, looking quite beautiful and outdoing everyone else with her finery and dazzling white dress. Unlike most Congolese weddings, for the Muslim weddings, the white dress is actually fitting for the bride. Unfortunately I had forgotten my phone but it would have been a wonderful opportunity to take pictures. Since many of the women were taking pictures it wouldn’t have been awkward at all. I did get my friend to send me a few which I will share at the end. Once everyone started leaving to go to the next phase of the party (I’m not sure where), we decided to head home instead of sticking with the group. It was a lively and colorful afternoon for sure!