We are often asked ,"What do you do as Public Affairs Missionaries?" One of the things is hosting 'key opinion leaders' at the Area Office. This past week, we had the opportunity to host "Pinky" who works for the South African Embassy in Madagascar. She is the one who stamps Visa applications for people wanting to come to South Africa to either attend the MTC or attend the JoBurg Temple.
Unfortunately, there have been misconceptions, sometimes through the media, as to what our Church believes & what our members' purposes are in wanting to travel to other countries. So...through our tour, we were able to visit Humanitarian, Self-Reliance & Family History Departments, as well as Patron Housing (where patrons can stay overnight while they attend the temple).
Here are some pictures from the Area Office tour:
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| Sandile Makasi (Travel/Visa Dept), Elder Cook (ASEA Area President), Pinky, Sean Donnelly (Area Public Affairs Director) |
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| Display in Humanitarian Department |
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| Sister Kinghorn & Sherrie explain various Humanitarian & Mental Health Programs the Church is involved with throughout the Area |
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| Elder Jarvi shows Pinky one of the resources available at the Family History Centre. |
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| Thousands of microfilm records available for patrons to use in their Family History research |
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| Elder Hale shows Pinky the Family Search website |
Due to this wonderful visit, Pinky was able to understand the programs & gain insight into members' beliefs, etc. She was very touched, & greatly appreciated the time we took to answer her questions. She said she will address concerns with her colleagues & let them know that the Embassy does not have to worry about approving Visa's for members of the LDS Church - yay! This is what we hope will always be the positive outcome of these informative & spiritual visits.
Last weekend, we were asked to travel to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is one of the most northern areas in the Africa SE Area. We were excited to have this opportunity, because it is not one of the countries we directly oversee, because it is French-speaking. But, Sean was on holiday & so we were blessed to go.
Our purpose was to cover a historic event taking place on Friday night. Our PA Director, Olivier Tshimanga, had been working for several months with a local orchestral group to put on a performance at the Stake Center. The group, Kimbanguiste Symphony Orchestra, was created 20 years ago by their director, Armand Diangienda. In the midst of this worn-torn country, with almost 9 million people in Kinshasa, this group began performing with only 12 original artists, working with home-made, refurbished instruments. It has now grown to over 200 talented musicians, including a full orchestra & symphony, Artists travel weekly by taxi, car or on foot for rehearsals & performances, making their way through the run-down, extremely crowded streets. Knowing this background, it was even more incredible to hear the spectacular music resounding from the Stake Center at the evening's performance.
Here are some pictures of our amazing trip to DR Congo!
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| Talk about stark differences between the tranquil resort-setting outside our hotel, with the backdrop of the dilapidated building, with laundry hanging off every balcomy! |
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| Setting up for the evening's concert |
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| Elder & Sister Johnson (Humanitarian missionaries from Oregon) They were our "tour guides & translators" for the weekend. |
While we were there, they were having a mission-wide Christmas Devotional for the Kinshasa DRC Mission. Look at all these handsome, shining faces of the powerful "Army of Helaman" in the DR Congo!
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| These Elders & Sisters LOVED chowing down on some great food! |
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| They actually ran out of meat, & had to grill up some more! |
Friday morning, we were blessed to meet with Olivier & his National Public Affairs Council. They are such dedicated servants of the Lord, & have lots of enthusiasm & great ideas to share.
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| Olivier (Nat'l PA Director - in middle), surrounded by his Council. Elder Mabaya (right), the Area 70 for Kinshasa ,shared his amazing spirit & testimony with us during the meeting. What a great man! |
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| Elder & Sister Johnson showed us around the Service Center, where their office is housed. |
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| Another view of the Kinshasa Service Center - beautiful architecture! |
Now, it was time for the big event! It was absolutely incredible! We hope you'll enjoy these pictures & watching the video, to give you a taste of this incredible orchestra & choir:
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| Venue was the Kinshasa Stake Center. This is a view from the future site of the DR Congo Temple. It will be such a great blessing for these wonderful Congolese people! |
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| Did I mention everyone hear speaks French? Or the native language, Lingala (sp?) |
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| Advertising Poster |
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| Musicians arriving for the evening's performance |
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| Program |
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| This little one was excited to join in the fun! |
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| Darling family getting ready to enjoy the music! |
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| Full house of over 500 delighted guests! All three of the DRC Area 70 were there (in the foreground) |
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| The choir joined the orchestra for the last half of the performance |
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| Women were adorned in beautiful Congolese outfits |
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| Soloists added an great dimension to some of the numbers - they were SO good! |
As you will see from this video, they were amazing musicians! They received several standing ovations, and an especially powerful one following their performance of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus". We felt so blessed to have been there to watch & listen.
For more details regarding the background & history of the Kimbanguiste Symphony Orchestra, please check out www.mormonnewsroom.co.za
Merry Christmas,
From Elder & Sister Berg
