Congo Rising

18/04/2024

One of the great honors of my life was meeting Reverend Cecil "Chip" Murray. We kept up correspondance, and a friend and I visited "Chip" in California. He gave us water and said, "I put some vodka in it."
I got word today from my brother (from another mother) that Pastor Chip had made his transition. This is a man who changed the world. I love him. I am so grateful that I got to have him as a friend and counselor.
He died on April 6. I will post more about Pastor Chip in coming days. He was a light in my life.

Until the pandemic, the Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray was the first person in the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s office every morning. Then 90 years old, he would …

08/04/2024

More on albinism in the Congo at my blog:

When my husband and I were missionaries in Mbuji Mayi, DR-Congo, we noticed that there were many albino people. When we traveled to Ngandajika, we met

17/01/2024

On this day in 1961, Patrice Emery Lumumba was assassinated in the Independent Congo. Sadly, Belgium and the USA were complicit in this action. Only a handful of people in the Congo knew that Lumumba and two of his compatriots (Mpolo and Okito) had been killed. Rumors circulated that the three men had escaped from prison. The truth was finally revealed in February, 1961. The bodies had been destroyed with acid to prevent further investigation. Last year, Belgium returned one of Lumumba's teeth to the Lumumba family.
We are thrilled to announce that we're beginning pre-production of a film about Lumumba's life. We are also eager to see the documentary directed by Dieudo Hamadi about Lumumba. Our film will be a personal look at Mr. Lumumba.
We hope that the world will pay attention to this man whom Malcolm X called "the most important black man ever to walk on African soil."

13/01/2024

I know the Book of Jasher quite well, but didn't know that the Quran also has stories of Joseph (the one in the Old Testament).
Joseph was handsoome.
HOW HANDSOME WAS HE?
From the Quran:

"Some women of the city gossiped, “The Chief Minister’s wife is trying to seduce her slave-boy. Love for him has plagued her heart. Indeed, we see that she is clearly mistaken.

When she heard about their gossip, she invited them and set a banquet for them. She gave each one a knife, then said ˹to Joseph˺, “Come out before them.” When they saw him, they were so stunned ˹by his beauty˺ that they cut their hands, and exclaimed, “Good God! This cannot be human; this must be a noble angel!”

26/11/2023

Yay! It's time for the Lumumba film!

Patrice Lumumba Film: Why NOW is the moment. Starting in July, 2023, events from the 1960s have drawn unusual attention. The film Oppenheimer (July 2023) We have no way of knowing how Lumumba would have guided the country which elected him its prime minister. He was in office just a few months befor...

03/10/2023

I remember going to the hospital to see my mother-in-law, Ruth, who had just passed away. She looked impossibly small. All of the life which had animated

29/07/2023

https://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-partners-with-other-faiths-and-government-leaders-in-mbuji-mayi-dr-congo-to-promote-marriage-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B

Elder Mwanke Baker David Ngabizele, Area Seventy representing the Central Africa Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joined other religious leaders from the National Council of Religions