Rien est Perdu

(translation: "Nothing is Lost")

Our Gabonese business agent, pastor, and friend, Ferdinand Sangoye, has a great message that he shares in local churches when he has the opportunity. It's a message of redemption called "Rien est Perdu" - nothing is lost. He reminds everyone that God doesn't make mistakes and there is nothing that HE can't use.

So, here are a couple "Rien est Perdu" moments in life recently for me:

1) Hope House Powerpoint presentation- I put together a powerpoint presentation for a national conference of pastors to highlight the needs of the Hope House orphanage. It was a big opportunity for us to gain support and make a call for action! So, I put together a slideshow complete with a tear-jerker song in French called "Listen to the Cries of the Children". When the day came, we started the powerpoint, only to find that, in the room full of natural light that couldn't be blocked, no one could see the images and we faded the music and stopped the presentation after about 30 seconds. Bummer. Well, Pastor Israel, the Hope House director, did a fine job of verbalizing the needs and opportunities for others to support. I was a little dissappointed that we couldn't use this presentation. HOWEVER... I left the disc with Pastor Israel and JUST DAYS LATER he was invited to make a presentation to the National Assembly, a large governmental congress, and he was able to use the presentation! Rien est Perdu!

2) Road Trip car problems- One of the reasons that we are here in Gabon is to assist in overcoming barriers, like poor roads, through the use of aviation. We have experienced these roads first hand, have had many flat tires and have employed the 4 wheel drive often. It is a challenge. On our last drive down to the Bongolo Hospital from our home in the capital city of Libreville (a 10 to 12 hour drive), our rear shocks completely failed about 3 hours away from the hospital and we were limited to about 60 kilometers per hour the rest of the way. We pulled in after dark and crashed at the homes of our friends, the Kelly family. We had planned to continue from the hospital another 3 hours to the beach for some R&R, but the road would be no better, so we thought we were sunk. HOWEVER... Tim Kelly said that he had just replaced the rear shocks on his car... THE SAME MODEL CAR!!! He had kept the used but not unuseable shocks on his shelf for some reason. So, the next morning we put them on my car and were able to make it the rest of the way. RIEN EST PERDU!!!