Some days I don’t need any reminders that this culture is different than my own. Saturday, April 14 was one of those days as we traveled from Gemena to Gbado-Lite in caravan with President Mboka. This is only a distance of 280 km (about 174 miles) but there were 4 stops to be greeted and eat along the way. Yes, 4 stops before getting to our destination!
Here the different church regions want to welcome the President when he passes through their region, particularly when it is his first time through. It is an honor to them to welcome the President. When he stops they will have all the important people for the church region present to shake hands, sing together, pray, ask the President to greet them and of course eat. This reception (at Loko) was held just outside the church in the shade:
Reception at Loko
So we stopped at Karawa, Bossamba Kwada, Loko, and Gbado-Gboketsa before arriving in Gbado-Lite to a large welcome with several hundred present! Here President Mboka is being presented flowers in Gbado-Lite. But first the 3 girls recite a welcome:
Pres. Mboka being presented with flowers at Gbado-Lite
And we ate at each stop. You have to plan ahead to make it through one of these days. 🙂 We left Gemena at 5h30 and arrived in Gbado-Lite at 17h25. We were delayed an hour getting something fixed on the mission truck, but even so it was a long day.
