If you have looked at many of Tracy’s Heart photos, you will have undoubtedly seen Byabeca, probably without knowing it. She is the director of Tracy’s Heart Foundation and an extraordinary woman and leader. She is usually in the middle of everything that goes on. Without her Tracy’s Heart would not be operational. When Brenda and I are back in the States she keeps the program running. (Brenda is Brenda Buell, founder and creator of Tracy’s Heart, the one who oversees everything and raises the money to operate. Without her vision and continual work Tracy’s Heart could not exist. I will introduce her at a later date, too.)
Byabeca knows her countrymen and women well, is cognizant of their difficulties and struggles from personal experience and is educated in development tactics, considerations, and needs in her part of the world. Above all, she loves God and is committed to love others. With His Love she reaches out to touch women of unstable means with His love. Consequently, Byabeca does everything she can to help women rise above their station in life. We could not do without her.
The Italicized words are translated from her interview in French and Swahili to English by a coworker in Congo, then sent to me; the non-italicized words are mine, intended to help the reader understand something.
When I was born, life was very bad for my family and for the country of Congo, then called Zaire. It was a period of great hunger. My father was studying at the Bible Institute at Camp Mwezi (in the mountains above Bukavu operated by American missionaries) The day I was born was the day the missionaries chose to pass out food. Food was a welcome gift because we had no food in our house. Seeing the condition of our lives, the missionaries decided to give my father a job and a salary while he went to school.
After a few years of training my father was sent to be pastor to the MUDAKA church (up in the mountains above Bukavu) and we moved into a *house next to the church the missionaries had built. (at that time it was parents with five young children) After a few years the **Harkema family came to work with my father. We lived together with them in the same house, eating the same African food with them, my Mother cooking together with Jayn in a bad **African kitchen using pieces of wood to cook. (Please remember these are her words, not mine.)
*This was a very small 3 room house with a corrugated tin roof and dirt floor. The bathroom was a long-drop surrounded by a corn stalk fence.
**this will be explained from my (Jayn’s) point of view in more detail in a coming blog.
***Cooking was done over an open fire on the ground outside at the back of the house. Her mother, Masoka, and I (Jayn) sat on tiny wooden stools 6 inches off the ground to cook and wash up after.
From there we could feel the heart of Jesus in the Harkema family. Jesus left Heaven to come to be with us and live like a human. For those who don’t know Congo, it is another world, it’s not like America. When someone leaves America and comes to Congo, not to live in a city but in a village, it is a great sacrifice and a sign of great love.
After many years in Mudaka my Dad was sent to work and lead the Camp-Mweze church and also worked with Bwana Doggett in the Bible Institute where many pastors were trained. At the same time he was working with Bwana Butler in the prison to teach and preach about Jesus. Many people came to be Christians. In the year 1996 the missionaries began to leave Congo (The Genicide in Rwanda/Burundi had exploded and bled over into the border country of Congo causing uprisings, splinter rebel groups, and civil war) At the same time my father became very sick and had to be sent to Nairobi, Kenya to get good (medical) treatment. With all the missionaries gone and war erupting, life became very hard. Families were very, very poor and our family was not spared.
I have bad remembrances from the war that came to Congo. We were running to seek refuge in Bwahungu in Walungu (an area south of Bukavu) when we found ourselves in an ambush of (2 rival groups) of rebel soldiers. We realized we were in the middle of a battlefield and there I saw horrible things happening. As I was crawling and moving forward, someone always took my place. Repeatedly that person was shot and badly injured or killed. We saw many people die. When we left that place, we were not ourselves any longer. We were terrified. Young children especially had difficulty bearing it all.
But this is not all there is to Byabeca! No, there is much more, so stay tuned, it will be continued next time.
Under his Wings, Jayn
A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. – Proverbs 11:25 NIV
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Checks to: Heart for Central Africa, The Harkemas,
PO Box 355, Middleville, MI 49333
Heart for Central Africa is a tax deductible 401(c)3
Building Bukavu is Ray and Jayn Harkema under HFCA