This is about Safari Rutari Alexis, a Congolese returned missionary from Lubumbashi, D.R.C. (Demcratic Republic of Congo) He was recently called as an Assistant Area Auditor. As an Assistant Area Auditor (AAA), he is responsible for auditing and training branches and wards in a designated area (Coordiating Council presided over by an Area Seventy) near Lubumbashi, D. R. C. He will report to me and Sharon (Area Auditors) until we go home, and will take over what we have been doing in regard to auditing and financial training. We now have AAA's in 4 Coordinating Councils (CC's) and we need about nine more to cover all the the CC's in the Africa Southeast area. This makes more sense, because we (and the other Senior Missionary couple) cannot possibly cover all of the auditing and training required in the Africa Southeast Area (about 50 stakes and 10 missions). Some countries (Mexico for example) have about 25 AAA's, but Africa is struggling to have only 4 so far. One reason is that, in Africa, most members ar first generation, so there are not very many qualified brethren to choose from that are not already serving as clerks, bishops, branch presidents stake or district presidents, etc.
In September, Michael Beck and Dan Dahlgren from the Church Auditing Department traveled to Johannesburg for the purpose of training the four AAA's in the Africa Southeast Area. Our assignment was to get the AAA's here for the training, take care of all of the logistics and assist with the training. The other Senior couple have 3 AAA's in the CC's that they are responsible for, and we have one (Safari) to get here for the training. I emailed him as soon as we were aware of the training, so he would have enough time to get his visa to travel to South Africa. All communication between me and him had to be translated to/from English/French, because he only knows French, Swahali, and 2 or 3 tribal languages, but not English, and I know very little French. Microsoft Word has a translation feature that translates well enough to enable us to communicate by email.
With all that being said, we did all we could to get our AAA's here for the training. They were to be flown here at the church's expense, because they could not afford the air travel (and hotel) expenses on their own. At last, Safari informed me that he was having trouble getting his visa in time to be here, because of red tape and political implications in the D.R.C. As it turned out, he could not get his visa until the following Monday after the Friday and Saturday that the training was scheduled to take place. So the bottom line was that he was not here for the training. He (and I) were disappointed and frustrated because of the situation. I had essentially given up on the possibility of getting him here for the training, when I received an email from him. He said that he was planning on coming to Johannesburg to attend the temple and to take some English lessons. It was a two day bus ride (much cheaper than flying) , and he would be here for 3 or 4 weeks, and staying with his sister.He asked if I would be willing to take him through the training while he was here. I said, of course I would be happy to do that. Then my next concern was, who could translate for us during the training. We have a French/English translator in the office, so I went to him, and his supervisor and asked if he would be available to translate for us one or two hours a day two or three days a week. The answer was essentially 'no' because he had a big translation project to do for the Area Presidency and other more senior people than me. When Safari arrived, the young part time receptionist overheard me struggling to communicate with him. She said "I know of a young man in the finance department that speaks French and English, who may be able to translate for you. She called him and he said he would translate, but it would be up to his supervisor as to how long he could translate each day. His supervisor said he could give me an hour a day as much as two or three days a week. His name is Felly Bukasa, another returned missionary from the D.R.C. who works as a volunteer while he is taking some classes. So we went to work, with one hour (sometimes longer) sessions each day. We set up a schedule for him to come in about 6 or 7 different days, which he did. Safari and Felly struck up a good friendship because they are both Congolese, which they have in common. Felly, who is a counselor in his Elders Quorum Presidency said that he was thankful because he also learned a few things about church administration for his benefit. The training went well with the help of Felly's translation skills. Safari had been to the temple 3 times and will probably go more while he is still here, which is a rare occurrence for members from as far away as the D.R.C. I noticed that, as a result of his English lessons that he is taking, he is now speaking more English words, making it a little easier to communicate with him. So several things were accomplished as a result of Safari's trip to Johannesburg.
When everything was done, Sharon and I took Safari and Felly to lunch. Sometimes the Lord works in unexpected ways to help us, as we go about doing His work.
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