Last spring, Justin Matheny of Koloa told a friend from church he intended to go to Africa in the summer. He didn’t know how and didn’t have the money, but described the inspiration as “a message from God.” Then a
Last spring, Justin Matheny of Koloa told a friend from church he intended to go to Africa in the summer. He didn’t know how and didn’t have the money, but described the inspiration as “a message from God.”
Then a fellow church member in Riverside, Calif., called to ask him if he’d like to join her and her minister, plus five others, to go to Isiro, a city in the middle of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He joined her in California, then flew through Detroit, Amsterdam and Uganda, where he boarded an eight-passenger plane that flew deep into the jungle. The commute didn’t end there; Matheny then rode by Jeep the final 15 miles to Isiro.
“The Californians complained of the humidity,” Matheny said. “For me the weather was just like Kaua‘i.”
That is where all things familiar came to an end though. In one short month, the 16-year-old Kaua‘i boy was inaugurated into a new language (Bangala), a new environment (the only Caucasian in Isiro in 20 years) and an unfamiliar diet (termites). With not so much as a complaint on his lips, Matheny explained how living in a place that has little diversity in its menu, you’re just glad to eat at all.
“Once a year a bunch of termites swarm, when the wings fall off, they fall on the ground and the Africans scoop them up, cook them and eat them. The termite I ate was raw. I can’t explain the flavor.”
But the teen did go on to describe how a termite has “one crunch, maybe two.”
Mostly though, the local diet consists of rice and “pondue.”
“Pondue is like spinach, they pound and pound the leaves for a long time,” Matheny said as he raised both arms, closed his fists and made a pounding motion on the floor between his feet.” He added, “Sometimes we had a few peanuts.”
Matheny did not travel 24 hours by plane and then bounce around in a Jeep for a jaunt into the jungle for a culinary experience. The goal set forth by the missionary group was of a loftier calling; to bring knowledge of the life of Jesus to the children in Isiro. “Kids aren’t allowed in the church there,” Matheny said. “They stand outside the door and look in.”
News of the missionary group spread when they announced their intent to host two youth camps: one for kids ranging in age 8 to 13, and a second one for youth 14 to 20. “People walked or rode their bikes from 20 kilometers away,” he said.
The two six-day youth camps drew upward of 1,500 participants. “I got up and gave my testimony,” Matheny said. “Everyone in our group told stories of Samuel, Joseph and Goliath.”
Pastor Derril Sturgeon of Riverside spoke fluent Bangala and was able to act as translator for the event.
Matheny described the church service as a pretty different experience then what is customary on Kaua‘i. “They sing and dance in church,” he said. “And they don’t even have music on paper, they memorize all their songs.”
“I appreciate school more then I ever would. Kids there got on their knees and begged to be put in school. Here, we beg not to go,” he said.
What else changed for this high school boy after his experience?
“I’m not as lazy,” he said. “Just ask my mom.”
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 or pwoolway@ kauaipubco.com
