Justin “The Viking” Wren is a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter and missionary to the Pygmy tribes of the Congo. On November 1, 2014, he married Emily and the next year she went on her first missions trip with him. Justin’s journal captured some of the endearing moments from their adventure.
Like me since 2011, Emily is beginning to experience the pains of trying to learn a new language, one that is a hodgepodge of local languages, including French and Swahili. Because of this, Emily has had me CRACKING UP for the last two weeks. I have a big leg up on Emily because I’ve been here much longer, established relationships, and have already begun to learn all their different Swahili and Pygmy names. Emily, though, is still in the mix-and-match, stumble-and-fumble stage, where she can completely mangle some of their names. It’s great, though, because it can get us all laughing and teasing in such a playful way. Emily is a clever cutie, and in the last few days my EmmyBear has come up with a very fitting and endearing nickname for one of my favorite guys in the world, Bahjongee.
Every morning, Bahjongee is already sitting around the fire outside our huts in the communal area. He is a sweet, adorable old man who ALWAYS has a smile, and LOVES to contribute to the community in any way that he can. I can’t put a finger on his age, nor can he, but he’s old enough to need a walking stick when he has to hike long distances.
When we crawl out of our tiny huts in the morning, he normally has the local coffee we brought already brewing on the fire. He stands up, meets us halfway, and then gives us the biggest hugs he can. What a great way to start the morning! During our coffee time, he’s normally working on a new handmade hunting net, or he’s repairing a damaged net for the younger rascals who can still hunt.
Bahjongee is one of only two Pygmies that I’ve ever met who knows how to read. He’s also one of the first Christian Pygmies out of the couple thousand I’ve met.
“I learned to read because I wanted to be able to read the Bible, so I could learn more about the God who loves us so much that He sent His son to save us,” he told me.
One day, Emily was trying to point out how cute and sweet of an old man someone in the village was. I asked her to clarify, because there were several men who fit that description. She said, “You know, Ja-bo-jo,” to which I chuckled and responded, “Who?!”
“Gosh…YOU know…Gee-bo-nee! No, that’s not it! Is it?” she asked.
By this time, I knew she was really digging deep and trying hard to find the right name, but I couldn’t help but laugh. I think she might’ve tried “Gee-bo-nee” again, and in her cute kind of frustration she might have even thrown in an Oscar Mayer “Balogna!” (I was secretly thinking, “Oh, Bahjongee!” but I didn’t tell her just yet.) She then pointed her finger across the village and said, “Over there.” She paused, then let out, “OH MY GOODNESS! It’s POOH BEAR! Look how cute he is!”
At first I thought, “Why would you be calling anyone Pooh Bear?” But sure enough, I looked out into the distance and made a connection I’d never noticed before. Bahjongee ALWAYS carries his walking stick over his shoulder; it has a bag at the end he tied out of cloth, and he always has the biggest smile on his face and a bit of a pep in his step.
For the past few days, I haven’t seen Bahjongee walk anywhere without his stick over his shoulder. Now, because of EmmyBear, I’ve had flashbacks of the Pygmies finding and digging in to get some honey from a tree (Pygmies love honey), Bahjongee being one of them! I don’t think I could adore my two favorite bears any more than I do right now.
Justin and Emily Wren join James and Betty this Tuesday on LIFE TODAY. This is an excerpt from Fight for the Forgotten by Justin Wren. Copyright ©2015 by Justin Wren. Published by Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
