WINONA LAKE - Three Bayakan Pygmy men recently made their first visit out of the rain forest to the United States through Grace Brethren International Missions.

The men: Kanganzo Martin, 46, director of Bayaka Pygmy ministry; Ebomba Louis, 28, evangelist and teacher; and Mangoka Franois, 30, music director; arrived in Winona Lake July 22 and will stay until Aug. 18. The men are from Central African Republic, south of Chad.

Barbara Wooler lived among the Bayaka Pygmy group from 1985 to 1994. Since then she has lived with the group for six months and then came back to Winona Lake for six months. Wooler will travel back to Africa with the men to stay for two months.

The men arrived with missionary Jim Hocking, who has lived in Africa since age 3. He traveled to the rain forest to get the three men and bring them to Winona Lake. Hocking lives approximately 12 hours north of the rain forest where the men live.

Martin, Louis and Franois are staying with Wooler. "They've taken over my house," she said Friday with a smile.

Wooler said the men are in Winona Lake as representatives of the Bayakan people to the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches National Conference. The conference begins today in Winona Lake and runs through Wednesday.

While in Winona Lake, the three men will visit churches and spread the word of God. Wooler said they also will report "work they're doing and churches they're planting."

She said many people have heard about them but never met them. Now is their chance, she said. Martin's, Louis' and Franois' primary goal for visiting Winona Lake is to "share what God's doing."

"They're just delighted (to be here)," Wooler said.

Although the men speak the Bayaka language and can't understand English, Wooler said, "They can understand a smile."

In their home, Wooler said, the men were "looked on as slaves in Africa and Africans would sometimes call them animals."

There are only approximately 15,000 Pygmies in central Africa and most are treated badly.

Hocking said other Africans justify their poor treatment toward Martin, Louis and Franois because their culture and way of life is different.

But in Winona Lake, "they are really and truly treated as equals. (That's going to) remain with them even after they leave."

Wooler said the men will probably tell friends back home every day that here they were considered as equals.

"(They have) really blossomed (and their stay in Winona Lake is really) nurturing for them," Wooler said. "People know them by name now. They're just delighted to be here."

She said, "They've come because they have a report to give and they want to greet their (Christian) family here."

Wooler also said the men love the food here.

"It's not much different than what they're eating in Africa," Wooler said.

They usually eat beef, gravy and potatoes. "They love it," she said.

She also said they're used to sleeping beside a fire in their hut, which they build themselves. So during their stay in her home, she gave them sleeping bags to keep warm. But the men didn't like the sleeping bags because they felt too contained.

During their stay in Winona Lake, Martin, Louis and Franois were able to visit Paige's Crossing and Columbia City, go shopping for new dress shoes in Fort Wayne, and drive a pontoon boat on Winona Lake, among other things.

Wooler said the trip to Paige's Crossing "was so funny. They loved it."

"Boy, if they'd bring some of these (go-carts) here (home), we'd really get good," Franois said.

Wooler said they've never seen or been on a lake before, either. "So it was a shock for them to see a big open area like that (Winona Lake)."

The lake trip was one of Martin's most memorable things about his visit. He explained in great detail with special effects how he was able to drive a pontoon for a little while. Hocking said he "did a very good job."

"They're very resilient people," Wooler said. "They just roll with the punches (and) they laugh a lot."

But after a month's stay in the United States, Wooler said Martin, Louis and Franois will be ready to go home.

"This is fun and all," she said, "but they'll be ready to go."

After speaking to Wooler, I was able to speak to the men with Hocking as our interpreter.

"We really like it here," Franois said. "A lot of stuff (here) is hard to understand, (but,) we really like it."

Franois was very happy and laughed a lot. But there was one thing he said he didn't understand: "Your kids don't play in front of houses here," he said.

In his village, children and adults alike are always outside. Their huts are used for sleeping and storage but they "live outside," Hocking said.

Louis said the escalators in the mall really bother him. The three men call the escalators "steps with teeth."

Louis said, "You get on and it runs down (to the) bottom so fast (there's) no time to think."

Martin, Louis and Franois have managed to pick up a few English phrases during their visit. Martin demonstrated what he had learned by trying to communicate with me in English. He said phrases such as, "Hi," "Very good," "I am fine" and "Good morning."

Franois said he really likes all the cars here. He said they were "all over the place, (even) at night."

Besides the cars, Franois said, "We never saw houses this big in all our lives."

All the roofs were nice and they don't leak, he said. "Our houses are not like that," he said.

The men also said the churches here "are so strong; they'll last forever." The churches in their village are not nearly as strong, they said. "Within a month, (they're) already leaking."

Franois also said he would "love to have some (of the) musical instruments" that we have here.

Hocking explained that Franois was talking about pianos, organs and violins.

"(There's) good music here," Franois said. He also explained his first experiences seeing an organ and violin being played. He thought it was weird to see someone playing with both their hands and feet. And with the violin, he said, the person playing it was moving the bow back and forth so quickly that he was "surprised he didn't cut it in half."

Martin, Louis and Franois each had stories to tell of all the new things they're seeing in the United States, and each story was told with great enthusiasm and in great detail. The three men were very talkative, happy and seemed to really have a love for life.

But they didn't love the airplane ride here.

Franois said the plane scared him. The men were frightened both when the plane took off and when it landed. Franois said he grabbed the "covered mask" above his seat and put it on.

"Some of these things made an impact," Franois said.

The men also referred to Fort Wayne and Columbia City as "villages."

And Martin said the money in the United States is confusing. He said the bills all look the same and you must be very careful to look at each one because the values are all different. "They're easy to confuse," he said.

When asked what the most memorable thing they would take home to their friends, Martin, Louis and Franois said they would like to take home some of the food and their memories of how Americans have treated them.

They said they would like to share "a lot of things in our stomaches" because they like the food here so well.

But, more importantly, the men are enjoying the kindness of people in the United States.

"It was really obvious people wanted to talk to us and have fellowship," Martin said. "We've been to all different kinds of places and people are not embarrassed to have us over for dinner. For us it's very different."

Hocking said all the attention the men have been receiving "hasn't gone to their heads. They're really adaptable people."

Hocking also said having the men as visitors to minister in Winona Lake "is the fruit of a lot of prayer and a lot of giving."

Already, Hocking said, the men are planning churches back home.

Martin, Louis and Franois will be in Winona Lake until Aug. 18, when they head home to their village. But in the meantime, they will be speaking at different churches and visiting with Hoosiers. [[In-content Ad]]