Today is very memorable in our minds. Six police armed with big guns came walking on the mission campus of Nkara this morning. Immediately, thoughts went to the 2007 invasion by two nearby hostile villages. Jim's life was at stake then. What could they possibly want? Everything has been running exceptionally well. Could satan possibly have sneaked a foot in the door during these last few weeks of Jim's stay in Congo?
Were these demon-rocked villages of Mibiere and Mpene making new threats to invade Nkara one more time? Did they want some of Jim's blood? Were they here to hassle our people? Jim? Why did they bring guns of this size with them? What were they going to try to impose on Jim? It was no joke, Jim knew.
They opened their mouths; they imposed a plea.
They showed desperation.
Their eyes displayed longing.
Their faces presented deep yearning.
Weary from the 60 mile walk, they were fading with exhaustion.
What was driving them to walk so far?. . . to walk so far to Nkara of all places?
They began to speak. Unbelievable peace and utter amazement followed.
They spoke with urgency.
"Please, please Mr Jim, give us a Bible. We are starving for God's Word. We must have it. To show you how earnest we are, we
have walked these many miles in hopes that you will give us each one a Bible. Please. We must have one. We are hearing how
it changes lives. We want our lives changed."
Jim led 3 of them to the Lord. They walked away with the great treasure they sought.
God, you are amazing.
Your word and Your Name you place above everything else? These men likewise have given you and Scripture high priority.
Would to God we would too!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
The miracle of Radio Glory
In the middle of nowhere bush country (only in our eyes, not in God's) stands a 300' tower reaching towards the heavens in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. In the day time pilots who fly close enough to our mission campus can see its splendor and are amazed that it is even there, let alone that it actually functions. Despite the fact that it stands so tall (30 ten-foot sections), it has never once been struck by lightning. Much of this we are sure is due to the amazing ingenuity and engineering of Jim Hulse, Founder and Director of Towers for Jesus, who along with Connie, his wife, Cayla, his daughter, and their sons, Cory and Christopher have erected radio towers all over the world.
But it goes even further than that. The mighty arm of our Lord Himself has restrained the force of lightning from hitting Radio Nkembo or Radio Glory as it is known in English. How amazing that the pure pleasure of God allows the air waves to be filled with His praises as far away as Kinshasa (420 land miles from us), even dipping into parts of Angola.
Just before leaving Congo, our staff told us that Radio Glory had been named the most listened to radio station in all of Bandundu. I am not sure who compiles the statistics. But I do know that some of the judging is based on letters, phone calls, and general information making their way to the government. Who would have thought that the hills and valleys nestled into the territory we call the Nkara Collectivite or Center (government name) once steeped in witchcraft, coated in darkness, full of superstition and the occult, and fought over for decades not only by nationals but some missionaries as well, would become such a lighthouse not only through the Laban Bible Institute, but also through intensive Gospel preaching, Bible teaching, Christian music, and Christian Family Living programming done by smart, humble, loving, dedicated men and women who comprise part of the Laban staff in Africa.
A total of 8 people work hard to keep Radio Glory alive and well, two of whom are women. They are called journalists in Congo, and we are so proud and honored to have them on the team. They walk approximately 1.5 miles everyday uphill to keep the programming going, frequently walking on rainy soil from September through the middle of May, daylight or no light bravely facing the possibility of snakes on the path, working 7 days a week because 8 people are just not enough to do all the programming and engineering both morning and evening. (This is Congo, you know)
I asked them how many more people would be needed so that they could have weekends off, and they said four would be a great help and maybe even sufficient to give them more time with their families. They also asked for 2 motorcycles to help get them to their work place, boots to ward off possible snake bites, rain coats, and an increase in salary, as most of them have not had a raise for more than three years.
Their requests hit me and Jim right in the face. These were not outrageous demands. They were given with hesitancy, waiting to see our reaction as we sat in a circle around our living room, and told "As you see fit, as you are able, as God opens the door, as He makes a way. . ., will you please hear us and do what you can.?" Jim and I had to tell them that the economy in America is at a critical level and we could not promise any increase in salary, which must have washed over them in sorrowful waves. We did promise them more rain coats and boots, warmer clothes for days with lower temps than 68 degrees which give them shivers, and we would see what could be done about motorcycles.
They were happy that we listened to them and thanked us for our time. We felt grateful for their uncondeming spirits but helplessly, almost sickeningly sad that we could not give them more.
So I am bringing these very basic requests to you, asking you to pray for 6 raincoats, some warm sweaters, 5 pair of boots, sweats to wear at night when the wet grass hits their legs and makes broadcasting in wet pants or wet hems of dresses uncomfortable, and 2 motorcycles to get them to the station quicker and with much less effort. They are such small needs, really. Our God is big enough, surely, for these amenities which would make such a difference in the lives of these men and women. About the need for increased salaries, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could take them each an additional gift when we return to Congo later on this year, and tell them that because of the generosity of God's people in America, they can enjoy a few more dollars to provide for the educational needs of their children, provide a few more cans of sardines for dinner, and make life just a little less stressful?
What price tag can one put on whole villages being freed from the bondage of depression because of the hope of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ being preached? How much is a soul worth, or thousands and thousands who are being transformed by God's Word through the preaching heard on Radio Glory each morning and evening? How much is a reconciled marriage worth in the heart of Congo, where little is known about interpersonal relationships, and professional counseling is unheard of, but because of Radio Glory's messages, hope is renewed and attempts are made to try bringing their lives as a couple before God so that He can be the one they run to with their problems instead of to a witch doctor or running off to mama?
There is no way to measure the value of these amazing things that are taking place in our area and beyond, but I know it is surely worth more than the cost of the requested items. Please pray. Our God is not a pauper. Would to God we could supply these things and much more! Amen!
But it goes even further than that. The mighty arm of our Lord Himself has restrained the force of lightning from hitting Radio Nkembo or Radio Glory as it is known in English. How amazing that the pure pleasure of God allows the air waves to be filled with His praises as far away as Kinshasa (420 land miles from us), even dipping into parts of Angola.
Just before leaving Congo, our staff told us that Radio Glory had been named the most listened to radio station in all of Bandundu. I am not sure who compiles the statistics. But I do know that some of the judging is based on letters, phone calls, and general information making their way to the government. Who would have thought that the hills and valleys nestled into the territory we call the Nkara Collectivite or Center (government name) once steeped in witchcraft, coated in darkness, full of superstition and the occult, and fought over for decades not only by nationals but some missionaries as well, would become such a lighthouse not only through the Laban Bible Institute, but also through intensive Gospel preaching, Bible teaching, Christian music, and Christian Family Living programming done by smart, humble, loving, dedicated men and women who comprise part of the Laban staff in Africa.
A total of 8 people work hard to keep Radio Glory alive and well, two of whom are women. They are called journalists in Congo, and we are so proud and honored to have them on the team. They walk approximately 1.5 miles everyday uphill to keep the programming going, frequently walking on rainy soil from September through the middle of May, daylight or no light bravely facing the possibility of snakes on the path, working 7 days a week because 8 people are just not enough to do all the programming and engineering both morning and evening. (This is Congo, you know)
I asked them how many more people would be needed so that they could have weekends off, and they said four would be a great help and maybe even sufficient to give them more time with their families. They also asked for 2 motorcycles to help get them to their work place, boots to ward off possible snake bites, rain coats, and an increase in salary, as most of them have not had a raise for more than three years.
Their requests hit me and Jim right in the face. These were not outrageous demands. They were given with hesitancy, waiting to see our reaction as we sat in a circle around our living room, and told "As you see fit, as you are able, as God opens the door, as He makes a way. . ., will you please hear us and do what you can.?" Jim and I had to tell them that the economy in America is at a critical level and we could not promise any increase in salary, which must have washed over them in sorrowful waves. We did promise them more rain coats and boots, warmer clothes for days with lower temps than 68 degrees which give them shivers, and we would see what could be done about motorcycles.
They were happy that we listened to them and thanked us for our time. We felt grateful for their uncondeming spirits but helplessly, almost sickeningly sad that we could not give them more.
So I am bringing these very basic requests to you, asking you to pray for 6 raincoats, some warm sweaters, 5 pair of boots, sweats to wear at night when the wet grass hits their legs and makes broadcasting in wet pants or wet hems of dresses uncomfortable, and 2 motorcycles to get them to the station quicker and with much less effort. They are such small needs, really. Our God is big enough, surely, for these amenities which would make such a difference in the lives of these men and women. About the need for increased salaries, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could take them each an additional gift when we return to Congo later on this year, and tell them that because of the generosity of God's people in America, they can enjoy a few more dollars to provide for the educational needs of their children, provide a few more cans of sardines for dinner, and make life just a little less stressful?
What price tag can one put on whole villages being freed from the bondage of depression because of the hope of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ being preached? How much is a soul worth, or thousands and thousands who are being transformed by God's Word through the preaching heard on Radio Glory each morning and evening? How much is a reconciled marriage worth in the heart of Congo, where little is known about interpersonal relationships, and professional counseling is unheard of, but because of Radio Glory's messages, hope is renewed and attempts are made to try bringing their lives as a couple before God so that He can be the one they run to with their problems instead of to a witch doctor or running off to mama?
There is no way to measure the value of these amazing things that are taking place in our area and beyond, but I know it is surely worth more than the cost of the requested items. Please pray. Our God is not a pauper. Would to God we could supply these things and much more! Amen!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Unleashed Gospel Dynamite
Today. . .
Today I leave Congo, with my husband remaining behind because he just had to squeeze a world more of living into the two weeks remaining until he must return to the States for our spring dinner event. He just stepped out the door to travel to the airport and board an MAF plane piloted by Dan Carlson, a second generation missionary, whose family is like our own. We love them dearly. I miss Jim already.
Today I am reminiscing. . .
about our whirlwind two months here, how that God packed more into that period of time than we could ever have dreamed of, how He showed up time after time, how He revealed His mighty right arm of righteousness at every turn of the way, and Congo can be full of sharp turns, often thrown in by the evil one. But he cannot throw the Lord any curves. The Lord makes our crooked paths straight once again.
The cannibalistic village comes to mind that I recently wrote of, and Romans 1 shouts into my being. . . " I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE. ." ALL--no exclusions. Even those who murdered this innocent victim, He chooses to love. Even those who cut up the bodies of babies in the small forest near our home after placing them on hot coals, and hearing them scream so that they would arouse ancestral spirits to bless their crops. I don't begin to understand that kind of love--so boundless, so unconditional, so all encompassing. That only emanates from a God WHO IS LOVE.
The seventy men from Mpene and Mibiere who sought to escape their self-inflicted attack from warriors from two other nearby villages come to mind. They walked into the lake on our mission campus, thinking they could wade across it, not knowing the lake was more than 15 feet deep in spots because it was hidden by tall elephant grass. None of them could swim. They all died in the 1920's. Lake Ewa became their burial site because of a property issue. Nkara has been fought over for decades, long before the Smiths ever set foot there.
Remembering Mapungu, a reprobate pastor. whose beaming smile welcomed us in '78, only to find out later this "pastor". who was also principle of the state-operated school, forced high school girls to sleep with him on Saturday night and then got up and preached in church on Sunday mornings. He was an instrument, a would be ministry deterent for years and years until the national church defrocked him. The power of the blood of Christ kept him at bay and diffused his plans. He eventually fell in the pit he dug for us.
Thinking of the day in 1980 when Jim took a few nationals up to east hill and prayed for a radio station right there in the middle of the bush. That dream came true in 2003, but as far as the Lord was concerned it already was before it ever existed.
A sea of faces comes to mind. Men and women who have been washed in the blood of Christ, cleansed totally from witchcraft and all kinds of forms of demonism, darkness, ignorance, and unshackled by the power of that blood. Pastor Mbuku says there is no way of knowing how many there are. God knows.
Our four children come to mind. I see them playing, studying, running outside to welcome the cool breezes from the stirrings of a tropical storm, returning home bearing the prize of their hunts on their arms, baking bread in the kitchen with flour everywhere, preparing the wood stove to bake their product, cooking glowing orange palm nuts with salt, savoring every bite, reading endlessly--well some of them enjoyed reading--creating their own fun, making houses out of cereal boxes and clothes for Nicol's monke, T. D. (Teddy Roosevelt's namesake), sitting around our beautiful ebony dining room table that Jim made with his own hands, while Jim read Scripture to them and taught them God's Word. Their girlish and boyis faces with toothless smiles and the wonder of childhood bring tears to my eyes. I miss those bygone days.
Back to the present. The clock tells me it is time to get ready to be taken to Njili Airport by Congo Travel Service. My head is swimming with too many memories to share right now. I feel so very blessed to have walked this soil, rubbed shoulders with giants of the faith, reared our children here for enough time to really impact us as a family, and as a married couple to have seen the Lord Jesus Christ part our red sea time after time, and produce incredible results by the power of his gospel. I owe you big time, Lord!
Today I leave Congo, with my husband remaining behind because he just had to squeeze a world more of living into the two weeks remaining until he must return to the States for our spring dinner event. He just stepped out the door to travel to the airport and board an MAF plane piloted by Dan Carlson, a second generation missionary, whose family is like our own. We love them dearly. I miss Jim already.
Today I am reminiscing. . .
about our whirlwind two months here, how that God packed more into that period of time than we could ever have dreamed of, how He showed up time after time, how He revealed His mighty right arm of righteousness at every turn of the way, and Congo can be full of sharp turns, often thrown in by the evil one. But he cannot throw the Lord any curves. The Lord makes our crooked paths straight once again.
The cannibalistic village comes to mind that I recently wrote of, and Romans 1 shouts into my being. . . " I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE. ." ALL--no exclusions. Even those who murdered this innocent victim, He chooses to love. Even those who cut up the bodies of babies in the small forest near our home after placing them on hot coals, and hearing them scream so that they would arouse ancestral spirits to bless their crops. I don't begin to understand that kind of love--so boundless, so unconditional, so all encompassing. That only emanates from a God WHO IS LOVE.
The seventy men from Mpene and Mibiere who sought to escape their self-inflicted attack from warriors from two other nearby villages come to mind. They walked into the lake on our mission campus, thinking they could wade across it, not knowing the lake was more than 15 feet deep in spots because it was hidden by tall elephant grass. None of them could swim. They all died in the 1920's. Lake Ewa became their burial site because of a property issue. Nkara has been fought over for decades, long before the Smiths ever set foot there.
Remembering Mapungu, a reprobate pastor. whose beaming smile welcomed us in '78, only to find out later this "pastor". who was also principle of the state-operated school, forced high school girls to sleep with him on Saturday night and then got up and preached in church on Sunday mornings. He was an instrument, a would be ministry deterent for years and years until the national church defrocked him. The power of the blood of Christ kept him at bay and diffused his plans. He eventually fell in the pit he dug for us.
Thinking of the day in 1980 when Jim took a few nationals up to east hill and prayed for a radio station right there in the middle of the bush. That dream came true in 2003, but as far as the Lord was concerned it already was before it ever existed.
A sea of faces comes to mind. Men and women who have been washed in the blood of Christ, cleansed totally from witchcraft and all kinds of forms of demonism, darkness, ignorance, and unshackled by the power of that blood. Pastor Mbuku says there is no way of knowing how many there are. God knows.
Our four children come to mind. I see them playing, studying, running outside to welcome the cool breezes from the stirrings of a tropical storm, returning home bearing the prize of their hunts on their arms, baking bread in the kitchen with flour everywhere, preparing the wood stove to bake their product, cooking glowing orange palm nuts with salt, savoring every bite, reading endlessly--well some of them enjoyed reading--creating their own fun, making houses out of cereal boxes and clothes for Nicol's monke, T. D. (Teddy Roosevelt's namesake), sitting around our beautiful ebony dining room table that Jim made with his own hands, while Jim read Scripture to them and taught them God's Word. Their girlish and boyis faces with toothless smiles and the wonder of childhood bring tears to my eyes. I miss those bygone days.
Back to the present. The clock tells me it is time to get ready to be taken to Njili Airport by Congo Travel Service. My head is swimming with too many memories to share right now. I feel so very blessed to have walked this soil, rubbed shoulders with giants of the faith, reared our children here for enough time to really impact us as a family, and as a married couple to have seen the Lord Jesus Christ part our red sea time after time, and produce incredible results by the power of his gospel. I owe you big time, Lord!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. . .
The following is a letter from Pastor Nkumu, a graduate of Laban, a man of God, an enthusiastic preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who went to work with cannibals in a village not too far from Nkara, where our mission campus is located.
He writes:
"I give you warm greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. I am Reverend Pastor Nkumu-Benjamin, an evangelist and overseer of 16 village churches. These villages were beginning to die out because of rampant, gross sin that was occurring there. They were eating people and eating a lot of them. In 1998, they killed a soldier in the night and ate him. Nobody even knew it.
They also killed a woman who came from Kinshasa. They cut her up into pieces and put her in a pot, but her head they put on the buffet. When her relative came looking for her, the state had already discovered that her murder had taken place, and sent ther arrested chief of the village and his accomplices to prison in Bulungu, the government center nearby. This took place in November of 2001.
Today I am teaching these people the Word of God, but the first time I went to evangelize, they put a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me. God did not want this to happen. They hid me in a house, and my life was spared. We didn't go there just to share the Gospel. We wanted to give them the whole counsel of God. Many of the youth and the women accepted Christ into their hearts; that is, 1,450 made professions of faith.
Finally, the chief has professed Christ. He said, 'If we had only known Jesus Christ before this happened, I would never have ended up in prison. Thank you so much, Pastor, that you came to evangelize us and that we have been saved.' In all truth, in everyone of these villages--some more wicked than others--men and women have been saved. In fact, there are no 2,762 who claim Christ as their savior.
I am filled with happiness to tell you that 5 men from this village who killed the woman from Kinshasa have now come to Laban Bible Institute. Four have graduated and are now pastors, and one is left to graduate next year.
However, this work has taken a toll on me. I have ridden my bike miles and miles and walked I don't know how many kilometers because some areas I go to are only accessible by foot. I have some kind of lung disease and have suffered malaria time and time again. My voice is worn out, and the doctor says I must take time off to recover.
Please pray for me. Thank you for the training I have received at Laban Bible Institute. God bless you and the family of Jim and Nancy Smith."
Thank you,
Pator Nkumu
He writes:
"I give you warm greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. I am Reverend Pastor Nkumu-Benjamin, an evangelist and overseer of 16 village churches. These villages were beginning to die out because of rampant, gross sin that was occurring there. They were eating people and eating a lot of them. In 1998, they killed a soldier in the night and ate him. Nobody even knew it.
They also killed a woman who came from Kinshasa. They cut her up into pieces and put her in a pot, but her head they put on the buffet. When her relative came looking for her, the state had already discovered that her murder had taken place, and sent ther arrested chief of the village and his accomplices to prison in Bulungu, the government center nearby. This took place in November of 2001.
Today I am teaching these people the Word of God, but the first time I went to evangelize, they put a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me. God did not want this to happen. They hid me in a house, and my life was spared. We didn't go there just to share the Gospel. We wanted to give them the whole counsel of God. Many of the youth and the women accepted Christ into their hearts; that is, 1,450 made professions of faith.
Finally, the chief has professed Christ. He said, 'If we had only known Jesus Christ before this happened, I would never have ended up in prison. Thank you so much, Pastor, that you came to evangelize us and that we have been saved.' In all truth, in everyone of these villages--some more wicked than others--men and women have been saved. In fact, there are no 2,762 who claim Christ as their savior.
I am filled with happiness to tell you that 5 men from this village who killed the woman from Kinshasa have now come to Laban Bible Institute. Four have graduated and are now pastors, and one is left to graduate next year.
However, this work has taken a toll on me. I have ridden my bike miles and miles and walked I don't know how many kilometers because some areas I go to are only accessible by foot. I have some kind of lung disease and have suffered malaria time and time again. My voice is worn out, and the doctor says I must take time off to recover.
Please pray for me. Thank you for the training I have received at Laban Bible Institute. God bless you and the family of Jim and Nancy Smith."
Thank you,
Pator Nkumu
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Quotes From Laban Pastors Attending the Seminar
These are excerpts from our pastors' testimonies as they preached the Gospel:
"We crossed large bodies of water on foot."
"We slept in the forest."
"We lost our way."
"We preached in areas that do not know Jesus or the Bible, and some asked us, 'Have you seen Jesus?'"
"In some villages beer and alcohol is their daily portion. They fall asleep in a drunken stupor."
"I went to places accessible only by foot. It took me three days of walking to get there."
"I have 472 in my church," (this man walks on his hands and knees, a polio victim).
John Paul, six foot six inches, known as "Pastor Goliath" said, "I preached in a village very strongly addicted to marijuana. I am alive only by the grace of God. I was beaten with 300 blows of a nylon soldier's strap and collapsed unconscious with blood oozing out of my back. Finally, the soldiers stopped when two other local pastors testified that I truly had come to preach, with no ulterior motives."
Takes us back to New Testament Christianity, wouldn't you agree? What heroes of the faith!
"We crossed large bodies of water on foot."
"We slept in the forest."
"We lost our way."
"We preached in areas that do not know Jesus or the Bible, and some asked us, 'Have you seen Jesus?'"
"In some villages beer and alcohol is their daily portion. They fall asleep in a drunken stupor."
"I went to places accessible only by foot. It took me three days of walking to get there."
"I have 472 in my church," (this man walks on his hands and knees, a polio victim).
John Paul, six foot six inches, known as "Pastor Goliath" said, "I preached in a village very strongly addicted to marijuana. I am alive only by the grace of God. I was beaten with 300 blows of a nylon soldier's strap and collapsed unconscious with blood oozing out of my back. Finally, the soldiers stopped when two other local pastors testified that I truly had come to preach, with no ulterior motives."
Takes us back to New Testament Christianity, wouldn't you agree? What heroes of the faith!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord
We celebrated today by holding the 25th promotion of Laban Bible Institute. Because of Audrey's and Luke's death last year, our school did not hold a ceremony of any kind for the 2008 graduates. So today, with joy abounding, 3000 people gathered in the church to cheer the 12 men and women of the Bible school here at Nkara as well as the 14 women who finished their three years at the Women's Literacy Center.
These brave men and women sacrificed time away from their families, risked their reputation in the village by entering a vocation that pays little or nothing, and must acclimate to living with classmates from other tribes in a totally new location. The women at the Literacy Center are often ridiculed and criticized for forsaking the "norm" of village life, leaving their gardens and children behind as they walk up to five miles one way every day to attend school and then back home in the late afternoon. So you can imagine their anticipation as they crossed the finish line.
The morning started at 9:30 a.m. at the back of the church, where first in line were the 2008 grads of the Literacy Center, followed by the 2007 women grads, followed by the 2008 Bible Institute grads, followed by hundreds and hundreds of former graduates from previous years. They marched in two abreast in perfect synchronization, slowly and hilariously making their way to the front of the church, which took about 30 minutes! Be assured, they enjoyed every minute of the beautiful cadence which they have dreamed about ever since those early days of "small things" when they began their training here.
Incredibly, the Lord gave us very pleasant temps in the 70s, which made us blissfully happy, as the ceremonies run on and on. Today they were four and a half hours long. Singing and moving to the music, clapping, laughing, jubilantly shouting as diplomas caused a great cacophony. They praised God with their whole body. I used to question their "dancing" until someone asked a missionary, "Why do you whites only praise God with your mouths and not with your whole bodies?"
Events that led up to today are noteworthy. It is no small task to feed hundreds of people anywhere, let alone in Congo. We knew when Radio Glory started announcing the dates of graduation and the seminars, which starts March 16th, that the crowd would be huge. So far, 300 graduate pastors have arrived, and so we will probably easily feed 400 or more by the time everyone gets here. In addition to the food we purchased in Kinshasa, rice is delivered to our door almost daily, as well as oranges and tangerines and bananas and fresh pineapples. Five women walked five hours today to sell rice to us and after paying them, we gave them each a solar radio. They beamed!
Although we shopped in Kinshasa, we were limited weight-wise on the MAF plane that flew us here. That meant a trip to Kikwit was necessary to buy the rest of the supplies. So Wednesday morning at 3:45 am, Mabwa, the mechanic, our head nurse, Marvina, Mama Marie, the director of the Women's school, and Mama Jeanne, the director of the feeding program at the Bible Institute, and I left for a four hour (60 miles) trip to the city of Kikwit, where 2 million people live. I think we chose the hottest day of the year. Our big truck preceded us, starting out at midnight Wednesday morning. After meeting up with our truck, the three ladies who went with me and three men who rode the truck, shopped for 7 hours straight, going from store to store to get everything we needed. There is no mall here. This is Africa!
Since diesel fuel and gasoline were also needed to run our generator for the radio station and electricity for our home, plus evangelism and band practice with the electric guitars, as well as to hold services, we stocked up on those items as well. These are purchased in 55 gallon drums. I don't participate in the actual shopping itself, because my skin color makes the prices shoot sky high, so I stayed with Mama Jeanne's relatives, read, and did all the accounting of the expenditures that needed to be made. Kikwit is the kind of place you can spend a week at in one day!
We left at 5:40 pm. the same day and were back by 9:20 p.m., tired but content, and thankful to be able to prepare for a good reception of our many guests. One commodity especially valued is silk worms. They are purchased in 100 pound sacks, as is the sugar, flour, milk, and beans. Cows have really escalated in price over the last two years. It has taken us two weeks to find two that we felt was the absolute lowest price doable. The first one was $450 and the second was $400. They used to be $200 years ago. Those days are gone. So many have lost their cows to disease, so the demand has made the demand shoot up. The standard cost today to purchase a cow is $600. We felt blessed to get them for considerably less.
Many of us took part in today's ceremonies, including Jim and me. Pastor Mboma delivered the message and it was very powerful. He was given a standing ovation, and so energized the crowd, that the atmosphere was electrifying.
Tomorrow we begin classes at 9:00 a.m. followed by a video each evening. Films with an evangelistic bent will be shown, as well as "The Passion" and some fun movies as well. This year's theme is centered around being a pastor, his ministry, church life, the tithe, problems facing a pastor, his family life, etc.
Excitement is mounting as we contemplate what the Lord will do among us this week. Basic needs are so gloriously and thankfully received out here. We have returned to a simpler life. We need each other here, and everybody knows we need each other, so we find ourselves much more involved in the personal lives of people we have known and loved for thirty years. A simple handshake, greetings and prayer with each other mean so very much in Congo. It is an exchange of deep respect. We have been overwhelmed at those who have walked miles to give condolences on the heart-wrenching losses of our grandchildren, Audrey and Luke. They shake their heads in sorrow. They know what it is like to lose a child, having lost several in some cases.
Rich in faith, their enthusiasm for God spills over into our lives, blessing us beyond measure. "One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing to keep permanently; another man considers himself poor, yet has great and indestructible riches." Proverbs 13:7
These brave men and women sacrificed time away from their families, risked their reputation in the village by entering a vocation that pays little or nothing, and must acclimate to living with classmates from other tribes in a totally new location. The women at the Literacy Center are often ridiculed and criticized for forsaking the "norm" of village life, leaving their gardens and children behind as they walk up to five miles one way every day to attend school and then back home in the late afternoon. So you can imagine their anticipation as they crossed the finish line.
The morning started at 9:30 a.m. at the back of the church, where first in line were the 2008 grads of the Literacy Center, followed by the 2007 women grads, followed by the 2008 Bible Institute grads, followed by hundreds and hundreds of former graduates from previous years. They marched in two abreast in perfect synchronization, slowly and hilariously making their way to the front of the church, which took about 30 minutes! Be assured, they enjoyed every minute of the beautiful cadence which they have dreamed about ever since those early days of "small things" when they began their training here.
Incredibly, the Lord gave us very pleasant temps in the 70s, which made us blissfully happy, as the ceremonies run on and on. Today they were four and a half hours long. Singing and moving to the music, clapping, laughing, jubilantly shouting as diplomas caused a great cacophony. They praised God with their whole body. I used to question their "dancing" until someone asked a missionary, "Why do you whites only praise God with your mouths and not with your whole bodies?"
Events that led up to today are noteworthy. It is no small task to feed hundreds of people anywhere, let alone in Congo. We knew when Radio Glory started announcing the dates of graduation and the seminars, which starts March 16th, that the crowd would be huge. So far, 300 graduate pastors have arrived, and so we will probably easily feed 400 or more by the time everyone gets here. In addition to the food we purchased in Kinshasa, rice is delivered to our door almost daily, as well as oranges and tangerines and bananas and fresh pineapples. Five women walked five hours today to sell rice to us and after paying them, we gave them each a solar radio. They beamed!
Although we shopped in Kinshasa, we were limited weight-wise on the MAF plane that flew us here. That meant a trip to Kikwit was necessary to buy the rest of the supplies. So Wednesday morning at 3:45 am, Mabwa, the mechanic, our head nurse, Marvina, Mama Marie, the director of the Women's school, and Mama Jeanne, the director of the feeding program at the Bible Institute, and I left for a four hour (60 miles) trip to the city of Kikwit, where 2 million people live. I think we chose the hottest day of the year. Our big truck preceded us, starting out at midnight Wednesday morning. After meeting up with our truck, the three ladies who went with me and three men who rode the truck, shopped for 7 hours straight, going from store to store to get everything we needed. There is no mall here. This is Africa!
Since diesel fuel and gasoline were also needed to run our generator for the radio station and electricity for our home, plus evangelism and band practice with the electric guitars, as well as to hold services, we stocked up on those items as well. These are purchased in 55 gallon drums. I don't participate in the actual shopping itself, because my skin color makes the prices shoot sky high, so I stayed with Mama Jeanne's relatives, read, and did all the accounting of the expenditures that needed to be made. Kikwit is the kind of place you can spend a week at in one day!
We left at 5:40 pm. the same day and were back by 9:20 p.m., tired but content, and thankful to be able to prepare for a good reception of our many guests. One commodity especially valued is silk worms. They are purchased in 100 pound sacks, as is the sugar, flour, milk, and beans. Cows have really escalated in price over the last two years. It has taken us two weeks to find two that we felt was the absolute lowest price doable. The first one was $450 and the second was $400. They used to be $200 years ago. Those days are gone. So many have lost their cows to disease, so the demand has made the demand shoot up. The standard cost today to purchase a cow is $600. We felt blessed to get them for considerably less.
Many of us took part in today's ceremonies, including Jim and me. Pastor Mboma delivered the message and it was very powerful. He was given a standing ovation, and so energized the crowd, that the atmosphere was electrifying.
Tomorrow we begin classes at 9:00 a.m. followed by a video each evening. Films with an evangelistic bent will be shown, as well as "The Passion" and some fun movies as well. This year's theme is centered around being a pastor, his ministry, church life, the tithe, problems facing a pastor, his family life, etc.
Excitement is mounting as we contemplate what the Lord will do among us this week. Basic needs are so gloriously and thankfully received out here. We have returned to a simpler life. We need each other here, and everybody knows we need each other, so we find ourselves much more involved in the personal lives of people we have known and loved for thirty years. A simple handshake, greetings and prayer with each other mean so very much in Congo. It is an exchange of deep respect. We have been overwhelmed at those who have walked miles to give condolences on the heart-wrenching losses of our grandchildren, Audrey and Luke. They shake their heads in sorrow. They know what it is like to lose a child, having lost several in some cases.
Rich in faith, their enthusiasm for God spills over into our lives, blessing us beyond measure. "One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing to keep permanently; another man considers himself poor, yet has great and indestructible riches." Proverbs 13:7
Thursday, March 12, 2009
How Beautiful are the Feet of those who bring Glad Tidings...Romans 10:15b
These glad tidings in Romans are regarding the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. We have some glad tidings concerning the outcome of the miles and miles some very beautiful feet have traveled here in Congo to share this life-giving message.
In the bush as well as in the cities of Congo, the police and soldiers are greatly feared, lording there positions over helpless women and random travelers. They steel, loot, & rape.
Two years ago, Ezekiel an Hosea graduated from Laban Bible Institute and following their graduation our mission campus was invaded by gangs from Mibiere and Mpene-the same villages who fought Dr. and Mrs. Smith's coming to Nkara in the 40's. They said at the time of attack that they just wanted a little of Jim's blood. Mob's filled with anger made there way into the valley of Ewa, but their efforts were thwarted by more than 40 police and soldiers sent from the government center of Bulunga some 40 miles form Nkara.
I had just returned from Congo, and Jim was out here trying to tie up loose ends, He was due to return to America a few weeks later. The mobs' present, however, necessitated his being quarantined. Arnmed guards accompanied him as he walked up aerobic hill to call me because the valley we live in prevents a good telephone signal. He could'nt teach in the bible school, couldn't welcome any guests in our hoe, and was aloud outside only for emergencies, such as making phone calls to update us on his status.
One day he went to the radio site with a couple of police who were guarding the radio station and taught them scripture. When the other police heard about this, they requested that he teach them as well. So Bible studies began in our home as well as the sheriff's office and the radio station. The police stayed at Nkara until the matter was settled peacefully. They were so troubled by these villages, outbursts, that they threatened to burn their homes to the ground. Jim remembered the devastation we experienced with the fire that robbed us of our home and all our earthly posessions, and he asked them not to proceed with their plan.
The protection the police and soldiers rendered in 2007 no doubt helped save Jim's life. However, as a rule, these men area menace to their own people. The beauty that The Lord brought out of those ashes is that Hosea and Ezekiel were hired to be pastors to the police and soldiers of this area. These men whose thirst for more of the Word of God caused an intense interest in continuing to study the Bible.
Now, two years later, we are told in the reports given to us by Hosea and Ezekiel that the Bible has really done a job on their hearts. Their behavior has been measured by the standards of the WOrd f God and found to be wanting. Many have professed Christ and are now no longer robbing, bullying, and ravashing women. They realize they have been instituted by God to be a form of protection instead of a threat to the population. We stand amazed at their hunger for and reception of the scriptures. These men who have "walked on darkness have seen a great light", and on those who "have dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death upon them has the light shined."
Please pray for Ezekiel and Hosea as they bike to far out police posts to continue to shine the light of the gospel on hearts enslaved in the darkness and despair of sin.
In the bush as well as in the cities of Congo, the police and soldiers are greatly feared, lording there positions over helpless women and random travelers. They steel, loot, & rape.
Two years ago, Ezekiel an Hosea graduated from Laban Bible Institute and following their graduation our mission campus was invaded by gangs from Mibiere and Mpene-the same villages who fought Dr. and Mrs. Smith's coming to Nkara in the 40's. They said at the time of attack that they just wanted a little of Jim's blood. Mob's filled with anger made there way into the valley of Ewa, but their efforts were thwarted by more than 40 police and soldiers sent from the government center of Bulunga some 40 miles form Nkara.
I had just returned from Congo, and Jim was out here trying to tie up loose ends, He was due to return to America a few weeks later. The mobs' present, however, necessitated his being quarantined. Arnmed guards accompanied him as he walked up aerobic hill to call me because the valley we live in prevents a good telephone signal. He could'nt teach in the bible school, couldn't welcome any guests in our hoe, and was aloud outside only for emergencies, such as making phone calls to update us on his status.
One day he went to the radio site with a couple of police who were guarding the radio station and taught them scripture. When the other police heard about this, they requested that he teach them as well. So Bible studies began in our home as well as the sheriff's office and the radio station. The police stayed at Nkara until the matter was settled peacefully. They were so troubled by these villages, outbursts, that they threatened to burn their homes to the ground. Jim remembered the devastation we experienced with the fire that robbed us of our home and all our earthly posessions, and he asked them not to proceed with their plan.
The protection the police and soldiers rendered in 2007 no doubt helped save Jim's life. However, as a rule, these men area menace to their own people. The beauty that The Lord brought out of those ashes is that Hosea and Ezekiel were hired to be pastors to the police and soldiers of this area. These men whose thirst for more of the Word of God caused an intense interest in continuing to study the Bible.
Now, two years later, we are told in the reports given to us by Hosea and Ezekiel that the Bible has really done a job on their hearts. Their behavior has been measured by the standards of the WOrd f God and found to be wanting. Many have professed Christ and are now no longer robbing, bullying, and ravashing women. They realize they have been instituted by God to be a form of protection instead of a threat to the population. We stand amazed at their hunger for and reception of the scriptures. These men who have "walked on darkness have seen a great light", and on those who "have dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death upon them has the light shined."
Please pray for Ezekiel and Hosea as they bike to far out police posts to continue to shine the light of the gospel on hearts enslaved in the darkness and despair of sin.
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