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
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