Evangelism

The National Superintendent for our church has been sick so I haven’t been getting many opportunities to minister in churches. I’ve seen too many missionaries go into a country and start bossing the native people around and telling them what they should do and demanding opportunities. I wanted to be humble and not pushing or demanding. I’ve been praying that God would open all the right doors. Not too much has happened until this week.
On Monday the pastor took me all over town searching for the best place to play sports with the youth as a tool for discipleship and evangelism. We finally found a good place and then took a little bus back to the church. I began to talk with the people inside the bus trying to use what little Swahili I know. I asked them where they attended church and one of the guys said he doesn’t go to church. I invited him to my church and then we arrived at the church and I jumped out with the pastor. One of the guys sitting next to us who hadn’t said much had jumped out and followed us to the church where he told the pastor he felt such conviction when he was sitting next to us that he knew he had to confess to us that he has been in the sin of fornication and has to repent today and ask God to forgive him. We encouraged him in the Word and then prayed for him.
After that the pastor told me he can see I am anointed to evangelize so he asked me to come with him on Tuesday when he visits the sick people from church. I was really excited to go. We walked and walked and walked for many hours and many kilometers. We visited so many people with so many problems. It was so exciting to begin to encourage them about how God is our healer and you have to begin to expect that God will touch your family and you won’t be sick year round. I was shocked to find nice houses with expensive TV’s and other electronic devices but the family had no Bible. I asked why and they said because they are too expensive. That is so often the problem in Africa. The Bible is not nearly as expensive as the other things they had in their home but they would rather have a TV than the saving Words of God. We prayed for one baby who has a rash and none of the doctors have been able to help her and none of the medicines have worked. When we came in she was crying from the pain and as soon as the pastor and I touched her she stopped crying but the rash remains so please pray for her (Marie).
On Wednesday I we went to visit the mining community. There were lots of old Belgium looking houses from many years ago. I saw people carrying buckets of water searching for gold. I heard they do occasionally find some. Water was a big problem for them though. There were lots of 10 year old boys riding bikes or rather pushing bikes for long distances bringing water. Some women even collected water from the drainage ditches which are beyond disgusting. Almost everywhere I went women were asking for pray because their husbands are drunkards. We went to anyone’s house who we heard had a problem from lots of different churches and God continually gave me words fro them and scriptures to share. It was so difficult because I didn’t have a translator yet God anointed me and the pastor we had the same spirit and through my broken French and Swahili people understood and were so encouraged. I can see that many people just need some encouragement.
Wednesday night I preached at the church. I knew from my experiences on Tuesday that I had to preach about the power of the Bible. The pastor liked my message so much he told me next week I have to preach the same things 3 times for special Pentecost meetings at the church. The man who confessed his problem with adultery came to church on Wednesday and told me he was staying strong and asked me to please come to his church in Likasi. We are trying to figure out a good date now. I’m preaching at another church in Likasi this week then I will attend another conference and then preaching again. I’m excited about how God is opening all the doors.
I am now in Lubumbashi trying to get good information on how to live here permanently. Please pray everything works out. Saturday I’ll be visiting people in a new place to encourage them in the Lord. New people are coming to our church and they are excited. I’m beginning the sports ministry with the youth this Sunday so please be praying for that. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Kapolowe

I was asked to attend the District Conference of Likasi in Kapolowe. It was a wonderful experience! I met all of the church leaders and learned many things about how the church operates here. I was a bit sad to hear some of the things going on, but encouraged by the zeal I recognized in the pastor for the cause of Christ.
I slept on the ground with the other church leaders and lived just like poor Congolese. For me having grown up in Zambia it seemed normal since I’ve done it so many times before. For the people here it was unheard of that an American would be able to live like that. They kept telling me that they knew God had sent me to them because I was able to live the Congolese life.
I ate Congolese food all weekend which is different from Zambian food. In Zambia the people grow vegetables like cabbage and rape and cook them with tomatoes and little cooking oil. Here they eat leaves. Cassava leaves, potato leaves, pumpkin leaves, and weeds. Literally weeds that grow wildly around. But they are serious about seasoning. They have perfected how to prepare the leaves through various methods of cooking cutting and pounding. They find all kinds of peppers and even grow nutmeg and season everything. They also use way too much cooking oil and anyway I much prefer Zambian food. So the leaders of the church always want to accommodate me and informed everyone that I don’t eat meat so special vegetables were prepared just for me. One day the women prepared langalanga (a weed) and used the juice from the goat innards to season it. I can’t get them to understand that I don’t like the taste of meet so I don’t want my vegetables to taste like meat and even if I did Americans don’t eat goat innards.
I greatly enjoyed the conference. It was filled with Congolese music. People playing drums, clanging metal together, and blowing whistles. I thank God for how He is moving.

The Princess Bride

I went to a Congolese familys house yesterday and was surprised to see them eating eel that mixed with having seen The head of development for our church Sammy Teteli who happens to have 6 fingers on his left hand made me think of the princess bride. I constantly find myself laughing at things but have no idea how to explain to the Congolese why especially since I would have to do it in French or Swahili.
Everyday I learn just a little bit more of both languages but it continues to be difficult. I continually find myself learning like I did in college for a test and I have to keep trying new ways of learning so I can use it in everyday life.
Things are coming together slowly but surely. I am compiling so much information about everything. It can be so difficult to just get information because of the language and culturual barriers. This weekend I will be at a conference for the churches here. I am excited about meeting people from all over the country and hopefully I will be able to visit new areas soon. It is just so diffciult because there are few roads and if their is a road it will take 3 or 4 hours to drive 60 miles so it isnt practical since sleeping on the side of the road is really dangerous. This country is so big and diverse I have so much to learn.
I am getting to know more of the young people in the church and realize so many of them will not be following God in a few years without some major changes. I have so many ideas to change that. Next week I am going with them to look for a good place to play sports. The idea is they can invite their friends and then people walking by will see a white person and want to see what is going on so we will get a bunch of people together some who would never go to church and after a game of football give a short lesson from the Bible and invite them to a youth service at church. I have a lot of ideas and I am excited to get started.
I am also speaking at church here in Likasi on Wednesday and I am really excited about that. You all know how much I love preaching. I also plan to go to Lubumbashi next week so pray I am able to get really good information about establishing a company in Congo! Thanks for your prayers!

Life is full of humerous situations and learning 2 new languages at once adds to the humor and confussions. The Swahili word for braiding hair sounds like the Tonga word for toilet. The word for sin in Swahili sounds like the word for Zambia in French. Swahili sounds hilarious. My favorite phrase is ukobongo You are lying because it sounds funny. I am starting to get a handle on the culture of the people which is exciting. I have played with kids, visited schools, helped the women cook for a conference at church, met with the Paramount Chief, and traveled to remote villages. I cant get over how beautiful Congo is.
I am begining to believe I will be able to conquer French and Swahili. It just takes time and more memorization than I ever thought I would have to do outside of school. When I met with the chief he kept stressing that I should learn Kisanga. When I would say something in Swahili he would try to teach it to me in Kisanga but it never stuck. Adding a third language is the last thing I intend to do. Especially Kisanga because I have not met anyone under the age of 40 who speaks it fluently. But the chief is really nice and helpful. He is excited about me being here to help his people.
I have started going to an English class for adults because Im trying to find people who want to learn English and are willing to help me learn French. The English teachers have never been around native English speakers so thier English is not very good. When the students found out I am an American they went crazy. To the Congolese Americans are the best people on Earth and for many it has been their dream to meet one. I am the only American in this city. They always ask what our food is in America and when I tell them we eat different foods every day they cant believe me.
The problem is they also think all Americans are rich and have to give them money. In Zambia everywhere I go I find begars but in Congo they are so much worse they are demanders. "You American give me money" is what they all say. I met with a church and they told me to give them money for a new roof. It was difficult to explain to them that our organization is interested in empowering people to make money for themelves and we dont just give away money. I also noticed by the offering they gave the church people are not tithers and it is difficult to help people who dont obey Gods word. It is also difficult for me because so many of these people live much better off than my friends in Zambia yet they always talk about how poor they are.
I have met a lot of people who work for World Vision and they are all wonderful. They have given me lots of information on prices and building. They have also told me they are willing to partner with our ministry to help people. Whenever they are visiting a remote place in the area they invite me to go along with them. Last week I visited a little place where the Methodists established a seminary 100 years ago. I met the man in charge of agriculture and he invited me to come back when he is training the new oxen to answer any questions I have and give me his insights into agriculture in this area. I thank God for all of the contacts I am making.
Everything is going well. I am constantly surprised by how espensive everything is here. Even basic things everyone in Congo buys are much more expensive than in Zambia. It is frequently difficult to live here but everyday it gets a little easier and God continues to confirm that he has already gone ahead of me to prepare the way because this is exactly where I am supposed to be.

Settling Into Life In Congo

a service station selling both deisel and petrol

It has been over a week now that I have been here and I am finally getting a handle on things. I found a shop that sells all sorts of imported foods from France and South Africa. Things are so expensive here but I am surprised by how much is available.

I found out that the Catholic mother I am staying with built the little place where I am living 2 years ago because God told her there would be a girl coming who would need a place to live! I am constantly amazed by all God has prepared in advance for me to be here now. I am learning so much everyday. I keep realizing how blessed Zambia is and how easy things are there. As far as I can tell I am the only missionary in Likasi and maybe even the only American. I am learning a lot about the other foriegners who live in Congo through the people`s expectations of me.

Not being able to communicate with people is so annoying. I constantly find myself trying to speak Tonga to people and mixing in Tonga words when I am speaking. It is so hard for me to learn French when everyone sepaks Swahili and it is so hard to speak Swahili when I dont know any of it. I can see a big improvement between last week and this week so Im sure it will just take time. Some of the church leaders introduced me to a guy who teaches English and he is going to helping me learn Swahili. I am excited about that because I have been learning it by trying to say something in French ans then asking how to say it in Swahili which is exceptionally challenging.

The guys name is Paul and he dreams everyday of leaving this country. I have met so many Congolese people in the USA and Zambia who have given up on Congo and it is so frustrating. Congo is so corrupt ans so far behind even other African nations but i have faith God will use this country.

I went to Lwambo where we hope to build an orphanage. I discovered that the person we were working with had lied to us about the progress and taken a lot of money from us. I also went to the hospital and met some cholera patients. I talked to a man who works with World Vision who speaks English and he told me he had seen hundreds of cholera cases everyday last month and many people were too far gone to help. It is so sad that people die from preventable and treatable diseases.

I went to church on Sunday and found more than twice as many people as last week and I met the actual pastor. Some times I really have no idea whats going on. Last week most of the church visited a different church for some kind of confrence (I think thats what they said). I enjoyed church so much more this week. The pastor is such an anointed speaker. He preached about Gideon and how we have to stop feeling discouraged and just do whatever it is God has called us to do.

I met with the women and they have lots of ideas for small buisnesses and they are going to reseach and let me know all the details but I think I may be able to help them. Also the youth have some ideas for business things and they are going to come up with a plan. I also went to their youth meeting (youth is 15 to 30) and I could tell the youth arent very excited about Jesus. I started talking to them about ideas I have for reaching out to the youth in the community and they got really excited. I think a lot of youth are bored with church because they feel like they have no place in the church. I brought a soccer ball with me so I think we are going to play some time this week and they will invite some of their nonChristian friends too. Also there are 2 guys in the youth group who speak English so it gives me freedom to communicate! I am speaking at the youth group next week.

Things are finally coming together and I am getting excited about the possibilities of helping people here. The church people are very protective of me and have not wanted me to walk around alone so I am slowly being able to go places by myself and will hopefully be able to meet more people, speak better, and spread the gospel more. Using the internet is difficult because the electricity is out here so often but thankfully its working today. Thanks for your prayers God has been blessing me!