The Struggles and Miracles of Life in Congo

The first pic is Gracia the ex prostitute with her sister Falon. The second is Pastor Kabamba and Maman Isa on a hill looking over the bottom part of Shituru. The third is me with Pastor Kabamba

Last night was really rough. It rained from 10:30PM until 4:00AM and I mean it poured. As you know my roof leaks. I was under the impression that the maintenance man had done something to help the roof temporarily but apparently he hadn’t. Just as I was drifting off to sleep I felt water dripping on my forehead. When I couldn’t take it any more I got out of bed and began to assemble my buckets and pots under the drips. When the rain continued to get harder and harder I realized I had to move my mattress or else it would be ruined. I set to work for the next 2 hours racing from one spot to the next with a mop desperately trying to move everything off the floor and mop up as much water as possible in all the rooms. Needless to say it was horrible. I was exhausted I had walked countless kilometers from 9AM until 8PM, I hadn’t eaten, I was sun burnt, and now very wet as was the rest of my house. It was impossible to sleep since the worst of the leaks are right over my bed. I only wish I was exaggerating. Finally at about 1AM the rain had died down enough that I didn’t need to mop continually so I retreated to the only leak free room and began to pray and read a book. I was frustrated not only because my roof leaks but because Congolese people do things so backwards. Why hadn’t my roof been fixed? Why hadn’t anyone fixed the power in 3 months?

I can answer my own questions but I don’t like the answers. The truth is my situation sucks but it’s not really horrible when I consider all those people in Eastern Congo alone who are refugees with no shelter and nothing but fear driving them. It seems the themes I am continually reading in the Bible are about how great trials are because they build patience and endurance. I guess I’m doing a lot of building right now.

Last week there was also no water at our community tap for 6 days. I had become used to having plenty of water and had slacked on keeping every container filled. I had to do extreme rationing to get through the dry spell. I really didn’t want to waste the little water I had on bathing so I decided to test out some strange things a church had sent me from the US. There was a shower cap that claimed if you put it in the microwave for 30 seconds you could wash you hair without any water. Of course that was funny because why would someone have a microwave but no water? I put the shower cap in a frying pan over my cooking fire but then I got scared the fire would melt the plastic so I just put it on my head and to my amazement it actually worked! America has an answer for everything.

After our week of victory the devil tried to discourage us with many problems but he continues to be the loser and God continues to move in the unlikely place of Shituru. Pastor Kabamba told me yesterday “God is really working in Shituru and slowly it is going to change.” Maman Isa’s husband who was a crazy alcoholic we have been interceding for had gone sober and serious for Jesus. When we arrived on Friday for prayers Maman Isa said she was sick and when we inquired about the problem she opened her fridge and pulled out 2 bottles of whiskey. There was nothing she needed to say we understood her husband had “fallen of the wagon”. She wasn’t the only person discouraged. Gracia the ex-prostitute was discouraged because she felt her poor health may be because she is infected with AIDS which terrifies her. Two other members had been gossiping about other members and our little group had become divided. Another lady mentioned she was tired of praying because God doesn’t answer. The Holy Spirit was with me and I was able to answer every hard question with scriptures and examples in broken Swahili and French without my English Bible which I had unfortunately forgotten. I was also able to draw their attention to the fact that we are in the middle of a serious war for Shituru, a stronghold of the devil’s, and after our week of constant breakthroughs he is attacking us with discouragement so we will give up because if we keep going God is going to transform the whole area.

As usual God showed clearly that he hasn’t forgotten the cries of his children in Shituru. Maman Isa’s husband showed up early for church on Sunday morning completely sober. Although he has been faithfully attending our services in Shituru he hasn’t bothered to come to a Sunday service at the church in years. He had repented of his backsliding and thrown out his whiskey! On Monday after some counseling the members who had refused to come if so and so came were all sitting in the room together being civil but I believe we need to explain more clearly how destructive gossip is and that it is indeed a sin. Gracia said she thinks she is ready to be tested for AIDS which is a huge step. I am hoping I will be able to take her to the hospital next week. I’m also going to start giving her high protein and energy food because she is a walking skeleton. She often offered “her services” in exchange for food or clothing so we are really trying to help her so she will see that God will take care of her now. We had 2 new members and they were both demon possessed but God showed us who was more powerful when He delivered them both.

Recently I have been thinking about the church I am apart of. At times I find myself extremely bored with the very traditional very uncharismatic church. I can say the people truly know how to pray which makes my heart so happy. The biggest realization I came to however, was that at least since I’ve been here our church seems to be helping the people no one else wants. Like one lady we met because she was sick and we just wanted to pray for her and encourage her. She was so touched by our kindness that she joined our church. It turns out she had been divorced twice and was now the second wife to a man and that marriage was on the rocks. Everyone at her previous church had rejected her because of her marital history and current condition. She had then turned to witchcraft for a solution but only found herself more messed up that ever. Now I can tell you she is a changed woman completely devoted to the cause of Christ. Here in Congo often times pastors do everything they can to reach out to the wealthy and invite them to their churches or to people with good reputations but the “sick” as Jesus called them are completely ignored. I’m so thankful to be apart of a church that is serious about reaching out to the lost, the unwanted, the true wretches of this world because God has proclaimed He uses the foolish and weak things of this world to confound the wise and mighty.

Please keep me in your prayers. I have been preaching 4 times a week in Swahili and it isn’t so easy. I have been tempted to become frustrated and discouraged by all of the problems but by the grace of God am remaining strong. Please pray for my roof and that I will get electricity again soon. All in all life is good. My parents are even going to visit me for Christmas which I am so excited about. It’ll be so nice to show my life here to them.