The Clancy Chronicles

“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

Psalm 21:34

 

Church Update

It’s always exciting to have a baptism service…this last month we were able to participate in the baptism of 10 new believers!  Each one of them has been faithfully attending the church services and we are excited to see them growing in their new faith.  We have also seen many professions of faith during the evangelism program on Wednesdays.

 

Sparky asked the church to consider calling an Associate Pastor. This is partially to help out with pastoral ministries because of our busy schedule (see the “Teaching Ministries” section) and also to come along side Sparky with of the goal of training a national pastor for this local church.  We are excited to announce that our church called Papa Ntina last Sunday as Associate Pastor.

 

Teaching Ministries

 

Sparky’s “normal” schedule

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday:

                             Morning       Study and write curriculum for the Bible Institute

                             Afternoon   Teach 4 hours, counsel and encourage students

Wednesday:         Morning     Prayer meeting lesson and sermon preparation                                                       and/or church work day

                             Afternoon   Evangelism Program (1 hour of class with BI                                                           students and some church members, 2 hours in the community sharing the Gospel.)

                             Evening      English service, Prayer meeting, and deacon’s meeting

Friday:                  Work day  (Bible Institute projects, our house, etc.)

Sunday:                Morning      Sunday School and Church service

 

Myndii’s schedule

Monday-Friday     Home school: Martha 7^th, Titus 5^th, Ruth 1^st

Wednesday          Help with English Service; teach new songs to the church choir

Saturday               More choir practice        

Sunday                 Children’s Sunday School opening

Coming soon:      English Reading class at the local university (starting Oct 15^th)

 

Bible Institute

 

The Bible Institute currently has 4 “programs”

·         Student to become trainer: these are the men that live here at the Bible Institute, and are taking the classes in order to become mobile trainers.  They, in-turn, will teach the classes at the mobile sites (we currently have 2 men!)

·         Full program student: these are men that would like to complete the entire, 18 course, mobile training program and receive the IBBC Ministry Certificate; this requires registration in the program and mandatory materials (a French Bible, course books, etc.)

·         Short program student: these are men and women that would like to complete some of the mobile training and receive the IBBC Biblical Studies Certificate; this also requires registration in the program and mandatory materials but nearly half the courses.

·         Participant: we are opening up the mobile classes/seminars to any one that would like to attend; the cost is minimal and no course materials are required

 

Because the mobile training is going to be done in “blocks”, two weeks in each location, it will take several years to complete the entire program.

 

The trainer-teaching for the first 2 classes is complete!  The two students-to-become-trainers both did very well in the first class.  The second class teaching portion has finished, so they are now preparing for the exam and finishing their homework/projects. They both seem to really be learning a lot and are getting excited to share this material with others.

 

Lord willing, by our next prayer letter, the mobile training will have already started.  We held an “orientation day” here in Dibaya to see what interest there is in our local area.  We were excitedly surprised that seven men came expressing interest in enrolling in the full program!  Some of them have already “put money down” toward their registration fee and/or books.

The first two Bible Institute mobile courses are Local Church Administration and Discipleship (Christian living).  We have currently scheduled 4 locations:

October 1-12        Dibaya-Lubwe

               14-25      Idiofa

               29-Nov 9            Ilebo

November 12-23   Mweka

Each class will be taught for 4 hours each day (8 hours total), for 10 days, in each location. In the evenings, after reviewing the day with the other mobile trainers, Sparky hopes to have time to encourage the local pastors and Christians.

 

As you can see, this is an intense schedule. There are only a few days between each location for travel, and travel here is long and hard.  Please continually pray for these seminars, the mobile trainers (Sparky, Muna, and Excellent), for their health, for safe and efficient travel, and that the Lord’s will be done in all!  (See “Training Map” on the bonus page!)

 

Looking ahead: Sparky should return home just in time for Thanksgiving. He hopes to then write the curriculum for the 3^rd class and teach it to the 2 mobile-teachers before Christmas. He will also start preparing for the ELBC director committee meeting, which will be here in Dibaya the beginning of January.

 

Furlough…the countdown

About 4 months

 

We have been in contact with a travel agent and it looks like we will be scheduling our flights next week.  The tickets are more than we were hoping for, but we know that God will provide!  At this point it looks like we will fly out of Kinshasa on January 20^th and return to Congo, on August 8^th. 

Our schedule is quickly coming together, though we do still have some dates open.  As always, you can check out our calendar on this site (under the calendar tab). Please continue to pray with us as we look at dates, contact churches, and watch our calendar fill. 

 

Please pray for us as we continue to minister here for the next few months and as we prepare our brothers and sisters here to carry on while we’re away. 

School…at a Snail’s Pace?

 

Everyone in the family is now engaged in full-time school.  However, having school in Africa does have its perks.  One day, the Clancy Christian Academy (our home school) had a lesson on Giant West African Land Snails...with a live demonstration.

 

This snail was found by one of the IBBC workers on the property.  The kids are voting to keep it as a class pet, but the teacher (aka: mom) isn't so sure, since it has created quite a distraction during school time, and its current living quarters is one of our coveted plastic boxes.  So far, it’s still in the classroom…

 

The shell measures in at 6 inches, but when it’s brave enough to come out, it’s well over 8 inches long!  According to our research, they can get shells up to 15 inches long, and weigh 2 pounds (shell and all).

We are told that some tribes here in Congo do eat them, but most do not.  That’s probably why it survived long enough to get this large!