IBB Mobile
The latest cycle is complete! IBB
(Institut Biblique Baptiste) has now taught the block courses of Old Testiment
Survey I and Doctrine I in each of the 4 mobile teaching locations. The last two locations were Mweka and Ilebo,
the two furthest from our home-base in Dibaya-Lubwe.
Sparky and Excellent traveled by motorcycle, crossing 3 rivers in dugout
canoes and one on a “bridge”, to Mweka.
In the middle of his time there, Sparky traveled to another village (4
hours of rough trails by motorcycle) further into the interior. This “extra trip” was to be a part of an
ordination council for a national pastor.
After spending the weekend there, he traveled back to finish up the
classes in Mweka. During this time, he
also had countless meetings with government and school officials.
Once the training was completed in Mweka, they traveled to Ilebo. Two more weeks were spent there in teaching,
meeting with government and school officials, and encouraging local churches in
that area.
Two days before their scheduled return to Dibaya, Sparky became quite
ill. He suffered from high fevers, night
sweats, and became quite weak. With this
illness, there was no way for to ride the motorcycle back home. We prayed over this, for his healing as well
as for wisdom in what to do. That
Saturday morning, Myndii sent a dugout canoe upriver to meet him. He still had to ride the motorcycle about 2
hours to the port. It was not an easy
ride, and Sparky had to take it slow, but they made it! After loading the motorcycle and supplies
into the canoe, they were able to make it to our port here in about 4
hours. Meanwhile in Dibaya, our son
Titus, with a group of men who have worked with us, walked the road to the port
with shovels and picks. They worked all
morning and early afternoon to fix the road’s washouts so Myndii could drive
down to meet the canoe.
Even though the malaria test came back negative (the tests have about a
60% accuracy rate), we started Sparky on the malaria cure. The cure did make a noticeable difference, so
we are reasonably confident that it was indeed malaria. However, he had lasting symptoms that
indicate he had a second illness attacking him as well. It took a few days for him to get his
appetite back, a week for him to get even relative strength back, and 2 full
weeks before he felt like he could do “normal” activities. He is still not quite up to 100% as he still
tires easily, but he is definitely on the mend!
This is not something that took us off-guard. We know this is a risk in living here,
especially when Sparky travels. Was it
really that bad? Yes. Could he have died? Yes.
Some may ask: Why? Why risk it? Why do you do what you do?
God answers that for us, and leaves no doubt:
Deacon Faustin
On his trip between Mweka and Ilebo, Sparky met a deacon of a little
church along the way. (This church, like
most here, does not have a pastor.) He had heard about the Mobile Bible
Institute, but did not understand how the program worked. Sparky took the time to explain it to him and
he became animate that he MUST attend the classes and get this Bible
training. He showed Sparky his Bible. He had purchased it in 1996, probably the
oldest Bible we’ve seen in Congo as books are very hard to keep nice here due
to pests and humidity. He shared how it
was his family’s prized position. He
showed how his kids have been taught to handle it carefully (almost unheard of
here!). It was showing its age, and he
said he would be saving up to purchase another one. This man obviously values the Word of God!
Faustin was disappointed that he missed the classes in Mweka, but when
Sparky told him they would be doing the same classes that following week in
Ilebo, Faustin became very excited. He
said he would be there…he didn’t know how, but he would be there.
Sparky traveled on from there by motorcycle, and that night he stopped
in a small village. After dark, a man
came to tell him that Faustin was passing by and wanted to say hello. Sparky went to the road to find this deacon
walking. Walking. He had walked all that
day, with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a handful of food. He continued to walk through that whole night
and into the next morning, about 35 miles total. All in order to make it to classes that next
afternoon.
Faustin didn’t miss a minute of class.
In fact, he came early each day to sweep the classroom and make sure
everything was in order for the day.
Because he wasn’t planning on this 2-week interruption in his life, he
had not prepared to pay the fees to become a “registered student”. (Our fees are not high, and very obtainable,
but take some planning ahead.) Sparky
allowed Faustin to be an “honorary student” for these classes and he promised
to become a full-program student the next time classes are offered.
If we weren’t here, who would be here to teach Faustin?
Pastor Jonas
Pastor Jonas has been a student with the Mobile Bible Institute since
the beginning. One of the homework
assignments from the last class (Personal Evangelism) was to write an essay on
how using these techniques effected how they were sharing the Gospel. In Pastor Jonas’ essay, he wrote that his
church went from 25 members to 280 members in one year. Sparky was skeptical. People here often exaggerate to gain favor. Was he just saying this to make “brownie
points”? Sparky had already committed to
preaching in another church that Sunday, so without telling Excellent why, he
asked if Excellent would attend that church and see how things were going. The report?
It’s true.
Once they started seeing people coming to a saving knowledge in Christ, they started teaching them how to evangelize also (more teaching others). Now they go out, door to door, in several teams of 2. The result: a growing and thriving church! What a great example of II Timothy 2:2!
If we weren’t here, who would be teaching Pastor Jonas (so he can teach
others…)?
Why?
So why do we do what we do? Why do we give up our lives to be here? Why
do we take such “risks”?
As Sparky was telling Myndii about these two men, while still ill and suffering
from fevers and weakness, he looked at her and said:
“How can I not go?”
Indeed. How can we not go…
Serving as “sent”,
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus,
Ruth, A & B
Time in Kinshasa