DRC Feb 2020
It is always such a challenge to
write a prayer letter just after returning from the DR Congo. Where do we start? SO much happened! God is
doing SO MUCH! We are overwhelmed. We don’t want to overwhelm all of you.
And so, we will take the next few
months to unpack a bit of the DRC happenings.
Hopefully, this will make it easier for you to process, and give us more
prayer letter “real estate” in order to communicate better, include more details,
and add a few pictures.
Mike Webster was an incredible
blessing to have along! He had a marvelous attitude and was so flexible. You will see him in pictures and we will be
referring to him a lot as we tell you about this trip.
The Ups and
Downs
American life is busy and often feels a
bit like a go-kart race. Congo is more
of a rollercoaster ride. The downs seem lower, the ups higher, and we tend ride
from one extreme to the next quite quickly and unexpectedly. True to Congo fashion, this trip was no
different. On our way back to the
capitol city, we were packing up the tent from what should have been our last
night on the road. Sparky asked Mike,
“Are you looking forward to a hot shower and flushing toilet tonight?” to which
Mike answered, “I’ve been in Congo long enough to know not to look that far
ahead.” Good point. (We ended up NOT getting showers and toilets that night, as
we arrived early the next morning.)
As we recount the happenings, don’t get
discouraged with the “downs” as there are so many amazing things to tell you
about that are so exciting! Nearly all the “downs” had a corresponding and
greater “up” that God allowed us to see.
He truly works evil for good and can turn discouragement into triumph!
No one to
pick us up at the airport
Where are all the Bibles?
Rumor has it, they are stuck at
customs due to lack of funds to get them out. It’s been a long time since there
were simply no Bibles to buy in Kinshasa.
Instead of being able to purchase cases, we had to search for and buy
them one at a time. This cost a bit
more, as we weren’t dealing in bulk quantities, and took a lot more time. The ones we were able to buy went quickly
when we got to the interior. Usually we
are able to leave a good stock of Bibles in the interior, however this time we left
NO Bibles at the Bible Institute. Please
pray for the customs issue to be resolved and for the Bibles to be available
again. We left funds to purchase several
cases as soon as they are available. Now
we wait.
We have seen a distinct increase in
how people are valuing the Word of God.
Sometimes God allows for things to be limited so we appreciate what we
have even more. Could this be the reason
for this “down”? Perhaps.
True Congo
Experience
God provided for Mike to get a true
Congo travel experience. They weren’t
the worst roads we’ve seen, but they were the slowest. It took us three days to get from Kinshasa to
Dibaya-Lubwe! At one point, we rounded a corner to find the road was completely
washed away in front of us. This meant
we got to spend an unplanned night in the nearest village. Mike was very
thankful for the tent, as he got quite up-close and personal with some bats,
with only the tent between them. In the morning, we were able to spend some
time with a high school professor that had extremely good questions about the
Bible and Christianity. We were able to
put him in touch with a near-by pastor to help with any further questions and
invited him to come to Bible Institute.
He seemed very interested and we look forward to touching base with him
again this summer! It was so worth the delay, extra night in tents, and road
work!! We were able to hire about 20 of the village men to help build us a new
road to avoid the eroded one. After hours of hard work, we were able to be on
our way again.
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| Our road-making crew |
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Stuck in Quicksand
(Thankful for a 6-wheel-drive cargo truck
that came along and was able to pull us out!)
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Time in Kinshasa