Saturday, February 18, 2006
Greetings from Congo,
We are still greeting you from Congo, but a different Congo. We have been in the Republic of Congo, (RC) for the past several days. This is a country just across the Congo River from Kinshasa. Even though the actual passage only takes about 25 minutes the entire process, with all the customs and immigration red tape took about 4 hours. The heat was in the mid to upper 90's that day and we were like a Popsicle on the beach, as Carol puts it.
The senior Chrisco pastor here is a wonderful man, humble, loving, and very much a shepherd to his flock. He and his other church leaders have treated us like royalty. Upon our arrival we were taken to a very nice restaurant and fed a steak dinner. We were all totally "fed up". Afterward we arrived at the main Chrisco church in Brazzaville where about 300 people had been patiently waiting for our arrival all afternoon (about six hours). They were so excited you would have thought we were world famous celebrities or something. We each took a few minutes to greet them and tell them a little about ourselves and our reason for being in Africa all the while they were cheering after almost every statement.
Our accommodation is a wonderful house which is owned by one of the ladies in the church. She has been renovating it for use as a guest house. Since home construction is "pay-as-you-go" the work is not finished, but what has been done is delightful, tile floors and bath, decorative plaster moldings, etc. The owner's residence is in the same compound and her cook/house keeper is taking great care of us. Last night we returned from the meeting about 9:30 and were served a delicious meal of fresh fish from the river, cooked Congolese style in sauce, ( no pondu or fufu).
Yesterday it rained hard all day. Because most of the people here walk everywhere they go, the meeting, which was scheduled to start about 4:30 PM, was delayed until the rain slowed, around 8:00 PM. Since this was to be a meeting of several churches, those who had to come greater distances stayed at home. However, the crowd, which did make it was most enthusiastic even though many of them had been waiting for us for hours. It shames us a little, as Americans, to see the dedication and willingness to put up with unpleasantness. The meeting, even though short, was really led by the Holy Spirit. God has been speaking to Diane about RC since we arrived here and, while she has been "letting the dust settle on this message", the rest of the team has been speaking what they feel the Lord would have them say. Diane says that the short messages dovetail exactly with what the Lord is showing her. In both of the meetings so far, Andy had sung a song. None of us knew he had such a wonderful singing voice but now the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. Last night a coral group from the church sang two songs in English, "Oh happy day" and one other that none of us seems to be able to remember. This really shows dedication since no one in Chrisco in this country speaks our language. We have not been able to figure out how they accomplished it.
Today, while Diane works on her message to RC, the rest of us will go "up country" to visit two churches in the villages. The weather is overcast so, if the clouds donft burn off we hope to avoid the Popsicle syndrome thing. We'll write more when we return.
Monday, February 20, 2006
On Saturday, Diane rested and waited on the Lord for what He wanted to say regarding this country while the rest of us went on a field trip to two villages. This trip took all day until almost midnight and covered almost 400 miles. At each villages we greeted the tribal chief and paid our respects. The tribal chief is the civil authority in the village and has control over vast amounts of land surrounding his village. As is the case with the village we visited last Saturday, the chief is interested in development for his people and improvements in the village. They are especially receptive to Christian churches who will build schools, hospitals, etc in exchange for land grants. Also, they are especially interested in agricultural innovations, as they are a very primitive agrarian society. A tractor with implements for cultivation would be a most precious commodity here. We returned exhausted about midnight and were served a huge meal (even though all we wanted to do was sleep). Included were three kinds of meat, two rice dishes, and fruit. This country had been colonized by the French, who left many elements of the French culture, including the making of wonderful bread. Each time we come back to the house where we are staying there is always fresh French loaves, with butter imported from France.
While Diane was waiting on the Lord He spoke to her many things about this country, its future, and the part the church must play during the next few years. Much of this information is for the Leaders of the church only. Papa was happy to get the prophetic input and is incorporating it into his instructions for the leadership here.
On Sunday we had a wonderful meeting with all of the Chrisco churches in Brazzaville coming together. We have been modeling team ministry with each team member contributing a part. After Papa Samuel was introduced, he introduced Nick who acted as MC for the team. Diane was introduced and she brought a short message on the love of God, Carol was next with a message on how God is Lord of the darkness as well as the light and how we must trust him in both places. As each member of the team shared the spiritual momentum was building and the presence of God became more tangible. Nick was next with a message on repentance and forgiveness. Papa Samuel handled the alter call and hundreds came forward to repent and to forgive others with whom they had taken offence. After Papa Samuel led them in prayer Papa Chota and Nick laid hands on them. Before it was over everyone in the place had come forward to take part. The anointing was so strong that none of us realized that we were sweating so much that even our ties were drenched.
Andy then closed the meeting by singing the Lords prayer and praying a benediction over the people. We later learned that when we left the meeting, (about 3:00 PM) that the people told the pastor they wanted to stay until night and enjoy the presence of the Lord which was there in such a strong way.
Later in the evening, while the rest of us rested, Carol met with the intercessors at the Chrisco church. She was well received with about 30 intercessors attending to learn more about intercession.
This morning we all had time to kick back and take care of some personal items such as washing out our underwear and socks. Starting about 4:00PM we will meet with the Africa House of Prayer here in Brazzaville. This is a group of pastors and leaders who come together to pray for their country. Papa Samuel has asked Carol to teach them on prophetic intercession. The rest of the team will be there to support her.
Tomorrow we will travel to the Atlantic coast of RC at Pointe Noire to visit the Chrisco church there.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Last Tuesday we flew to Pointe Noire. This area is quite a hustle |bustle little city, mostly because of the port (the largest in central Africa) and the oil company, which has a large drilling operation there. The higher employment rate there allows for more leisure time for the residents. As a result there are more evidences of fleshly excess, bars, night clubs, ladies of the evening, etc. The spiritual environment is quite different also. It feels a little like Myrtle Beach.
The most evident (and terrifying) aspect of this city is the way people drive. The tone is set by the taxi drivers, which make up about 80% of the traffic. Instead of old VW busses filled to overflowing with people trying to survive the day, these taxis are small Japanese sedans, which carry only a few passengers each. Taxis can easily be identified by the colors. In Pointe Noire they are blue and white, regardless of the company operating them. In Brazzaville they are all green and white. Perhaps the government assigns the colors. Well let us try and describe what it is like to ride on the roads of Pointe Noire. Apparently there are no speed limits and no rules of engagement. For the most part people drive on the right side of the pavement but not necessarily. Passage through every intersection is a matter of negotiation, usually at a high rate of speed and with the horn blaring. There are hand gestures but we never seemed to understand what they meant. The game of chicken takes on new dimensions here as each taxi driver is trying to maximize the number of fares he carries in a day. Imagine the driver of your car deciding to pass another vehicle on a narrow street. He presses the accelerator to the floor and leans on the horn. As you look ahead you see a car stopped on the left side of the road ahead with a line of other cars behind him impatient to get around him before he picks up his fare and gets going ahead of them. These passing cars see you coming at what now seems to be about 60 mph and they begin to lean on their horns as they accelerate toward you. You are sure the pavement is not wide enough for all to pass safely so you grab onto the seat in front of you and close your eyes. Somehow all manage to pass with much swerving left and right, horns blaring, and engines roaring. Whew, all is well until the next intersection, which is one city block ahead.
The church their came about three years ago when a crusade brought in many new believers and a man from Chrisco Church in Brazaville was given new believers to attend to. He is a resident of Point Noire and did the best he could. Feeling very ill equipped for the responsibility, he asked the church in Brazzaville to send a pastor. It just happened that an eldor of the Brazzaville church who had been the church treasurer was moving to Pointe Noire and was asked to shepherd the new fledgling flock. When he heard that Papa Dikaniakina was coming to Brazaville, he went to Brazaville and begged for all of us to come. Before we left, Samuel along with Nick, Diane, and Carol and Pastor Bilo (Pastor in charge of all the churches in RC) set this man in place as pastor in training along with deacons. It was so wonderful!
Also while in Pointe Noire we visited several agricultural projects undertaken by the church. They are all well done and well thought out. We saw a swine operation with about 15 sows, half with pigs. Also was a poultry operation for eggs and meat. Also, we visited a fish farm where they were raising tilapia. Crops included sugar cane, cassava, peppers, corn, and much more. Everything appeared to be done by hand and we saw no evidence of any equipment other than hand tools.
Yesterday our trip back to DRC was delayed as the VIP ferry was occupied by a delegation from the king of Morocco and we had to wait for them to pass. After much delay we arrived back at Papafs house for some rest while we prepare for the next excursion. We will be gone for at least 8 days and will leave next Tuesday AM.
The first container arrived in Kinshasa and has been inventoried by the customs people. We are expecting all to be released to Chrisco church today. Everyone is very excited, especially by the van. Last night Andy spoke with all the doctors, nurses, and staff of the hospital about using and caring for delicate instruments. It was really useful information. I think he will write up the main points and have them translated into French for future use.
We will write more later.
Blessings,
Nick, Diane, Carol, and Andy