November 26, 2005 | The Trip to Congo
I can have all the time in the world and still put off packing until the last minute. It was the same thing as we were rushing around our house, thirty minutes before our time of departure. As we were driving off for the airport, Musy and I just looked at each other and quickly prayed that we packed all the right things. That was it; we were on our way to Tanzania for the night with our good friends, Cassandra and Herbert.
It was Cassandra and Herb who first got us interested in the Congo, and now we were on our way. We arrived in Tanzania and settled down at the cheapest hotel we could find. It was right in the middle of the most Moslem town I have seen in Africa. There were women all around, wearing their full veils, and then the prayers started over the loud speaker. I couldn¬¼t help but think how it must be like this all over the African continent. A missionary could spend his whole life ministering in this one town that we were staying in, and there would still be millions of other towns just like it, spread out all over Africa, that need the gospel.
We drove all around Dar Salaam looking for yellow fever shots, which we needed in order to enter the Congo. We finally made it back to the hotel around six, our arms definitely more tender than when we left. After dinner, we worshiped and prayed, and prepared for an early morning departure.
We made it to the airport early and waited for the ticket counter to open up. After getting our tickets, we were off on our last two flights before our expected arrival in Rwanda. I had been in contact with Joseph, (the leader of Iris Congo) but had no idea what to expect. I was the first out of customs, and there he was: the only man standing there.
Joseph is a short man, with a powerful framework. He stood there grinning from ear to ear, and greeted all of us with an enormous hug. We piled into a vehicle and headed downtown. He explained to me that we were going to spend the night in Rwanda and then, in the morning, drive across the border into Buchavo. We bunked down for the night and waited for the next morning. Cassandra has been waiting to enter the Congo for eight years, and Herb has waited over a year. Needless to say, we were all nervous and excited to be entering the Congo.
The drive was long and hard on your stomach: the hills never ended, and I don¬¼t think there was one straight road the whole trip. After seven hours (and one flat tire), we drove down to the bank of the river that borders Congo and Rwanda. As we drove around the corner, you could hear the people before you could see them. The whole church of Bukavo showed up to greet us and welcome us into the Congo. We were given these bright green and red shirts that had been handmade for each of us. The whole church was adorned in the same green and red pattern. They all danced and sang with drums.
As soon as we crossed the line into the Congo we were rushed by celebrating believers. I have been all over the world and I have never been greeted or welcomed like this. We stood there at the border as they danced and sang around us. They each came one by one and hugged us and shook our hands. I must say it was a little overwhelming but it touched all of our hearts at the same time.
We drove from the border straight to the church, where there was more worship and dancing. For the first few hours that we were in Bukavo, there was a constant drone of people cheering, worshiping, clapping, yelping and whatever noise they could make to express JOY. I don¬¼t think any of us will ever be able to forget our grand entrance; it was truly spectacular.
At the church, we each got up and told a little about our selves and why we came to the Congo. Shortly after our introduction, we were taken to a back room where there was a feast waiting for us. By the end of the day we were all sufficiently fatter than when we started and overwhelmed with joy from our arrival.
I want to give you all a brief background of the move of God here in Congo. Joseph is the pastor of the main church here in Bukavo and leader of Iris Congo. Rolland and Surprise, (leader of Iris) flew into Bukavo about five months ago and held a conference at the main church. Rolland came back from his three days here, saying that this was the hungriest place he had ever seen. Coming from Rolland, that meant a lot to me.
Joseph has been planting churches on his own. In a discussion we had a few days ago, he told me how he used to travel days with no money just to get to places where he could plant churches. He is truly a passionate man who has given everything for the gospel. Somehow he connected with Iris Ministries and came under their covering. This January they are celebrating their one-year anniversary with Iris. Right after Rolland left, Joseph started emailing Rolland and asking them to send people to encourage all of their 30 churches, which explains why we are here.
There are so many churches here in Bukavo that you can drive down the main street and see churches from all over the world. Many large denominations will send missionaries here to build one church in order to say that they have a ministry in Congo. Most all of these main line churches have members but they are not growing or experiencing revival. Joseph only owns a few of the church buildings; the rest they rent because of astronomical land prices. Yet they are experiencing a move of God.
Their main church is a rented space with a dirt floor. It rained before church yesterday, and half of the church flooded and became a mud pit. There is no electricity or bathrooms, and the stage is only piled up dirt, covered in blue UNICEF tarps. They are a group of simple, hungry believers looking to spread the Gospel all over Congo, and we love all of them.
We spent our first night at a church member's house and looked forward to starting our next day in the Congo. From this point on, everything became a huge blur. From morning to night we ministered at different churches. We usually started at Joseph's church in the morning, ministering at leaders meetings and women¬¼s meetings. Every night we would travel to the local church plants, that Joseph had planted over the past few years. Most of the churches that we went to were houses in poor areas that were being rented and used as a church.
We would set up the speakers and sound system outside, and then we would hold meetings outside of these houses because so many people would show up. I personally have not had this much fun in years. Preaching outside to the Congolese at dusk! We saw hundreds of salvations at these meetings; the people are so hungry for Jesus. We prayed for the sick and loved on the people.
The church members come up to us at the end of each meeting and thank us for coming. You can see it in their eyes and feel it in their hugs that it blesses them to have us in their churches. The team has been planning to do some conferences by bringing all the churches together and ministering to them for three days. We are still in the planning stages of most of it. We will be traveling to Kalonge in a few days to minister to the churches around that province.
As for Musy and I, we are doing great. We are both jumping back into preaching and teaching just like when we were with Global Awakening. We are so happy to be here and see what God is doing in this nation. As for now, we are praying as to when we are to leave. Our tickets have us flying back into Pemba a few days before Christmas, but we want to make sure we complete everything for which the Lord has brought us here.
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that we hear His voice clearly as to the length of our stay.
Please pray that the Holy Spirit will come here in power. We all want to see mass revival fire fall here and change this nation.
Pray for an increase in healings. We have not yet seen huge breakthrough in healings. I have only seen a few since we have been here.
Please pray for our safety. We traveled around a little bit a few days ago and saw how much we need prayers for safety. We are living in a very safe place but as we go out it can be more dangerous.
Clear direction for the rest of this trip.
We love you guys and appreciate all that you do for us. I can honestly say that we would not have been able to come if it wasn¬¼t for you. If you have any questions or want to know more about our trip here please email me. I have one more email that I am working on from our trip to Kalonge. I will get that out ASAP.
Blessings,
WILL AND MUSY