Dear Friends,
We’ve been thinking to send out this update so that you may know how to best pray for us. As some of you may already know, the last two months or so have been tougher than usual. While we hope that the worst is now behind us, we also praise the Lord who has been so far.
Everything started with our vehicle breaking down only few weeks after my arrival in Congo. We went to spend New Year’s festivities with our aging parents in the village. On our way back on January 04, we had serious car troubles. It took us over 48 hours to get back to Boma, instead of the usual three hours. Later we found out that the problem was with the transmission. After few attempts, we gave up trying to get it fixed for the time being. This means that we’ve been without a vehicle since January, making it very difficult for all of us, especially the kids their 7 kilometre commute to school. To make it worse, the sun has been unbearably hot.
Well, the car was only the first in a series of troubles. My laptop was next to go. It has since been fixed, but I lost all the files I had worked on starting January. Ambrose IT department has been kindly sending me my old files that were saved in the college backup system. After my laptop came Lau’s fridge to go. We are certainly frustrated but not discouraged. Life goes on, and we’re still seeing God’s hand in our lives and our ministry.
The greatest challenge to our faith and the greatest test of our commitment came with the passing of one our students and the courant crisis within the Alliance Church here in Congo.
On February 23, Pastor Justinho Mayunda, one of our students from Angola and a first cousin of mine, went to be with the Lord at the age of 45. Although after awhile his passing was expected, the news came as a serious blow to the overall moral of our close knight small community. About a month earlier, as he was transferred from Kangu hospital to Kinshasa, Justinho and his wife spent the night in the guest house (where we’re staying). This gave the entire community a chance to spend several hours of prayer, praise, and worship with them. Justinho made a powerful testimony of his commitment to the Lord and his peace even as he faced the possibility of death. The following morning, I personally accompanied them all the way to Kinshasa where he was admitted to the University Hospital. After he passed away, Lau and I made the trip again to accompany the body back to Justinho’s home town of Patu. The entire FACTEB community came to the funeral and sang Justinho’s favourite hymns. At the end of the service, three young people expressed their desire to start training next year at FACTEB. Praise the Lord! Through this painful experience, the community came together, learning to appreciate one another, as we realised yet again that life is indeed frail. Please, pray for Esther, the widow, and the four daughters that are left behind. They’re planning to go back to Angola where Esther may resume teaching in a Bible Institute.
Finally, pray also for the Alliance Church in Congo, which is facing its most serious crisis since the early sixties. It all began with a memo signed by a group of lay people (some of them national figures) directly challenging President Nzelele’s leadership. The situation has since escalated to the point where the national government is now involved. Unless there is some appeasement soon, the crisis could have devastating effects on the Church as a whole. Pray for us as we try to play the role of fire fighter, a role for which we were not prepared and pray mostly that the Lord would spare His Church from further trauma.
Kenzo
We’ve been thinking to send out this update so that you may know how to best pray for us. As some of you may already know, the last two months or so have been tougher than usual. While we hope that the worst is now behind us, we also praise the Lord who has been so far.
Everything started with our vehicle breaking down only few weeks after my arrival in Congo. We went to spend New Year’s festivities with our aging parents in the village. On our way back on January 04, we had serious car troubles. It took us over 48 hours to get back to Boma, instead of the usual three hours. Later we found out that the problem was with the transmission. After few attempts, we gave up trying to get it fixed for the time being. This means that we’ve been without a vehicle since January, making it very difficult for all of us, especially the kids their 7 kilometre commute to school. To make it worse, the sun has been unbearably hot.
Well, the car was only the first in a series of troubles. My laptop was next to go. It has since been fixed, but I lost all the files I had worked on starting January. Ambrose IT department has been kindly sending me my old files that were saved in the college backup system. After my laptop came Lau’s fridge to go. We are certainly frustrated but not discouraged. Life goes on, and we’re still seeing God’s hand in our lives and our ministry.
The greatest challenge to our faith and the greatest test of our commitment came with the passing of one our students and the courant crisis within the Alliance Church here in Congo.
On February 23, Pastor Justinho Mayunda, one of our students from Angola and a first cousin of mine, went to be with the Lord at the age of 45. Although after awhile his passing was expected, the news came as a serious blow to the overall moral of our close knight small community. About a month earlier, as he was transferred from Kangu hospital to Kinshasa, Justinho and his wife spent the night in the guest house (where we’re staying). This gave the entire community a chance to spend several hours of prayer, praise, and worship with them. Justinho made a powerful testimony of his commitment to the Lord and his peace even as he faced the possibility of death. The following morning, I personally accompanied them all the way to Kinshasa where he was admitted to the University Hospital. After he passed away, Lau and I made the trip again to accompany the body back to Justinho’s home town of Patu. The entire FACTEB community came to the funeral and sang Justinho’s favourite hymns. At the end of the service, three young people expressed their desire to start training next year at FACTEB. Praise the Lord! Through this painful experience, the community came together, learning to appreciate one another, as we realised yet again that life is indeed frail. Please, pray for Esther, the widow, and the four daughters that are left behind. They’re planning to go back to Angola where Esther may resume teaching in a Bible Institute.
Finally, pray also for the Alliance Church in Congo, which is facing its most serious crisis since the early sixties. It all began with a memo signed by a group of lay people (some of them national figures) directly challenging President Nzelele’s leadership. The situation has since escalated to the point where the national government is now involved. Unless there is some appeasement soon, the crisis could have devastating effects on the Church as a whole. Pray for us as we try to play the role of fire fighter, a role for which we were not prepared and pray mostly that the Lord would spare His Church from further trauma.
Kenzo