July 15, 2003
FSM 375CM/FM08/01
Copyright © 2001 by The Family.
24 Hours—And Things Will Never Be the Same!
By Oli, Africa
Do you ever wonder what the Lord can do through you in just 24 hours? Well, as Dwight L. Moody was once told, There is no limit.—And we’ve certainly been amazed to see how true this has been in the case of Congo!
In November 2000, Josh and I spent a mere 24 hours in Mahagi, a small town of war-torn eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire). (Editor’s note: Congo is a dangerous country, with ongoing war and tribal conflict, so it was only with the Lord’s specific leading and lots of prayer that this team proceeded. For more information on Congo [DRC], please refer to Part 2 of this FSM, Facts on Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo—Consular Information Sheet, and the note from Eurcro and African shepherds, Pioneering in Sensitive and Dangerous Countries.)
At the time, cutting our planned weeklong stay down to just 24 hours seemed like a major defeat. Reasoning within ourselves, we felt sure that had we known our trip would have been cut short like this, we would have postponed it altogether. But looking back on all the Lord has done in the months since our visit, we have no doubt that the Lord had His perfect plan and timing and that He can use anything (even a brief 24 hours) and anyone (even our motley, average-Family-member team of two)!
Open door through hitchhiking
It all began on a normal day out, when my wife Marie and I were in town doing the usual witnessing, FU, business, and hitchhiking! It’s one of our favorite ways of getting around and meeting people. Of course, we’re still waiting on the miracle vehicle the Lord has promised, but we still really love hitchhiking! (Update: Thanks to the dear brethren at the Japan SC, a generously donated four-wheel drive vehicle is now parked down the road at customs awaiting us! We just need to hitchhike to our clearing agent contact and then hitchhike to customs to be able to drive it home, where it will be parked in our very own driveway! Thank You, Jesus, and thanks to Mark and Oliver at the JSC and all the team there!)
That day we were picked up by Makwa, a Congolese who got saved and right away invited us to make the trip to his region of eastern DRC, just across the border from northern Uganda. He then began calling us regularly, asking if we would please consider coming with him at the earliest possible opportunity, and informing us that he was making serious plans for taking us there. We were excited; the Lord seemed to be carrying us along on the current of His will with very little effort on our part. We had long had a burden to reach Congo and here the Lord was making it happen.
Trip groundwork
We had a few meetings with Makwa to pray for and plan our scouting trip. This time served to greatly stretch Makwa’s faith as well as ours. Though Makwa was saved and excited about taking us to Congo, he had been raised a Catholic and was new to Family ways. So things like living by faith, provisioning, and hearing from the Lord were quite radical to him! He took our planning suggestions well and with excitement.
The Lord led us to pull him in to these aspects of our life and planning from the beginning, in order to give him the right perspective on who we are and how we operate. Many here in Africa are used to missionaries and to hearing the term living by faith, but the reality is that with most missionaries the natives know there is plenty of money available and even fringe benefits for them when they work on a project such as this one. So we wanted to give him the right perspective and help him to understand that this would really be an all-by-faith trip.
A vehicle he was planning on driving us up in broke down the day before we were to leave, so we had a last-minute need of about $100 for the bus fare. We prayed for this with him, and that afternoon we met someone who gave the exact amount we needed! During the course of our trip, he saw the Lord supply hotel rooms (very basic local hotels, as you will see in the pictures!), food, and transportation. We also heard from the Lord at each step. In fact our lives depended on it, as at the time the Ebola epidemic was at its height and to reach the DRC we needed to travel through the very district where it was active. The Lord led us step by step, which was a testimony and encouragement to Makwa.
Bone-shattering rides and African treats
It was a bone-shattering 10-hour bus ride, seven of those hours on un-paved roads. During the last three, I was literally praying, Let this cup pass from me! and claiming, He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved with all of my heart.
We then arrived at the border town of Paidha, Uganda, where we met with the mayor and some of the city fathers, who received Jesus and begged us to return. They offered us the use of the town community center for Bible classes and asked us to provide training for their schools and youth programs. So we found an amazingly friendly and hungry little community way out there on the edge of Uganda!
The miracle meeting
In Paidha we hired an old beat-up pickup truck with no lights and a collapsing suspension to drive the 10 or so kilometers into the DRC. As we crossed the border, a man named Jakisa approached us, introduced himself, and asked if he’d be able to join us in the back of the jalopy. As we drove along and talked, we found out that he was a saved Christian who works with a team of evangelists and an orphanage in Bunia, one of the main cities in rebel-held Congo and headquarters for one of the rebel factions. Little could we have known as we talked, bumping along that heavily rutted mud road, how much this meeting would mean and how much of the future hinged on it! It would be one of the keys to much of what the Lord had in store for us in the Congo.
Jakisa was desirous of more input, so we invited him to join us as we continued our trip first thing the next morning.
A government guesthouse just inside Congo
After praying with the border officials and provisioning our laissez passé [pass], we went to meet the local rebel provincial administrator. He welcomed us warmly, putting us up in the official government guesthouse. Sounds like a palace, I know, but though fairly good by local standards, it left a lot to be desired! Still, it was a roof over our heads and a bed off the floor for us weary travelers.
We woke early and were joined by Jakisa and Makwa for our morning devotions.
How the Lord led Jakisa to us
After devotions, Jakisa shared the incredible story of his meeting with us at the border the day before. He had been on a bus just like ours, which came through a town called Nebbi about an hour from the border. Here he thought to take advantage of the bus refueling to check his post box. (Many people from this section of Congo have boxes in Uganda, as the postal system in this part of Congo is inoperable due to the civil war.) He returned after a few short minutes to find that the bus had departed and he had been left behind.
Having no money, he began the trek to the border where he met us about four hours later. He initially felt very upset at having missed the bus, but he prayed and the Lord told him that it was His doing and that something very special was going to happen as a result. This promise was difficult for him to hold on to during his four-hour walk, but he confidently shared that he now knew that the Lord was right and that no amount of walking could have compared to the blessing of meeting us that day! Isn’t that incredible?
Receptive field of the Congo
After this, we took some time to pray for and about our day with Jakisa and Makwa. The Lord showed Josh and me to meet with the administrator and then proceed on to the border post where our travel papers were waiting for us to collect. The Lord showed us to witness as we went and to be open to His leadings, so we armed ourselves with a stack of posters and headed out.
We began by meeting with the administrator, who called in his entire family, personal aides, staff, and friends for us to pray for them and then with them to receive the Lord. He then sent us to the vice-administrator, who also got saved, along with his staff and about four others gathered in his office.
From here we headed towards the border post, passing out posters all along the way. We met Pasteur De Gaule, a precious Christian. He had become pastor of his little Pentecostal church six months after he received the Lord, because when the war broke out the missionaries left, and he was the best trained of all the believers to take over the shepherding of their little group. He right away expressed his need and desire for more training and to do all he could to help us bring the Gospel to this region.
A delay but not a denial
At the border post, we were informed that officials had just received a radio call from HQ in Bunia informing them that a Belgian expatriate had just been murdered about 10 km from Mahagi. Due to the resulting pressure from the Belgian embassy, the Congolese were unwilling at this time to take responsibility for more foreigners traveling through this area. Thus we were asked, for our own safety, to leave. Our travel passes were canceled.
We pleaded with the border officials, and they gave us till 5:00 pm to be out and safely back across the border. In fact, we had to leave at the exact same time we had crossed over the day before!
We had to walk back to town, as there were no vehicles to hitchhike with—culture shock! It was then about 1:00, and we had only four hours left in Congo.
De Gaule was already organizing a meeting with representatives of eight or nine local Pentecostal and evangelical churches—those interested in actively witnessing, further Bible training, and helping us to distribute the lit.
On our way to this meeting, we began casually distributing lit in the main marketplace and soon found ourselves being mobbed! Though I’m not one for mass evangelism and public speaking, the Lord led us to share the Gospel with this hungry crowd that had gathered around, lest they soon get hungry for something other than the gospel. I hear they have a special dish in the region affectionately called white man stew! Hmmm, I wonder
Anyway, the result was that of this crowd of a few hundred precious villagers, the common folk who endure so much of the brunt of the suffering from such civil wars and unrest, all received the Lord!
Teaching witnessers from local churches
OK, now on to our meeting! As per the vision we had shared with him, De Gaule had tried to call together only those truly interested in actively doing something for the Lord. About 20 came, and Jakisa also joined us. We were able to give a condensed and simple witnessing class, some printed study material from DB 8 and Treasures, and about 5,000 posters for them to use in their witnessing.
After good prayer and some fond farewells, we had just enough time to eat before catching our ride back across the border. The meal De Gaule and his friends shared with us was our first besides cookies and soft drinks since we had left home at 4:00 am the day before! (Sorry about the soft drinks, but it was better than nothing! We sometimes joke that in Africa they are almost a health drink, because at least they’re usually safer than the water!)
By a miracle we were able to secure transport to get us back across the border at 5:00.
The widespread effects of those 24 hours
Over the last four months since this trip, we’ve been amazed to see the ripple effect of the witnessing that was done then. Jakisa returned to Bunia with the lit, causing a literal explosion in the Spirit. He showed up at our doorstep in Kampala three weeks later saying (and I quote), Too much is happening. The Lord is doing too much! I need more training. I need for you to tell me and teach me what I am to do next.
He spent the next three days with us receiving classes all throughout the day and joining witnessing teams out—receiving continuous input. He was then off to Congo again loaded with a full set of Activated magazines and books, after a blast of an inspiration and a prophecy meeting about the work there. Since then he has sent us monthly reports, and at the time of this writing, he is back for a week of more classes and training.
Jakisa has received persecution for his zealous witnessing and has now pretty much broken with the churches he was working with. He calls himself by our name and considers himself a full-fledged disciple of Jesus. He has 24 other disciples whom he has taught the classes he’s received from us, and who are now on-fire witnessers. One of his two most solid helpers is a former prostitute who has a powerful testimony she boldly shares. They travel up to 75 km on foot to preach the Gospel and have even won souls amongst Pygmy tribes deep in the jungle. This is apparently a major miracle and accomplishment, due to the Pygmy’s very reserved and primitive nature as well as their resistance to outside influences.
In Mahagi, De Gaule and his team quickly depleted their stock of lit and have been writing us for more. They are a more church-oriented group, but definitely one we can work side by side with to preach the Gospel, as they have a real desire to receive more training and to actively witness.
The hotel owner in Paidha who put us up while there has also visited us in Kampala for more classes. He has begun a movie ministry, where he plays a Christian classic such as Jesus of Nazareth, Brother Sun, etc., as a witness and crowd-getter, and then he teaches a Bible class to those who come. Here is a man who is hungry for more training and has lots of potential!
Following are some excerpts of Jakisa’s monthly reports which give a little insight into the work in Bunia, the disciples’ love for the Lord, their battles, and their victories.
Missionary Report—31 December 2000
Total number of persons receiving training and
actively witnessing: 17
Number of souls saved this month: 32
Number of persons witnessed to this month: 120
Number of Bible studies and classes taught this
month: 8
Main problems, trials and prayer requests for
the month:
—Transport to reach people living far from the town
—Translating and printing literature in local languages (Swahili and French)
—Against witches’ and night dancers’ attacks, trying to fight us, to stop the Gospel
—The war and ethnic conflicts causing people always to move from one place to another, and the death of many
Main victories, blessings and miracles this month:
—Healing
—Deliverance
Main classes learned:
—Discipleship
—Faith
—Fear not
—Healing
—Prayer
—The Time of the End
—Witnessing
—The Word of God
Main witnessing testimonies this month:
Corneille, one of the souls saved, was attacked by a large group of witches, who had decided to kill him on January 1st, 2001. The power of prayer made them fail and Corneille is alive and determined to serve Jesus in witnessing.
Amoti, the wife of Corneille, along with her daughter and a great team of witches living in Shari, near Bunia, had decided to attack the Family team because they said the Words were fire and the prayers were destroying their work. After failing, Amoti and her daughter came to testify, begging for help to cast out the demons they had. Praise the Lord!
Letter from Jakisa—8 January, 2001
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I greet you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How is everything? Here in Bunia (Congo), we are doing very well. When I left Kampala, on the way to Bunia via Paidha, I got very sick and it took two weeks to make it down to Bunia. But praise be to God, because it was His plan to witness while I was in the bed of sickness. The witnessing was fruitful in that one Muslim of the Hawa tribe got saved. [Note from Oli: Jakisa had just left after his five-day visit with us in Kampala.]
I even praise God, because on the same journey the book Bible Basics that has all the classes was stolen in Paidha. Wonderfully, God used a second person, a driver from Bunia, to steal the same book from the first thief, saying it looked very beautiful to him. On the way to Bunia we were praying about it and telling friends about the matter. God took us exactly to this man, the driver, the person who stole the book from the first. He was a friend of my older brother, and while telling him the story of the stolen book, he remembered about it and took us to his home and then gave us back the book. Praise the Lord!
Indeed, thank you for the training, the documents given to us, and all the love you showed to me while I was with you. Following the training has made a clear way of discipleship, training, and witnessing. We have tried to translate the literature into the local languages (Swahili and French), so that the Gospel may reach everywhere and every creature (Mk.16:15).
We have trained 17 disciples, who are now ready and able to train others. I pray to God to open the way to meet you so that we can come back together to Congo.
In the moment, the situation is going from bad to worse. The ethnic conflict has worsened. People are killing one another, some are leaving the area, and others are dead because of famine. One of the ethnic groups (Lendu) has troubled even the group of rebels. There’s no food. In fact, we are working at great risk. In other villages where we were training other disciples, people have been killed and even some of the relatives who were helping us by keeping our orphans at home have been killed and the houses burned. The orphans have been hurt by axes and in the moment they are in hospitals.
Please, please pray for us and especially for me, because I’m working with both tribes who are in conflict (the Lendu and Hema). We believe that God will change the situation. Therefore, hold us in your prayers, because many people have lost heart and their faith has grown cold. If we are alive, it’s by the grace of God, and if we eat, it is by miracles. But praise be to God, because all the disciples are obeying the instructions I am giving them—to keep the faith and to trust God. We always go to preach to those who are hurt and to the soldiers in the hospitals.
May God bless you all in the name of Jesus. Jakisa
Missionary Report—30 January, 2001
Main problems, trials and prayer requests for the month:
—No possibility for printing literature translated into the local languages (Swahili and French)
—Transport and communication with people who are following the training (outside of Bunia)
Main victories, blessings and miracles this month:
—Family disciples are all living and eating, by miracles
—Unity and courage between the disciples of the Lendu and Hema tribes [Note from Oli: These are the two warring factions in the tribal conflict taking place in the Bunia area.]
Main witnessing testimonies this month:
Mambo (one of the youngest disciples) was in the house when it was set on fire. Wonderfully, God saved those there by a miracle. The work of the mighty hand of God has made Mambo to be a good believer of Jesus Christ.
On the last week of this month, Henry tasted the power of prayer of the Family team. He came to our center asking for prayer for his journey to Mahagi. After prayer, he went by car on the road. During the journey he escaped from a gunfire attack in which another car was burned and many died. Henry remembered the prayer and when he came back to Bunia, he asked us how to know and receive Jesus. It is very easy, we said. We led him in prayer and now he has decided to follow Jesus and to serve Him as a disciple. Praise the Lord!
Letter and Report from Jakisa—28 February, 2001
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We are again so glad to inform you that the Family in Congo is doing very well. Our mission has entered the equatorial forest in Bunia, and the training is still going on. We have prepared for your coming to the Congo, which is really needed at the moment to make sure that the foundation here is well laid before it builds up.
Please, please let the mighty Lord help you to come because now the team is ready to start the building of the work in Bunia. [Note from Oli: We returned to Congo and held classes for extended training during April 2001!]
Main victories, blessings and miracles this month:
—Successful journey to Komanda (forest) and witnessing to the Pygmies
—The gift given by Balinda, salt for the Pygmies
—Request for prayer: reconciliation between the Lendu and Hema tribes
Main witnessing testimonies this month:
After prayer, the team of three people (Bandema, Emmanuel, and Jakisa) decided to enter the forest to witness to the Pygmies. The Holy Spirit of God told us to meet the chief of the area, who welcomed us warmly. They heard the Word with a receptive heart, and 25 of them were saved. Praise the Lord!
From Oli:
Looking back at our trip and seeing Jakisa’s growth into an on-fire labor leader; the 30 or so active Outside Witnessers in Bunia, Mahagi, and Paidha; the hundreds of souls saved; and the thousands of pieces of lit distributed, what seemed to us then as a defeat doesn’t look that way now! The Lord really isn’t limited and all things are possible! All we can do is praise the Lord and give Him the glory for all He has done!
Please do keep Jakisa and all our faithful witnessers in this war-torn region in your prayers.
By Josh English (January 2001)
A Kampala-based long-distance radio messaging service, Radio Call, contacted us with a message from Olivier De Gaule in Congo. I went to Radio Call to receive the message, which was a request for further help with missionary training in their community, asking when we are going to return with more lit and materials. They’re basically begging for us to come back really soon!
I spoke a few words to the Congolese radio operators in their language, which they loved, and witnessed to Jackie, the lady who runs the radio service here in Kampala, and she really wants to help our work by providing a free service to us, which you normally have to pay for. She’ll be helping us communicate with our friends in Congo and Sudan, so we now have a way of sending to and receiving messages from them, which is a big blessing.
Makwa from Congo visited again and brought with him two friends, Andrew and Patrick. Andrew said that their ministry there has exploded! Every night they show Christian videos to about 100 people, and twice a week they teach Bible classes to over 40 converts. They have been teaching their followers using the classes we made for them, but they desperately need more feeding material. I showed them the Activated Discovering Truth: Bible Basics, and Keys to Happier Living books, and they flipped out and will take a few back there soon. It seems that the Activated books are going to be a key in reaching these communities that we are unable to visit personally on a regular basis.
Andrew and Patrick really needed some training, it seems, as they were a bit misled on some things. For example, they believed that you could lose your salvation if you backslide, etc. I gave them an impromptu class which they really enjoyed, and they saw the light. I think it gave Andrew further cause for contemplation, making him realize even more the need for help and training from us. He is also begging for us to come, train them, and help them with their growing flock. I told him that we should be getting our jeep soon, and that we hope to visit Paidha and Congo with a larger team.
Update from Oli, April 2001
We recently received about 20,000 tracts and are about to leave for a two-week follow-up trip that will, Lord willing, take us to Paidha (Ugandan border town) with my kids to witness, sing, and give classes. We’ll then be on our way to Mahagi (DRC border town) for classes, and then (after the kids return to Kampala) we’ll be heading, for the first time, to Bunia where Jakisa lives, for a discipleship camp! Thanks for your prayers! We will sure need them for each and every aspect of the trip—supply, protection, anointing, etc!
(Editor’s note: You’ll be happy to hear that the Lord took good care of Oli, Josh, and team on this follow-up trip to Congo, and gave them lots of inspiring fruit and testimonies. Just as they were leaving Congo, on the same road they traveled on, a convoy of Red Cross trucks was attacked and six Belgian Red Cross volunteers killed. Oli, Josh, and team arrived home safe and sound—another sign of the Lord’s miraculous care for His children, as well as a confirmation of the need for fervent prayer for our African pioneers. Please see the note from EURCRO and your African shepherds, Pioneering Homes in Sensitive or Dangerous Countries, in FSM 376, part two of The Call of Africa.)
By Crystal (of Luke), Senegal
Usually our Home is not so open to the public, only to individuals we’ve been properly introduced to ahead of time. It’s just not wise to do otherwise for security reasons because Africa can be dangerous; plus some look at us in terms of what they can gain materially from us because we are foreigners. It’s sad that we can’t be more open, but we’ve had to be on guard. All that to say, we’re really not too keen on people coming to our door without being screened first.
Well, a dear new sheep of ours in his zeal decided the new friends he met were sheep too, and he brought them to our house. We were a bit concerned, however we now realize it was the Lord Who let this dear couple get past all of our roadblocks!
Thus began our friendship with dear Solomon and Linda. He’s from Nigeria and she’s from Sierra Leone. As their stories unfolded, we saw how the Lord had certainly engineered our meeting. In Nigeria Solomon was quite a wheeler-dealer, with lots of charm. Nigerians can be pretty slick and ruthless in their dealings, and Solomon was no exception. He was into selling huge quantities of drugs, living in the fast lane, and taking advantage of people and situations.
Then his life took an unexpected turn. He found himself in the midst of an armed robbery, in which he was shot and badly wounded. His upper arm was shattered, the bullet entering it splintering into tiny fragments. He was confined to the hospital for a year to rebuild his arm.
Solomon was a Muslim, but just prior to this shooting he’d been witnessed to and had even prayed to receive Jesus, but he then had quickly run the other way to escape the Lord’s conviction in his heart. Just as he dropped to the ground after being shot, he cried out, God, if You save my life I’ll serve You! Give me another chance! Then he passed into unconsciousness.
When he was finally discharged from the hospital, he forgot his promise to the Lord and went back to his old life. At the height of his drug career, he lay stoned in the arms of a girl in a hotel room. He’d just scored his biggest haul—over 50 kilos of hemp [also called cannabis, the flowers and leaves of which are used to make marijuana and hashish], worth thousands of dollars on the street. Out of nowhere appeared a vision of Jesus surrounded by an aura of light. He looked down at him and said, Solomon, son, I’ve kept and protected you all these years because I want to use your life. As quickly as the vision appeared, it vanished.
Solomon was overwhelmed and wept, telling this girl he couldn’t continue his corrupt lifestyle. She thought he was handing her a line to get rid of her, but that night he gave away his entire drug stash, took off, and dropped out of his old life.
He didn’t have a clue who to talk to about this vision, so he tried to meet the bishop, who listened to him and worked it out for Solomon to go to Bible classes to learn more about Jesus. He studied for a few years, till he went on the road to personal witness from village to village.
Solomon shared with us a few spiritual experiences he had had as a child, which he felt God used to prepare him for serving Him. His mom confirmed that up until the age of nine he would say he was playing with invisible angels who would appear to him, always climbing up a ladder toward Heaven.
On a witnessing trip to Sierra Leone he met Linda, who had been raised a church Christian. Linda’s from a good family, and her father is a well-known journalist. As the madness and fighting got out of control in Sierra Leone, the rebels targeted her father to kill him, and came to their village in pursuit of him. By a miracle, he’d fled shortly before they arrived. She told us that because her family and the village people prayed and claimed Jesus’ protection, no one in their village was killed even though many in nearby villages were killed brutally. Yet she did witness many horrendous sights and was traumatized because of the scenes of rapes and machete slashings that she was exposed to.
We met this couple some time after they’d been airlifted to Senegal, as it was dangerous for them to stay in Sierra Leone. They arrived with only the shirts on their backs and had no one to contact.
By this time Solomon had been actively serving the Lord with different groups for about eight years. The Lord had told him to take Linda as his new disciple and wife.
This dear man and his wife struggled on many fronts in coming to Senegal. They didn’t speak French, didn’t have money or a place to stay, but walked by faith, praying and trusting that the Lord would supply. And He did so many miracles for them. But things were especially rough on Linda, and it caused her to miscarry.
When we first met Linda she was struggling from the traumas she had been through, and was very withdrawn because of the loss of their baby. She could hardly look us in the eyes or smile. Solomon was a man of faith, continuing to pour into Linda, and was full of testimonies of what the Lord was doing for them.
On one occasion when they didn’t have money to eat, poor Linda was discouraged, so Solomon challenged the Lord, saying to Linda, Don’t you think the Lord can take care of us? He can even send money up out of the sea to take care of us if He wants to! Lo and behold, right at Linda’s feet in the sand was 35,000 CFA ($50) that had washed up from the sea! It was such a testimony for Linda, who had never experienced living by faith. This boosted her faith and helped her to believe in miracles.
When they met us, they absolutely flipped over the Word. We’ve been their supply line for it, giving them classes, and they love the Treasures, especially the class on personal witnessing. It’s changed their approach, and has given them a good balance in their witness. They love the posters and the Somebody Loves You tracts. They go out every single day personal witnessing, and still witness in a rather razzed-up fashion, but they are reaching their own, and it’s absolutely amazing. As a converted Muslim, Solomon knows what he’s talking about and the people listen. He uses all his charm for the Lord now, and women are especially drawn to him. It’s cute!
The Activated magazine has been their guide. They use it to teach others, and have asked for subscription cards for people who are interested. When he read Mountain Men, Solomon couldn’t stop talking about it. They devour everything we give them. When he was reading an article in the END, he called me to ask for more material like that. They are both so precious and growing in the Lord. They come over often, and call every night telling us about their witnessing testimonies.
They have a different approach from the way we’re reaching others in this country; we have to be more low-profile as we are white and the country is 92% Muslim. So having Solomon and Linda help us get the Words into the hands of the Senegalese has been a real plus for us. They are reaching people we could never have approached.
What touches my heart the most about them is the way they don’t let anything stop them. They are determined to win souls; that’s their whole reason for living. We’ve helped them to get their own prayer group started and they are using Family materials to teach these people. Abi gave Solomon her bike for his ministry, and every morning without fail he rides around to his sheep, encouraging them and witnessing to others about Jesus.
We keep them stocked up with posters and tracts, but it’s hard to keep up with the demand! We give them a stack, and they quickly come back for more.
On Linda’s birthday they came for a special time with Jesus. We received special prophecies for her, put a picture of Jesus in a frame as a gift, sang hymns, and shared the Word. It’s so sweet having such genuine sheep to pour into.
Please pray the Lord continues to provide for them, as they do struggle financially. Linda is pregnant again, and we gave her a pile of baby clothes that a Home in the States sent, GB’em. We’ve been faithfully passing on provisioned goods to them. If you think of them, please pray for the Lord’s abundant supply for them. Thanks so much!
By Marie, Malawi (written August 2000 and June 2001)
All the Lord has done for our little team in Malawi since we began working here in mid-1999 is simply overwhelming! To introduce ourselves, at the time of this writing (August 2000) our team consists of Ben and Tirzah with their three angelic little darlings; Jamie and Sharon and their adorable little girl; Santi; and me, Marie.
Many words take on a new meaning here. I’ve lived in poor Third World countries my whole life, but I’ve never seen poverty such as that only five or ten minutes by foot from any main area in Malawi, not to mention the faraway villages. There the villagers have to walk for miles to get water, and the nearest clinic or hospital is almost entirely out of reach.
And you have never seen enthusiasm until you have danced and sung with the children in the schools here! One is completely overwhelmed with greetings from the children when arriving. Even the smallest ones chase our car for unlimited lengths of time, waving and smiling and seemingly never running out of breath. This procedure is repeated once again upon our departure. Children yell, Cha bwino! Cha bwino! (All right!—a form of appreciation, I guess), and are usually singing their own version of the songs we have just taught them. Or they swarm to the car, pressing their faces against the window to get a peek. And unless you want to shake 1,000 little hands, I wouldn’t advise you to start with one!
Time for most Malawians also has an entirely new definition. There’s a Malawian saying, You have the watch. We have the time! They certainly give the impression of having all the time in the world, being very laid back and relaxed. The mini-bus drivers will not hesitate to stop in the middle of the confused, busy road and enjoy a lengthy chatty with a fellow mini-bus driver, or with some dear old friendie of theirs that lives on the other side of the world—the next village.
All that to say, Malawi expresses the warm heart of Africa, with the people being among the most friendly you will ever meet. It doesn’t take more than one Muli Bwanji (Are you well?) on our part to make life-long friends and peny pals with the one upon whom you bestowed such a kindness.
Driving down roads in even the most rural areas, you will always find groups of people bustling around, busily doing the little jobs that make up the whole of their lives. Being in one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, it is surprising that despite the statistics, life in Malawi carries on so optimistically. The general standard of living, although extremely basic and poor, is surprisingly clean and thorough.
Another remarkable thing one notices is that Malawians are able to cope very well with the difficult situations they often find themselves in. As opposed to other Third World countries that are up and coming in development, but where the poor who have moved to the cities are at odds with the environment, it seems the poor here in Malawi are capable of making their simple lives work so well, always employing a new method of work or income if another one fails.
Orphans from AIDS
We began our work in Malawi by visiting the schools in the villages and the schools for children of the workers on tea estates. We did educational programs with clowns, songs, drama, and lots of fun. This was a big asset in helping us to connect with the students and locals, and gave us an idea of the educational situation here.
In the sub-Saharan countries of Africa the AIDS crisis has reached staggering proportions. Out of the 10 million people in Malawi, the Department of Welfare has estimated that around 250,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS, although the number is assumed to be much more in the little villages out of reach.
The plight of children orphaned by AIDS is what we as a Home have been concentrating all of our efforts on for some time now, and thus we have begun the Children Left Behind program.
We have been working in two main villages, with centers that have been set up to care for the ever-growing population of uncared-for children living in the area. We have found that organizing community-based educational programs, with the members of the extended families taking on the responsibility of the children and their care, has proven to be a much better method than opening up orphanages and housing children in a completely different environment than the one that they came from.
Teaching the communities
Though the villages are poor, if the community members are taught initiative and how to look at the bigger picture, and if they are able to see an example, they will be better off doing what they know how to do, and living simply and happily.
In this program we have already completed a series of seminars, organized mainly by Tirzah, addressing the major dilemmas the villagers face. In our seminars we also give practical tips on how to keep the center in the community running and how to care for the individual children’s needs. It’s been total enlightenment for these people to learn the normal concepts that we have used our whole lives in the Family to care for children.
Topics we have taught them have included:
* The Importance of and Caring for Children
* Teaching How-tos and Tips
* Cleanliness and Health Habits
* Women’s Rights (addressing certain customs by which the women are not respected enough, leading to sexual abuse and thus the spread of AIDS)
* Money Management
* AIDS Awareness
* Hope for the Future
* Biblical Topics such as Faith, Prayer, Love, Salvation, etc.
The results have been very encouraging! The community members have reciprocated with a demonstration of initiative and motivation in making the centers work, keeping them running despite of the vast problems.
The project doesn’t end there. Going along hand in hand with Children Left Behind is the Sponsor an Orphan program, overseen mainly by Santi and Sharon. This has proven to be a popular avenue for the local business community’s support. Many individuals and companies have been sponsoring children personally with yearly commitments, enabling the children to have a chance for education, as well as providing them with food to eat, clothes to wear, help for the families that take them on, and supplies to keep the centers running.
Some of these are such basic necessities, yet so many children here go without them! It’s a luxury for them to have two or three meals with something other than raw cassava root, rough thick maize porridge known as nsima, and whatever rodents they can catch. So our help in this produces deep gratitude on their part, and great fulfilment on ours.
The response
When we visit the orphanages or educational centers, the children often perform their own rendition of the songs we have taught them, along with the most hilarious mixture of words that make up the nursery rhymes and ditties they have learned from God knows where. The children are just two to five years old, and they sing and perform with such gusto and eye and facial expressions as the world has never seen, that between the sidesplitting laughter and misty eyes it is truly an unforgettable experience!
The graduation ceremonies that follow the completion of the series of seminars for widowed women is probably the most significant event that some of them have ever experienced, regardless of its simplicity. They respect the whole idea so much, and endeavor to make the very most of it that they can.
The women are presented with certificates and they in turn give a lively presentation of what they have learned and what they plan to achieve. After this, any questions about where the children’s drama skills came from are immediately solved then and there!
There is true give and take and mutual respect in our interactions with these people. The fact that we are not trying to make them westernized, nor do we have unreasonable standards of what they should achieve makes it easier for them to relate to us and trust us. It seems that although there is true respect and gratitude, they don’t feel intimidated, but feel free to voice their ideas and communicate with us as friends. It’s a very rewarding relationship!
Support for more projects!
The Lord has raised up a wonderful friend and supporter for us and our work here in Malawi. He is not only a very generous soul, but is also a sincere Christian, a very warm and kind person. He has been a source of information, advice, encouragement, and financial support for us and our work. He considers himself one of us in what we do. He respects all of our objectives, goals, and accomplishments here, and at the same time is always ready with new ideas or suggestions.
Through his support and willingness to help and get his company to sponsor the project, we rebuilt a large school that was hardly recognizable as a learning facility. The 20-plus buildings on the grounds were completely renovated, and the school is now looking beautiful and is serving its purpose much better, thank the Lord.
We had the opportunity to have quality interaction with the students and teachers at this school, even enlisting their help in the fund-raising for it by organizing a fun day on the grounds to add to the financing of the project. That helped to involve the children, thus they feel they had a part in the completion of the renovation, and want to take care of the property and the upkeep of it.
God bless Ben and Santi for bringing this project to completion. It was a trying six weeks as they were out the door at 6:30 every morning and usually weren’t home until dinner. But they are the new heroes in this village, as their names are shouted out every time we drive by. Ha!
We met another man who agreed to sponsor the building of a local day school for one of the villages we have been working in. It was also a wonderful miracle how we happened to find out that the government was giving away land to community projects in that very village. We were able to apply for some, and were later informed that we were accepted and were allocated some land for our project. We are now able to build a school without having to buy any land. Praise the Lord!
God bless Jamie and Ben for all their patience with the local government officials here. Jamie chased them down, calling them all over and over, patiently trying to get them to give us an answer before two or three years go by. As we mentioned before, time is no issue to these dear local Malawians. Ha! But thank the Lord, He worked on our behalf and we were allocated 250 square meters.
We will be building a school building, a hall, a clinic, as well as making a soccer field and basketball court all on these grounds. This will be a community center for all of the local village people and will school their local orphans. With the Lord’s help it will be an example to all in Malawi of how to start fighting the AIDS crisis here and doing our little part to care for the Children Left Behind.
As another local fund-raising effort, we have a party service for children’s birthday parties. Many of the wealthy people here are always looking for some sort of entertainment for their children, and an idea for something new to see and do. So our clowns (of whom Jamie is highly professional) and face painters, with their game boards, balloons, juggling, party games, etc., are always a popular option.
In Summary (Update June 2001)
In the past two years, we have done educational programs at 40 schools, including clown acts and entertainments. In six series of seminars that we have held in four different villages, there were a total of approximately 200 classes given.
Within these villages we have completed the organization and setup of four day care centers; two youth motivational programs; have received sponsorship to enable us to provide food, clothes, and education for 600 children collectively; and through the seminar series we have trained 30 staff members and teachers, 60 mothers and/or guardians of the children who are now able to lovingly care for the children and run the centers efficiently, with our counsel, supervision, and encouragement.
Our vision has been to pass on knowledge, care, and encouragement to create community programs that can carry on in the care of orphans. It is truly rewarding to see the vision that we have been trying to impart take root and slowly begin to bring progress, and a change of outlook for the better that will continue because the people themselves have made it happen in their own lives and have played a major part in the development of their village.
The African experience
All I can say is, The Lord has done great things through us, whereof we are glad! It’s incredible to think of how far we’ve come, considering that when some of us first arrived we had no furniture, no stove, no fridge, no car—and none of the other things that our Home is now filled with! The Lord has provided many little extras as well. Although in this country there are hardly any of what most people would call entertainment facilities, we have had many occasions to enjoy ourselves to the utmost, especially with the beautiful lake that makes up one fifth of Malawi’s landmass—something not easily overlooked!
There are always those genuine African experiences, such as hitchhiking on all sorts of ungodly vehicles; roughing it in lodges with no water and no toilets; dodging an untold variety of confused automobiles when merely crossing a road (there are no crossing points, and forget about waiting for a clearing—NOT possible!); sharing transportation with all kinds of God’s creatures, ranging from a wide assortment and variety of people to animals that you wouldn’t normally keep for pets; and just getting down with the locals—all quite a contrast to the beautiful hotel pool that we now have regular access to. Such splendid variety for young people such as ourselves!
From Rima and Kaylee, Nigeria
The city of Warri is known as one of the most dangerous spots in Nigeria, continually troubled by racial violence and frequently torn apart by inter-tribal warfare. Yet this is just one face of Warri. The other is the reflection of the rich riverine area of Nigeria, the hub of million-dollar multinational oil companies that make Nigeria sixth among the world’s oil-producing nations.
The coexistence of million-dollar corporations and angry tribal nations in Warri is anything but peaceful. As it is also a strong haven for ancient African tribalism—or juju rituals and sacrifices—this corner of Africa is locked in fierce physical and spiritual warfare, sometimes beneath the surface but always there.
Warri, city in southwestern Nigeria, located in Delta State. Warri is a major port city in the Niger Delta and serves as the cargo transfer point between the Niger River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Warri is situated in the Yoruba cultural region and dates back to the 15th century, when it was visited by Portuguese missionaries. Subsequently it served as the base for Portuguese and Dutch slave traders. Warri developed as a port during the late 1800s, when it became a center for the palm oil trade.
The population of Warri has grown drastically since the 1960s because of the worldwide oil boom. This growth, however, has exceeded the development of transportation, housing, and urban services. Warri is connected to Benin City by a major highway and has its own airport. Population (1995) 122,900.
—Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2001
The term crazy was thrown at us more than once as we announced to our friends and contacts that we were going to hold a Bible course in what is affectionately termed the worst spot on Earth.
Kaylee’s Home here in Nigeria has a regular CTP in Warri, so they visit there quite often. Kaylee and several others had held Bible studies in the university earlier and met several students who were interested in more classes. We knew others we could invite, from having done extensive relief work there, assisting victims of several petrol pipeline explosions where over 2,000 people died or suffered serious injuries. The Lord provided a classroom through the head of the university video and editing department, whom we had met earlier. Thus Warri is where He led us and where He opened the doors.
So this wasn’t our first visit, but we were a little nervous about the subject we had chosen for our course—Endtime Events. Being two young girls without years and years of experience tucked away nicely in our back pockets, more comfortable topics would have been the Word or witnessing—things we would have felt a little more confident about teaching. But the Lord had shown us that the Endtime was the bait, and that it wouldn’t be us anyway, but Him. A little more reassured with His Words, and armed with everything we could find on the Endtime, down to the color of St. John’s underwear (it’s amazing what’s in the HomeARC), we set off for our weeklong Endtime Bible course!
Before I carry on, I’d like to say that we are not great teachers or Bible whizzes.—And these were the first in-depth Endtime studies that we had ever taught! I always felt very incapable and downright ignorant about the Endtime, so always left these classes for the better people, with me settling down to Signs of the Times or Daniel 2 at best.
Okay, back to Warri. We decided to have two classes a day, repeating the same class twice so that the students could either choose the morning or afternoon class. This worked well, as they had their regular school classes at different times, so this enabled more to attend our Bible class each day.
How we organized the classes
Our classes were from 12 pm till 1:30 or 2, then from 5 pm to 6:30 or 7 pm. In between we held additional classes or spent time with the potentials on an individual basis, as this is what the Lord had shown us to do in one of our check-in times.
In the morning before arriving for our classes at 11 am, we pored over our Bibles desperately, trying to get a clue about our study topic for the day! The Lord was so faithful to speak with instruction and encouragement, giving us faith once again that it was Him doing it and not us.—So why worry?
A big thing about teaching the Endtime in Africa is that many of our sheep have heard false doctrines, such as the pre-Tribulation rapture and the secret rapture theories. When searching our Bibles, we found that the answers to these theories were so plain and simple. The truth would jump off the page and into the hearts of the students! They were in awe, telling us again and again that they had been taught these false doctrines every day of their lives, and if we hadn’t opened their eyes to the truth, they would have spent their lives believing a lie! Don’t worry—we gave all the glory to the Lord. We were too afraid of falling flat on our faces in the next class to take any credit for ourselves!
At the beginning of every class we were always a little nervous about knowing the answers to the thousands of questions they were so faithful to ask. Yet it was incredible that every day after our prayer for anointing, as soon as we opened our mouths the Lord never failed to fill them!
The more Word we gave, the more they desired it! In between classes they were begging us for the studies they had missed. One day we taught seven hours straight, and at the end we were half-dead but wore very happy smiles on our faces, because the Lord was using us and the sheep couldn’t be fed enough!
Our classes started with the video Countdown to Armageddon. Then we covered salvation first of all, followed by Daniel 2 to give the full picture. We followed this with the basic chronological events of the Endtime, splitting the topics up into separate classes and trusting our good old Word Basics to show us the appropriate verses!
One thing we have found in Africa is that people here are so used to pastors and preachers using their own words, so what really convinces them is straight Scripture! We would study Dad’s classes on the Endtime, then paraphrase his great commentary and use it as our own explanation along with the verses. We found this worked a lot better than just reading a class to them, as they got a bit bored with being read to.
A few lessons learned
Following is a list of points, tips, and lessons that we discovered along the way. Perhaps they can be of use to you, too!:
1. Go slow. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
2. Keep doctrinal viewpoints until the end of the class. There is always that one person that wants to debate every theological point of disputation, so instead of getting into it all in the middle of the class, save it till the end. Then anyone who is interested can stay to discuss it if he or she would like to.
3. When showing Countdown to Armageddon or other videos, be sure to stop, explain, and ask questions. It’s good to test their knowledge and understanding of what they are watching.
4. Pass out tracts or invitations before the class. Advertise the class or you could have an empty classroom!
5. Don’t be worried about the quantity—go for quality!
6. Use the art of incentive—with diplomas! We promised a diploma to whoever came to every class. This helped people make sure they were there on time!
7. A good classroom free of distractions makes a world of difference! We asked the head of one department for the use of a room during classes, so he let us use a room complete with TV/video machine, air-conditioning, and white boards! All this made teaching a whole lot easier!
8. A class schedule and outline for the students was a big help. We made a basic outline of the classes we were going to teach, with the topics we were going to cover each day. This was sent to the students in advance or posted on the board so everyone knew what was happening next!
9. As there were two of us teaching, the Lord showed us to split each class in two, with each of us covering a section. This worked well, as it added variety and different teaching methods to each class.
10. One thing that really helped us was downloading Dad’s classes on the Endtime from the HomeARC. He spoke a lot about the churchy doctrines that they love so much here, and his explanations and Biblical answers are great!
11. On the first day the Lord showed us that our focus in all the classes was to be love!—God’s love in every aspect of our lives—now, in the Endtime, and in Heaven! He showed us that this was the main thing He wanted to get across, as it is His most important message for them.
12. Be open to constructive criticism from each other. We made it a point to be very open with each other and not sensitive about areas we could improve on as far as our presentation, clarity, etc. This helped us not only stay united and honest, but helped our teaching methods, too!
13. Don’t be afraid to be controversial! We weren’t sure whether the music video, The Final Stand, would be too much for them, as they are quite conservative about what they think Christianity and Heaven should be like. Naked torsos with sexy dancing aren’t the everyday picture of Heaven here! But when we prayed about it, the Lord showed us to go ahead with the video, and after they had watched it they were in seventh heaven! They told us that this is exactly what young people here like. To them it is a new and beautiful way of thinking, as Christianity is always portrayed here as something scary and fearful, whereas our Christianity is beautiful and happy! Here is a reaction from one of the students after watching The Final Stand: It portrays Heaven as a beautiful thing. Here we all think of Christianity as being so holy and Jesus being Someone to be scared of. Sometimes when I want to praise the Lord the things that I want to say to Him would be a sin in my church if I actually said them, but you’ve showed me that praising the Lord is something that should come from the heart—something free and beautiful!
14. Most important of all, each class and student is different, but the Lord knows exactly what will work in your situation, so ask Him! He gave us a very clear outline of dos and don’ts, yeses and nos, goods and bads—and He’ll do the same for you!
The reason I am writing this is not because we think we are great teachers and now need to show the world where it’s at. If we ever attended an Endtime teacher’s marathon, we’d definitely be bringing up the rear! As a young person, I always felt like a dunce when it came to my Bible and would look at the Endtime scholars around me and wish that somehow I could attain their status. But one thing I knew was that if I really wanted to step out on a limb, then the Lord wouldn’t let me down. I’m sure that lots out there are way up on the Endtime-teaching ladder of success, and will read this and say piece of cake. But maybe someone somewhere feels that they too rate zero on the Endtime knowledge scale.
All of my verbalizing boils down to this: You don’t have to be a great teacher with Endtime knowledge coming out of your ears to be used in teaching others. You just have to have the faith that if the Lord wants you out there teaching (which according to His New Wine He wants all of us doing), then He is going to do it through you! Don’t be afraid to do the research you need, have a plan of what you are going to teach, then just get out there and do it. Or rather, watch the Lord do it through you!
Okay, now that we are entering the year 2003 and you are only now coming to the end of my long-winded account of only one week of my life, I have a closing thought: This is what life is all about!!! Life comes into focus when you’re teaching the Bible to a group of students whose mouths are wide open in wonder and they are hanging on to every word you are saying. At that precise moment, you know that all the battles and trials are worth it, because you are doing the job, you are being a missionary, you are making Jesus proud.—And there is no job, talent, possession, or feeling in the world that can beat that!
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