July 2009 Update

Baraka, Congo. The ministry trip to Baraka, Democratic Republic of Congo has finally come and gone. The trip was a great success, though physically and mentally exhausting. My friends and co-laborers in Christ from Calvary Chapel Nairobi, Arie Ramirez and Dave Zavala, flew out to Kigoma to catch the boat along with myself, my Congolese student, Bahati, and one of their Congolese students from Nairobi, Asukulu, both of whom are originally from Baraka. I had spent the days before their arrival making some negotiations with a man named Nondo in

Our Boat, the ‘Mtoto wa Nyumbani’

the small village port of Kibirizi near Kigoma. Nondo is one of many boatmen in Kibirizi who take cargo - goods and people - back and forth between eastern Congo and Kigoma, Tanzania. He seemed to be an honest businessman and gave us a reasonable rate for what we wanted to do. More importantly, he was the only one going to Baraka that week! In addition, because Nondo is a muslim, I was really looking forward to getting to spend some time with him on the trip in order to share with him the Good News of Jesus. More about that in a minute.


As is normal here, nothing is done until it is done, and no price is truly set until the money has exchanged hands. So, though we had a deal with Nondo for the trip to Baraka, based on many previous experiences I felt the need to continue in prayer and asked many others to pray in regards to this boat trip (I know several missionaries who have lived in Africa for several decades who will not take a cargo boat across anymore - so I was really motivated to pray).


So I picked up Dave and Arie from the Kigoma Airport at about noon on Sunday and we drove straight to the port to catch the boat, which they were supposedly holding for us. Apparently they weren’t as ready for us as they led me to believe by the phone calls, because we didn’t actually leave Kibirizi until about 3 p.m.. I had been told by several people, including Nondo, that the trip would be about 6 hours. We had even paid extra for additional fuel to run faster. Thirteen hours later... we arrived at the port in Baraka (at 3 a.m. local time), and there we had to wait on the boat another 5 hours for the flag of Congo to be raised, the national anthem to be sung, and the government offices to be opened.


Though the trip was long, it proved a fruitful opportunity to witness to Nondo. As the Lord worked it out, I was resting when the opportunity arose, but Arie was awake and so lead the effort while Dave and I supported him in prayer. Progress was made in Nondo’s heart, and this wouldn’t be our last opportunity to share.

After we finally disembarked and dealt with all of the typical corruption in the immigration and security offices, we were finally “in” and ready for a bit of food and sleep to get our bodies prepared for the tasks ahead. We went to a small guest house with rooms that I would classify as “livable” (though my standards have consistently gone down the longer I’ve been here). It was a small 8x8 room with a bed and net and a big window with no screen facing the common toilet area. I was nightly lulled to sleep by the wafting aroma of the “squatty potty”. Our original plan was to stay at a guest house run by the Catholic Church, which I had heard was the nicest in Baraka (relatively speaking), but before our arrival they had denied us rooms. “Why?”, you might be wondering. Because they knew we were there to teach a seminar and the head priest said that he didn’t want to help protestants bring a non-Catholic message. That was a first for me... in any country I’ve been to.
 The following morning we headed off to a small church about a twenty minute walk from the guest house. We were received warmly and began our three day seminar. I’ve been involved in many seminars and was truly surprised and blessed at how many came. We had invited 100 church leaders and we had much more than that. The small bamboo-walled and grass-covered church building was full to the brim with eager listeners and note-takers, surrounded outside by those who couldn’t find a spot inside as well as rivers of rustling children eager to sneak a peek at the big Mzungu (white guy) inside.


Dave, Arie, Asukulu, and myself each took a two hour spot each day, for a total of eight hours of teaching per day. I was blessed to teach the Word out of Philippians and I Thessalonians about the true heart of a church leader, focusing on humility, motives, service, and the practical application and results as seen in Paul’s life. The response was good and I ask that you join me in praying that the Word of God shared those three days would take root and bear fruit in the lives of those who attended.

The church was full!

On the second day of the seminar, I snuck away a little early in order to make the 45 minute walk to visit the family of my student, Bahati. They fled their homeland of Baraka many years earlier during the last Congo war and had recently been repatriated after living in a refugee camp in Tanzania. I finally got to meet Bahati’s wife and three children, the youngest of which was named after me. We all sat outside near the lake in a circle with Bahati, his father, Alphonse, his grandfather, his mom, his wife, other siblings and relatives. Bahati’s father and grandfather took turns telling me how thankful they were for my helping Bahati to attend Bible College in

Bahati's Family

Kigoma, for teaching him, and for making sure his needs were taken care of. It was very humbling. Alphonse explained to me that because of these things I was now Bahati’s Baba Mdogo (small father). Basically he was calling me his young brother (Bahati’s uncle). It was a real honor. At the conclusion of the meeting I was given a chicken as the family’s official gift of gratitude.

On the third day of the seminar, just after lunch, one of the sweetest moments of the whole trip occurred. I was talking with Bahati just before returning to the seminar where I was scheduled to teach my last session. In the midst of the conversation I learned for the first time that none of Bahati’s family that I had met the previous day were believers (except for his wife). I was shocked that I didn’t already know this and told Bahati that I would have shared the gospel with them at the home the previous day had I known. After explaining his family’s Bahai background, Bahati said that his dad had been attending the seminar all week and that perhaps we could call him into the small hut where we had taken our lunch in order to share the gospel now. I agreed and then took a moment to pray while waiting for Alphonse to come.


After he sat down I took my time and slowly explained the gospel to him three different times using different word pictures each time (this really helps in translating ideas from one language and culture to another). When I was finished, I asked him if he would like to confess Jesus Christ as God, Savior, and his Lord. I made sure to tell him that I would never want him to do so as a way of being polite to me as a guest, but that it must be his own desire and decision. So many times people respond with emotions and not with the heart (the Bible often describes the heart in terms of the mind). Then, rather than just nodding yes or saying, “sure”, Bahati’s father began to speak, slowly and clearly explaining some things to me. At first I didn’t know what to expect, but as I listened, I had to hold back my own emotions.


Bahati’s father told me that he had been in the Bahai faith his whole life. He said that he had recently ceased his involvement in Bahai in order to look more closely into Christianity. His reason for this: the changes he had been witnessing in Bahati each time he came home from school between semesters. So he had gone to church a few times to see if he could learn more about this Jesus we talk about. He said that he was starting to understand, but still hadn’t been sure. Then he told me that because of the witness of his son’s life - the work that God had been doing in him, because of my witness as his mentor and teacher, and because of the words I had just spoken to him in explaining the truth of the Gospel, he was now sure that Jesus truly is God and he was ready to proclaim Him as Lord. I still get tears in my eyes and bumps on my arms even now as I write this. So I prayed for him and then asked Bahati to lead his father in a prayer of confession. I was able to shake his hand and greet him into the the body of Christ and know that he will now go forth with the Holy Spirit and take the message of the gospel, along with Bahati, to the rest of the family in the village. It was truly the high point of the week for me.


The entire seminar was such a success and a blessing to be part of. Leading Bahati’s father to Christ was the whipped cream and cherry on the top! But our work was not yet done. Once we made our way back down to the port and went through immigration, we got into a much smaller boat with our old friend Nondo for the ride back to Kigoma. I was looking forward to another opportunity to teach Nondo about Christ.


A couple of hours into the trip Nondo came up to where I was sitting and sat down next to me. Dave and Arie were just in front of us. He started up the conversation and we got right down to it. Nondo had come from a family who professed to be christians and even has a grandfather who is a “preacher” in the United States. It was very clear from our conversation, though, that nobody had ever actually taught him the truths of Scripture and answered his questions. All he had known of Christ was what he had seen in the lives of so many Congolese, Burundians, and Tanzanians who claim to be christians but who live contrary to the Word of God. There was no arguing with that fact, one which seems to be true the world over. Through all of the questions about the Bible, the comments about those who call themselves christians, the challenges he offered from the Koran, and the standard arguments given by those of the muslim faith, there was one obvious omission. One point piercing through it all that Nondo continually

Me & Nondo

tried to forge his way around like a boatman avoiding the rocks: if God is truly holy, then he cannot allow any of us into his presence ever because of our sin. Therefore if God is to show mercy and remain holy, then He must make a way to Him that preserves his holiness, and that way is through Jesus, who took upon Himself the penalty for our sins. So God is both just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:36). God had given me this message for Nondo from the very first day that I met him and I had been praying ever since, ready to explain it to him as soon as the Lord opened the door to do so. Finally I had the opportunity that long night on the boat on Lake Tanganyika, and was able to show him that very truth several times. At some point, with reinforcement from Arie and Dave, a little bit of light finally broke through the darkness of his recent four years of intensive training in Islam. His demeanor changed. He started to ask good questions instead of just arguing. He wanted to know how it was possible, what did God do exactly, and even specifically asked if I would be willing to teach him more. He even started to ask what faith this was that we were spreading to his home country, as if he had never heard of it before. I’m so excited about this opportunity. Though Nondo lives in a small village on the other side of an enormous lake, he is often in Kigoma for business, at which time I have invited him to my home for chai (tea) so I can continue to explain the simple truths of God’s Word which seem so difficult to those whose minds have been so deeply and repetitively engrained with the tenets of Islam. I am so blessed and thankful for this opportunity that the Lord has given me. I even have a Bible in French that someone recently gave to me that I can now give to him to aide him in seeing the good news of Jesus Christ. Please pray for Nondo and for our future meetings, that his spiritual eyes would continue to be opened and that he would see and receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The Team - Me, Bahati, Arie, Dave, and Asukulu

At Home. Carrie continues to amaze us all with her ability to homeschool the three older boys, teach and entertain Jada, and nurse and otherwise take care of the baby, Jasmine. All at the same time! In addition she has been teaching the ladies at one of the local churches once per month, working slowly through Proverbs 31. Despite all of the traveling and “breaks” the past school year, the boys have all worked hard and caught up. Kevan is just about finished with 5th grade, Keenan with 2nd, and Caleb with 1st They are already beginning the next grades in some subjects so that they can get a head start on the school year and not get behind.


Kevan has expressed an interest in a boarding school in Kenya called Rift Valley Academy. He has a friend who attends there and we know a few other missionary families who have attended or are currently attending. The school is over 100 years old and is ranked as the second highest private college prep school on the entire continent. We plan to visit the campus while in Kenya this summer. We’re not quite ready to let him go, but maybe in a couple of years, if the Lord wills. Please pray for wisdom and direction in this area, and for the finances to pay for it if God so leads.


Also pray for wisdom and provision for language school later this year. We have found an affordable one with good feedback and plan to begin attending in November. I am really looking forward to improved communication with the people. It is so frustrating and disappointing to live with and minister to a people amongst whom you always feel a stranger. I’m truly excited by the prospect of learning and putting the language into practice so that I can speak clearly without a translator in all circumstances. This will take some more time after language school, but this is the first step in that direction. Please pray that the studies will go well and that we will be specially gifted by God to absorb, learn, and apply.


While we are in school we would like to store our belongings and let our house go so that we can save the money we would otherwise have to spend on rent and guards. This is a big step of faith as we will have to find a different house when we get back, and that’s not always easy. Please pray that we will find the right place to store our things and the right place to live upon return. We trust God to provide and work it all out and appreciate your prayer in that regard.


Carrie’s wrists continue to ache and lock up on her. The cause appears to be tendonitis and the only cure is impractical beyond reason for a homeschooling, homemaking, mother of five: don’t use your wrists. We truly desire a miracle for Carrie, and humbly ask that you join us in praying for her.

Kigoma, Tanzania. We have a few guests visiting this summer to join in the ministry temporarily. In July a few young men will be coming out from Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg as well as one from CCBC Jerusalem. They’ll be doing an Inductive Bible Study seminar in Kigoma and then we’ll be heading up to Rwanda for a week or two of ministry there alongside Tom and Cheryl Rees.

In August our dear friends Bond and Heather are coming out to do some evangelism and edification in two different villages here in western Tanzania, one of which is completely ‘unreached’ and only accessible by helicopter or foot. Please pray for all of these upcoming ministries, for safe travels and good health for all of the visitors, for all of the finances and logistics to come together, and especially for the hearts and minds of those whom we will be ministering to in Kigoma, Kigali, Kaseke, and Buhungu.
Praise the Lord for...
...His continual protection, provision, and blessings upon our lives.
...the outreach to Baraka, the lives changed, the people saved, the safe trip to and from.
...taking care of Carrie and the kids while I was traveling.

Please pray for...
...God’s will concerning language school and Kevan’s schooling.
...continued love for the people of TZ.
...the storage of our belongings and finding another home when we return from language school.
...good time management skills for both Jon and Carrie as well as an increased capacity for patience (especially for Jon).
...Carrie’s wrists, which appear to have tendonitis and are continually causing her pain.
...the upcoming ministry in Kigoma, Kigali, Kaseke, and Buhungu.
...Nondo, the boatman. For continued opportunities to show him the love of Christ and the truth of His Word.
...Alphonse, Bahati’s father. For growth in the faith and boldness to share it with his family.
...additional opportunities to minister to the people of Congo as God allows.
...co-laborers in the harvest.
...short term visitors who are able to teach Bible College level classes to students in Kigoma and/or Congo.
...a special blessing upon all of those who share with us in this ministry through prayer and finances.
...good health for all of the children, Carrie, and Jon.