But recently a friend shared this article with me by an atheist that offered an interesting perspective on the role of missions in a war torn Africa:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece

Food for thought…

It was probably the most encouraged I have been leaving Congo, and the Lord blessed me so richly by showing how He has really healed some of these women and wiped away their tears – something they would not have thought possible if it were offerred to them 3 years ago.  I saw and believe that the Lord rescues, heals and is close to the oppressed and hurting, it just takes a little while sometimes and comes in ways we don’t expect.  The highlight of the trip was a “graduation” we held for women who are now ready to stand on their own.  I thought we would graduate one woman – Faida – as she no longer needs rent help, school fees for her children, or food support, but after I pitched the idea of a party for each woman as she becomes ready to support herself, two other women came forward and said that they too are ready to leave behind the aid they have been getting and stand on their own!  We had a big party for these ladies and invited friends and family and pastors, and it was really a time to testify to the Lord’s faithfulness.  It was one of the best days of my life, hands down.

I saw standing before me women who are changed and were honestly testifying that they have forgotten what has happened to them.  That is something too wonderful for me to imagine.  They talked about how the Lord heard their cries and answered them.  Thank you for being a part of this journey – your prayers and support over the years have been used to dramatically change many lives, including my own!

Robin

The movie that we are planning to put together is really shaping up to be something special! Thank you again for all of your prayers and support while we have been abroad in the DRC!

The other day we were at a local church and we were listening to some friends play music and sing. The Congolese have amazing voices. Music runs deep in their blood. As we sat and listened I noticed that there was a young woman sewing a dress at a manual sewing machine. She was cutting out the pattern for the dress on the table near our friends playing music.

As she was working on the dress, I noticed something that fascinated me. She was doing it without a pattern. She would mark the dress by hand – where she would need to cut – where she would need to measure. I remembered that my mother always had a pattern to go on when she would make clothes. But this woman was doing it all from her head. The pattern, its’ final shape, its’ dimensions, every stitch and fold was locked away inside – and I was getting to watch her unearth what would soon be a beautiful dress.

I realize now that the problem of Congo is much the same. The answer does not lie in help from abroad (although the help we give is hugely necessary and I have seen first hand what it can do). The answer to the problems Congo faces are within the Congo.

Yesterday, I had the honor of attending a graduation for three women who had been victims of rape. They had worked hard and found a way to support themselves and this was a celebration to honor that achievement. In their most desperate time of need they had turned to God. Through a local church they had begun the process of recovery – emotionally, spiritually, and fiscally, from the trauma that they had endured.

It was nearly two years ago that I got to first meet them – and now they were holding their heads high on this day of celebration. They had relied on God – and he unlocked within them something new. Forgiveness. Hope. Love. They said that because of the changes in their lives – their past had been forgotten. The answer to their problem had come from above. God is in the Congo and I think in being here you can see that He is the only one with the answers.

I think to myself, “Robin! Poli, Poli! (Slowly!)” – lest I become another high score in this game of human pinball.

One of our pastor friends here talks about how the roads in Congo used to be good. They were so good in fact he said you could drop a french fry on the ground and pick it up and still eat it.

Driving around Congo now feels like visiting a place that time forgot. The infrastructure has deteriorated so much in the city we are in that the potholes we try to avoid in America are the norm and any even terrain is a blessed reprieve.

But it has been a good reminder that things in Congo were not always like this. This used to be a major tourist destination. You can still see the big houses people probably used as their summer homes. But being here, meeting the people, getting to know new friends, and to see the work that they are doing – I know that it can be like it once was.

The challenge is to look at it with a different set of eyes. I try to see Congo from my low human perspective. Sometimes all I see is the bumpy road, the victimized women, the destitute children – and I wonder can it be fixed? But I am looking at it with my own eyes. From my perspective on the ground.

What if I could see it from God’s perspective? What would I see then? I might see that the work that the people we are meeting here will indeed make a difference. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But slowly (Poli, Poli) – I believe that it will.

When we arrived I wanted to organize. So, on day two we tore up a pad of paper and wrote the dates we will be here on each sheet. Then we created a bunch of other sheets with different things we hoped to accomplish, creating a make-shift calendar on one of the walls in the house we are in (if you have read this blog in the past you know that this is how I stay pseudo-organized). But I was still feeling like I couldn’t have everything in place.

Have you ever hoped that you were doing the right thing – but you weren’t totally sure that you were? I remember once reading in the Bible that Jonathan, the son of the king of Israel was going to battle with an enemy – and all he had with him was his servant. And so they’re sitting on the side of this hill – and the guys that they’re there to fight are on the other side. And then Jonathan says the strangest thing to his servant… he says “Let’s do this – Perhaps God will be with us.”

I read that, and was thinking “What???”

“Perhaps the Lord will be with us!”

Then these two guys go over the hill to the small army on the otherside and defeat them all.

I think that I felt the same way when I came to Congo this time. I wasn’t really sure what I was doing. Did we really need to come back? Will we find something new that will help tell the story of the people of Congo? Perhaps God will provide?

So far He has. We have been getting things that we never expected!

We had our first rain day yesterday. It was beautiful as we drove up a ridge allowing us to see an incredible vista of the city. The panorama also afforded us a view of the approaching rain bands as they climbed the hills in the distance. We were attempting to find one of the people we will be interviewing while we are here (when cellphones are not prevalent tracking people down can be very difficult). As we got further up the hill the small drops of rain transformed into a torrential downpour.

*NOTE: This is not a good thing when the city you are in has no roads – but mud paths that look like BMX moguls.

With little notice we were sliding around on the incline, the tires spinning, the van swerving back and forth. Robin did her best to control the rented 4×4 mini-van – but suddenly we landed ourselves sideways across both sides of the muddied path a few feet from skidding off the road and into a ditch where a small wooden home sat.

We began to push the car from behind – hoping that we wouldn’t slide further towards the ditch. After pushing and not getting anywhere we realized that the car was never in four wheel drive! So we threw it into 4×4 and began the trip down the mountain.

Needless to say we are happy to have gotten off that hillside without injury! We had to take the car to the shop today because our little adventure was a little too much wear and tear for our van. In took all afternoon for them to fix the “click, click” sound that it was making. We’re not sure if it is totally fixed – but the pastor that we are working with here told us the roads in Congo will not let up that easy!

We also tracked a colossal amount of mud into the van. We apologized to our Pastor here, and he informed us that the mud we tracked into the car was a blessing because we had brought it there. Then we joked with him that we hoped to not bless the car in the same way again. Congolese hospitality is beyond measure.

More soon from the DR Congo!

Sorry it has been a while since we blogged!  We are safe in Congo and have had three days of filming.  We will be posting more blogs in the coming days but access to the internet has been harder recently (this blog was actually phoned in!).  

We are here working to collect the pieces to finish the podcast and eventually create a final project that puts all of the stories together (more on that in the future).  We started filming before we left but knew that we would have to rely on God to reveal the rest of the story to us when we got here – and He definitely has!

 There will be more from us here in Congo soon, so stay tuned!