Saturday, May 9, 2009

It is Saturday, almost lunch time. It is a cool day again.
I've just had a cold spRite out of the bottle...sodas seem to taste better in Africa. Don't know what it is.

Last night we had a very good meeting with someone who is one of thetrue heroes. He is one of them. His vocation is as a nurse, but he works closely with the militia and military, in their camps, during times of conflict, to help the sick, and teach human rights.

We also met with another local hero. He works with the Nehemiah Program that has organized community groups all over, comprised of local leaders. They have over 800 across the country working to make the programs of Heal Africa become a reality. Another hero of Congo is Pastor Bita. He ministers to those in prisons. And let me tell you prison in Congo is not pretty. We wanted to talk to him about violence and men and he impressed on us that because there are now trainings or programs for men in prisons, when they leave they become worse.

Lastly we met with Brother Joseph. He is A young lawyer who God has given a passion to work for the military. We will tell you about him later!!!!

Congo Bongo. Aim for SOC

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Well we made it to Goma. There are many contradictions here, like in Kinshasa. The actual flight was so very smooth. We had a short lay over in a small small town…flying over, we saw stretches of beautiful green jungle with only few huts sprinkled out in the middle of nowhere, the Great Congo River proved to really snake through the entire country like it had claimed, the beautiful decent over Lake Kivu …was a surprise. The lake is so huge it looks like an ocean. I never realized that is why it is called the Great Lakes region…because of the huge lakes. …hmmm. A light sprinkle... a cool breeze. Esther and Camille’s home feels like home. Over lunch I was reminded how flavorful the potatoes were here. Really the peas were amazing as well. Often, the fruit and veges are much more flavorful here.

Thank goodness for this beauty that gives a respite from the chaos and dirt. The airports flying out of Kinshasa and into Goma were absolutely craziness. Nonsensical procedures, harassments, people trying to find reasons for you to give them money…yelling...bumping...etc…..I knew it was like that but I had forgotten what it felt like. We drove the city tonight, through horrible roads, fascinating congestion..what I mean is that I could have watched what was happening on the sides of the roads forever. So much commotion…but really a grey dirty city covered in lava stone. Only to step into a beautiful home with a Christian brother and sister. She is an amazing cook and had prepared a feast for us. I don’t remember tasting such good Congolese food. The community time was so warm, fun, and relaxing. I think we had at least three to five languages being spoken through out dinner. Our host/ architect topped everyone with a total of 10 languages. Many linguistic jokes were told through out the evening. Unfortunately, though they tried to explain the jokes to us...we couldn't always understand!! Darn! It is sad to miss a good joke.

Well we are home now and all of us need some serious rest.
Tomorrow is a new day. We are all so full we have decided to go for a run by Lake Kivu first thing in the morn.

Sons of Congo Team Over and Out.

ps we wish you were here kathi and john
Well we made it to Goma. There are many contradictions here, like in Kinshasa. The actual flight was so very smooth. We had a short lay over in a small small town…flying over, we saw stretches of beautiful green jungle with only few huts sprinkled out in the middle of nowhere, the Great Congo River proved to really snake through the entire country like it had claimed, the beautiful decent over Lake Kivu …was a surprise. The lake is so huge it looks like an ocean. I never realized that is why it is called the Great Lakes region…because of the huge lakes. …hmmm. A light sprinkle... a cool breeze. Esther and Camille’s home feels like home. Over lunch I was reminded how flavorful the potatoes were here. Really the peas were amazing as well. Often, the fruit and veges are much more flavorful here.

Thank goodness for this beauty that gives a respite from the chaos and dirt. The airports flying out of Kinshasa and into Goma were absolutely craziness. Nonsensical procedures, harassments, people trying to find reasons for you to give them money…yelling...bumping...etc…..I knew it was like that but I had forgotten what it felt like. We drove the city tonight, through horrible roads, fascinating congestion..what I mean is that I could have watched what was happening on the sides of the roads forever. So much commotion…but really a grey dirty city covered in lava stone. Only to step into a beautiful home with a Christian brother and sister. She is an amazing cook and had prepared a feast for us. I don’t remember tasting such good Congolese food. The community time was so warm, fun, and relaxing. I think we had at least three to five languages being spoken through out dinner. Our host/ architect topped everyone with a total of 10 languages. Many linguistic jokes were told through out the evening. Unfortunately, though they tried to explain the jokes to us...we couldn't always understand!! Darn! It is sad to miss a good joke.

Well we are home now and all of us need some serious rest.
Tomorrow is a new day. We are all so full we have decided to go for a run by Lake Kivu first thing in the morn.

Sons of Congo Team Over and Out.

ps we wish you were here kathi and john

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Dear Friends,

What an amazing few days it has been. We finally got our ticket situation squared away and we are flying out tomorrow early. It will take us 2 hours to get to Goma. It is cooler than Kinshasa, and absolutely beautiful (I’ve heard.) A journalist once said about Eastern Congo, “It looks like heaven but feels like hell.” We have much to do, including the Pastor’s Conference which will start on Monday.

On Tuesday night Pastor N’sembe of the L’Arche Church invited around 10 pastors he respects to hear and give feedback to the Sons of Congo Vision. We all left this meeting encouraged, seeing possible strategies, and sensing God was working. It was amazing to hear from these men…their stories, their passion, their efforts to make changes in extremely difficult situations. One pastor told us that he had to build his courage up just to come to this meeting because he use to preach in the East and someone had tried to poison him because of his message

Another pastor, and former street child, shared about the time he was working in a disarmement program for soldiers as young as 8 years old. He shared, “I remember when I was in a remote area praying for a wounded women who had been raped. She told me, “Don’t pray for me. I am dead already! You need to pray for the man who raped me that he will stop doing what he is doing.” He is committed to this effort of reaching soldiers especially.

A Brother who use to be a street kid as well and now pastors a large church said, “Now it is time for a testimony. I am one of the rapist who raped women, who raped girls, before I become a Christian. I did it. In Kinshasa here, we street kids did these things. We’ve also put girls on drugs. We’ve lived that street life. But because we became Christians we are different. We are now preaching the gospel. And I think it is possible. If men like me became Christian then other can become converted.”

Pastor N’Sembe ended by saying, “I want to thank you for everything tonight. This is not just American and Congolese but it is Heavenly. What we talked about tonight was the heart of heaven. Sometimes God finishes before He starts. We are seeing the beginning. He sees this thing is finished. God can do that living outside of time. We hang on to that. So we pray that Lord will enlarge this heart. And He will find other hearts that will be like yours and hearts respond to hearts. When a heart responds to a heart that two hearts will be stronger and can do something. And may God bless your churches. And may He raise up men and women that will accomplish this. That is the goal or objective of the church.”

We spent this morning with the staff at the church. We had great discussions, they gave good input and support as well. We are all praying to see who the Lord will raise up to send to Goma to be part of the National Team.

I apologize if I am very factual in this entry. It is late. We had a late night visit from a parliamentary member and the head of the University in Goma. They also encouraged us, gave us contacts in Goma, and some important advise.

I am listening right now to a song that says, “Go where love goes. Angels are pleading with you, go there.” Well that is what we are doing tomorrow. Signing off for the Sons of Congo Team. Aimee

Monday, May 4, 2009

kathi's commnets to 1st report from Kinshasa

what a tremendous blessing to read your report Aimee and know we are there with you in spirit and in our hearts. You described beautifully the multi images that come at you when in Congo, and how special to meet with those who share our faith and our vision for SOC. God bless, stay safe, rest well, and know the angels are singing praises over the work that you and the team are accomplishing. much love Kathi

Sunday at the Lárche Church.


Dear Friends,

I apologize that I haven’t written yet. Through jet lag and the busy two days we have had
I wasn’t able.

I am sitting here searching for words to describe to you what the last two days have been like in Kinshasa, the Capital of Congo.

Shall I tell you about the images that are filling my mind? A crumbling, crowded, chaotic city? With elegant ladies in rich colored dresses and head pieces walking through the dust and dirt of their home town? Of police and military with their guns at every gate, every building. Every white washed building has lost their white. Kids in rags and vendors weaving through stalled traffic, huge lush trees hanging with fruit I want to try, of beggars at our car doors. Of men and women lugging heavy loads of everything behind them, eggs, bread, and the like balanced on their heads.

And Sunday we entered the Lárche, our church.

It was beautiful. I can’t express again how amazing it is to be with brothers and sisters of God who live in such difficulty who worship him with such thankfulness and praise.
I was in awe as they continue to raise money for their building project. They have the roof and the columns and the floor. It is still totally open air. It has been years for them to raise the money for what they now have. This Sunday they invited members to committ to buy one rebar costing $12 each. Even that is a difficulty in this country. How far they have come remembering thankfully when much of their congregation sat under the shade of the trees outside. God provides for them and they know it.

Pastor Michael gave the sermon. He spoke about Justice and the role of the Church. Of allowing the Justice of the Lord to flow through each one them. He gave examples of Martin Luther who had a dream, of Desmond Tutu, and of Mother Theresa. They envisioned what was not. Then they acted, letting the God’s Justice flow throw them to others. Let your bodies be used as a living sacrifice. Let the Justice of God flow through you. It was clear, powerful, concise. It also caused us to realize that just to empower people to dream of the future that is possible, when they live in such despair, is a first step.

We began sharing this message the next day, today, Monday, as we met with officials. Each a grace of God I feel. Yet we are still processing. We can tell you in person how each of those times went. It was a good day. Fruitful.

I can tell you that today my heart rejoiced as we visited with a Christian brother in the government who is on fire for God. As we drove into his camp, I first felt so discouraged to see the condition of it. Broken out windows, barely a road to speak of, it didn’t seem to have any form of an official camp. He graciously invited us into his office, which was tiny, hot, really nothing available, hardly a budget and his heart is bursting with vision and burden. He is two months new to the position. He said he cries at night with the burden of reaching those that are under him for Christ. He is implementing his hearts vision, faced with unbelievable and complex challenges. We all were moved as we heard his vision mirror our vision. He is a local hero.

We also met with Pastor Nsembe, Pastor of the Lárche Church. What a great time of continuing to talk through the Sons of Congo initiative. How we would partner, processing what various officials had advised us during the day. We will share more on that later. We will be spending more time with him tomorrow and Wednesday. We have another packed day tomorrow. It is raining pretty hard now and I guess if it start thundering I have to turn off the computer. So I am typing fast, trying to beat the thunder. Uho. It just thundered.

We are all so thankful and tired. Btw, it turns out we will leave for Goma on Thursday. They sold us tickets for non existent flights on Wednesday.

Good night! Aimee for the Sons of Congo Team

Please Pray
1. That the Holy Spirit would process for us.
2. That our time with the L’arche Church would be rich.
3. That those with our same heart and passion would come to us.
4. That our team would be unified, of one heart and mind.