Jay and I feel the amazing blessing of being able to do just
that. We are incredibly privileged to
know that what we do counts both for today and for eternity.
As we come to the end of a year of mostly full-time language and
culture study, we find that we still have a way to go to be able to
extemporaneously teach in Lingala as we would like. But we’re not discouraged by that – on the
contrary, we’re committed to reaching that goal little by little, word by word,
and story by story. We are ready, though, to launch into the joy of teaching
and training people to share their faith, to advance His kingdom – primarily
through sharing His story in oral form.
We stand amazed as God is already opening so many doors that we
are willing and excited to walk through.
I have had the opportunity to teach twice now about the how and why –
the huge importance of children’s ministry in Africa. Did you know that:
- By 2050, 1 in every 3 births and almost 1 in
every 3 children under 18 will be African.
- Between 2010 and 2025, the child population of
sub-Saharan Africa will rise by 130 million.
- From around 2030, sub-Saharan Africa will be
the single region with the greatest number of children under 18.
So
my question to the Congolese church is this:
What are you going to do to ensure that Africa’s children can hear and
understand the best news ever?
Teaching people how to share their faith through stories
from God’s Word is another of our joys.
We have conducted 3-day training conferences about how to do that –
helping people to learn to tell a simple story from His Word about a life
radically changed, to learn to tell their own story and how God has changed
their lives, and how to give an overview of God’s story. People of all ages are soaking this training
up and asking for more.
And
yet another joy, teaching people “the heart of the Father” – praying for His
kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven, remembering that if we follow Him,
He makes us fishers of men, discussing together about following and fishing and
being obedient soil from Matthew 13 that produces fruit. Fruit that lasts. Fruit that expands His kingdom. Fruit that grows His church.
So what comes next and how can you pray?
Well, we already have more “telling His story” trainings on
the books. In March both here in
Kinshasa and in the interior of the country, in April in and around Kinshasa,
and in May and August deep in the heart of this beautiful country. Pray now for the hearts of those who will
attend these trainings to be ready and willing and for their minds to be sharp.
This week we met with the leaders of 4 Baptist associations
representing 40 churches here in Kin to cast vision for planting new
churches. Jay shared “the heart of the
Father” and those leaders were challenged by one of their own colleagues to
immediately begin the preliminary steps for these trainings which we call “Four
Fields.” Pray for these pastors and
associational leaders to continue to feel the passion for the Kingdom advance
that they felt when Jay spoke with them.
Pray for the right timing of these trainings as our calendar is quickly
filling up.
Please pray for the many church leaders who have expressed
an interest in further training for the children’s leaders in their churches
and that they will see children not as the church of the future, but the church
of today.
Oh, praying friends, there is so much more that I’ll share
on another day! Thank you, thank you for
your presence with us on this journey.
We daily feel the effects of your fervent prayers and even your
prayerful thoughts as we live the abundant life here in DRC. Please let us know how we can pray for you as
well.
