You know, that reminds me of a story...

Situational Storying

One of the things that Jay and I love most about the privilege of being IMB missionaries is the joy that it is to train believers how to use Bible stories in the situations that arise in their everyday lives.  Last week we were asked to come to a local pastoral training center and teach how to do just that.  With 9 pastors present, what joy we experienced together as we mastered stories from the life of Jesus as well as parables that He told.  We acted them out, told them to each other, and with the help of five simple leading questions, discussed their truths in depth.  Each day the group had the homework of sharing the stories that we had learned with at least one person.

My favorite testimony of the week was one pastor who had a young man in his neighborhood who had been avoiding him. One day last week when the pastor saw him, he said to the young man, “You always seem to shun me when I try to preach to you.  Do you mind today if I just tell you a simple story?”  The young man was surprised and said, “Sure.”  The pastor shared the parable of the treasure in the field from Matthew 13, and then asked this question: “What do you like about this story?” 

And then he listened…

No “preaching,” just meaningful exchange about the truths in God’s Word.

The Mundane Part of Our Job

You’ve been praying for our language study, and we gratefully feel the effects of those prayers daily.  We recently attended a conference where we were encouraged to begin thinking about our language study in a new way.  Rather than just learning a language, we are entering a domain of God’s redemptive activity.  Wow!  What a switch from just wanting to get this part over with so we can move onto what’s more important.  He’s already here behind this wall of Lingala noise.  He already speaks and understands Lingala.  And He is already at work.  What better way to find out exactly where, than by understanding the noise that’s around us.

One of the new approaches that we learned in our training included some listening activities.  We’ve found them to be very helpful as we s-t-r-e-t-c-h the number of words in a row that we can comprehend.  It’s also a fun activity that makes us laugh a lot with our language helper, Ruffin.

To our Southern Baptist friends, we daily thank God for His provision for us through your generosity.  As we enter this Lottie Moon season, we are immensely grateful for your care for us through your giving and support.

Mistakes first, wisdom after!

When you’re discovering the culture of people through their language, learning proverbs is an important tool to help you know what people value.  Consider these proverbs that we often use in English and just what they would teach someone about American culture.  “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”  “Don’t get the cart before the horse.” “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”  “Beggars can’t be choosers.” “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

This week we’ve learned some Lingala proverbs in our language study and have been surprised by some of the cultural truths we’ve learned.  Here are a couple of our favorites that we’ll readily adopt into our communication.

This first one I’ll definitely use when I don’t want to multi-task:

Mbwa azali na makolo minei kasi a landadka nzela se moko.

A dog has 4 paws, but he follows only one road.

(Concentrate on one thing at a time.)

And even though our beloved children are all out the house, we may someday still find an opportunity to remind them of this:

Matoyi elekaka motu te.

The ears are never higher than the head.

(Reminds children of their place.)

How about this one which encourages a good work ethic:

Mbongo eza na langi te

Money has no color.

(There is no shameful work.)

The next one, though, gives a troubling glimpse of society, and we’ll definitely want to have Biblical stories and proverbs ready to share when we hear someone say this:

Ebembe ya soso matange te.

The corpse of a chicken has no funeral.

(An unimportant person should not expect much from others. 

Often said of street children and orphans.)

As we continue to learn Lingala and begin to train church leaders about how to use Bible stories to teach Biblical truths, we sincerely appreciate your faithful prayers.

That all Congolese may know and worship Him,

Kathy

House on the Rock

Today I wisely worked on building my house on the rock.  You know the house I’m talking about.  The one which stands up against the pounding wind and rain.  The one with the rock solid foundation of

OBEDIENCE.

That one.

Weeks ago you all began praying for me as I was learning in Lingala Matthew 13:44, the parable of the hidden treasure, to share with my friends on the street in front of our apartment.  I’ve had it fairly well down pat for at least a couple of weeks.  But have I shared it?

 

No. Not until today.  Oh, I’ve had all kinds of good excuses for building on sand.

I couldn’t do it perfectly (ever my problem with language learning).  I couldn’t figure out how to introduce it well in Lingala; oh, and then what in the world would I say when I finished telling it?  I had shared it with a pastor friend and he told me to make a few changes to make it more understandable.  Changes??!!  Does he have any idea how much time it takes me to learn this stuff?! The people on our street are always so busy.  I don’t want to take too much of their precious time.  Sometimes I’m just downright scared to go out there; not everyone is super welcoming here.  And, of course, there are those crochet videos that I dearly love to watch.  My list goes on and on…

And then on Sunday I went to church here in Kin and listened to this really handsome guy who just happens to live in the same house with me.  He told the story from Matthew 7 of two men building houses:  a wise one building on the rock of obedience and a foolish one building on the sands of inactive listening.

Both of them heard the words of God.  Maybe they themselves read them in the Bible; maybe they heard them at church.

Both of them faced the same fierce storm. Don’t you wish that the faithful guy didn’t have any storms?

But isn’t it interesting that simply reading or hearing the words of God didn’t cause these guys to build on a rock foundation?  The man who built wisely, whose house withstood the raging storm, was the one who put into practice what he had read or heard.

 

Up until today, sharing the parable of the hidden treasure was one area of my life where I was, quite honestly, just plain disobedient.  The Spirit has been prompting for weeks.  You’ve been praying for weeks.  I’ve been working hard at learning for weeks.  But foolish anxiety and foolish fear and foolish laziness just kept me building right on top of that sand.

But today I got out there and shared it.  With 4 different groups of people.  I introduced it, well, just ok, I guess.  “May I share a parable of Jesus with you?”  EVERYONE said yes!  I finished by saying, “Did you understand?”  They all said yes.  At this point, I can’t do much more than that.  But the day is coming when I’ll be able to share so much more from my heart.

So dear friends, thank you for praying.  Because today, my house is so much more stable than yesterday.

And today, several people here in Kin had spoken into their lives some of that

Active, Sharp, Piercing Word,

that incredible Light for our Path and Lamp for our Feet

that Life-Giving Bread.

If, like me, you need to put some of His Word into practice so you can wisely add to your house on the rock, know that I’ll be praying for you.  

The apostle Paul was right!

Our passport and visa saga lasted nearly 3 months and kept us up a few nights.  Anxiety and worry do that.  I know that we are to “not be anxious about anything, but by prayer make our requests known to God” (Phil 4:6-7).  I also know from experience that it is easier to apply that Bible verse when things fall into place in a timely manner.  Peace and the faith that precedes it are elusive when your passports are tied up and only a few days remain before you expect to travel.

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to get an answer to the delays in our visa application, I broke down and asked for help.  Some we asked to pray, others to make phone calls to immigration on our behalf.  After a week with no progress, a friend offered to go with me to the immigration office (DGM).  He and his wife met me in front of the building Wednesday at 10:30 and began making phone calls to anyone who might know anyone in DGM. My hope was to get in the building and plunk myself down in a chair until I had my visas in hand.  The problem is that you can’t enter the building unless someone inside comes to get you at the door.  While we were trying to get in touch with someone inside the building to gain access, who should walk up but the man handling our file!  He was headed across town to another DGM office to get our passports!  WooHoo!  He took us to the secretary’s office to wait until he got back.  It took a while, but I left the building at 3:30 with my passports and visas!  We can now come and go without problems!

In addition to the call to faith and peace instead of worry, the Apostle Paul also stated that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Rom 8:28).  Paul was right.  What caused us such stress and anxiety has proven in the end to have a silver lining, a blessing.  Kathy and I found ourselves completely dependent on new friends and church leaders to get our passports.  Many, like the couple mentioned above, volunteered their help and gladly adjusted their schedules, taking our concern upon themselves.  It meant a lot that these partners rallied around us, and our attachment to them is stronger because of this experience. 

In the end our anxiety was unnecessary.  We’ll make it back to the US in time for James and Maggie’s wedding.  All things work together for good.

Jay

Daddy's simple discipline

{Kathy's daddy with her son, James}

I remember well a short and to-the-point conversation that I had with my daddy one day. I was walking out the door to return to Monroe to start my next semester of college.  I had just completed my worst semester ever -- before or since.  I’d made a dreaded D in one of my classes and thought I had hidden my grades when they came to the little post office in Kilbourne, Louisiana.  But somehow he knew; probably overheard me talking to Momma about it.

“Kathy.” 

Oops, gotta scoot back in that screen door.  “Yes sir.”

 

“You’re not over there to play.” 

“Yes sir.” 

And out the door I went with that simple word of discipline ringing in my ears that day and many, many other days since then. 

{parable of the hidden treasure}

Language learning is hard work and mentally tiring.  Truman Smith taught me to conjugate verbs at Kilbourne High School, and I‘ve now conjugated them in 5 languages.  Some days I just don’t want to do it.  Some days I just want to crochet or sew or just sit and talk to Jay about our wonderful kids and plan our next vacation.  And then the Holy Spirit speaks that simple word of discipline to remind me that He didn’t call me here to live in DRC; He called me here to witness in DRC.  Sometimes He uses close to my daddy’s very same words.  “Kathy, you’re not over here to play.” 

Will you please pray right now for Jay and me to be diligent in Lingala study?

{Kikwit training team}

{pastors & wives who attended the training}

The month of May was full and exciting and, in some ways, worrisome.  The church planting training that you prayed for went so well.  More than 150 people attended from 33 different churches.  (We did that training in French, by the way.)  We have just recently completed follow-up calls to that training and have heard of one new church start, new disciple cell groups being started, 35 new people being saved in one church, 2 people in another church.  It’s a great privilege to be a part of God’s plan for the advance of His kingdom here in DRC.  You, too, are a part of that same plan as you pray for our ministry here.  There’s no way to express our gratitude for your prayerful support.  We look forward to the day when our Lingala has reached the “advanced low” level and we can focus on full-time ministry.

Will you please stop now and thank God that we see His kingdom coming in the city of Kikwit, DRC as His children there are obedient to follow Jesus and be fishers of men?

The worrisome part of the month has been that our passports have been tied up for weeks in the immigration office here as we await our exit visa.  Jay is there today with hopes of recovering our passports.  We need this exit visa in order to leave for the US on Monday for our son James’ wedding.

Will you please pray now for favor in the eyes of the immigration officials?

**UPDATE: Jay has the passports and visas IN HAND!  Praise the Lord!**

We are ever thankful for your presence with us on this journey. 

Kathy

Your Kingdom come

Your kingdom come, your will be done in Congo as it is in heaven.

 

This is our prayer as we prepare for our first leadership training next week in Kikwit, a city which is about 250 miles from Kinshasa.  As our friends and family awaken in the U. S. this morning, Jay and I are traveling there with part of a newly formed team to train church leaders in church planting strategies.  We are so happy to partner with two visionary Congolese pastors, Abraham and Elnathan.  On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, April 26-28, the four of us will be leading a training of about 150 church leaders to consider some Biblical strategies that will implement highly accountable discipleship and will accelerate church planting in their region.  Remember an earlier post when I talked about following and fishing?  Join us in praying for these church leaders to recommit themselves to do just that – follow and fish and teach others to follow and fish.

How can you pray?

• For team unity
• For clarity of communication in French and translation to Kikongo
• For God-inspired, efficient use of time in a packed schedule of teaching
• For God-prepared brothers and sisters who will take this training and put it into practice for the advance of His Kingdom here in DRC and beyond
• For our team to faithfully follow and fish and for those we train to faithfully follow and fish.

{Abraham's family}

{Kathy, Elnathan & Barbara}

Restaurant in a box

I started this morning with a little walk and as often happens, my outings often bring a smile to my face.  People generally don’t like their photo taken here in our city, so I’ll try to paint you a word picture of my two-block journey to the grocery store. 

Right outside our apartment building gate sits a woman who has what I call “a restaurant in a cardboard box.” In her box are live coals in a small round wire grill, several long, thin loaves of French bread, a large plastic container of cheap margarine, a plastic box which she turns upside down for a stool, and another plastic container with coarse salt.  Neatly placed on top of it all is a stack of about three cartons with no tops holding 30 eggs each.  She also has some onions and a large knife.

 

As with most African women, she doesn’t need a cutting board or a countertop to cut her onions because she simply uses her hand.  She sets up every morning except Sunday at about 6:30 and sells omelets on French bread slathered with something like butter flavored Crisco.  Between customers, she sprinkles a very small amount of water on her coals, but when a hungry student walks up, she blows on them, and they quickly catch flame again.  She never removes the flaming grill from the box.  By 10:00 all of her supplies are gone, and she packs her restaurant back in the its cardboard walls, balances it on her head, and heads home.

Rounding the corner, I walk in front of our local “book mall.”  At least 6 different people display their used books on the sidewalk in front of their plastic chairs.  Their small inventory includes school chemistry books and self-help books and Christian themed books.  One of my new friends is a book seller here; I hope to begin sharing stories with her from God’s Book as soon as my language skills are adequate.  Right now, I’m working on being able to tell the parable of the hidden treasure.

One of the book sellers has the same uniform every day for work – a very faded LSU FOOTBALL t-shirt.  I think it has been his work uniform for a very long time because his purple and gold are gray and dull yellow.  I’m sure he doesn’t realize that he’s supposed to “Love purple and live gold.”

After walking past several small hardware stores, I round another corner onto a very busy street.   I step gingerly to avoid the many potholes, overflowing after last night’s rain, and I walk strategically because the cars that fly by spray muddy water from those same wretched potholes.

Arriving at the grocery store two more blocks down, I quickly make my purchases and fill my peacock shopping bag given to me by my precious friends, the Shafto Mission Group at Scotts Hill Baptist Church.

Now to retrace my steps back home…

Right outside our apartment gate an avocado seller has arrived.  The avocados here are to die for, so I quickly run upstairs and come back down with the necessary Congolese francs to get two huge, yummy, perfectly ripe ones.  They’ll go great with our taco salad at lunch.

Life here in Kinshasa is filled with such outings.  The streets are teeming with people who are living life, trying to make a buck to provide for their families.  Will you please stop right now and pray that Jay and I will see each and every person through the loving eyes of the One who created him, with the heart of the One who lovingly knit her in her mother’s womb?  And that we’ll never ever cease to be burdened for their need to know His incredible, self-sacrificing love for them? 

Kathy