Week Six in Goma

As we start another week, it seems to be filled with uncertainty.  There have been warnings coming out, both published and by word of mouth, that today and tomorrow will be "ville mort", French for dead city.  There are protests planned for the city directed toward the UN based here in the city, the M23 rebels on the outskirts of town, and just general unrest.  Schools, businesses, and most everything else has been directed to close, for at least Monday, possibly Tuesday as well.  Traffic has noticeably decreased outside our compound.  We're staying at the guesthouse today, behind locked gates, and working on more administrative tasks.  We're noticing that the grounds keepers and house keepers are absent here today as well. When these protests took place last in July of this year, 10 people were killed in the uprising. We are trusting God to have His hand in the situation, and for our protection as well.

 Last week was a slim crew at the Imprimerie with 2 men missing (1 ill from suspected poisoning, 1 taking care of family business due to a murder in his family - sad that such is life in Eastern Congo!)  Despite being down in numbers, Judd & the remaining 2 men were able to complete an order for 50 copies of the large doctrine book we brought with us, Mafundisho Makubwa ya Biblia yenye Maana.  Those took up a good portion of the week, but they were also able to make 30 copies of the small booklet about What Baptists Believe.  These 2 books are totally different in size and binding, so it was a good exercise in training the 2 workers how to put them together. 

 This week, we don't know when we'll actually be able to work together in the print shop again.  To this point, the New Testaments in the local languages are not yet ready to begin printing.  Perhaps there will be one local language ready to go when work resumes.  After our first week here in Goma, we were able to print 15 copies of the NT in the Kihavu language, but later learned that the scripture itself wasn't yet ready for printing.  It's good to know that God's  Word will not return to him void.  Trying to maintain excellence in the quality of the printed word is a very key component here.

This past Sunday we were able to join the Clemmers, Dr. Bill and Ann (American Baptist missionaires) at HEALAfrica for the Sunday service in their chapel.  It was a treat for Sandi to be able to listen to a sermon that was preached in English by the African pastor and then translated into Swahili. HEAL Africa was born (1994) out of a vision to upgrade rural health care by retraining medical practitioners in Congo.  Over this 12 year period, the vision has matured.  Congolese orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jo Lusi, the co-founder, and his wife, Lynn Lusi, recognized that a far more radical approach was required.  To significantly impact health long-term, disease must be addressed at its roots; the community must be involved and engaged, and cultural values, attitudes and practices examined.

Sunday afternoon we were able to visit in the home of Dr. Pascal Wangahemuka with his family and his brother Kambale and family.  We first met Pascal about 10 years ago when we came to the area, city of Beni, to install a duplicating machine (the same one we brought repair parts for this trip).  Pascal's father, Paluku, and his ministry, Formation of Disciples, are one of the partners Chapa Serve has been working with for several years.  Thousands of tracts have been printed and distributed from their location.  Our driver during our time there in 2012 was Pascal, so it was wonderful to reconnect with him and meet his family, wife and 5 beautiful children. They treated us with a very nice meal of grilled fish, cooked bananas, fries, goat meat and a variety of delicious fruit. 

God continues to guide our steps here.  We ask for your continued prayers that we would be faithful to His leading.  Pray for peace to return/remain in the city, and for our safety.

WEEK 4 COMPLETED

 

We've been gone from home now for a little over 4 weeks.  The time of organization and setup has taken longer than anticipated and, at times, has been discouraging.  Today seemed to be a kind of breakthrough in that Judd and 2 assistants were able to finish 15 copies of one large doctrine book (334 pg), and 12 copies of a small booklet.  There is an order for 50 copies of the doctrine book which should be completed tomorrow.  At this point, there is still not usable text of the different New Testaments to begin printing, hopefully that will be available soon.

It was a long weekend, starting with the car accident on Thursday morning.  All the busywork that entailed for the drivers involved made the work day get cancelled.  We also, as white faces, needed to get out of the vehicle and get safely back into our guesthouse complex so as not to compound the problem.  The Aussie group just here was encouraged to not travel very far outside the city of Goma proper due to the fact that a "white face was worth $10,000", something to keep in mind as you drive down the streets.

Anatole and his dear wife.

Saturday evening we were invited to the home of Pastor Anatole for dinner.  The drive to get to their home was through some different parts of the city than we had visited before.  The final turn took us down a very narrow alleyway that ended in front of a small chapel building, truly the end of the line.  If we visit there again, we'll be sure to take more photos.  The pastor and his wife have 10 children and 37 grandkids, several of whom were visiting that night.  There was such a spread before us on the coffee table, enough to feed LOTS of people.  What struck me most about the evening was the profound love and respect from the multi generations, and to see all their interactions really warmed my soul. (Shout out to our dear grandkids - we love you all and miss you greatly!)

Judd attended the CEBCE (Baptist) main Goma church on Sunday and found it quite orderly.  It was over in about 2.5 hours as compared to 3, there was a wonderful harmonizing worship team, the choirs were good, and the speakers not maxed out.  Maybe I'll go with him next time.

Monday was a frustrating day at the shop.  Originally we were told that the city had warned of power outages for the day, so work was called off for the day.  Judd sent reminder emails to the workers that we would be able to print due to the battery backup system provided with the printers; we just wouldn't be able to do any bindery work.  Well, when 3 of the workers did show up, the power was on and we were able to get some books printed (those that Judd & the crew of 2 bound today).  He was very pleased with the job they did.  However, we did learn that one of the new printers had been "borrowed" for the weekend and had not yet been returned to the shop.  In addition, the wi-fi router had also been "borrowed" for the weekend and not returned, something crippling for the shop to try to work around being without it.  So much of the books, covers, and manuscripts are stored electronically.

Well, we'll end this on a positive note.  Thank you for your support.  We ask for your continued prayers as we work for His honor here in Goma.  Satan is at work here and doesn't want to see this system running successfully.

Back to Work ...... with a twist!

We had some work for Sandi to do at the shop, making edits to some of the Chapa Serve commentaries to make them a more proper Swahili.  She was working with John to make these changes and almost finished the commentary on Ruth during the first day she worked on it.  We were hoping to get that completed so we could move on to another book, but the Ruth one could be readied for print.  Right now the New Testaments we hoped to be printing are not yet ready for production.

The Imprimerie was able to take in a project from a local source, helping them to learn how to work the pricing, etc. when taking in new jobs.  It was only 2 copies of a large 688 page book, but that's the beauty of a print on demand system.  The book turned out very nicely.  Probably the only place in Goma that this quality of book can be produced so quickly, and so few copies.

Judd was able to find more files for other publications that we were planning to bring to the print center and begin working on them.  However, the plans for our day took a decidedly different turn.  As our driver was pulling out of the compound this morning, traffic was stopped and he proceeded to make a left turn.  However, a "moto" driver chose that moment to pull out from the stopped traffic and speed around it to get ahead.  Unfortunately, he didn't see our vehicle until he was right on top of us.  He plowed into the door of the car and caused quite a stir.  Boy oh boy, everybody gathered around to check things out, give their input, and just hang around.  It caused quite a traffic jam.  We were not hurt at all.  The mirror on the passenger side is broken out, and the passenger door isn't opening due to the impact.  There was some broken glass that came into the car from the impact, but thankfully that did not cause us any injuries. Having two "muzungus" in the car (white people) probably raised the draw for all the gawkers.

So, we're back at the guesthouse today rather than going into the office.  A forced day of rest, I guess.  .

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  Psalms 37:23

 

Our Weekend

We're going to share a bit more personally this time. On Thursday, Judd was given a special gift from one of the pastors we've supported years ago. When he called me over to see what he'd brought home, the bag was moving! Inside was a live chicken, as well as a bunch of potatoes. We were grateful for the gift, but gave it over to the manager here at the guesthouse. Yikes! 

 Since we arrived at the Maji Matulivu guesthouse last week (an answer to prayer!), there has been a group of about 15 Australian doctors and medical workers here on short term projects. On Friday night, half of the Australians were due to depart the next day. In honor of their service, the staff here put on quite the banquet complete with roasted goat, fish kebobs, and many other great dishes. Since meals are included in our room & board price, we were invited to join in the festivities. It was a wonderful evening with the buffet served lakeside. 

Children's Choir

 Sunday morning we went to church again at the church adjoining the compound where the press is set up. The church has about 5 different choirs who all took turns singing special numbers again & again. The music wound up after about 2 hrs. They have many microphones and huge speakers at the front of the church, one of them set up right by where the special guests sit (US :). The problem comes in that the volume of each of these speakers is maxed out, and the choir members are singing at the tops of their voices. It's really a killer on the ears! After the music, the pastor began his sermon which lasted for another hour. Judd had the privilege of closing the serve in a Swahil prayer (but I didn't understand a word).  Once the service was over, there was a quick switcheroo to get ready for a wedding in the sanctuary. We were able to make our escape and head back to our room. 

 The grounds of the guesthouse we're staying at are extremely picturesque so many wedding parties come here for photos on the grounds. On Saturday there were 15 groups here for photo shoots. We usually stay in our rooms, but it makes for some rather loud afternoons. 

 It's the rainy season here. Right now as we write this we're watching a storm front make it's way toward us from across the lake. The winds have picked up and it's getting cool outside. Hopefully the rains hold up for a time allowing us to make our way to the dining room for dinner. It's been nice visiting with you tonight. Hope this finds you and yours well and safe.

End of the Week

Prepping to cut.

KiHavu New Testament complete.

Hekima Church compound where the shop is.

This week brought it's own set of challenges.  The printers are up and running, and the guys have learned how to laminate a book cover, bind the inside pages to the cover, and run the cutter to trim off the edges to make the books look good.  Mind you, this can be done only so long as the electricity is running.  The print system comes with battery backup for the printers, but the bindery equipment is reliant on the local power.  It's been a very rainy week with lots of power outages.  It was exciting to finally see copies of the New Testament coming off the presses.  The crew was very excited to see these and to have had a part.  The Bishop, too, was very excited to see the finished product.  Judd has also been introducing some of the Chapa Serve books he brought with him electronically for the crew to practice their skills.  The local pastors are thrilled about this and anxious to have some of these titles available.

Answers to Prayer

 

Yesterday  (9/6) it was good to see the first book from off the new binders in Goma.  The Bishop and other pastors were excited to see Habari Njema ya Yoane (Good News from the book of John).  Today the electricity was off for most of the day, so training was printing sample covers and sample pages for bindery prep (off battery power).  Hopefully electricity will be up & running tomorrow so we can continue training and get the bible production up & running.

We're also praising the Lord for answering out prayer about housing arrangements for September 11-30.  We have been able to move in earlier to our Oct-Nov arrangements due to availability.  What a special retreat place this is, along the shore of Lake Kivu in the city of Goma.  We're in a 3 bedroom apartment where we will need to share accommodations periodically in the other 2 bedrooms.  The kitchen and living room are shared spaces and plenty big enough.  Right now as I type this from our balcony, an armed guard is doing his rounds patrolling the grounds.   There is also currently a large group of medical personnel from Australia sharing the compound with us.  (Dinner for 21, anybody?) Their group size was smaller than anticipated, so we were able to help fill the vacancy.  Our evening meals together have been serving about 20 people.

Another answer to prayer happened last week.  We brought a suitcase of parts to be used to get the machine we brought out 10 years ago back and running.  It was heavy and caused some raised eyebrows at the security checkpoints, but made it through 3 border entries without problem.  While we were staying at the Catholic rooming house, Judd made contact with a priest who was staying at the same facility as we were.  After chatting with him, Judd learned that he would be returning to the area where these parts needed to go.  He agreed to carry the suitcase with him where it can be retrieved by our contact in the city of Beni.  God is so good.  We're hoping these replacement parts will enable them to continue the work of producing the discipleship materials and tracts for pastors in that area.  

We will try to keep this site updated the best we can.  Internet service has been sporadic, at best (today is a good day!)

The End of our First Week in Congo

Saturday night here, the end of our first week in Congo.  We arrived in Congo on Wednesday after a 4 hour drive through beautiful Rwanda.  The border crossing was all sorts of chaos, but we were able to make it through with our bags without too much hassle.  The van that brought us to the border  was not able to actually cross the border, so we had to hire some porters to carry our bags from the parking lot to the final checkpoint.  By the time we finally arrived at our arranged lodging, it was good to be able to rest and get ready for the installation of Imprimerie Siloam.  There are 4 young men who were there to be trained; they did a good job in getting the shelving all set up, the big bindery equipment set up, and all 11 printers set up and running.  The progress was quite good.  Today (Saturday) we spent running errands around the city.  We visited some missionaries we knew at the Maji Matulivu guest house and were very thankful that they were able to help us get our lodging situation worked out for those days we did not have lodging arranged.  Praise God for this answer to prayer  The lakeside place we have been staying was very peaceful except for today.  It is extremely scenic, so bridal parties (and all their guests) come here for their wedding photos.  We enjoyed the afternoon watching 4 large wedding parties in all their finery pose for many, many photos.  We were able to sit on the deck of the building here we are staying and watch the big crowds taking their turns at all the scenic spots.  Tomorrow is Sunday - we will attend Sunday service at the church compound where the print shop is located.  So many unknowns but these things I know for sure.....the service will be long, and we will be asked to sit in a seat of honor on the front platform (not my favorite place!).  We will let you go for tonight.  Hopefully the days ahead will find us at a place with more reliable wi-fi connections.  Thanks so much for your prayers.  We love you all.