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.