Do we go, or do we stay?

 It's been exciting to see progress made on the translation of the Sunday School materials project. We were able to send 100 copies of Book 1 to Bukavu; we'll be excited to see how they're received.  We have 6 of the 9 student books currently translated.  We'll be needing to check them over for corrections.  Our goal is to have these completed before we leave as there are so many who have requested Sunday School materials.

While I was away in Bukavu, a pastors conference was held at the church compound where the print shop is housed.  The men at the shop had on display the materials they had published at this point.  What a HUGE success - every copy they had available sold out!  The following week we just started again to produce more copies of the much loved books. 

As we start this new week, we are seeking the Lord's direction as to whether we need to move up our departure plans.  The safety situation on the ground has once again been laden with stories of the advancement of the M23 rebels toward the city of Goma.  As of today, they have not moved closer to the city, but there are definitely more reports of injuries coming in to the city.  A recent Reuters article speaks about the Rwandan ambassador to Congo being given 48 hrs to leave the country.  What happens after those 48 hours?  Will the Congo/Rwanda border be closed, effectively blocking our prearranged exit from the country.  Do we need to leave before that happens?

Please be praying for us that God would give clear direction on how we should proceed.  It is at the end of the month here at our place of lodging, the guys running the Imprimerie are off to a great start and we feel they will be able to continue on once we leave.  It's hard to know how to proceed. The next few days should be quite telling.

TRIP TO BUKAVU

 This past weekend, Judd had an opportunity to make a trip to Bukavu. What a delightful trip it was to return to where I grew up in the "60's". The last time I made the trip was in 2008 and it was really the initial Chapa Serve trip that was taken with our ministry. I took a batch of the first books that Chapa Serve had initially.  The purpose of the original trip was a survey for knowing how to further the Chapa Serve ministry.

My trip was made on a nice, fast boat, 3.5 hrs from Goma to Bukavu.  I was met by dear pastor Lwabimba, an old friend, who graciously hosted me in his guesthouse.  Saturday was spent traveling out of town to where his pastoral ministry started.  We also visited a school for primary and secondary students where he's overseeing the ministry to children, most of whom cannot afford the normal school fees. It was a pleasure to show the staff our recently printed books which would soon be available.  We will be sending 100 copies of the first Sunday School book, and several copies of storybooks for the family.  These will certainly be a welcome resource for them.

 

 One of the other purposes of my trip was to pick up some copies of the waterproof Congo Swahili New Testament, a project Chapa Serve has been involved with for the past two years.  What a milestone achievement to see the books finally at their distribution center.  I brought back some copies we can sell here from our location in Goma.

I was also able to visit the church I helped my father finish building after my high school graduation.  The pastor there, new to me, was also excited to see the books we were again able to print in the region.  Most of these books were the same titles we were printing at the Echo du Kivu Press there in Bukavu when Sandi and I and our boys were there in the late 1980's.

Sandi was brave to stay back here in Goma while I was gone.  It is tough when things here in Congo are so unsettling. Doesn't help when the power goes out and one is left in the dark. So glad that we have solar battery packs that Randy from Publish4All sent out with us to do some testing; they've come in handy quite a few times! I was proud of her and it was good to get back. It is good to have local cell phones that kept us in touch. The WIFI here has been challenging but one just has to be patient and learn to reboot the router a bit more often.

It's been a challenge to put together a regular work week here, that's just not the Congolese style!  It's always a day by day thing, working around potential rioting in the streets, family emergencies (shootings, wakes, etc), illness, weddings, and so many other things added to the mix.  You just cannot plan in advance, one has to be flexible daily.  I remember attending an Urbana conference years ago and hearing a Congo missionary tell us that there are five things that are prerequisites for ministering in Congo:  Patience, Patience, Patience, Patience, and Patience.   Lord, give us patience every day.

Thanks for your continued prayers.  Looking forward to what the week ahead holds.

A Different Kind of Week

 Last week was unlike any other we've encountered here in Goma.  Let me explain.

The lead man for the Impremerie Siloan, Damien, got married last week on Friday.  After we went to the shop on Monday, we learned that the rest of the week, prior to Friday's wedding, would be consumed with various wedding celebrations so the shop would be closed.  So, we stayed home together for the remainder of the week.  We were able to get some work done while staying home, as well as more of editing on the commentaries.  It was pretty rough sitting at the table looking out over the lake in our "home office."

Pretty "tough view" at the office, Huh!

The wedding itself was scheduled to take place at 10 am, and we were told that the driver would arrive to pick us up at 9:30 am to attend the wedding.  Apparently someone didn't get the message, because it was 11:30 am before they came to pick us up for the wedding.  Once we arrived (and the wedding was underway), we were marched up to the very front of the church and seated on the main platform.  (The bride and groom were seated in front of the pulpit.)  What was really a very pretty wedding ceremony continued on for another 2.5 hrs.  After the ceremony, the crowd from the packed church made their way to a beautiful lakeside garden spot for wedding pictures.   This same picturesque spot is the place where we're "living" while we're here - there are several wedding photo groups here almost every day.

The wedding reception was next on the agenda (everything listed with a start time was running at least 1 hour late).  We were driven to a venue in the downtown Goma area.  Fortunately we were met at the car when we arrived and ushered to the front of the buffet line.  It took quite some time for all of the guests to make it into the line outside the facility (we have learned this trip that most Africans here are notoriously BAD at waiting in line), past the security at the gate, through the buffet line, and finally into the banquet room.  The place was HUGE.  I'm sure there were probably 500+ wedding guests.  The wedding program finally started with some dancing girls, only for the power to go out at the facility.  About this time we were approached and asked if we were ready to be brought home (Yes, please!)  Anyway, it was a totally exhausting day.  I'm sure the wedding couple must have been wiped out after a full week of celebrating.

Finally this week we're back to work at the print shop (albeit short one groom).  Last week the guys were able to use a new piece of bindery equipment, the tall electric stapling machine.  They were able to use it quite a lot today putting together 25 copies of a book, The Way to Study the Bible.  Today they learned a different piece of equipment, a plastic spiral binding machine.  They quickly learned how important it is to slow down and take their time to punch clean holes in the pages and covers, holes that will eventually line up so spiral coils can be added.  It took a few times of trial and error to make sure all the copies were clean cut and ready to bind.

Safely Through Another Week

The week started out rather ominously with warnings for everyone to stay at home on Monday & Tuesday due to scheduled protests.  In some ways this dealt with the UN presence in the area, as well as the M23 rebels.  Schools, stores, and businesses were closed, and traffic was at a minimum.  Fortunately we didn't see or hear any uprisings, but some reports did show unrest in parts of the city of Goma.  A favorite tactic is for protesters to throw big rocks in the road to disrupt traffic, then start the unrest.  We've thankful for the protection of God here at the guesthouse, as well as the print shop.

 

   When Judd finally returned to the print shop on Wednesday, it was a day of  reorganizing and getting ready for a busy week.  Thursday several visitors from other ministries in Goma visited the print shop and saw for themselves the enormous impact of the printed word that was now available to them.  The men were able to get several sample copies available for the guests to see the quality of the work produced at Imprimerie Siloam.  They also worked on printing 30 copies of the Kikanu New Testament as well as covers, and they were left to dry overnight to be bound on Friday, a half day of work.  It turned out to be a very productive week of work after all.  Sandi was able to join us there for a couple of days to work on some edits, this time for a commentary on Esther.

    Another highlight of the week, the Swahili waterproof Bible (New Testament) project that Chapa Serve has been working with for the past two years finally reached it's final destination here in Bukavu, DR Congo.  What an exciting day that was for all involved!  Hopefully we'll be able to help with distribution of those New Testaments while we're here in the Goma area.

Pastor Kitoto with the recent delivered Waterproof New Testaments.

There are 15 local language translations of the New Testament that will eventually be available for print at the Imprimerie Siloam, but most are not yet ready for printing.  In the meantime, we are happy to offer some books from our Chapa Serve library (paperbacks, booklets & many tracts) that the workers can familiarize themselves with the printing and binding processes, as well as get these titles into the hands of the people.  

    One new item we've been working on is a package of Sunday School curriculum. These are materials that Judd's sister and brother-in law made available to us from their ministry in SW Uganda.  We had the first  workbook translated from English into Swahili while we were still in the States.  Now that we're here in Congo, we're investigating the job of getting the other 8 children's workbooks, and 3 teacher's guides translated into Swahili.  At this time we're not quite sure of the cost to get all of these books translated, but in case some of you are interested in helping with this project, please let us know.

We wanted to take a few minutes to thank you all for your prayers and support for our time here.  God continues to direct our steps.  We're reminded so vividly that this is a day by day, hour by hour process.

Because He lives!!

Judd & Sandi Kile