The Congo

From Nairobi, Africa.

“The life lived in fear is a life half-lived.” -from the movie “Australia.”

It’s late Tues. PM here. We landed here and saw zebras and antelopes as we neared the runway.

We (Reggie, Bill, and Curt) have an overnight flight at midnight to London.

Then we’ll fly home to Houston by Wed. afternoon.

A few thoughts from our week in Congo and Rwanda.

T.I.A. means This Is Africa Everything is so different here. Time, languages, culture.
But the people, as always, are so special. Even in war-torn Goma where we saw no other non-Africans, we were welcomed and received sincere African hospitality.

The people of Africa always humble me, and I seem to learn much more from them than I could ever teach them.

We taught and worshipped with churches in Goma, Congo. We also went to homes in the city and witnessed. Saw a great harvest on good soil. Goma has been occupied by five armies in the last decade. They have no security for what the future holds, so they listen to the gospel. We worked with Pastor Habimama who oversees over 80 Baptist churches.

One of my highlights was watching Mt. Nyiragongo each day and night. It is an active volcano (over 10,000 feet tall) outside Goma that seems to periodically destroy the town.

During the day it smoked, and each night we could see its glow in the distance. That was cool!
Saw the Southern Cross and other constellations we never see in the Northern Hemisphere.

Our new friends enjoyed it as we mangled Swahili. They love to hear you try.

Mungu Akubariki God Bless you.
Jambo Hello
Mzungo! Mzungo! This is their word for a white man. The children shout it loudly when they see you. It makes you feel like a two-headed dog at the parish fair.

Sa Mzungo White man’s time. It is not what Africa operates on.

Finally, the best part of the trip was worshipping in the Congolese churches. They have so little, but praise God with such simple joy. It is very touching.

I saw an older deacon “cut a rug” when he got to dancing during a praise song. I told the guys that’s the kind of old deacon I want to be– still full of joy and life.

This verse echoed in my brain the entire trip: The joy of the Lord is my strength.

May his strength be all of our strength, whatever continent we are on!

Curt