I’m not sure why, but I
continue to be surprised in how the Lord so faithfully provides for the work of
His Kingdom. I’m not much of a worrier but I do sometimes look at situations
and wonder how all of this is going to work out and often find myself thinking
that things just aren’t going to work. And then, the Lord shows me again that
He is faithful and that He has a plan and I just need to follow along. I think
this is so much more evident for me in the foreign mission fields because so
much of what goes on over here is so far out of my control. At home, I know
what to expect and, for the most part, how things are going to unfold. Here, I
don’t speak the language, I don’t always know how things work or get done, and
I find myself relying on others to make the plans. This puts me way outside of
my comfort zone. And I am beginning to realize that this is a good place to be
because it teaches me to trust the Lord instead of myself!
Trust
in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct
your paths.
Proverbs 3:5–6
The Lord Faithfully
Provides a Way to Manono in Tanganyika Province, DRC...
Not long before I was
scheduled to depart for the DRC I received a text message from Pastor Yumba letting
me know that the local airline for our flights from Lubumbashi to Tanganyika
Province for the graduation/ordination service in Manono had canceled service
to Manono.
Since this year’s rainy
season had started early and was lasting longer than usual and due to record
flooding between Lubumbashi and Manono, it didn’t seem as if driving was going
to be possible. And there is no bus service operating now either.
But, it was the Lord’s will
to get us to Manono. And so, He provided a man who was willing to make the 395-mile
trip. Sounds like no big deal, right? Just get in the car and drive for seven
hours or so. Well, that 395-mile trip took over thirty-seven (37+) hours on the
worst muddy, water-soaked, flooded, destroyed, non-existent, “roads” I have
ever seen in my life. And I have seen some bad roads traveling in several different
countries for the past twenty-three years. The pictures below just don’t do
justice to the “road” conditions I’m going to describe.
The man that the Lord
provided, Ilunga Kanonga, was born and raised in Manono but now lives in
Lubumbashi. Over the years he has traveled this route often. He is the owner of
a transportation business with eight Toyota Land Cruisers and two large lorries
(trucks). He employs twelve drivers and their assistants. Yumba said this was
the only man he could find who was willing to drive us to Manono. He wouldn’t
send us with one of his drivers, instead, he said he would only drive us
himself. This man was a gift from the Lord. Not only was he extremely humble
and dedicated to his task, but he was very well connected. He and his company drive
for the World Health Organization (WHO) and he is known by, seemingly, everyone.
Every village we went through someone came out to greet him. At every Army
check-point we came to the soldiers simply smiled to greet him and waved us
through. Even the toll-booths simply waved us through after seeing him. You
have no idea what a big deal this is when you are a light-skinned visitor in a
culture that is very accustomed to expecting and receiving a gift (bribe) in
such situations. The Lord Provides!!!
Let me back up a bit before I
go on. From 2016-2019, I tried (unsuccessfully) three different times to obtain
a visa to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Apparently, this was
because of the presidential elections taking place after President Joseph Kabila
had agreed to step down after holding the position for several years. I even
went to the DRC Embassy in Zambia and tried to apply there. With advice I found
online and through a visa agency in the U.S., I took a trip to Washington, DC last
Fall and was issued a visa in just two days. The Lord Provides!!!
So, last October I traveled
to the DRC and was met by Missionary Evensen who was able to get a visa in Togo
since he has a special non-resident, West Africa Stay card that will allow him
to get visas in Africa much more easily. The Lord continues to provide! We
spent a little over two weeks visiting and teaching and seeing everything that
has been accomplished since the last CLC missionary visit in 2013 when
Missionary Ude was able to visit for the last time.
Pastor Yumba Lumbala is the
man who started the CCLC along with a couple of other pastors about twelve
years ago. It has been their goal to start a Bible Training Institute to train
more men to be faithful preachers and teachers of God’s saving word. Missionary
Ude had begun to assist these men with their planning. The Lord provided a portion
of land. Building
plans were drawn up and funding from the CLC Mission Development Fund had been
approved. Even in the absence of regular yearly visits from CLC missionaries,
the work had begun, and men have been trained even as the building plans stalled.
About a year ago construction began on the Holy Trinity Lutheran Bible
Institute and while it is still a long way away from completion, it is finished
enough to begin classes in April! The
Lord Provides!!!!!
Missionary Evensen and I were
able to offer a pastoral training seminar at the new facility when we visited in
October. At that time, Pastor Yumba asked if I could return to be on hand for
the graduation/ordination services for the seven men who had successfully
completed the three years of course work and who were currently a one-year
practicum. I told him that I could return, but it would need to be before March
24th when my six-month DRC visa would expire. He said that would
work well since the next cohort of fifteen new students were scheduled to begin
classes in April.
Yumba also expressed a desire
to have me visit the Tanganyika province where most of the graduating Bible
Institute students were from since I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit there
yet. Missionary Matt Ude had once planned a visit there but that visit was cut
short for a variety of unavoidable circumstances. So, with Yumba’s blessing and
encouragement, I scheduled another trip to the DRC before my visa expiration
date. The Lord Provides!!!
Early in March, as I have
since found out and experienced, is not the best time of year to visit the DRC.
The months of February and March are typically the end of the rainy season. This
means that forests and the jungle and hills and mountains are as beautiful and
lush and green and dense as I have ever witnessed anywhere on this earth. 37+
hours of travel over the worst roads I have ever seen is anything but comfortable
and fun, but the Lord compensated and blessed me with some of the most
beautiful scenery, sunsets, and kind and helpful people I have ever had the
pleasure to encounter. The Lord
Provides!!!!!
But traveling in early March
after one of the wettest rainy seasons on record, also means that the roads are
in the worst condition you will ever find. In some places the roads were non-existent.
In other places, they were mud-pits, ponds, or simply washed away. There were
several times as we ventured into a large muddy pit when I didn’t think there
was any way we would make it to the other side. And yet, the Land Cruiser just
kept on chugging along. We got stuck, really stuck, six different times. Twice
we had to be pulled out by a large truck the other four times we spent hours
digging and jacking and digging some more with the eager help of local villagers.
In the end, the Lord provided, and we made it safely there and back. The Lord Provides!!!
The Lord Faithfully Provides
a Way to Communicate the Truths of His Saving Word...
One of the challenges of
working in the DRC is the fact that they were once a Belgium colony and so the
official language is French. This is also true in other African nations where
we are working like Togo, Benin, and Burundi. Thankfully, the Lord has provided
Missionary Peter Evensen who is fluent in French to live and work in Togo and
to conduct Online Theological Studies with a few French speakers in other
African countries. The Lord Provides!!!
But the Lord has also
provided a very capable local translator in the DRC that CLC missionaries have
been working with for several years. His name is Jhon Monga. His secular
employment is working as a translator for several large mining companies in the
Lubumbashi area. Mining is the main industry in this part of the DRC. He has
had the opportunity to hone his skills by doing this kind of work for several
years. Because of the expectations of his work with the mining companies, he is
very professional and prompt and takes his work seriously. He is truly a gift
from the Lord. His secular work is not a regular hourly position but instead,
he works by contract to translate documents and at meetings for high-ranking company
executives. Apparently, because of his skills and professionalism, he is highly
sought after. And yet, he eagerly agrees to schedule time away from his secular
work to translate for us because he considers this his service to the Lord and His
kingdom. The Lord Provides!!!
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| Translator Jhon Monga |
The Lord Provides Nine Willing
and Well-Trained Men to Proclaim His Saving Word...
In an area of the world where
it is commonplace for charismatic individuals to use the name of our Savior,
through smooth words and flattering speech, to build kingdoms for themselves,
it is so encouraging to work with humble Christians who are dedicated to
preaching the truth of God’s saving word for the purpose of calling sinners to
repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior! The Lord Provides!!!!!
Not that many years ago, it
seemed as if our work in the DRC was coming to a close when a disagreement arose
between some of the men we were working with. But the Lord Provided a peaceful
and God-pleasing resolution to those issues. Some of the men we were working
with are no longer with us, but the few that stuck around and remained
dedicated to proclaiming God’s word for the right reasons...not for personal
gain or prestige, have served the Lord faithfully. From the beginning, it had
been their goal to train men to proclaim the truth of God’s word. Even when financial
funding seemed unlikely and missionary visits became more and more sporadic and
uncertain, these few men pushed forward with their plans to start the Holy
Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute. The
Lord Provides!!!
 |
| Pastor Yumba and his wife |
 |
| CCLC Church and Pastor Yumba's Home in Katuba (Lubumbashi) |
And now, seven men have
completed three years of classroom instruction and one year of practicum and
have been ordained as pastors of the CCL-Congo. These men left their livelihood
and families for seven months of each of those three years to attend classes at
a temporary, make-shift facility. Many of them traveled the roads described
above to do so. They received a small stipend through CLC Project Kinship
sponsors to assist their families while they were away attending classes. But
most of their needs were supplied by the work and farming they did during the
five months when they were not at the school. The Lord Provides!!!
 |
| Graduates and Instructors...Pastor Lubaba (L) Pastor Yumba (R) |
With the graduation and
ordination of these men, the CCLC now has eleven trained and ordained pastors
serving thirty-six congregations. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out
that there is still a need for more men to be trained. And so, we should not be surprised that The Lord Provides!!! The first week of April, fifteen men are
scheduled to arrive in Lubumbashi to spend two weeks working on the new Holy
Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute building project to get things ready for the
start of classes on April 15th. These two weeks or work are
important for a couple of reasons. First of all, there is a lot of work that
still needs to be done to get ready for the start of classes. Not only is there
construction and cleaning to be done, but large plots of forest have been
clear-cut for farming and gardens to provide food for the students while they
are attending classes. It is up to the students to get the crops in the ground
and to tend to the vegetable gardens to provide for themselves. There is no
water well on the property yet, so this means daily trips down through the
forest to the river to bring all the water needed for the crops, cooking, and
bathing. While the students do not pay tuition and they receive a small stipend
to send back to their families, they certainly will have plenty of sweat equity
invested in their education by the time they complete their three years of
classroom instruction with no promise or expectation of earthly gain upon
completion. Who would commit to something like this? The Lord Provides!!!
 |
| A new batch of bricks being fired at the Bible Institute Building Project |
 |
| Garden Plot at Holy Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute |
 |
| Future garden plot |
 |
| Holy Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute |
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| Front View...Holy Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute |
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| Holy Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute...latrines to the right |
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| Next building phase...instructor accommodations and office |
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| Next building phase...instructor accommodations and office |
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| Making Bricks... |
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| Termite Mound being used for brick materials |
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians
4:19
“The Lord
upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all
look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open
Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works. The Lord
is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will
fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save
them.”
Psalm 145:14–19
The Lord Provides Forgiveness,
Salvation, and Eternal Life...
We
are just a few weeks away from Good Friday and Easter when we will remember
with thankful hearts the sacrificial suffering of our Savior on the cross as He
offered His perfect life as payment for the sins of the world on the cross. And
we will gather together on Easter morning to rejoice in His resurrection
knowing by faith that because He lives we shall live also. All of this would
mean nothing if we had never heard this Good News and been led by the Holy
Spirit to trust in His promises of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. It
was our Lord and Savior who provided salvation. It was the Holy Spirit who provided
us with these truths as He literally breathed God’s word into the writers of
the Bible. And it was the Holy Spirit who provided us with the very faith that
clings to these truths and trusts in every saving promise of God fulfilled in
our Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord Provides!!!
Our
Savior continues to provide for the salvation of sinners through the Gospel in Word
and Sacrament! While in the DRC I had the privilege of administering the “washing
of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit” through the water and word
of Baptism on two different occasions. I had the privilege of teaching four
days of pastoral training classes in two different locations to twenty-eight
men. And I had the opportunity to preach five times. What a privilege! The
Lord Provides!!!
 |
| Proclaiming the Truths of God's Saving Word |
 |
| Pastoral Training Classes in Manono |
On our way back to Lubumbashi
we were able to reach a newly formed CCLC congregation in an integrated-pygmy
village for a short worship service. The Pygmy tribes have traditionally been very
wary of outside influence. This village is referred to as integrated because
they have been somewhat integrated into society and have inter-married. It was a
short service because it was beginning to rain and they have no church building
and their homes are very small and with no windows or electricity. We sang a couple
of songs and I preached a short sermon. The hope and prayer is that they will
be able to provide evangelism training for some of the young men in this
congregation who will then be able to take the Gospel to non-integrated
villages that are deeper into the forests and mostly unreached. The Lord
Provides!!!
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| Proclaiming the Gospel at an integrated Pygmy village |
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
“And Jesus came and spoke
to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.” Amen.”
Matthew 28:18–20
“For “whoever calls on
the name of the Lord shall be
saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear
without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?...So then
faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:13-15a, 17
