Sun. Post: Prayer Requests

Dear Blog Followers,

Thank you for watching the blog and praying along with us as we have enjoyed these special days in the Congo.  We are finishing up our time here and will leave on Wed.  It has been a whirlwind with very packed days, but very rich and blessed days.  We praise God that I was at a point in my physical journey where I could handle the trip - I couldn’t have done it a year ago – thank you, Carrie (my O.T.)!  The trip has been an incredible opportunity to meet the dear MAF families we have been praying for, for many years.  We will leave with an even greater love for these missionaries, and a greater appreciation for their service. 

I haven’t written much yet, so I thought I would put up a few more pictures this morning before church, and also give some prayer requests (if you are short on time – just read the brief bold prayer requests and scan through the pictures).  Thank you, Edinbrook Prayer Team, Calvary Free Church friends, Wendy, our dear Dinner Party Friends, Family, Bethel friends, and others – you are mighty prayer warriors – I hope that the pictures will burn some images on your heart, so that you will continue to pray for these dear missionaries, and the people of Congo, on an ongoing basis.

Praise:  **God’s Grace & Care for us Through the Conference**  Adelyn had a nasty case of the Congo crud (stomach sickness lasted through most of the conference), so the kids didn’t get to see her at her best.  But, by God’s grace, she did feel better just in time to dance with Anna on Fri. night.  What a blessing to see the two cousins dance together and worship the Lord – a legacy we SO want to see continue; seeing our children praise and worship the Lord and serve Him with their lives.

Thank you for praying for me through the conference.  The missionary kids and I had a wonderful time together, and the Lord picked up all of the pieces from my weaknesses and carried us through as we explored the “Stones for the Faith Journey” together.  He gave me blatant “God sightings” along the way to show that He is a faithFUL God and intimate Father.  For example, a former student who I had as a Calc. and Multi. Calc. student back in 1995 – 1996, and hadn’t heard from in at least 10 years, “just happened” to email me right before I talked about the tablet stone/gold nuggets – the Bible.   She said, “Being in the “final stretch” of my dissertation program I often go back to a scripture passage that you shared with our calculus class: Hebrews 12:1-3.  This verse has been my rock for countless written and oral exams, and is seeing me through my dissertation writing and defense process.  Thank you for sharing this verse with our class.”

How’s that for God inspired timing?!  Our God is faithful!  This former Bethel student lives in Kenya and is finishing up her phD in public health.  God is at work everywhere and through all His children, with His Spirit graciously coordinating us at different times to remind us we are a diverse but unified body of Christ.  Praise God for living stones, the body of Christ, that work together to offer a sacrifice of praise, and also encourage one another (thank you Jan and Susan for your timely encouragement too!).

Request:  **Wisdom and Endurance for Missionaries**  We have known that life is difficult here, but we were given opportunities to experience the “process” that it takes to carry out even simple tasks here in the Congo.  While observing this yesterday, Dan gave the term “process” and Kevin aptly stated that this word is very pregnant with meaning here!  Please continue to pray for each missionary to have wisdom and endurance as they continue to navigate daily decisions and trials; the “pregnant processes.”  As we went through our flight yesterday, we stopped at many desks that showed the many curious, required layers of administrivia and government control just to travel within the country to another village.  We wandered through buildings and stopped at many desks to be processed for departure and re-entry. 

Sam’s Lego movie satire (shown at the variety show at the conference) showed Santa’s sleigh coming to Kinshasa and being hassled to show yellow fever shot records for his reindeer, and about 10 different permits and authorizations for his sleigh.  But, the satire was so funny because it was not far from the truth.  Garth is the program manager for West Congo, and must deal with these “pregnant processes” and often corrupt negotiations on an ongoing basis.  We watched him work, even through the “relaxation” portion of the conference.  The missionaries had planned to bring a picnic lunch to a park, and enjoy walking around the lake, and renting paddle boats to enjoy a relaxing afternoon.  Garth tried to negotiate a deal for our visit (see picture below), but the $5 cost per person to just eat our own picnic lunch there (not even at the tables – this would have cost more) was too costly.  So we moved down the road to eat our lunch out of our vans.  The men soon followed us up the road, and wanted to charge us $5/person to eat there – Garth had had 3 bites of his sandwich, and the rest of us finished our lunch while Garth haggled and talked through the whole time.  We gave up and left, and couldn’t figure out a joint time for relaxation together.  Instead, the missionaries allowed a few of us the opportunity to visit the bonobos (too costly for all of us to attend), while they waited and played Frisbee in the parking lot.  No rest for the weary!  So, pray for wisdom and endurance for Garth as he navigates through the many decisions needed to manage this field, and for each missionary as they work through the “processes” of daily life here. 

Request:  **Don’t forget the disabled plane – the Caravan!**  We are thankful that we had the opportunity to fly with Garth out into the interior yesterday to Kikongo.  As one of the guys stated, it was “take your sister to work day!”  When we were in Kikongo, there was a bit of chaos with all of the locals for 2 reasons.  The first reason was the arrival of TWO planes, which was quite exciting for the kids.  We had planned to all come together (a doctor who would go on to Vanga, and a pastor coming to teach at the Pastor’s training school in Kikongo).  But, due to the accident that happened last week, where a Congolese fire truck ran into the Caravan and damaged it (see picture below), we had to use 2 planes to do the work of the caravan.  Please keep praying for wisdom and funds for this plane to be fixed ASAP.   It will most likely be fixed here, but all of the parts will need to be sent from the U.S.  Parts cost 2-3 times their cost, due to the high shipping costs and taxes, so this will be another “pregnant process.”  Pray that this will have God speed and that the body of Christ will be faithful to continue to give money to cover these huge costs.  There are only 4 planes here (including the Caravan), so this tragedy has severely limited the work here.

The damaged Caravan

Request:  **Pray for all of the faithful missionaries in the Congo** While in Kikongo, we were blessed to meet a faithful missionary couple, the Chapmans, who work with the Pastor’s training school, and are the only missionaries who live there full time.  Pray for them as they also deal with daily issues.  The other reason for chaos in the village, the day we were there, was because the doctor was leaving so everyone was coming to town, trying to see him before he left.  They had only had one doctor there at the hospital, so nurses have to perform many of the surgeries.  The doctor had to leave, because the governor assigned him to a different location – a very crazy decision, but one that gives an example of government control, that usually makes no sense and causes havoc for people – even in life and death situations.  The doctor instead decided to resign and seek employment on his own in the capital city of Kinshasa.  Pray for faithful missionaries like the Chapmans who continue to faithfully serve within this environment and must have extraordinary wisdom & endurance to continue to serve.

A child at the doorway of one of the hospital rooms

Praise:  **God is here in Congo!**  Praise God, that as Pastor Kevin has said, the Lord’s arm of salvation is long.  He is “Mighty to Save.”  He is wise, a solid Rock, gives strength to the weary, loves the poor, motherless and weak, knows us all by name and is not only the infinite Creator, but intimate Father.  He knows all that goes on in the U.S., in the Congo, in the world, and cares for each person.  We can leave here knowing that each of these missionaries knows Him, and has Him as their refuge, strength, wisdom, power, and peace.  Pray that they will continue to return to their Center each day, to find strength for that day, and hope for the future.

Kikongo missionary Glen Chapman introducing the girl in pink who would not be here today unless MAF had flown her to Vanga for medical help

From Congo, Together for Him,

Patrice