Kasumbalesa

On Sunday we were able to take a small trip to the village of Kasumbalesa, which is located on the border of Zambia and the DRC about an hour and a half from Lubumbashi. We were greeted warmly at the pastor’s house and then took a 2km walk to the church.  This new village was settled several years ago outside of the town and general services such as water, electricity, and roads aren’t yet available there.  It was an easy walk in the morning, but was difficult on the walk back because of the over 100 degree heat and high humidity.  I now know why people always have a piece of cloth to wipe their faces and why men are wearing wet washcloths on their heads. But, that’s a whole different subject.

This church has been built partly with the congregation’s own funds, funds that the district has raised, and just recently the church was able to put a roof on through Alabaster funds (the Church of the Nazarene’s special offering for land and buildings.) Like most churches in the DRC, the service was mostly in Swahili, with some translation into French for our sake. After worship through singing, prayer and hearing the Word, we were able to dedicate this church building to the Lord. The people were so excited for the work the Lord is doing amongst them. They have a soccer ministry and their next goal is to build a soccer field on their church property. There are also plans to plant sweet potatoes and peanuts to help fund their ministry.

Afterwards, we were served a traditional meal of ugali, rice and beans, small pieces of chicken and linga-linga (a spinach-like vegetable). Our kids were especially excited because we got the opportunity to eat using our natural silverware (our hands).   As a true testimony to the roads in the DRC, we were also blessed with the ability to change a flat tire, our second in two weeks, on the way back to Lubumbashi.

We count ourselves fortunate to travel to different Nazarene churches and see what the Lord is doing among His people.