How Great is the Father's Love

We have had the opportunity to have Cal Samuelson and Andrea Richardson, graduates of Olivet Nazarene University (ONU), volunteering with us this month. They were part of a team of college students from ONU who came to serve in our capitol city of Kinshasa. Wanting to experience missions together for a longer period of time, they came to Lubumbashi with Gavin and have stepped into our lives and joined us in ministry. 

We have enjoyed their musical talents and worshipping God together through song. Andrea has taught classes on basic computer and Internet use to a few of our pastors. Cal and Gavin have played soccer with guys from our community. We’ve assisted in feeding programs to children and prayed with families and individuals in our churches. We’ve assisted one of our congregations in a village with planting and harvesting crops. With another congregation, we went to two local markets nearby and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ using the Evangecube. After one of these gatherings on a Friday afternoon, a man who was drunk followed us back to the church. He was complaining about his tattoos hurting him and asking for prayer. Elders of the church came together, laid hands on him and prayed for him. The following Sunday, he came to church and gave his life to Jesus Christ. The Pastor and his wife went to this man’s home after church where his wife also made the decision to accept Christ. Amen!

 

We praise God for the work He is doing around us. We are thankful he uses us, guides us and leads us, but also that His Holy Spirit is drawing people to Himself. Thanks be to God for his love and mercy!

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." Titus 2:11-12

Jobs That Exist In Congo That Don't Exist in the US

Women selling fruit from atop their heads. I just happened to snap this photo right when the man was selecting the bananas he wanted. You can usually buy 4 bananas for $1.

Money Exchange/Cell Phone credit Vendors on the side of the road. The US Dollar and Congolese Franc are used as currency.

Men selling charcoal from their bicycle. Charcoal is used to heat pots for cooking food, because the majority of people in Lubumbashi do not have stoves in their homes. One bag (he has three in this photo) costs between $16-$18. 

Young boys selling hard boiled eggs. 

Men, instead of horse, drawn carts. They haul materials all over town just like this.

Africa Nazarene Women Clergy Conference

Il n'y a vraiment personne comme Jésus. (French)

Hakuna Mungu kama wewe. (Swahili)

There is no one like Jesus.

First service of the Conference

As 150 Nazarene women pastors from across the continent came together in South Africa for the Africa Nazarene Women Clergy Conference this song never rang truer. Each woman brought with her a story, a call and a testimony to God’s faithfulness in her life. Each woman praising God through song and sharing her journey through communion and fellowship together. Each women receiving encouragement and new ministry tools to continue on in the call that God had placed on her life. Each woman ready to take all she had learned back to the people she is leading.

French Speaking Women Pastors

This conference was the first for Women Clergy on the Africa Region. It was a beautiful time of sharing the journey together; a beautiful reminder that God’s call is for men and women alike; a beautiful assembly of sisters in Christ worshipping God through songs in English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Swahili, Portuguese and French.

It is exciting to be part of a denomination and a region that encourages and supports women to follow the call God has placed on their lives.