Here in Nairobi, all is well. I took a taxi from the border of Rwanda and DRC to the airport I Kigali. I was blessed to have a taxi that was relatively new and in good working order. The trip took 3.5 hrs, and was uneventful. The road to Kigali is 50% new and they are working on the rest. So nice to drive on a surface other that lava rock.
I have spent the last 3 hours in the Nairobi Java House, having a sandwich with a decaf mocha while watching Animal Planet. Usually it's 'football' or CNN which reruns the news regularly. Got about 3.5 more hours here, and after a little walk, I will probably be back at the Java House watching more TV.
Looking forward to getting home!
Michael
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Michael's Goodbye
The las few days have been very tiring, but rewarding. We have made a lot of good contacts and have heard the hearts of many when it comes to the topic of men. There has been so much information that it feels like my mind is full and it needs some time to digest the information. We had a good team meeting last night, going over teh Kinshasa part fo the trip. We went meeting by meeeting and shared what we got out of each one. It took a few hours, but we made it. Rest of the team will have to do the same for the Goma part of the trip on Friday.
So, I am 45 minutes from leaving Goma. Patrick will carry the PW torch here until he leaves on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing my wife, kids, dogs, and getting back to ,my church family. God had shown me things I need to do at church and I am anxious to get going on them. Thanks for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for the work started here in Goma. Pray for Patrick in his last few days and for his safe travels home.
Grace and Peace.
Michael.
So, I am 45 minutes from leaving Goma. Patrick will carry the PW torch here until he leaves on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing my wife, kids, dogs, and getting back to ,my church family. God had shown me things I need to do at church and I am anxious to get going on them. Thanks for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for the work started here in Goma. Pray for Patrick in his last few days and for his safe travels home.
Grace and Peace.
Michael.
Jambo Tuesday...local time 5:40 pm
Hello family,
Well we had a 9:00 meeting today with one of the heads of the local Baptist church. These meetings have sort of fallen into a smooth and predictiable format. Uaslly one of us will cast the vision of The Sons of Congo and then we ask for input. The main goal right now is finding the right people here to work with us in moving forward. So this mornings meeting was brief as we were only interacting w/ one person and we all had appointments at 10:00. Our 10:00 appointment was at a millitary camp with the Chaplin and a team of people who minister with him. It was an incredible and encourging meeting...that is all I can say about that meeting for now.
Mike is almost packed...he is begining his 40 hour journy home tomorow morning.
That's right I'm gonna be here in the most dangerous place in the world...alone.
In Danger of eminent Volcano eruption, in danger from an exploding lake, in dander from toxic gas, in danger from acid rain, in danger from lava flow, in danger from corrupt police, in danger from rampant militias, in danger from the local military.in dander from Malaria, in danger from explosive diarrhea, in danger from my over active mind. I love it. Good thing I got Jesus.
Shout out to all my peeps at P-dub & The Genesis house.
Love and miss you all see you soon.
P.
Well we had a 9:00 meeting today with one of the heads of the local Baptist church. These meetings have sort of fallen into a smooth and predictiable format. Uaslly one of us will cast the vision of The Sons of Congo and then we ask for input. The main goal right now is finding the right people here to work with us in moving forward. So this mornings meeting was brief as we were only interacting w/ one person and we all had appointments at 10:00. Our 10:00 appointment was at a millitary camp with the Chaplin and a team of people who minister with him. It was an incredible and encourging meeting...that is all I can say about that meeting for now.
Mike is almost packed...he is begining his 40 hour journy home tomorow morning.
That's right I'm gonna be here in the most dangerous place in the world...alone.
In Danger of eminent Volcano eruption, in danger from an exploding lake, in dander from toxic gas, in danger from acid rain, in danger from lava flow, in danger from corrupt police, in danger from rampant militias, in danger from the local military.in dander from Malaria, in danger from explosive diarrhea, in danger from my over active mind. I love it. Good thing I got Jesus.
Shout out to all my peeps at P-dub & The Genesis house.
Love and miss you all see you soon.
P.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Kinshasa to Goma
Wednesday was to be our travel day, but we were sold tickets for a flight that did not exist. So, we spent the morning at L’Arche church meeting with Pastors on staff and interns. We were sharing the vision for Sons of Congo and looking for their input. We are looking for an in country lead and this was a group of potential candidates. We also spent more time with Pastor Nsembe, getting a tour of the church under construction, and video taping his testimony and vision for the church. He is a great man of God! When our time with him was finished, he took a really nice stature off his desk and gave it to me in thanks for my input at his church.
With new tickets for the Thursday flight, we had to rush to pack and check out bags in. Here you check in you bags for domestic flights the night before you leave. It does make is much easier going to the airport with only a backpack to worry about. The check in process was also chaotic, with people wanting to help carry things and generally wanting to get some money for doing next to nothing. We had a nice dinner with the Turner’s and it was time to say good-bye to Kinshasa.
Thursday was a day of travel. We had the 8am flight out of Kinshasa into Goma, which meant we had, be out of the house by 5:45am. Our plan was to catch the CAA bus to the airport, which we had some reservations about. Turn out fine, ok bus that was only half full. You would think that a domestic flight would be less of a process, but no. Various check points and processes that seemed excessive to me. It was a hassle to get to the gate for departure, but we made it unscathed. Seating again was first come, first serve, so we made sure we got on the plane quickly. Got the exit row again! Flight was a now event, it went up when it was supposed to, and came down when it was supposed to. In Goma, it was a hassled to get through immigration as Camille attempted to handle us as a group. That set a worker over the edge, yelling at Camille and myself. We got through, received out bags, and we were out of there.
Good to be back in the Ntoto home, peaceful and great weather. After lunch Patrick and I crashed hard for a couple hours, then off to the English Bible study. At church we quickly discovered there was no bible study due to a conference that was going on. We had diner plans at a friend’s house, so after some conversation we were off. We had dinner at the home of Omer and Odette, friends of the Ntoto’s. They have a very nice home and are excellent hosts.
Looking back it was a slow day, but it was good to catch my breath before the final stretch of my trip.
More to come.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
With new tickets for the Thursday flight, we had to rush to pack and check out bags in. Here you check in you bags for domestic flights the night before you leave. It does make is much easier going to the airport with only a backpack to worry about. The check in process was also chaotic, with people wanting to help carry things and generally wanting to get some money for doing next to nothing. We had a nice dinner with the Turner’s and it was time to say good-bye to Kinshasa.
Thursday was a day of travel. We had the 8am flight out of Kinshasa into Goma, which meant we had, be out of the house by 5:45am. Our plan was to catch the CAA bus to the airport, which we had some reservations about. Turn out fine, ok bus that was only half full. You would think that a domestic flight would be less of a process, but no. Various check points and processes that seemed excessive to me. It was a hassle to get to the gate for departure, but we made it unscathed. Seating again was first come, first serve, so we made sure we got on the plane quickly. Got the exit row again! Flight was a now event, it went up when it was supposed to, and came down when it was supposed to. In Goma, it was a hassled to get through immigration as Camille attempted to handle us as a group. That set a worker over the edge, yelling at Camille and myself. We got through, received out bags, and we were out of there.
Good to be back in the Ntoto home, peaceful and great weather. After lunch Patrick and I crashed hard for a couple hours, then off to the English Bible study. At church we quickly discovered there was no bible study due to a conference that was going on. We had diner plans at a friend’s house, so after some conversation we were off. We had dinner at the home of Omer and Odette, friends of the Ntoto’s. They have a very nice home and are excellent hosts.
Looking back it was a slow day, but it was good to catch my breath before the final stretch of my trip.
More to come.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Ditto
Today(Tuesday) was much Monday, meetings. We had a breakfast meeting at the house which went from 8:30 to 11, then another at 1pm.
The 1pm meeting was with Pastor Jacques Vernaud who has one of the biggest churches in Kinshasa and had plant numerous other churches in Kinshasa and all over the DRC. I was expecting a native Congolese, but he is Swiss and born in Gabon. He has spent his entire life (76 years) in Africa. It was an amazing conversation with a man that has so much experience. I could have sat there for days just soaking in all that he had to offer. It took notes in what he said and God was triggering my mind to more. On hour with this pastor went by very quickly.
We had a dinner meeting with multiple pastors at 6pm at a local hotel. With traffic and finalizing arrangements, we did not have much time. We had not eaten since breakfast, so we stopped at Subway for a sandwich. (sandwich yes, but at Mozart's Cafe) We arrived promptly at 6pm at the hotel so we started promptly at 7:30pm! Seriously, Congo time. Good meeting with lots of really sound input. Each man knows that transformation in men in absolutely necessary.
Creative juices are not flowing right now.
More later,
Michael.
The 1pm meeting was with Pastor Jacques Vernaud who has one of the biggest churches in Kinshasa and had plant numerous other churches in Kinshasa and all over the DRC. I was expecting a native Congolese, but he is Swiss and born in Gabon. He has spent his entire life (76 years) in Africa. It was an amazing conversation with a man that has so much experience. I could have sat there for days just soaking in all that he had to offer. It took notes in what he said and God was triggering my mind to more. On hour with this pastor went by very quickly.
We had a dinner meeting with multiple pastors at 6pm at a local hotel. With traffic and finalizing arrangements, we did not have much time. We had not eaten since breakfast, so we stopped at Subway for a sandwich. (sandwich yes, but at Mozart's Cafe) We arrived promptly at 6pm at the hotel so we started promptly at 7:30pm! Seriously, Congo time. Good meeting with lots of really sound input. Each man knows that transformation in men in absolutely necessary.
Creative juices are not flowing right now.
More later,
Michael.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Meetings
Today was a day of meetings. Our goal is to strategically connect with either people whose input we would like, or those who have connections we would like to have. Day started with a breakfast meeting at 8:30am and ended with a dinner meeting that ended at 8pm. We met with politicians, police and religious leaders, but I can't mention names here.
Patrick and I are well, tired, but doing okay. We both are missing home, we have been gone for over 2 weeks now.
Read more about our day at http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com .
Michael.
Patrick and I are well, tired, but doing okay. We both are missing home, we have been gone for over 2 weeks now.
Read more about our day at http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com .
Michael.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
In Kinshasa, Sunday is coming to an end. As I type this Patrick is sleeping in the bed next to mine and for those who need to know, he does not snore. Well, not when I have head phones on listening to music...
Early rise this morning, church at 8am and church about a 30 minute drive away. I was up even earlier finalizing my notes and thinking the message through. I was to preach today at ARCHE (Assemblies of God) church. This is the parent church of the church I spoke at last Sunday in Goma. We arrived a little after 8am and the music sounded good. At this point the church was about 60% full, but I knew that more would roll in. We where escorted to our seats up front and the music was fantastic. They had a worship choir and a good band, very very cool. The worship time was great with a mixture of dancing, singing and prayer. Camille introduced our team and Aimee and Kasareka shared a little bit of what we are about. Camille introduced me and it was go time and by this time the church was packed. God gave me a very cool message on justice and the churches roll in bringing the justice of God through the world. God was confirming the message before I spoke through comments the Assoc, Pastor said and the songs that where sung. As you can see from the picture, there was a lot of people, about 3,000+. The stage was up high with seating on three sides of me. Both sides a had balconies which where very full. It was a very cool experience and I am thankful for God using me, about 25 accepted Jesus for the first time!
We went home to change and I...fell asleep. No time to sleep, a knock on the door and it was time for lunch. After ,lunch we did had a little time to ret that got larger because our next appoint got pushed back a couple hours. We did end up meeting with a man who is a senator and the head of a large association f churches. We shared with him our vision for the Sons of Congo and he encouraged us to see it through. Don't how these meetings will affect what we are doing, but we will see in time.
Had a little pizza for dinner, not bad. trying to get this blog updated and I know i a leaving this out, but I guess i can tell you that stuff later.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
GO LAKERS!
Early rise this morning, church at 8am and church about a 30 minute drive away. I was up even earlier finalizing my notes and thinking the message through. I was to preach today at ARCHE (Assemblies of God) church. This is the parent church of the church I spoke at last Sunday in Goma. We arrived a little after 8am and the music sounded good. At this point the church was about 60% full, but I knew that more would roll in. We where escorted to our seats up front and the music was fantastic. They had a worship choir and a good band, very very cool. The worship time was great with a mixture of dancing, singing and prayer. Camille introduced our team and Aimee and Kasareka shared a little bit of what we are about. Camille introduced me and it was go time and by this time the church was packed. God gave me a very cool message on justice and the churches roll in bringing the justice of God through the world. God was confirming the message before I spoke through comments the Assoc, Pastor said and the songs that where sung. As you can see from the picture, there was a lot of people, about 3,000+. The stage was up high with seating on three sides of me. Both sides a had balconies which where very full. It was a very cool experience and I am thankful for God using me, about 25 accepted Jesus for the first time!
We went home to change and I...fell asleep. No time to sleep, a knock on the door and it was time for lunch. After ,lunch we did had a little time to ret that got larger because our next appoint got pushed back a couple hours. We did end up meeting with a man who is a senator and the head of a large association f churches. We shared with him our vision for the Sons of Congo and he encouraged us to see it through. Don't how these meetings will affect what we are doing, but we will see in time.
Had a little pizza for dinner, not bad. trying to get this blog updated and I know i a leaving this out, but I guess i can tell you that stuff later.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
http://sons-of-congo.blogspot.com
GO LAKERS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)