Goma in Turmoil

I(Michael) received this email today:

I am sending this message to everyone in my personal address book. As a board member of Light of Africa Network, I am asking that each person take time out of their busy schedule to pray for the safety and well being of our missionary couple, Camille and Esther Ntoto, who are in this war torn region of the world in the DR Congo. We just spoke to Camille. The borders are closed. Esther is coming home from Belgium and WILL NOT return to Goma. It is too dangerous! She is praying and hoping that she will be able to meet Camille in Kinshasa (a much safer area for the time being.) Our prayers should always be with the people of Congo; the victims of rape, the children; the families torn apart, and yes, even the men that are creating this violence. We need to pray for their souls that God may place His hand upon their hearts for a deep change from within. Our Lord can do this. Please pray!

Please pray for Camille. He is stuck in Goma and trying to find an airline seat out of the area. He is trying to move around without much notice. His leg has just been taken out of a cast and he is struggling with that issue, too. Pray that he can close up the house, transfer funds and proceed safely to meet Esther. By praying, we will remember that “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) Please pray that God will provide that refuge and strength to Camille and Esther as they continue through day by day. PLEASE, PLEASE take a moment from your day and pray. Through prayer, we can make a difference and at this moment we need to stand together and show the power of prayer.

Pray does work! Let us commit to it and do it without quitting.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 12

As we drove up to the prison, you could not help but notice that a transformation was happening. A revitalization group was sponsoring the renewing of the exterior of the prison. A fresh coat of colored cement texture as well as fresh paint in other places was covering the outside of the prison. Once in side, it was evident that the exterior changes did not make it into the inside. Kind of like us, we make so much effort change our outward appearance, but inside we are the same old person. Remember God is not concerned with what you look like, but who you are. As we walk into the yard of the prison, you could feel the coolness of the morning air with the security of protection from God. There are no guards in the prison, it is self-governed and all the police were safely on the outside of the prison door. There are just over 700 inmates in the prison and they counted about 565 inmates at the service. When Patrick and I were here in April the service was help inside in a small, dark, Closter-phobic room. They know hold the service in the yard, which was to my delight. There was a lively praise and worship time followed by a message from me. I spoke on our identity and that our identity is found in Jesus. We are not identified by color, language or nationality. We are not identified by the thing that we have done, but by who God has created us to be. I used many verses from the book of Romans to show that all of us have sinned and all need a Savior. That salvation is a free gift available to us all. It was evident that God was with us and that many of these men had hearts committed to Jesus. I asked how many remembered Patrick and by the response he is still well know in Goma prison. I sent greeting to the men from Patrick and they all cheered. We gave the beans and rice, which were very well received. Pastor Bitha who is the regular prison pastor told them that I did not just come to give them food for their heart, but I also came to give them food for their stomach. He shared the verse in James that says faith without deeds is not faith at all. My tattoos have generated more attention in the past, mostly because the new one I got is pretty obvious. Many of the prisoners came around me to check out my arm and I able to share a short word on obedience to them. Outside, Camille was talking to the director of the prison and he informed us that the uprising began Tuesday morning when we were first scheduled to visit. God is always taking care of us.

I spent then rest of the morning preparing for an English Bible study, working out and started to pack up my suitcases. I came with three suitcases, two of them filled with stuff that C & E needed. Packing to come home will be a lot easier with more room. I did purchase items to resell at church to raise money for more work in the DRC. There are some specific areas I think we as a church can get involved with here. I will be working through some stuff and will share when I have more clarity.

At C & E’s church they have an English Bible study on Thursday nights. C & E came up this idea to help the youth of their church to learn English. I taught a passage about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Each person had to speak English and I had to talk real slow so they had a better chance to understand, which is very hard for me.

The almost two weeks here have flown by. I thank all of you for your prayers and for taking this trip with me through this blog. I pray that the words God spoke through me would invoke change in people and change in a nation. I truly believe that the church needs to rise up and be the church he has called us to be. We need to stop sitting on our hands and get out to bring about change through Jesus Christ.

Over the next 2+ days I will spend 23 hours in the air and 15 hours in airports, Lord have mercy!

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 11

Wow Day 11, where has the time gone. Did you know that the Angels have the best record in baseball and are entering the playoffs tonight versus the Boston Red Sox? It is difficult to stay up with all the sports scores with slow internet, but I do get on the internet in the morning and see how everything went.

I took care of the sponsoring of children in school today. We ended up sponsoring 10 kids in the Hope for the Helpless program and 5 children in the Berea school I visited last week. I will be receiving names and photos of all the kids and will put them up at church so we can continue to pray for these kids.

Camille and I just got back from the youth service at La Source Church. The praise & worship was fantastic. I preached from the book of Daniel and took a look at Daniel's life. Many times he had the opportunity to compromise his relationship with God but he never did. God blessed him for his uncompromising life. What would life look like for us if we never compromised? Are we missing out n blesses because of our compromise?

The pastor from the prison came by today to tells us that there had been an uprising at the prison. The issue was over the total lack of food and the prisoners were very hungry. He phoned later and said things where back to 'normal', pray! We will be taking the beans and rice with us, which should make us well liked. We will present the food to the authorities in front of the prisoners so they know that the food is there.

Pretty much all of Goma was on strike today to protest the lack of peace in the area. We think there was some sort of demonstration today, but we did not see anything. I did make the raids easier to drive on with less people and vehicles. I lost by chauffeur job this afternoon. Camille got his cast off and was back behind the wheel. His calf muscle is still very stiff and his knee is sore from lack of movement, but he should gain better mobility over the next few days.

Remember that as you pray, God may use you to answer your very own prayers.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 10

This morning the staff and volunteers of Light of Africa Network(LOAN) got together for prayer and bible devotions. It was a truly blessed time of heart felt worship and prayer from the depths of the heart. We prayed for the country, the sexual violence issue as well as many other topics. We believe that we serve a God who not only hears these prayers but also delights in answering them.

Much of the morning was finishing the preparations a a two recording engineers from Ghana coming to record the bible in Swahili. They are partnering with LOAN on this project and with be here for about two weeks to complete the project.

With Camille still in a full length cast on his leg, I have taken o the responsibility of chauffeur. I drove to the port and pick up Esther when she returned from a very successful trip to Bukavu. Esther and I went to the market (with me driving) which was an eventful trip. Driving at home is easy because all there is on the road is cars and the road is well paved. Try driving on a dirt and rock road after a night of rain. Then add lots of people, motorcycles driving crazy, little kids wandering about, and other various obstacles, Oi! The market is not stores you walk into, it's the streets lined with everything you might need or not need. As soon as we started to slow down, we had the mama's coming to Esther's window try to sell their goods. On my side were people staring at the Muzungu (white guy) wondering why is he driving around this Congolese. I did see something you don't see in OC. I was looking across the car to what Esther was doing when there was a knock on my window. I turned to see a man holding up a handful on chickens, big & dead, I declined!

Today was the first day here that I did not have a speaking engagement. Part of me feels like a slacker, but I have enjoyed some rest and re-cooping from the past week and a half. I was to speak at the prison this morning but that got moved to Thursday. I bought 100kg of beans and about the same in rice for the prisoners. Patrick, you will be happy that I did not forget to take care of that.

I have committed our church to sponsor 10 kids in the Hope for the Hopeless program. I encourage you to check out their website to learn more about them. (www.hopeforthehelpless.org) This ministry works closely with C & E, and you can see pictures on the blog from the day I went to their tutoring and bible study program. The young man, Andre, who runs the program here keeps very busy. Every other week he is in the schools checking on the sponsored kids and once a month he goes to the home to do the same. Every Saturday they come for tutoring and Bible study. This isn't just pay some school fees and that's it, there is a lot of accountability.

"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results." - James 5:16

Keep praying.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 9

The power was out all night, but I was able to get the blog out thanks to the generator. At about 3:30pm the power came back one.

Esther left for Bukavu early this morning and arrived there safely about 2 hours later.

Our plan for the morning was to do a half-day seminar at Lake Kivu’s Christian Centers ‘International School of Evangelism’ on the outskirts of Goma. Patrick and I gave medical supplies to a medical clinic in this area back in April. The schools focus is to train up evangelists and then release them back to their homes to do the work God called them to do. They are in classes every morning and then in the afternoon they have various jobs to do, including agriculture. They take the model from the Apostle Paul who called himself a tent maker. I was amazed that none of the students are from Goma, the people in Goma think it is too far out of town, about 10 minute drive. The students are from all over the country and as far away as Kinshasa. I taught one session on the role of the church and another one the role of the leader. They were very eager to learn and after each session we had a good Q & A time. Everywhere that I have been able to teach there is a visual hunger for the Word. They really take what was taught and struggle at time to see how that looks in their life. It is really what we should be doing, not just hearing a message, but struggling to see the application in our lives.

Back at the house Camille and I had a very introspect discussion, and we are more alike that I first thought. We (they, I took a pause to type this while the power is back) are working some new shelving in their house. We (again they) are rearranging the studio to make room for a couple guys that will be here for a couple weeks to record a dramatic portrayal of the Bible.

It has been nice to have a little non speaking work this afternoon, although I could use a nap. I am looking forward to the plane ride home; actually I am looking forward to sleeping the whole way home.

For those who have been to Kinshasa before or those of you have seen the photos, remember the VW vans with 20 or so people in them? I have got another crazy one for you. At the end of last week, I told you about giving the sowing machine and supplies to women going back to their villages. That night we helped get one women, her baby, her sowing machine still in the box, and a large bag of her personal items off to her village…on a 125 motorcycle! She had her baby tied to her back and the sewing machine on her lap. The taxi driver (motorcycle was the taxi) had her bag in front of him on the gas tank. This journey a little was away, cost less than 1000fc, which is about $2. I thought this was crazy, but everyone looked at me like I was the crazy one. You would be amazed at what people carry on these motorcycles. We would use a truck or SUV, and they use a motorcycle. I have seen women with large bags on their lap with their toddler sitting on the gas tank! These ‘taxi’ drivers are crazy drivers, and not crazy fun, but crazy bad.

I do not think I have ever been this exhausted on one of these trips. For me, preparing to speak and then speaking is more tiring than all the manual labor I have done in the past.

Your prayers are working, don’t stop.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma Pictures

Hope for the Helpless
Hope for the Helpless
Hope for the Helpless
A precious one.
Last weeks Conference.

Goma - Day 8

The early mornings keep getting earlier and earlier. I was up last night working the message for the first church and was having difficulty because of being so tired.
I decided to go to bed and get up at 5am to finish preparing and then ready to leave the house by 7:15am. The first service was at Heal Africa’s chapel and was attended by 200 or so people. Many of the people were women from Heal Africa’s programs. I preached on healing, that Jesus wants to heal and that we need to have some faith in our prayers as we ask for healing. I primarily used the passage in Mark 5 with the synagogue leader wanting healing for his daughter and the women how had been bleeding for 12 years touching Jesus’ robe for healing. At the end I asked for anyone who wanted healing to stand and raise a hand to God. I wanted to pray with each person individually, but I would still be there if I did that, so I had to do a collective prayer of healing for all. It was a very anointed time and I am looking forward to the testimony of healed hearts, minds and bodies.

We swung by home and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading to La Source Church. La Source is one of the original French speaking churches in Goma and the place was jump’n in worship. I spoke out of Ezekiel 22, the need for someone to stand in the gap. The church is the one that sound stand on the gap between how things are today and how there are meant to be. The church should be the catalyst for change in the world. Message seemed to be received well and after the service we sat down with the pastors and elders for a piece of cake a beverage.

We had lunch with Hayward, the US diplomat I had met at the end of last week. C & E shared with him what they are involved with and he wanted their take on the over all situation in Goma.

Back at the house, about 5:30pm, we decided to sit out side and relax. The weather had a different plan as a light sprinkle turn into a downpour with thunder and lightening. I think it has rained about evening since I arrived. As I type this power is out and I am using my flashlight to type.

Tomorrow I will be doing a morning seminar at a school for evangelists. I will be using some of the same material I used last week, plus some new material I need to finish preparing tonight.

Pray without ceasing!

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

PS. Sometimes I add pictures a day later to these posts because of connection speed. So if you don't see a picture, check back later.

Goma - Day 7

Early morning again today as I preached at Heal Africa's employee chapel service. Spoke on the importance of taking out burdens to Jesus, in fact HE asks us to do so. The verse says,"Come to me all who are weak and carrying heaven burdens and I will give you rest." That is an amazing promise and when you think of the context of our world, we will not continue moving forward unless we release our burdens to Jesus. After the service I had a few hours until I was to go to Hope for Helpless. I spent the time napping, relaxing, working out, and getting ready for Sunday. I accepted another speaking invitation for Sunday morning. I will speak in one church for their 7am service, then go to another church for their 10am service.

I went to Hope for the Helpless (hopeforthehelpless.com) in the afternoon. This is a ministry which sponsor children in school but does so much more than that. On top of the school fees, uniforms, shoes, and school supplies they provide, they have tutoring, and bible study every Saturday. Children are expected to come every Saturday and if they do no they are followed up with. I was given the opportunity to speak to the kids and I was truly blessed. We ran out and picked up cokes and bread for all the kids. I observed one girl, about 14, doing a little dance while she ate. Andre said she was happy and I ask why. He gave an amazing answer, "because she is eating!" Wow! We need to see how we can plug into this ministry with sponsorship, and help with food for bible study and tutoring times. There is also vision for a basic structure to help to protect kids from the sun and rain. After the Saturday meeting was done, we packed kids into C & E's two suv's and dropped them off close to home. The kids in my suv enjoyed my driving. I pretended that we where all in my Mini, they where laughing hard, especially the boys in the very back.

Esther is going to Bukavu on Monday to keep the "Breaking the Silence" movement moving. The governor of South Kivu was moved by the victims stories and she wants to discuss how the government can help make keeping women safe a reality. She purchased her ticket (travel to Bukavu by 'high' speed boat) next to nice hotel on Lake Kivu. We decided to have dinner there and as we sat we could see the coast of the DRC and Rwanda. It was a very relaxing time.

Pray for Esther's upcoming trip, for protect and favor.
Pray for the continue healing of Camille's leg, recovering from muscle tear. Cast to be on until Wednesday.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

PS. The two girls in the picture are in the Hope for the Helpless program. They are both 8 years old and last year were both victims of sexual violence.

Goma - Day 6

Normally I have all week to prepare to speak at our weekend services. With all the speaking I am doing, I have the night before to get ready for the following day. I did not think that cramming in college was good but it is paying off. This morning I spoke at Heal Africa (www.healafrica.org). The meeting consisted of all employees, volunteers and those in there various programs about 350 people. There was a team from a Baptist church in Brisbane Australia who has been doing a lot of great work. Their team consisted of Doctors, Dentists and teachers, a very valuable combination for Goma. I met a guy from Berkley, California who taught the women how to produce peanut butter for malnourished children. The peanut butter consisted of peanuts, sugar, milk and vitamins.

I met a diplomat from the US embassy in Kinshasa who was in Goma to assess the situation. He had heard about Esther’s Breaking the Silence rally and wanted to learn more. With him was the assistant regional security officer for the US embassy in Kinshasa. Nice guy and he gave his contact information for the next time I’m in Kinshasa. His card says that he is a ‘Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent’. I am not sure what that means, but sounds cool to have special agent on your business card. I wonder if I can get the title of special agent put on my card, Michael Freeman, ‘Special Agent for Advancing the Kingdom’, sounds good.

I went and bought 5 sewing machines, scissors, thread and tape measures for five women that will be leaving Heal Africa to go back to their villages. They will be equipped to provide for themselves and I pray that God will protect them from further violence, sexual or otherwise.

I spoke at Restoration for their Thursday night meeting. The meeting start at 3:30pm but they said I did not need to be their until about 4:15 or 4:30. Within a few minutes of arriving, I was preaching. I used Mathew 13, Jesus telling the story of the different kinds of soil and the seed. My translator was very animated and he helped me to kick it up a few notches. The message seemed to be received well and there was a good response.

After the meeting we went to Heal Africa where Esther and Dieudonne were leading a meeting of the women who are recovering from sexual violence. I was asked to share a few words and I was honored. These are amazing women and they really believe in Jehovah-Rapha, God is my healer. There were 5 women who where leaving to go back to their villages and one by one I present each women with a sowing machine and supplies. They were so overjoyed that they all started dancing and singing. They were so appreciative and I know that this project is something that we need to be a part of going forward. I took pictures, but because of darkness they did not turn out.

It’s now 7:30pm and I think I am done for the evening. I am not sure of the plan for tomorrow and that will determine if I have other things to prepare.

All is well, keep praying.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 5

Day two of the conference had me teaching on unity in the church and love for your neighbor. To teach these topics in the DRC context is very different that at home. They have dealt and continue to deal with so much, that to live the disciple of Jesus life in difficult. I thought life was tough in OC, but this puts my life into a whole new light. The workshop time produced a lot of discussion especially when it came to breaking down the national, denominational, social, gender and tribal walls. I pray that these church leaders can take these tough messages back and live them out. If this area, even the world is going to change, than it is the church that needs to rise up and be the catalyst for the change.

I am working with Esther on a plan to help their learning center. She has a great vision but lacks the resources to make it a reality. There is good potential for a team trip here and I hope that people start asking God if He want s them to ome to Goma. I am also working to supply 5 women with sowing machines. When these women come to Goma to recover from injuries due to sexual violence, they are also taught skills so they can provide for themselves. Many are taught sowing but for them to buy a sowing machine is out of the question due to the expense ($80). There are five women who have recover and are ready to go back to there villages. We are working to purchase the sowing machines for them.

Tomorrow I am teaching at Heal Africa and then preaching at The Restoration Church in the afternoon.

Pray for Congo.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 4

Short night, only about 4 hours sleep, but I started my day with P90X, which got by blood flowing.

Our schedule consisted of the seminar, which I was the guest speaker. We (well, Camille) contacted a Pastor from Heal Africa to come and translate for me. Not all the Pastor’s can speak French so Swahili needed to be the main language. Not many can translate from English to Swahili but this guy was good and passionate. Camille translates when going from English to French, but his Swahili is not good enough for speaking on that level.

The two main sessions went well, over 90 Pastors in attendance. God spoke to me and though me in such a freeing way. I spoke for over an hour at each sessions and the time seemed to fly by for me. I did not see anyone sleeping, so I think it went well for the listeners also. There was a pause café (coffee break) in between sessions and a workshop after the second sessions. There where 10 different groups who had predetermined questions to answer. They spent about an hour in there groups and then where fed lunch. After lunch each group reported their answers to the questions we asked. The two main questions were: Has the church fulfilled its roll in North Kivu? & Have Pastors fulfilled their roll in North Kivu? I was insightful hearing the answers as most said they have fallen short. One group referenced a passage I taught on in Ezekiel 34, talking about the self-serving shepherd. As this women presented her groups answers, there where a lot of sounds of agreement in the room. This time was followed by and boisterous time of prayer. It was a great day 1 of the conference. The pictures are from the conference and the picture of me is at the request of Patrick Peterman, who was with me in Goma earlier this year.

I got to drive right hand drive SUV today. It was tricky enough driving here, but now on the other side of the car I felt all out of balance. Fortunately, not incidents major or minor.

If you have any questions about what you have read, you can comment on the blog and I will get it. Your comment may not end up for public viewing, that’s my option.

Keep praying.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 3

Tuesday found us with restored mobility around Goma. Driving around the only remnants of the previous days trouble was a few looted stores and a UN presence on the main street. The talk among the people is that would rather see the UN out fighting the warlord that sitting on the main road.

Esther and I went with Pastor Ushindi from the Nazarene Church of Goma, to visit a school that is part of their association of churches and schools. It was a fantastic school that focused on educating the children in French. This is important because if the children grown up only speaking Swahili, then there education and job opportunities will be severely limit. This school also has focused time of prayer and bible study throughout the week. Esther and I walked through each class, which went from preschool (3 & 4 year olds) through 6th grade. At least one child from each class presented themselves speaking French to show us how much they had learned. There is a need for child education sponsorship, which cost $60 per year per child. Thanks to Pastor Karie’s “Change Africa” campaign, we will be sponsoring some children. I will be looking into another opportunity to help vulnerable children on Saturday.

I was scheduled to speak to the women of C & E’s (Camille & Esther) church in the afternoon. I was asked to speak the day before and quickly accepted without thinking that I have never spoken to all women’s crowd. But I committed so…

On the way to the meeting, Esther and I stopped by a boutique of hand made goods. These items are made from women involved in a Catholic program that helps them recover from sexual violence. Esther initiated an event called “Women Breaking the Silence”, which had women who were the victims of sexual violence sharing their stories with government and other important officials. The mission was to bring the reality of the situation into the faces of those that can do something about it. The picture of the girl with Esther is one of the individuals who broke the silence. Her name is Mado and she is eleven years old. I will be going back to that boutique and purchasing things that we can sell at church to further support our Congo missions.

The meeting with the women was fantastic, I was so blessed to be able to share with them. God spoke a message of equality, empowerment and importance to women who are part of a male dominated society. The whole time I spoke, their ears were fixed on every word. It was a truly blessed time.

At night we had a great time of prayer thanking God for he day and asking his direction for the next. God convicted me of my concern for all the speaking at the upcoming conference. It felt good to confess and ask God to forgive me, it was no freeing. After prayer I sat down at the table and God poured into me as I wrote my notes for the first day of the seminar. My first two topics are The Role of the Church and the second is The Role of the Pastor. The over all topic of the conference is “The Role of the Church in Times of Crisis”.

Tomorrow will be a full day with the conference.

Continue to pray.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 2

Because of the events from last night, we had to stay on the down-low today. It turns out that there was wide spread looting and the burning of a gas station believe to be owed by the warlord. All NGO'S(non government organizations) were told to stay in today for fear of more violence. People seem to be looking for someone to blame and willing to take it out on anyone. We have been told and it has been verified that many check points have be setup by the government limiting movement in the hopes of calming things down.

So todays initial plan was to begin a seminar outside Goma for pastors which was cancelled due to fighting at the end of last week. The new plan was to visit an orphanage and to see how we (PraiseWorks) can get involved. That was postponed to to the trouble last night.

So I spent the day preparing for other scheduled speaking engagements, specifically a seminar to begin on Wednesday. Camille had me go into the studio to record a message on the role of Pastors. I found it difficult to sit in front of a microphone and preach. I did it bare foot but that did not seem to help. Maybe I will give it another try tomorrow.

I am well and well taken care of.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Goma - Day 1

After 20 hours of plane travel, 12 hours in layovers and a 4 hour can ride, I arrived at the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC). The border closes to vehicle traffic at 6pm and to foot traffic at 8pm, and we arrived at 7:55pm. We (Esther and Jonettle who works with Camille) quickly got ourselves through the border on foot to a waiting car driven by Clark a friend of the Ntoto's. Camille could not come get us as he tore a muscle in his right calf and was put in a full length cast for a week to immobilize the leg.

On Sunday we went to New Song Evangelistic Church, where I was the guest preacher. The message was received well and about 8 people made decisions to follow Jesus and be doers of the Word not just hearers. (See James 1:19-25) After church we went and had lunch on Lake Kivu in Rwanda. It was a nice time to relax and begin to catch up on life with Camille and Esther. Back in Goma, we began to strategize for the next week.

Some fighting broke out not too far outside Goma tonight. The word on the street is that MONUC (UN force in the DRC), mistakenly bombed a DRC military position that was keeping a dangerous warlord back. He since taken the position previously help by government troops. The injured and dead were brought back to Goma to the General Hospital. The governor came to check on the situation and the people began to throw stones at him, holding him responsible. The police came and had to use force to disburse the crowd. It's 9:15pm and things are quiet and we will reassess the situation in the morning.

Pray for Goma. Pray for the DRC. Pray for Camille, Esther & me.

Grace & Peace.

Michael.

New Adventure to Goma

On September 18 I will be leaving on a trip to Goma, which is in the DRC on the border with Rwanda. This is an area that continues to be devistated by waring factions with the greatest atrosicties against women. Violence against women is ramped and there does not seem to be an end in sight. Much is being done through organizations such as Heal Africa and Light of Africa Network(LoAN) to help nurse these victims back to physical, emotional and spiritual health. The real challenge is to stop the circle of violence so communities and a nation can heal for an endless time of strife. I will be working with LoAN to reach out to the men to begin to teach them what it means to be a man. The following is an except from an email I received from Camille Ntoto who is the field coordinator for LoAN:

We are going to work closely with Pastors equipping them with the tools they need to best assist those in dire need of God’s comfort. Here are my thoughts:
1) The identity of the church, body of Christ (agent of Love and Salvation).
2) Why should we care? (an idea of biblical aspects of social justice)
3) What do we need in order to be a good shepherd of God’s sheep?
4) How can the church effectively break social, economic, racial, tribal, GENDER divides/injustices in our community?
5) Examples of Jesus; The Good Shepard: The Idea of a Good Pastor.
6) Empowering the survivors of abuse with the encouraging Words of God: Turning Pain to Power.
7) The Importance of Reconciliation: with God, Self, and Others.

The task ahead is extensive, but I believe that God has already equipped us to be victorious. Pray for favor. Pray for protection. Pray for wisdom and discernment. Pray for peace. Pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Grace & Peace,

Michael.

May 17th and 18th

I know I have said this and Patrick has to, but mark your calender for these two dates. Saturday at 6pm and Sunday morning at 10:30a, we will dedicate our services to our recently completed trip. You can click on the link below for a map to our church. It you have any questions please email me at pwmissions@sbcglobal.net.


Grace and Peace,

Michael.


http://www.praiseworks.org/411/meeting/where.htm

No place like home, Patrick

We land at LAX. I beat Mike through customs so I was walking ahead of him by myself. I didn't really know where I was going but as I turned a corner I found I was in the right place.I thought the Beatles must have been on the same flight & standing behind me because the crowd went wild. It turns out a huge group of people from P-dub showed up at the airport to greet Mike & I. Everybody else in the airport must have thought we were famous, the roar was deafening... It was awesome, thanks guys. Seeing everybody I had been missing was touching, hearing them scream like rock & roll crazed teenagers...Priceless.

So this is the end of this journey but not the end of the mission. Your mission field, my mission field, mission work in general does not have to be on the other side of the planet & it doesn't have to cost a bunch of money. It doesn't have to start on a particular date & end when a plane lands back in your home town.
If you are a believer, you have a mission... spread the WORD, be HIS hands & feet, love people like Jesus would. It is amazing what you can do when you do it in HIS name & in HIS power. With God all things are possible.

If you would Like to here & see more about our trip, please come to Praiseworks May 17Th & 18Th. Mike & I will be sharing our experiences, Photos,& videos.

Thanks for reading.

Patrick,

John 3:30

And We're Back...

We'll here I am sitting in my office on my laptop thinking, "Did what I just experience really happen?" It's surreal to be back home, where did the time go? The last 25 days flew by!

Patrick and I were greeted by thunderous applause by many of our church family after we cleared immigration and customs at LAX. Patrick got through first and was about 50 feet ahead of me. As he exited the customs area to freedom, the ovation was deafening. Thanks to our church family that drove up to LAX to see us back. It touched my heart to be welcomed home with so much love.

So, what was my first meal back? Chipotle!

Well, what is next? I am determined not to let the momentum generated by this trip come to a grinding halt. Having seen what God did though our church and beyond, I know that there is more work for us to do. We will talk about our trip at church in our weekend services on May 17 and 18. What ever I put together visually, I will work to put on UTUBE, so those of you who are out of the area can see what happened. Keep checking this blog over the next couple weeks and I will let you know what is happening.

As always,

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

London to LAX

We are here safe in London and are waiting for the next flight. Looking forward to getting home.

Grace and peace,

Michael

Nairobi to London

Well, we are officially on our way home. We are here in Nairobi enjoying our 8+ hour layover.

Yesterday afternoon we left Goma for the drive to Kigali, Rwanda. The scenery along the drive is very difficult to explain. Rolling hills, lush landscape, great views, simply amazing. He got into Kigali about 7pm and the lights from the city coming in were very cool. We spent the night at Hotel des Mille Collines, which is the hotel in the movie Hotel Rwanda. We had a nice evening with the Ntoto's and enjoyed God's favor. This morning we drove around the city, which is very clean, and purchased a few things.

We will miss Camille and Esther, they definitely are family to us.

The flight to Nairobi was pretty uneventful and full. We are hoping that our flight to London won't be full so we can lay down.

This will be one our last blogs. I hope and pray that you have been able to journey with Patrick and I as we took this most excellent adventure. Mark your calender for May 17 and 18. We will use our weekend services to share our experiences, in pictures and word.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Coming to an end

We have been quiet for a couple days as we have had no internet service. It's Friday afternoon here and we are about to leave to spend the night in Rwanda so we can catch our flight Saturday morning. I will summarize, as best I can, the last couple days.

Wednesday, April 30.
Morning start at 6:30am with a run/walk with Camille, Esther and Patrick. Following that at 7:30am was a prayer meeting with all the staff and volunteers of Light of Africa Network on the patio. It was a fantastic way to start the day.

We spent the morning with Esther going to Heal Africa. We got to see the hospital and visit with the founding Doctor. Part of what they due with the victims of sexual violence is teach them job skills and the best one is sowing. We went and visited the program and purchased a lot of the things that they made. We are bringing them back with the intent of selling them to fund more projects.

We spent most of the afternoon at the house preparing for Thursday's speaking engagements.

Sounds like a slow day, but is was nice to catch our breath and be prepared for Thursday.

Thursday, May 1
Day started like Wednesday, run followed by prayer. I was able to share some scripture that God gave me while we were praying. We spent time asking questions about the passage and talking about how it applies to us.

First on the schedule was a couples retreat and the Full Gospel Church. The event was sponsored by the Christian Business Men's Association of Goma. I spoke for an hour on marriage focusing on equality, love and covenant. The message was very well received and once again, Camille did an excellent job translating. When I finished, a pastor spent 30 minutes going over the main points in Swahili for those whose French is not that good.

Second we went to a youth retreat at a Baptist Church. Patrick was scheduled to give his testimony. At this point I had heard it a few times, but it gets better and better each time. The youth were very focused and we had open question and answer after. The three of us answered the questions, then Camille did a teaching on the first couple verses in Hebrews 11. He is an amazingly gifted teacher, I only wish I could understand French better.

We then where off to an event at Holywood City, this event was a week in the making. Last week, we attended an English Bible study, see entry from that day. Clark the owner had the idea to get the bible study, drug addicts, and street kids together to hear Patrick’s testimony. Clark went into the streets of Goma and found where the addicts hung out and invited them personally to the event. He told them that he had a friend who had a story that they had to hear. Thursday night came and there where almost 60 people in attendance! Drug addicts, street kids, and believers in Jesus all together, the way Jesus would want it. Camille started it out with worship and we discovered his gift on the guitar and to draw people into worship. He taught each song, in English, and to my surprise everyone was participating. Patrick was first up and gave his testimony. It seemed that some where thinking that Patrick had nothing that could relate to him, but boy were they wrong. The Spirit locked them into his journey through his bad decisions, into his great decision to follow Jesus. I followed Patrick with a message about the choice between heaven and hell and that we get to choose. Camille followed with a decision to follow Jesus time. At least 12 people made first time commitments to follow Jesus! Party time in heaven! It was truely overwhelming.

We funded and meal and Clark's people came through big. They made rice, beef and beans, with various soft drinks available. He used his good dishes and silverware, treating people as VIPs. The streets kids ate as if there was no tomorrow...Bellies where all full and the love of Jesus was displayed in tangible ways. Clark is one of my new hero's. God told him to go into the street and bring the neglected of society into his restaurant/hotel. Next Thursday they are meeting again to begin leadership training and discipleship. I just received Celebrate Recovery Material from home today, that Camille and Esther will use to meet the huge needs of recovery here. CR Goma, we will have to let Saddleback Church know that their progam has landed in Goma, DRC.

After the event, we hand an opportunity to have dinner with Clark, Esther, and Camille and reflect on the day, in a word...Transforming.

Friday, May 2

Travel day as we are off the Kigali Rwanda.

This morning Patrick Esther and I went to a hospital in the outskirts of Goma to drop off the medical supplies we brought. They were very appreciative as they do not receive much help. They serve a lot of displaced people from the war and cannot afford to pay, they are doing a great work.

In the way back, we stopped at a Heal Africa Clinic and bought more stuff to sell at home.

Well, off to Kigali. We will update the blog from Nairobi.


Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Refugee Camp

Today we set out for the refugee camp. We had a SUV full of people, plus we rented a pickup to carry the 1200 salted dried fish we bought for distribution. The camp was about 1.5 hours from Goma along some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. The views of the mountains and lake Kivu are spectactular. Most camps are isolated, but this one is situated right next to a village. The difficulty in distributind to this camp is that the villagers want whatever is being handed out. The camp we went to was a pygmy camp. These people had to flee there villages because of the fighting. They are a neglected group and aid does not come very often for them. Three workers from Caritas came with us and were very organized. All the refugees had a registration card and only those people could get aid. We distributed to almost 600 families which covers about 2600 people. The distribution went well until the end. When all the refugees had received their fish, we had some left over. We tried to get them to the villagers that were around, but it turned very close into a mob scene. So we hopped in the truck and left. Along the road on the way back, we stopped and handed fish to people. We had also bought some candy to distribute to kids and had some left ofer. Camille would slow the care down and we would throw the candy to children. It was a lot of fun.

Pretty tired so that's all for now.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Preparation Day

Today was a day of running around and getting things prepared for tomorrow. We first went to World Vision to talk to them about feeding at a refugee camp. We ran into protocol and procedural issues, and it did not seem like they wanted to help. We ended up at Caritas, a Catholic organization, and found out that they do a monthly feeding at this camp. Long story short, we care going to the camp with three people from Caritas to do the feeding.

We then went to Heal Africa which in the best source of medical care in most of Congo. We met with the founding doctor and he shared that their operating room in up to date and the best in Congo. All the equipment has come straight from the U.S. The hospital does great work and is the base for their main work. They send teams of medical personal into the bush to provide medical care. They bring the most serious cases back to Goma for treatment. We met with women who where in recovery from surgery to repair damage from sexual violence. Most of the women remembered us from last Friday when we met with them. Once women asked if I would pray from God to heal them, and I was honored to do so.

After a break for lunch and misc. things, we went with Esther to buy salted dried fish for the distribution. When we got in the SUV, Esther asked if I wanted to drive because she was tired so, I go my first experience driving in the DRC. It was not as crazy as Kinshasa, but I certainly was more focused they when I drive at home. The fish buying took awhile, we purchase 1200 fish. They are large and each family will get two.

Pray for us as we go out of Goma to the refugee camp. There are about 500 families living there, with about 5 people per family. These people had to flee their homes in the mountains because of rebel forces.

The connection is here is very slow and I have been unsuccessful getting any more pictures up load, but I will keep trying.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Church and Orphanage

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

It should not be a challenge to preach, I do it every weekend. But this weekend Satan has been playing tricks with my mind. I started to think that I have nothing to offer these people and why would they listen to a white guy from the U.S. I stayed up late last night preparing for the message today and was woken up early thinking about the message. While I was taking a shower, the Lord spoke to me this verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." That was the answer, not to depend on myself but to trust in the Lord.

Church started at 9am so we left at 9:15...seriously. When got to church the place was all ready charged up in worship and prayer. There were 400 people in the sancuary with an other 100 in the overflow. Eventhough all the worship was in french, I was able to really enjoy the worship and God continued to prepare me to speak. I spoke on Romans 12:1-2 with the focus on God's will for our lives. Camille is an incredible translator and we had good flow together. Camille led the response and several people make first time commiments to Jesus and a lot more recommitted their lives to Jesus! Great stuff!

A women gave a moving tetimony of deliverance. She was in the airplace that crashed here in Goma a couple weeks ago with her three daughters. She pushed her kids out a window because they were trapped. When the older daughter (not more than 12) saw her mom still in the plane, she went back in the plane to help her mom. The mom ended up with burns to her lower back but generally okay.

Camille and Esther do not cook on Sundays so they took us to a nice restraurt on Lake Kivu. It was a very relaxing time and made me want to take a nap.


No nap because we were off to the orphanage. We have brought a huge sack of shoes to take to the kids, also a tether ball, soccor ball and a pile of bananas that we bought on the side of the road for $5. We met under some shelter with the kids and got to hear a couple of their stories. To say the least, they were very heart braking. One boy had to flee his home by the direction of his parents as they were being attacked, he was 6 at the time. He lived on the streets with other kids stealing to get by. He was brought to the orphanage where he has food, shelter and is getting an education, he is now 13. We were able to out fit most kids with shoes, but we did not have some bigger sizes. Many children were doing a "happy dance" when they got their shoes. Patrick hooked up the tether ball and we tossed them the soccor ball, more "happy dancing".

Tonight we had nice time sitting outside talking about God and drinking tea. We called church and got to hear the combined voices from home, very moving.

Tomorrows plan: UN, Heal Africa, preparing for refugee camp feeding.

Thank you for you continued prayers.

I miss my family...

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Prison, radio station and motorcycle

I think Patrick summed up the prison experience well, so if you haven't read his entry, make sure you do. It was a truly cool experience and Patrick did do a great job. He was translated from English to French to Swahili. They asked me to share a few words at the end, and it was very invigorating sharing with the men. Camille had been to this prison before and he commented that the inmates reaction and receptivity to the message was far better than when he had came before. The terms the men are serving range from a few months to life. Some are in prison because they could not pay their fine, as little as $10.

We accompanied Esther to the market to buy food items. And when I say market, I do not mean Stater Bros. or Whole Foods, I am talking about an outdoor market on the side of the street. It was actually a drive through, because if you pull up and roll your window down all the sellers run up to you to try to get you to buy their stuff.

We took care of the radio station computer and the station director asked Camille about getting me on the air. He wanted me to do an hour long live program every day next week. Do to our schedule, we can't make it happen, but I might record a program in the Light of Africa studio for radio air play. Camille is going to get the Passion for Souls CD played on the radio in Goma.

We went to the Youth meeting at church where I had spoke yesterday. Patrick did a good job again and then fielded some tough questions. He answered the questions thoroughly and from his heart.

We spent the evening with Camille (Esther was out) talking, and singing outside looking out at Lake Kivu. Patrick taught Camille how to ride a motorcycle, one again the Jedi master gets to use his skills.

We did not get to the orphange today but it is on the schedule after lunch tomorrow. I am preaching in the morning meeting at the Assemblies of God church when Camille and Esther go.

That's all from me for now, it's getting late and I need to finished getting prepared for tomorrow.

Grace and Peace,

Michael.

Prison...& more! Patrick

Hey Family,

At 7:00 am we arrived at the prison here in Goma. So far this country has been all new experiences. Standing out in front of this prison I understand some things are universal. Prisons will always look some what the same & for me feel somewhat the same. This one was no different. If you know, you know & if you don't, praise God. So Mike, Camille & I are greeted by some men out front & in a few moments there is rattling coming from behind the heavy steel door, it swings open & we begin to file in. This is strange for me I have never voluntarily entered a facility like this & never expected to be able to walk back out in a few hours. The Lord put prison ministry on my heart a long time ago. The anxiety I am feeling is over come by the realization that God is working through me, & that I am equipped & ready for the challenge. I have brought my sword to the battle , I have put on the armor & I all ready know who wins.The truth rings through my mind, "All things work out for the good of those that love God & are called according to his purpose"... I am on fire. I expected to be scared, I'm not. This is nothing like when I have seen visitors & Pastors come to prison, usually they come through a safe & secured passage & are escorted by correctional officers. We walked through a door right on to the yard. This "high security" facility was built to imprison 300 men, as we squeeze our way, face to face with the inmates, through the press of the 600 men who live here I realize there are no towers, no guards with mini 14s, it is us & the inmates. who I will later be informed have been left to govern themselves. I am more & more pumped up with each step. By the time we can hear the worship music coming from the room we are headed to I am ready to explode. We walk in & it is dark, the only light is the sun shining through the bars high on the wall, coming in from outside. As my eyes adjust I realize there are approx 300 guys in a room built for 100. Walking very carefully so as not to step on people sitting on the floor we make our way across the room & sit. The worship is amazing, passionate, genuine...tribal. I am moved. The time has come, I stand, these are my peeps, I understand them. I begin to tell them my testimony... & I ignite. It's on like Donkey Kong. This feels so awesome, natural. These guys were more than listening, they were receiving, they were passionately responding. We were all in the middle of a blessing experience & we realized it. So the Lord let me spit fire for a few min.s & then it was time to go. Afterwards we were taken on a "tour" of the facility. Man after man called out my name as we walked by, there is a language barrier but no other words were needed. The Lord is building bridges, changing lives, saving souls.

In the after noon we went with Camille to one of the radio stations he supports & is broadcast on.
Camille gave them a VERY nice new Dell to use for recording, editing, whatever. Very cool, they hooked it it up & it was super fast, nice ...

Next we went to a youth function at the AOG church & I was asked to speak again. I gave my testimony & afterwards we opened it up for question & answer. It was awesome the questions were well thought out & very challenging.

As it turns out Camille has a little Honda motorcycle but he doesn't know how to ride it.this eve we fired it up & Now he is a rider...cool huh?

I'm out.

P

Not the same old thing

There has been and will continue to be many opportunities to preach and teach. I preached at the church Camille and Esther attend today. There service is very similar to ours, except for the language, French. Immediately after the service we went to a meeting with women and girls who have been the victims of sexual violence. They come from their homes outside the city to Goma to get physical healing. Esther works with the women to deal with the emotional and spiritual brokenness and shares with them the healing power from the love of Jesus. The women were at various stages of the mental and spiritual process. In some of their faces you could see hope and others did not believe that hope exists, who can blame them! I could tell you some of their stories, but it is a little to disturbing for this blog. Check out http://www.healafrica.org/ to read more, this is the organization that is taking care of these women. Patrick and I were asked to share, and the women were very receptive to the message. Esther had them respond individually with what the message meant to them. Very cool!



Patrick, Camille and I had a nice walk back to the house as Esther had the car. The weather is fantastic, but it is hard to walk on lave rocks with sandals. 40% of Goma was cover in a new lava flow a few years ago, so lava rock is everywhere.



It has been nice being in constant fellowship with Camille and Esther. They are doing fantastic work and always have new ideas they want to implement. Their cell phones are constantly ringing with people who need help, direction, or many other things.



Tomorrow's plan includes: prison, radio station, assessing a feeding at a refugee camp, orphanage and youth meeting. We are out by 6:30am, so it should be a good full day.



Love to all.



Grace and Peace,



Michael.

friday april 25th 7:00 pm Patrick. A whole new level

Hello all...

A whole new level...

This morning Mike, Camille, Ester & I got to meet with the regional director of World Vision. It was a very exciting meeting discussing possibilities for partnerships.It was very educational & inspiring.

This after noon we went to church & Mike delivered a smoking Holiness in action message.It was Awesome! The AOG congregation lit up! that place was on fire!

Afterwards we met with a group of approx 40 women. They are in a "hospital" that treats women who are victims of sexual violence, some of them have contracted HIV due to the attacks & some have been left pregnant with their attackers baby. There is a woman who has huge, deep, horrifying scars on her face, & one of the victims is just a child,maybe 7 years old.After Mike encouraged & excited them with the story of the woman who was healed by touching Jesus' robe, I was asked to speak...I thought to my self, as I'm reeling from what I've learned & being stared at by these women who's eyes convey all the pain they have been through & are still in. What can I possible have to say. Me, I've got nothing.
I said a short prayer & asked the LORD to handle my business. We started in Romans 8:38-39 & we were off... I don't even know where I ended up I think Hebrews & Job.These women were so hungry for the Word & received the message with enthusiasm. God is Good & continues to bless & encourage me.

Tomorrow morning around 6:30 am we are off to Prison to bring the message to the inmates.

I miss you all.

P.

Safely in Goma

Today was a day of movement. Our scheduled departure to Goma was right on schedule and went off with out a hitch. Last week an airplane crashed on take off from the Goma airport, the same airlines that we flew on. We took off from Kinshasa, then stopped in Kisangani before our arrival in Goma. On each landing most passengers clapped as if a safe landing was not supposed to happen. Our luggage made it safe which was kind of a surprise. We actually had to check in our bags the night before we flew at the airlines office in town. They then drive our bags to the airport and load them, kind of different.

It was great to see Camille and Esther! Esther met us in the airport and help us get through the process faster. I did not think there would be any process for a domestic flight, but... Our accommodations are a little different than what we experienced in Mato, running water and electricity are fantastic. Patrick and I taught a a bible study tonight. Camille had started a 3 week crash course in English, then kept it going through Bible study. They started with worship, all in English and that is a way to learn more. We sang Lord I Lift Your Name and Trading My Sorrows to start. A great way to start the Bible Study! Patrick and I did our bit and left time for questions, a great time. The Bible study was at a restaurant/guest house/hotel owned by a good friend of Camille and Esther's. It was a fantastic safe environment, which are few in Goma.

We gave Camille and Esther all the stuff we brought and they are very happy. Thanks to all of you for making it possible.

We just finished eating a late dinner and having great conversation. In the next week I will be preaching on a few occasions and we will be teaching and sharing in other situations. Keep praying for Camille, Esther, Patrick and myself. Goma is not the safest place but God's will be done.

Grace and Peace,

Michael

Pictures from Mato

Mama Captain with the fufu machine

Motobike Mike

Captain on the moto we gave

Last day in Kinshasa

Kinshas is coming to an end. Today we left money at headquarters for more child sponsorships and for the pig project to be completed in Mato. We are going to souveneer shop and take care a few other things.

I spoke to Camille ane Esther in Goma last night and they are very excited for our visit. I am scheduled to preach on Friday and Sunday, so please pray for me.

I miss you family and ask that you keep praying for us.

To Mrs. Peytons class: I keep reading your notes to me and it makes me smile alot. I look forward to seeing all of you when I get home.

Grace and Peace,

Michael

monday 4-21 12:15 Pm Patrick/ Re:Motorbike Mike

Freeman is now a motorcycle rider!
I only have a second because Motorbike Mike is standing next to me tapping his impatient little shifting foot, waiting for me to grab the keys to the other bike so we can go on a burn run.
This is cool, he is so excited...priceless.

Now he understands :-)

Late.
P.

Tuesday April 22 Michael

I was not looking to the drive back, a truck full of stuff and 6 people in a truck that seats five. Besides the general uncomfort, the trip was fine until we got into Kinshasa. We were pulled over for four people in the back seat of the truck. What is rediculous is that a VW van can have 20 people but 4 in the back seat of the truck is wroung. The injustice. It costs us 12 dollars to get out of the jam and keep moving. Not like getting pulled of at home. The journey back took just over 3 hours and my back side was done with bumpy roads.

We spent the rest of the day in town having lunch and spending a couple hours in the cyber cafe. It is an air condition place with nice equipment. At night we were back in Kitambo and for dinner we had chocotate browine flavor Power Bar dipped in peanut butter, dinner of champions.

Grace and Peace,

Michael

monday 4-21 10:15 am Patrick

Well like I said our driver Alan has priors it is now 10:15 and he just came back w/ the truck. It's all good he came back w/ a goat that will be slaughtered & prepared for a big meal tonight. this will be the first meat we or anyone else has eaten since we have been here. Seeing this little goat tied up & knowing his fate reminded me that I am just a soft Moondeli (white guy).

P.

Monday April 21 Michael

Last full day in Mato. The day started with us waiting for our driver to come back with the truck. He left early to go buy a goat for our feast tonight. The people here do not get much opportunity to eat meat and this is the longest I have gone with out meat. If I was unsure before, I am not a vegetarian. In-N-Out, thats what a hamburger is all about. Day dreaming...I am back and now hungry! With our driver still not back, we will go down to the farm after lunch to wrap up a few loose ends. So what to do...

Did I tell you that we bought a motorcycle? I have never driven one and now I have! I was taught by Jedi Master Patrick on the ways of the motocycle. As I let out on the clutch and reved the gas way to much, I was slowly off with Patrick running behind me. It reminded me of when I took Nates training wheels off his bike and I was running behind him to keep him safe. After a couple laps around the compound it was time to get out in the road. Patrick hopped in the truck and drove with our drive riding next to him. He had fun 4x4ing thought all the mud and water I went around. Once we came back, Partick jumped on the Captians motorcycle and we were off together. We ended up taking a couple rides today with the last one as dusk was approaching. Riding was fantastic! As we were riding back through the village several children were making faces at us thanks to Parteick, you know the one where he twists his ears and puffs his face out.

After lunch we went down to the farm to deal with a hole in one of the pipes, unfortunarly we could not find the hole without the water pumping. I created a fix and showed them what to do. We also discussed the placement for the water tank and what it would take to make it happen. This was the hottest day in Mato with no cloud cover. We were blessed all the other days with overcast skies which keep the sweat factor down.

The goat feast was a huge success! We all sat outside together under the moon and the lights from our truck. They made a couple of speaches thanking us for all that we did there and for the great food. Partick inturn thanked them for making us a part of their family. We need to keep praying for these people.

Tomorrow back to Kinshasa.

Grace and Peace,

Michael

monday 4-21 7:00 am Patrick

I forgot to write yesterday...sorry. We went to church, both Freeman & I were given an opportunity to address the congregation. I shared my testimony & delivered the message of forgiveness & grace, it was well received. We have come here on a mission to spread the gospel & instigate economic development. However after a 3 hour church service I feel like they should be sending missionaries to our country.The way they worship & praise the LORD in the midst of the plight that is life here is amazing & inspiring. After church Freeman were involved in a village meeting where we gave a Fufu machine(huge food grinder) to Mrs. Captain. This will greatly speed up a process that was being done by hand & they will be able to rent out use of the machine for a decent profit. The machine is another investment in the people of Mato from the people of Praiseworks & all of you who offered support. It was very much appreciated & will have a great effect on economic development. Later in the day Freeman & I were stoked to sit in on a 2 hour project meeting, it was actually very encouraging to see the level of organization & the vision that Abendego, Eric, & the Captian are working with. That was Sunday.

Today is Monday & it is back to the veg. farm to do some finish work on the irrigation system.(hold on a sec Mike & I are doing push ups & I gotta do a set) OK I'm back. Well our driver took off this morning to go buy a goat & still is not back (he's got priors) as soon as he shows up we will be off to work.

P.

Sunday April 20 Michael

We do not allow ourselves much Sabbath, a day of rest, in the U.S. Sabbath is commanded by God way back in Exodus and we took Sabbath today. Church started at 10:30, so with travel by foot, we had to leave at 9:59, the church was accross the compound. We had a good sleep and a slow morning. Church lasted about 3 hours and Patrick gave a really cool testimony and the people seemed to really get it. When he talked about his past and the transformation that has taken place, there were a lot of amens being said. I gave a small lesson on peace. Not peace that is absent of conflict, but peace that comes from God that exists even in the midst of conflict. After church walked back to our room, sat on our beds and...fell asleep. Ah Sabbath!

Nap was followed by lunch which was followed by a community meeting where we presented the fufu machine. Mama Captain, received the machine and explained that what the machine will do for the village. They are assembling a team of three to establish the rate people will pay to use the machine.

We then sat in on a staff meeting from the varous areas of the farm. Beef production, vetables, rabbits, and tractor. Each area gave an update and the current challenges they are facing and they looked to Patrick and I for input. The input we were able to give was in the organization and procees which they were using. The team is strong and the future is bright for this farm.

As the meeting ended dusk had set in setting up a beautiful sunset. The sunsets here rival the ones I have watched with my family in Maui.

One more day in the bush...

Grace and Peace,

Michael

Pictures

Fight Quest DRC

Patricks influence

Sunset in the bush

Sat 4:19, 8:00 pm Patrick

I am wore out. What a great day. Mike & I work well & quickly together. we put down & glued all the pipe. We don't have the adaptor we need to get the water from the pump into the pipe. It took a few hours & much creativity but we now have an operational, irrigated vegetable farm, success! Other than bring the money to purchase the farm this is a big part of what we came here to do. WATER IS LIFE.
We got back to the village and started to work on the pig pen. Normally I just neglect picking up after my self & in no time I have a pig pen... this is more involved. I we sunk 10 posts & nailed something like chicken wire (I guess this would be pig wire) to the posts. there is so much more to write I just can't, I'm exhausted. I'll write you in the morning.

P.

I HAVE RUN OUT OF TIME HERE AT THE CYBER CAFE. I MISS YOU GUYS I'LL WRITE MORE SOON

Sat 4:19, 6:20 am Patrick

The big truck w/ the pipe showed up last night! We headed back down to the farm (9 kilometers) & off loaded the pipe. When we got back it was amazing how many people came out of nowhere to get a ride & to bring their stuff to town on the big truck.
This morn. it is back to the veg. farm for Mike & I. Hopefully we will get all the pipe fitted & have water pumping up to the veg rows early so we will have time to come back & work on the pig pen.
The bell is ringing I gotta go to devotion.

P.

Fri. April 18th, evening Patrick. Mfumu

Mike & I just met the Mfumu (leader) of another local village. This guy has crazy bad JuJu, or MoJo...whatever. He is known as a very powerful witchdoctor. Freaky stuff, pray hard.

Peace,
Patrick

Fri. April 18th, 4:15 pm Patrick. pig pen

HA! I thought I was filthy before, now Mike & I are truly dirty.We cleared a 60 foot by 60 foot area that was just overgrown jungle & now it is clean, flat, & fit for a pig! this is just the beginning of the pig farm that we hope to finish before we leave. Now we are going out in to the surrounding villages to get to know our neighbors, their needs & more about life here in the bush.

I'm out.

Patrick

Saturday April 19 Michael

The goal for today was to get water from the well up to the vegetable beds about 800 feet away and then build the pig enclosure.

With 800 feet of trench already dug, Patrick and I got to work laying and glueing the pipe. It was like puting my sprinklers together just much bigger pipe and a lot more of it. We ran the pipe down and created a connection for where the pump would connect. That did not take much time time but the next step would. No one thought of how to connect the pipe to the water pump, a much needed step. Fortunately our driver Alan was also able to create someting out of nothing. He created a connector using misc. parts including a part from the engine! I was relieved that this was only a temporary option! After one failed attempt, it worked. I ran to the end of the line in my rubber book, note to self rubber boots are not good for running, and watched as water come pumping out. The guys who are responsible for the cattle and vegetables where jumping up and down with excitement. Later they are going to add a water take and pump water into it, then irrigate from the tank. The farm willl be hopping with fresh vegetables very soon.

As we were preparing to go back to our compound, 8 children came out of the bush with huge sacks of leaves on their heads. The leaves are used to wrap the kwanga in. These kids were no more than 10 years old and a couple looked no more than 6. The walk back to the village was about 4 miles and these kids would have already walked down and then now to walk back. To make this story shorter, they got in the truck and got a ride, they were very excited.

After lunch and rest,we went to work on the pig enclosure. We had 20 meteres of fencing so the enclusure was 20 meters square, well kind of square. We put in posts then nailed the fencing to the posts. Patrick held the fencing, I nailed and about 20 people watched! No pressure. It did not take long and it was finished. We hope to have pigs in here Monday, but we will see...

All in all, another great day in the bush. We finished the day by washing up in a 3 walled enclosure that faced the bush. There you strip down and use a bucket of water to clean up. That is what the locals do, so we did too. Good to be clean.


Pictures to come tomorrow.


Grace and Peace,

Michael

Fri. April 18th, 12:04 pm Patrick. progress

This morning Mike rode in the truck & I rode the motorcycle, this is very tough terrain. We got to the river we are going to pump water from & most of the trench had already been dug! Mike & I grabbed machetes & cleared a path so we could carry the pump down to the waters edge. we got the pump next to the water & after some messing around with the motor we got the pump started...so now we have pumping water but no pipes to pump it into:-(
The ride back, Well I decided to take this new motorcycle & throw it on the ground a few times. other than some bruises & a busted fender we came out unscathed.

We are going to break for lunch & then we will go & clear a place behind the village where we are going to build a pig pen. I gotta go wash up I am filthy.

God is good.

Patrick

Friday, April 18 Michael

5:30 wake up for 6am devotions. They ring a big bell and the people make it in for morning prayers. The church building is open qnd fairly new. Not sure what the devotions were about but it was somewhere in Revelations.

We spent the moring working on the water well down at the farm. The irrigation system is a top priority as it makes it impossible for crops to grow without water. Up to this point, they have been walking pails of water up from the stream to the field. We got some good time to interact with the locals and even clown around a bit. I know, shocking that Patrick and I would clown around. Patrick helped clear some growth out of the well while I took a machete and cleared off over growth around the well. We both then took machetes to over growth and cleared a path to the road. (Cool pictures to come of machetes).

In the afternoon we cleared jungle to prepare for a pig pen. The growth was well over 6 feet high and we cleard a large area.

Cool thing about how they work, they work hard in the morning then break for lunch and rest. Then pick it up again in the afternoon. We were all about the rest!

We were going to go into the village but the truck with our supplies arrived. We took the supplies, mostly for irrigation, down to the farm so we could work on it the next day. We had a generator repaired so now we can have some light in the evening. We also bought a fufu machine for womens ministries of the Salvation Army. Fufu: take kasava and soak it water, then dry it out, then pound it by hand into a power. This machine will grind the kasava taking the pounding part out. The women will be able to produce more kwanga, a staple, and also charge in the village to use the machine.

Francis , main translator and friend, was a huge help. He stayed back in Kinshasa and made sure all of the supplies made it to us in Mato. When we left the truck it was sti!ll being worked on. Unfortunatly we could not stay with us as he is preparing to go to South Africa for some schooling for 3 months.

Pictures to come tomorrow.

Grace and Peace,

Michael

Fri. April 18th, 5:40 am Patrick. Back in Mato

(all of the following was written in the bush & now we are back and posting to the blog)

We are in Mato now. we arrived yesterday. Mike & I came out in a 4x4 but the big truck w/ the pipe has not arrived yet. The road was not as bad & we took a different route ( big muddy hill climbs) it was a blast! Last night was cool, Abendego the farmer from Kenya who was hired by the SA to run this farming project shared how he was here by himself for a long time and it was very difficult for him. So he requested & was sent a companion (Eric). That reminded me of Ecclesiastes 4: 7-12 so grabbed my bible. By moonlight, around the hood of our truck, standing in the mud we tore into scripture in 3 languages & as I quite often do we ended up in Romans...it was awesome.
Last night was our first night sleeping out here in the bush, these are the toughest people I have ever met. This morning we are going to go down to the veg. farm & start digging.

Mosquitoes are gangsters.

I gotta go there is work to be done.

Late
P.

Thursday, April 17 Michael

Drive out was not as stressfull this time. The back of the truck was piled high with our supplies Congo style, minus all the people on top. We did not try to accmplish too much as darkness was falling. We ( Patrick, Eric, Abendego, Alan, Captain, and I) hung out at the front of the truck and an impromptu devotion broke out. Patrick took us to Eccessiates where it talks about the value and necessity of companionship. I was able to use my wedding ring tatoo as an illustration to the scripture.

A mamma came out to cook for us, not our decision, and she made our beds and cooked for us. We ate local congolese food, rice, kasava leaves, kwanga and sardines. Can you say Power Bar? We ate most of the food but had to consider the effects on our stomachs.

Sleep? We had good accomodations especially for the bush. The temp. was mild and I actually used a sheet over me. In the bush you go to bed early with there being no electricity. Best sleep so far.

Pictures to come tomorrow.

Grace and Peace,

Michael

Education Sponsorship

This is Sonia Nzuzi one of the youths we sponsor. She is 17 years old and is close to finishing secondary school.

We have pictures with the other kids we have sponsored to put up at church.

Congo time...

Well we had planed to buy supplys today & be out of here (kinshasa) early tomorrow. we bought 61, three inch, 20 foot long pvc pipes that we are going to use to pump water from a river to the vegetable farm area. we are also going to be digging the ditch to bury the pipe...pray for strength. The huge Iveco diesel 4x4 we are supposed to use to get the pipes to Mato was supposed to have repairs done on it today...we just came from checking on the truck & nothing has been done :-) . there is also a generator that we are supposed to be taking out to the people in Mato, it also was supposed to have repairs done today... again nothing has been done. I think somewhere along the line brother Michael must have prayed for patience & I have received the blessing of seeing prayers answered right before my eyes.

Ok I was going to give shout outs to some people but I dont want to leave anybody out & ruin my political career. To Melvin, Betty & Michael Peterman thank you so much for never giving up,Much love. The AOG church in Mi. & My Uncle's (Rick Lineberger) church in Fl. thank you for your prayers & support. The Kingdom is moving forward & into the jungle because of you;

To my precious family in Orange(Praiseworks)... I don't even know what to say, I miss you all so much. You are my peeps. Agape

Nate, Dave, & Joanna, Michael & I are taking good care of each other... We love & miss you, be home soon.

Patrick,
John3:30