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.