Hello all from Patrick.
Tuesday.
Well we got up at 5 and and went to church for prayer from 6 to 7, we will be doing this everyday this week. Thats right 6 am PRAYER MEETING and around 200 people show up...amazing. It is an inspiring thing to see all these people giving God their first fruits. There is some intercessory corprate prayer & a whole lot of free form pouring out of hearts...moving.
About 7:30 am Cam, Mike, Terry & I arrived at Goma Central Prison. I spoke here last year and remember it well. This year I spoke to them about how no disipline is enjoyable while it is happening but that afterwards is a peacefull harvest of right living. I also encouraged them to mark out a straight path for their lives and offered them biblical tools they can use to help make that happen. In closing I offered an oppertunity to give their lives to the Lord & for back slides to re commit...over 50 hands went up and they prayed the sinners prayer w/ us. PARTY IN HEAVEN.
Then we went to C&E's Learning Center and worked on the foundation for the class room our church is sponsoring...our estimation is that we haved moved over 4000 pounds of rock so far, by hand. It has been tough work and slow going (a given in Congo) but the project is coming along and I belive we will finish it with in a week.
SHOUT OUT TO THE GUYS, AND SHOTGUN AT THE GENESIS HOUSE. KEEP ENCOURAGING & SHARPENING EACH OTHER. SEE YOU SOON BROTHERS.
Miss you all.
Peace,
Patrick
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Lots of Rocks
Monday (27th)
Before Camille came to the US there where some problems starting to rise in the church. We decided that the best thing to do was to come together and pray in the morning. Things started to change in the church, now once a month they dedicate a week to prayer. They met at church from 6 to 7am to get the day started off right. These prayers are not quiet prayer meetings like I am used to. These are prayer meetings where people are kneeling, standing, sitting and walking praying out loud. It’s so cool! So we went, up at 5 something and at the church by 6am. It was a great time of focus and just letting it all out in prayer
The big project we are doing is building part of the learning center for the Ntoto’s. The property is the Ntoto’s and they use it now for the meeting place for Hope for the Helpless. The problem is that the children are exposed to the weather and can make it very uncomfortable for teaching. We are constructing a structure with a concrete foundation and a good roof. If they want to enclose it, that can be done at a later date. There is a good chance that this will be finished before I come home. So we start moving rocks, lots of rocks. The property is volcanic rock that they have paid someone to break up. The rock is used to level the ground and for the foundation of the shelter. Did I say we moved a lot of rocks? Fortunately we had gloves otherwise ours hands would have been chewed up. Cloud cover was nice, shielding us from the son, but well all got a little sun burned.
Back at the house a few of the team had a chance to experience the our door market with Esther. Building food there is a crazy experience with lots of negotiating. Seeing people who look like they have money walk up, increases the price. Esther is wise to that trick and forces them to market rate.
At 5pm we went to Heal Africa for a meeting with the victims of Sexual violence, where Nona was the speaker. She did a great job and the women responded well
Late into the evening was spent playing Catch Phrase and having movie night.
We have a good team and I am very proud of all of them. All are willing to speak or pray whenever called on.
More to come…
Michael.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
We have Internet
I am glad the Internet back, it has been down since Saturday night. I will do my best to get you caught up to today (Tuesday).
Sunday morning we had two Churches to go to . First was Heal Africa and then to ARCHE. At Heal Africa I spoke and Jenn, Terry, Nona and Jessica went and help with the kids. By the pictures they had a lot of them to deal with. I spoke on the Lord's Prayer as the foundation of our communication with God.
ARCHE is a church plant from Kinshasa and is becoming a large church on its own. They have just built a new building and it is already full. Patrick and I were with Camille and go to the church before the rest. The senior Pastor was out visiting a church they just planted so Camille was acting Pastor for the weekend. The music worship time was great, but difficult to sing along when all the songs are in French. They did sing "His Love Endured Forever", so I sang along in English. During the worship time, the rest of the team arrive with Esther and Jessica came in holding two year old Flory. Flory has been adopted by friends of Camille & Esther and are waiting for the immigration documents to be approved. When I got up to speak, I was about six feet higher than the congregation. They built the stage up high so everyone would be able to see the pastor. I spoke on Living for God and what it looks like to be different from the rest of the world. Camille was teasing me earlier that I do not speak very long, so I asked God to give me a long message. About an hour after getting up to preach I sat down! The team is wondering if I will be that long when I get home...time will tell. Camille led the prayer time after the message and many raised their hands to accept Jesus for the first time. They also were many that raised then hand to recommit their lives to Jesus.
A BBQ was plan for the afternoon and when we came home the food was already in process of being prepared. Camille had invited some Americans that are living here and some other friends of theirs from other NGO's. The food was fantastic as we sat outside over looking the lake. The rain rolled in during our meal so we huddled under umbrellas and kept eating. The rain did not last long and soon the sun was back out. Flory hung out with us all afternoon. Esther thought it would be a good idea for him to hear English and start getting used to it.
We had a chance to call into church at the beginning of the Sunday morning service. I was great to hear the rest of the church and to give each one of is a chance to say hello to our larger family. After getting off the call, we where all a little sad but yet rejuvenated for our time hear.
Patrick brought the game Catch Phrase and be played guys against the girls. The guys won 2 games to 1. I said 2 out of 3, but Patrick thought I would have changed it if the girls won the first 2. Would I do that? After the 'friendly' game, we enacted team movie night. We sat in one of our rooms and watched a movie on my computer. A bigger screen would have been nice, but I am not complaining. Patrick was very nice to share his stash of cashews and beef jerky.
Sunday was a good day.
We have pray meeting at 6am, I need to get some sleep. Check the blog before you goto bed, I will try to update again in the morning.
Michael.
Pictures...Finally
Sorry for the silence, but we have been without internet for a couple days.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Nona at the mouth of the 2002 lava flow.
Michael can't take seeing a kid with a snotty nose.
Terry the jungle gym.
Jessica and her buddy.
Jenn and Roger (rabbit).
Patrick...does this need to be explained?
Nona at the mouth of the 2002 lava flow.
Michael can't take seeing a kid with a snotty nose.
Terry the jungle gym.
Jessica and her buddy.
Jenn and Roger (rabbit).
Patrick...does this need to be explained?Saturday, April 25, 2009
Another Day in Paradise
Jenn and Terry's turn to speak at Heal Africa. Todays service was an English service, but there still was translation into French. Unlike yesterday's service, todays was much smaller and was only scheduled for 30 minutes. Terry and Jenn spoke back-to-back and shared a linking message that was not planned by them. Terry says that he does not have much to say, but for someone that doesn't have much to say, he says a lot. After the service a 9 year old girl came to me a shared a cool blessing. She spoke at a very mature level, with a true knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We spent the rest of the morning doing various things: some relaxed, some ran around with Esther at the market, some where preparing for Sunday speaking, and some did a combination.
Early afternoon we headed over to the Hope for the Helpless to interact with the children. (more about H for H go to www.hopeforthehelpless.org. Presilla, works for an american NGO and volunteers with H for H, was teaching the children. The kids where there from 2-5pm to have Bible study, teaching and tutoring. I told the story of Daniel and interacted with the children to make sure they understood the story. A few had heard the story before and they all grasped the main point. We then had a time of open questions so we talked about things we liked, where were from, etc. We even pulled out a world map and one student was quick to point out California and knew that the Terminator was our governor. The questions went on for a while back and forth, then it was time to move into more learning. The kids where then divided into two groups with one advanced group. Presilla is teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. by having them memorize his 'I Have a Dream Speech' in English. I heard a couple child's share how much they had competed and was very impressed.
We spent the rest of the evening getting ready for Sunday and having some down time. Tomorrow we have church at Heal Africa, Michael preaching, then to A.R.C.H.E. church, Michael preaching. In the after we are having a bbq with various NGO's so we have a chance to talk to others that are doing work in this area. Should be interesting.
Briefly spoke to Nate and Joanna today, really good to hear their voices.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
We spent the rest of the morning doing various things: some relaxed, some ran around with Esther at the market, some where preparing for Sunday speaking, and some did a combination.
Early afternoon we headed over to the Hope for the Helpless to interact with the children. (more about H for H go to www.hopeforthehelpless.org. Presilla, works for an american NGO and volunteers with H for H, was teaching the children. The kids where there from 2-5pm to have Bible study, teaching and tutoring. I told the story of Daniel and interacted with the children to make sure they understood the story. A few had heard the story before and they all grasped the main point. We then had a time of open questions so we talked about things we liked, where were from, etc. We even pulled out a world map and one student was quick to point out California and knew that the Terminator was our governor. The questions went on for a while back and forth, then it was time to move into more learning. The kids where then divided into two groups with one advanced group. Presilla is teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. by having them memorize his 'I Have a Dream Speech' in English. I heard a couple child's share how much they had competed and was very impressed.
We spent the rest of the evening getting ready for Sunday and having some down time. Tomorrow we have church at Heal Africa, Michael preaching, then to A.R.C.H.E. church, Michael preaching. In the after we are having a bbq with various NGO's so we have a chance to talk to others that are doing work in this area. Should be interesting.
Briefly spoke to Nate and Joanna today, really good to hear their voices.
Grace and Peace,
Michael
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday in Goma
Early rise this morning, we had to be at Heal Africa for their morning devotions at 7:30. It was a nice 10 minute walk to Heal Africa, and we got a lot of looks as we went along the road. I don't now why, just 6 white people dressed the same walking up the street. Morning devotions was for all the employees and volunteers and was mandatory. Jessica spoke and shared in James 1 about joy in trials and perseverance that God will deliver. She did an excellent job and I am very proud of her for getting up before 200 people to share. It is always good to be the mix of the people and getting to interact with them as much as possible.
We spent some time at Beroya school that I had visited last fall and where PraiseWorks sponsors 5 children. Jessica lead the way as she, with translation help from Camille, taught some English to the children. She started with a song, Jesus Love Me, then moved to basic greetings. The kids did an excellent job and had a lot of fun with it. We also taught the children what a high five was and had them all high fiving each other when we left. I remembered some of the kids and most remembered me.
Camille took us on a very informational excursion to the Goma volcano observatory. There are 8 volcano's around Goma and 2 are very active. The last lava flow was in 2002 and it did a tremendous amount of damage. Turns out that without military conflict, Goma is still the most dangerous place to live. Volcano's, earthquakes, acid rain and the potential of the lake exploding make it very dangerous. We were taken to a the mouth where the lave flowed. I thought that lava came out of the top of the volcano, but it actually can travel under ground and come up miles away. There were three main mouths where the lave came out and it was quite a interesting place.
On the way back to the house, we stopped at Heal Africa for the women's meeting. This is all the women who are in recovery from sexual violence, a truly remarkable group. I introduced the group and Jenn, Nona and Jessica all shared and prayed with the women. I was taken back by a 9 year old girl who spoke life into all of us. She spoke with a depth, that would but most Christian adults to shame.
Now we are about to eat dinner, so I must go.
Pictures to come...
Michael
We spent some time at Beroya school that I had visited last fall and where PraiseWorks sponsors 5 children. Jessica lead the way as she, with translation help from Camille, taught some English to the children. She started with a song, Jesus Love Me, then moved to basic greetings. The kids did an excellent job and had a lot of fun with it. We also taught the children what a high five was and had them all high fiving each other when we left. I remembered some of the kids and most remembered me.
Camille took us on a very informational excursion to the Goma volcano observatory. There are 8 volcano's around Goma and 2 are very active. The last lava flow was in 2002 and it did a tremendous amount of damage. Turns out that without military conflict, Goma is still the most dangerous place to live. Volcano's, earthquakes, acid rain and the potential of the lake exploding make it very dangerous. We were taken to a the mouth where the lave flowed. I thought that lava came out of the top of the volcano, but it actually can travel under ground and come up miles away. There were three main mouths where the lave came out and it was quite a interesting place.
On the way back to the house, we stopped at Heal Africa for the women's meeting. This is all the women who are in recovery from sexual violence, a truly remarkable group. I introduced the group and Jenn, Nona and Jessica all shared and prayed with the women. I was taken back by a 9 year old girl who spoke life into all of us. She spoke with a depth, that would but most Christian adults to shame.
Now we are about to eat dinner, so I must go.
Pictures to come...
Michael
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Goma Day 2
Hello all. This is Jessica. So we have had yet another exciting day here in Goma. If I could describe to you the feeling we all get when we get the chance to interact with either the woman from Heal Africa or the children from the orphanges its just simply amazing. To see how happy these woman and children are to see us and have vistors here, for them, its the biggest blessing in the world. They all survive with mostly nothing at all but with just a "Jambo", which is "hello" in Swhali, it has made their day complete!
The morning started off very beautiful here on this side on the world! Michael, Patrick and Terry started their morning off with Camille and his men's group for a bible study on the lawn. While Jen, Nona and myself all prepared for the day ahead and had some funny girl bonding time!
Today we had the oppurtunity to be all over the place. We attended a State of Affiars conference on the subject of "Stopping the Sexual Violence Against the Women and Children in Congo". Very powerful stuff. We got to hear insight from the UN and how they are making their attmepts to help as well as Camille with The Light of Africa network and Heal Africa. Please continue to keep all the victims in your prayers. This is a horrible situation!
After the confrence we went to Bethsaida, which is one of the many orphanges here. We got to meet many, many children, who were beyond excited to see us when we arrived! We got our own front row performance from the children praticing in the choir and they were amazing and sung and danced like crazy. At one point they even pulled all of us to dance with them. It is very entertaining for them to see a "munseki", which meants white person, dance. They had Jen in the middle of the floor dancing like crazy.....very funny! We left the orphange....but of course not without passing ot soccor balls! Which of course the kids went crazy over. We drove off watching them kick the balls around.
The day wound down with a bible study at the church. We had what was called a "Cultural Exchange". Its amazing to see how many different points of view but yet all having the same concept of God, each one of them shared with there questions. It was a bible study done in English so that everyone could have a chance to practice the language..... NO TRANSLATING was allowed! hahahaha. They were asking us many questions about life in America and continuously expressing how happy they were that we were here to see them!
We ended the night with a dinner around the table with Camille and Esther. Its amazing that no matter how far from home and our own families we are, we have a family here. We have all bonded and have been so beyond blessed with this trip, its a great feeling. We discussed and made plans to begin some of the much needed work that needs to be done here. We are all looking forward to tomorrow. We are headed to Heal Africa, where I am leading bible study. Im very excited for what God has in store.
Keep us all in your prayers. We miss all of you.
Love
Jess
The morning started off very beautiful here on this side on the world! Michael, Patrick and Terry started their morning off with Camille and his men's group for a bible study on the lawn. While Jen, Nona and myself all prepared for the day ahead and had some funny girl bonding time!
Today we had the oppurtunity to be all over the place. We attended a State of Affiars conference on the subject of "Stopping the Sexual Violence Against the Women and Children in Congo". Very powerful stuff. We got to hear insight from the UN and how they are making their attmepts to help as well as Camille with The Light of Africa network and Heal Africa. Please continue to keep all the victims in your prayers. This is a horrible situation!
After the confrence we went to Bethsaida, which is one of the many orphanges here. We got to meet many, many children, who were beyond excited to see us when we arrived! We got our own front row performance from the children praticing in the choir and they were amazing and sung and danced like crazy. At one point they even pulled all of us to dance with them. It is very entertaining for them to see a "munseki", which meants white person, dance. They had Jen in the middle of the floor dancing like crazy.....very funny! We left the orphange....but of course not without passing ot soccor balls! Which of course the kids went crazy over. We drove off watching them kick the balls around.
The day wound down with a bible study at the church. We had what was called a "Cultural Exchange". Its amazing to see how many different points of view but yet all having the same concept of God, each one of them shared with there questions. It was a bible study done in English so that everyone could have a chance to practice the language..... NO TRANSLATING was allowed! hahahaha. They were asking us many questions about life in America and continuously expressing how happy they were that we were here to see them!
We ended the night with a dinner around the table with Camille and Esther. Its amazing that no matter how far from home and our own families we are, we have a family here. We have all bonded and have been so beyond blessed with this trip, its a great feeling. We discussed and made plans to begin some of the much needed work that needs to be done here. We are all looking forward to tomorrow. We are headed to Heal Africa, where I am leading bible study. Im very excited for what God has in store.
Keep us all in your prayers. We miss all of you.
Love
Jess
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
First Day In Goma-from Jennifer
Hello!!
This is Jennifer typing this time. We are experiencing God's favor here in Goma. When google searching Goma nobody ever shares the fact that is so beautiful here, pictures just do not do it justice. It does not seem right that a very short distance from here such human autrocities occur. Today we visited Heal Africa an organization that is trying to combat sexual violence. Heal Africa takes in survivors of sexual violence, they make medical care possible for them in order to restore their physical bodies, they house the women, teach them a trade so they can provide for themselves and their families. They also feed their spirits by witnessing to the women in order to instill in them that they are not worthless, violence should not be accepted and they matter and are loved by God. What moved me to almost to tears is you would think that these places we went would be a place of sadness or depression but it is just the opposite, these women sang to us when we arrived. We danced rejoiced and I was asked to pray for the women. I was honored to be in the presence of these strong women. Only God could work like this, there is no other explanation. To have joy in the midst of hurting, to be open when you have been violated in the worst way possible, to continue to praise God knowing that all this around you is only temporary and it does not help anyone to wallow in the past. This is what these women have taught me today and I will never forget my experience looking at these women and girls and hearing just a little bit of their suffering, my heart silently breaking. Their testimonies and joy are remarkable to me, I know a great work is being done here.
We visited two womens centers for Heal Africa today, we also saw Healing Arts which is were the women can sell what they have been taught to make as in clothes, handbags, jewlery, placemats, wallets and many other things. The women get to save some of the money to take when they leave and the rest of the profit is reinvested back to help more women.We also had an evening bible study at ARCHE- Camille and Esther's church. Michael delivered a sermon tonight and will do it again tomorrow night. Please continue to pray for us and to pray for Goma and pray for Camille and Esther, God's hand is on this place. I feel so blessed to be a witness to what God is doing here.
This is Jennifer typing this time. We are experiencing God's favor here in Goma. When google searching Goma nobody ever shares the fact that is so beautiful here, pictures just do not do it justice. It does not seem right that a very short distance from here such human autrocities occur. Today we visited Heal Africa an organization that is trying to combat sexual violence. Heal Africa takes in survivors of sexual violence, they make medical care possible for them in order to restore their physical bodies, they house the women, teach them a trade so they can provide for themselves and their families. They also feed their spirits by witnessing to the women in order to instill in them that they are not worthless, violence should not be accepted and they matter and are loved by God. What moved me to almost to tears is you would think that these places we went would be a place of sadness or depression but it is just the opposite, these women sang to us when we arrived. We danced rejoiced and I was asked to pray for the women. I was honored to be in the presence of these strong women. Only God could work like this, there is no other explanation. To have joy in the midst of hurting, to be open when you have been violated in the worst way possible, to continue to praise God knowing that all this around you is only temporary and it does not help anyone to wallow in the past. This is what these women have taught me today and I will never forget my experience looking at these women and girls and hearing just a little bit of their suffering, my heart silently breaking. Their testimonies and joy are remarkable to me, I know a great work is being done here.
We visited two womens centers for Heal Africa today, we also saw Healing Arts which is were the women can sell what they have been taught to make as in clothes, handbags, jewlery, placemats, wallets and many other things. The women get to save some of the money to take when they leave and the rest of the profit is reinvested back to help more women.We also had an evening bible study at ARCHE- Camille and Esther's church. Michael delivered a sermon tonight and will do it again tomorrow night. Please continue to pray for us and to pray for Goma and pray for Camille and Esther, God's hand is on this place. I feel so blessed to be a witness to what God is doing here.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Arrived in Goma
After 40+ hours of travel, we safely made it to Goma. We are all exhausted, but that will be fixed with a shower and some sleep. Layovers are brutal, and it does not matter if it's in a big airport or small.
When we arrived in Kigali, we were eventually met by Jonatal who had rented a minivan to get us, our 6 packbacks and 12 suitcases to Goma. The minivan was full and the seats were the not the most in comfort. The drive took 3.5 hours to get from Kigali to the border of Rwanda and the DRC. The drive was slowed by road construction and our hired driver getting a speeding ticket. After getting the ticket, I think he actually drove faster. Gettng out of the van was fantastic as all of leggs, backs and back sides were done.
The border crossing went very smooth with out a single bag being opened for inspection. It was strange walking with our bags accross the border in the dark. We were met by Camille and Esther who needed 2 SUVS to get all of us and our stuff to their house. It was great to finally be somewhere. We had a nice meal and got a chance to talk a little about what the next couple weeks are going to look like. They are very happy that we are here an I know that we are in the will of God being here in Goma.
Everyone is showering up, get rid of 40 hours of funk!
Tomorrow we will be at Heal Africa and then at ARCHE church for Mid week bible study. (I found out I am teaching)
Much more to come.
Michael.
When we arrived in Kigali, we were eventually met by Jonatal who had rented a minivan to get us, our 6 packbacks and 12 suitcases to Goma. The minivan was full and the seats were the not the most in comfort. The drive took 3.5 hours to get from Kigali to the border of Rwanda and the DRC. The drive was slowed by road construction and our hired driver getting a speeding ticket. After getting the ticket, I think he actually drove faster. Gettng out of the van was fantastic as all of leggs, backs and back sides were done.
The border crossing went very smooth with out a single bag being opened for inspection. It was strange walking with our bags accross the border in the dark. We were met by Camille and Esther who needed 2 SUVS to get all of us and our stuff to their house. It was great to finally be somewhere. We had a nice meal and got a chance to talk a little about what the next couple weeks are going to look like. They are very happy that we are here an I know that we are in the will of God being here in Goma.
Everyone is showering up, get rid of 40 hours of funk!
Tomorrow we will be at Heal Africa and then at ARCHE church for Mid week bible study. (I found out I am teaching)
Much more to come.
Michael.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Amsterdam
A very uneventful flight has gotten us safely to Amsterdam. With an 8 hour layover, we left the airport and saw some sights. Amsterdam has an extensive canal system that reminded me of Venice (what I have seen in The Italian Job). We saw Anne Franks house but did not have time for the tour. The city is very green with rain frequent, but today the weather is fantastic. Probably mid 60's with some breezes.
We are resting in some really comfortable chairs and are about to get to our gate for the next flight. Keep praying for us and we will do our best to keep this blog updated.
Grace and Peace,
Michael.
We are resting in some really comfortable chairs and are about to get to our gate for the next flight. Keep praying for us and we will do our best to keep this blog updated.
Grace and Peace,
Michael.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Next stop Goma
Well we are at it again.
In few short hours, six of us will be leaving for the Democratic Republic of Congo going to the city of Goma. Goma is in the east and borders with Rwanda. It is a region that is ravaged by violence that affects everyone. We will be partnering with Camille & Esther Ntoto of Light f Africa Network, who are wonderful people of God.
I ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel and for favor as we go do the work of Jesus. We will be updating this blog as much as possible so keep checking back. You can also read about prior trips in the archives of this blog.
Grace and Peace.
Michael.
In few short hours, six of us will be leaving for the Democratic Republic of Congo going to the city of Goma. Goma is in the east and borders with Rwanda. It is a region that is ravaged by violence that affects everyone. We will be partnering with Camille & Esther Ntoto of Light f Africa Network, who are wonderful people of God.
I ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel and for favor as we go do the work of Jesus. We will be updating this blog as much as possible so keep checking back. You can also read about prior trips in the archives of this blog.
Grace and Peace.
Michael.
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