Our 36 Day God Adventure in the Bandundu

Day 2 : Tuesday, September 6, 2011

      Kikongo. Last year Richard and I had flown here in a MAF plane for a retreat for pastoral students. I think it took us less than 40 minutes. Don't want to think about that too long after yesterday's all day long grueling trip!

A quiet spot where we stayed

A good night's sleep - all our team is staying together in the same large missionary house where we were last year. Not fancy but we all have actual beds (water beds at that and it's hilarious to see the reaction of our friends), electricity and lots of water. Mama Françoise who has come along to do the cooking for the team, even has a kitchen to do it in, which most likely won't be the case for much of the trip. There is no cell coverage or internet though. All cleaned up this morning, I sat outside in the calm. I had almost forgotten what a lovely spot this is. So peaceful and beautiful. I read and meditated on Ephesians 1 and all the incredible spiritual blessings we are beneficiaries of. So my heart was full of that when we began our two day training with a group of perhaps 25 pastors and pastoral students. They are all from the district of Kikongo. Two other districts were to be here as well but it seems that their chiefs weren't happy about coming to Kikongo and so they didn't even inform their pastors. Frustrating! I'm always saddened when I hear about this kind of pettiness especially when I know those pastors will be sorry about missing out when they find out about it.
Our day was divided into two large blocks of teaching times, one in the morning and the second in the afternoon. These times were further divided into specific lessons. We follow broad strokes of the Perspectives Mission Course : Missions from a Biblical, Historical, Cultural and Strategic Perspective with a final lesson on Mission and C.B.CO. For the moment Richard and I are doing the lion's share of the teaching though Pastor Pierre, the director of the mission, takes several lessons. As I was teaching and interacting with them, I couldn't help but think how much I love doing this ... good thing too since there's another 8 trainings in the Bandundu before heading back to Kin.

Mission station of Kikongo

This evening out in the soccer field we set up a screen and projector to show some films. Everyone in the village came. Tons of kids. Obviously a big event. To get the crowd warmed up, a few Congolese music videos - very cheesy to our way of thinking but a huge hit for the audience and that's what matters really. I watched them dancing and singing along. It is impossible for a Congolese to hear music and not move. Watching Don Richardson's "Peace Child" surrounded by dozens of Congolese kids I found to be somewhat a surreal experience. They are a very expressive people and so laugh, cheer, cry and gasp as prompted by what they see in the film. I skipped out of the second film and returned home but could still hear the reactions to it.    All in all, a good though full first day.