Our 36 Day God Adventure in the Bandundu
Day 10 : Wednesday, September 14, 2011
As usual we went to the morning church service. Mama Fifi spoke.
Once breakfast was over, it was straight to the training from 9AM to 1 PM. Throughout the morning we were teaching the biblical basis for missions. I gave the first session on mission in the Old Testament, especially noting Genesis 12 with Abraham, and I found it rather difficult going - just felt like they weren't necessarily understanding. When we asked at the end what things hold them back from taking the blessing of God to others, 2 reasons they gave particularly struck me : 1. ignorance (we didn't know) and, 2. several groups spoke of not having the Spirit. Obviously this greatly concerned us. As we continued the morning it became more and more clear that there were a number of problems in the context - immorality of pastors, poor view of the place of women, misunderstanding and lack of teaching on spiritual gifts. It is interesting how though we were presenting topics related to mission, that we were able to discover some present obstacles and roadblocks.
From 3-6 we had our afternoon session on history. It was as we talked about their missionary history that we discovered many abuses they had been victim of at the hands of missionaries. It broke my heart to hear how they had been treated and sometimes what they had been taught. God, please forgive the many errors of these missionaries and heal the scars that so many are still carrying.
It will be interesting to see how things go tomorrow. I really don't know what to think of this training. All the things that we are seeing and learning we will be including in a report to be handed into the leadership of the organnization. Lord, give us discernment to understand and to know how to respond during our short time here. Up until this training I had been very excited - I certainly felt as though at least a number understood what we were saying. I just feel a bit more skeptical here. It's not as though I can really put a finger on it. There are obviously language and cultural issues involved which make it unclear what they think and understand.
At least after last night's good sleep my cold is definitely improving. Thank you, Lord!
As usual we went to the morning church service. Mama Fifi spoke.
Once breakfast was over, it was straight to the training from 9AM to 1 PM. Throughout the morning we were teaching the biblical basis for missions. I gave the first session on mission in the Old Testament, especially noting Genesis 12 with Abraham, and I found it rather difficult going - just felt like they weren't necessarily understanding. When we asked at the end what things hold them back from taking the blessing of God to others, 2 reasons they gave particularly struck me : 1. ignorance (we didn't know) and, 2. several groups spoke of not having the Spirit. Obviously this greatly concerned us. As we continued the morning it became more and more clear that there were a number of problems in the context - immorality of pastors, poor view of the place of women, misunderstanding and lack of teaching on spiritual gifts. It is interesting how though we were presenting topics related to mission, that we were able to discover some present obstacles and roadblocks.
From 3-6 we had our afternoon session on history. It was as we talked about their missionary history that we discovered many abuses they had been victim of at the hands of missionaries. It broke my heart to hear how they had been treated and sometimes what they had been taught. God, please forgive the many errors of these missionaries and heal the scars that so many are still carrying.
It will be interesting to see how things go tomorrow. I really don't know what to think of this training. All the things that we are seeing and learning we will be including in a report to be handed into the leadership of the organnization. Lord, give us discernment to understand and to know how to respond during our short time here. Up until this training I had been very excited - I certainly felt as though at least a number understood what we were saying. I just feel a bit more skeptical here. It's not as though I can really put a finger on it. There are obviously language and cultural issues involved which make it unclear what they think and understand.
At least after last night's good sleep my cold is definitely improving. Thank you, Lord!
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