Second day teaching in Goma

August 6, 2008

Second day at Goma! Many like to hear about the weather. I was expecting hot and dry climate in both cities. But, since I’m in a different hemisphere, it’s winter here and dark by 6:00PM. Both cities have been cool and unusually dry. I was comfortable in short sleeves, but the nights have been cooler. Yesterday, it rained quite a bit. It hope it’s dry today, for my laundry is hanging on a clothesline. So far, so good, but it’s overcast.

There is a contingent of children who meet us every day at the institute. I have no idea what they are saying. They love having their picture taken. I video taped them being silly and then replayed the tape – big hit. They enjoyed what I call “Stupid finger tricks.” Ask my kids if you don’t know what they are. At least the African children liked them. They also like shaking hands. They have runny noses, filthy hands, and often have them in their mouths. Jesus touched lepers, so I suppose dirt, snot, and spit won’t hurt.

Your emails and blog comments have been very encouraging. It makes me wonder how many missionaries I can write but don’t. The contact relieves our minds of what is happening at home. Drop those missionaries an email!

Our teaching time has been cut. They are starting later and ending earlier than planned. This means I have not had a chance to teach Romans. We will see. I may just give an overview. And don’t forget that we need to be translated. That takes more time too.

Today, I covered Jesus in Theology. We started with his deity & humanity, his laying aside of his glory, his death & resurrection, and his return. Besides the teaching, there was some good application moments. When I discussed the kingship of Christ, I mentioned how the kings of Israel were to be spiritual leaders primarily. If the king followed God, the people followed God (and visa-versa). Church leaders bear the same responsibility. When a leader falls, it hurts more than just the leader. The other point to bring home is the home we have from the resurrection. The disciples were crushed, broken, and scarred the Friday of Jesus’ death. But God is the God of Sunday morning. Not only does the resurrection give us assurance of future life, it gives hope in difficult situations. If God can turn Jesus’ death into life, just think what he can do in the struggles of our lives.

We had a battle today in Doug’s spiritual warfare section. He challenged the pastors to abandon the idolatry that still exists in DRC. Many have kept practices from the animist ways. It causes a stir. A group of pastors finally came forward to express their commitment to renounce the idolatry from Satan’s kingdom. Some cracks were made, but there is much work to do. Keep praying.

By the way, add six hours to EST (nine for PST) if you’re curious what time it is for me. Our institute meets from 9:00AM to 4:00PM. Do the math.

Pastor Joe