Road through the Congo

Packed on our truck, ready for 12 hours of holding on!

It took us 11 hours to traverse a meager 75 miles through dense jungle in the heart of Africa, clinging to ropes which were strapped to the bed of our Toyota pick up truck.  This truck ride capped off what was almost a week of travelling between Airbuses and bush-planes.  While the truck ride itself was exhilarating, what we met at the end of the road was one of the greatest experiences I have had in my life so far.  As we arrived in a small village in an area called Poko, it seemed as though the entire village was ecstatic about our arrival.  All together they sang songs of welcome as they danced with joy.  I can't say that I have ever felt more welcomed by a group of people in my life.

Teammate Chara Teaching on Sin

The next day we began to teach our BELT material and immediately saw incredible results of the hand of God moving in hearts of men and women.  God brought over 200 people to attend our seminar, pastors, women's leaders, youth leaders, and various other types of leaders.  One man even rode his bike 600 km over one week to get to the seminar.  Throughout the conference we taught on the subjects of God's greatness and goodness (nature & character), truth, sin, salvation, and many more.

Many of these people have been to their denominational seminaries and been pastors for many years, but they don't know what it looks like to walk in a daily relationship with God, and they declared that the things they were learning here made their relationship with God come alive.

Paster Florent (sound like Flora) and his Family. Florent is Poko region pastor

At the end of the seminar, we held a burial service, where we buried our "old selves" with our sins, and committed to living our lives fully devoted to God.  Looking back at this time in the Congo, I feel that it was the most impact I have seen at one time, especially in a long-term sense.  Most of these pastors will take the teachings from the seminar directly to their pulpits and bible studies.  I firmly believe that the teachings and heart transformations that began on this trip will continue and spread to other believers well after we are off in other places doing the same thing.