Well, here I am in the centre of Africa!
Would you believe that this morning I awoke to sound of drums beating out a message of war? This is not unusual here as we battle savage natives nearly every day as we make our way to those in need. Half of our team are sick with dysentry and yesterday we buried a pastor who was mauled by a lion. Today we enter into the mosquito infested area of central Congo. Our major dangers will come from the many poisonous snakes that abound in this area. We are told that it is only three weeks more trekking through thick jungle and crocodile inhabited swamps before we reach our destination.
Not exactly true. However the truth is that if I was here as an early missionary it would have been something like that. Praise the Lord things have changed. Now it is the sounds of machines from a building site outside our hotel window that awake us and thick smog, diabolical roads, crazy drivers and showers that fail to work that challenge our faith.
The ministry has been going well. We have just completed a two day conference at the university which from all reports was very successful. We are seeing numbers of healings as a result of words of knowledge. Hopefully I will get some written testimonies. Spoke at a large church yesterday. The meeting went from 8.00am till 12.30pm!
Today is a free day. It is actually Congo’s Independence Day. I believe that we are going to do some sight-seeing.
Hope all is going well at Liberty. I miss you all but I know I am where I am supposed to be. Thanks for the prayer support. It has been great to know I am covered! I have been well and all is good in Kinshasa.
Blessings from Congo,
Richard
I am in the Kingdom of Swaziland at present.
We have just finished our first day of conference. It all went pretty well I think. My friend, Pastor Tshalo from Cape Town shared really well and was certainly a good choice to join me as a speaker here. We are staying at Mountain Inn Hotel, which has a wonderful view - spectacular!
It is really good to be sharing my passion with these leaders. I think many Africans are sick and tired of their problems that seem to be getting worse and worse. Some are ready to do something to bring about transformation.
That’s all for now.
Richard
Greetings from Johannesburg in South Africa!
I survived the long haul across the Indian Ocean very well. With plenty of spare seats on the plane I managed to get a seat with plenty of room and stacks of leg-room.
I am staying at The Airport Grand Hotel, which is quite nice but not grand. However it certainly deserves the word “airport” in its title. Evry ten minutes a plane flies directly over the hotel.
Yesterday was a day of preparing for the rest of the trip and getting my visa for DR Congo. At around 10.00pm Peter Bondole arrived with my passport and the entry visa for DRC. Today I leave for Swaziland where I will be having a two day ACMI Confererence with around 50 senior pastors.
If I am staying in a place with the internet I will send some blogs through to keep you in touch with what’s happening over here. Whenever I am away I am especially aware of what a great lot of people we have at Liberty. Without a team of great people we could do very little as individuals. It is so true that being part of a team/family empowers each of the individuals in that team to do far more than they could by themselves.
Well, that’s about all for now. Please keep praying.
God bless you all!
Richard
