Saturday, August 24, 2013
Home safely--thank you all for your prayers; more photos to come--check back soon!
Dear OSLC family and friends and other wonderful senders,
We arrived home safely yesterday about 2:30 p.m. Thank you for your prayers during our Congo mission. We appreciated all of the prayers that were offered. Please continue to pray for President Joseph Mavoungou and the leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo. Pray that God continues to give them wisdom and joy as they serve Jesus and reach out to others with His amazing love! Please check back for new photos and blog entries over the next few days. To God be the glory!
Grateful for all of you,
matthew
We arrived home safely yesterday about 2:30 p.m. Thank you for your prayers during our Congo mission. We appreciated all of the prayers that were offered. Please continue to pray for President Joseph Mavoungou and the leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo. Pray that God continues to give them wisdom and joy as they serve Jesus and reach out to others with His amazing love! Please check back for new photos and blog entries over the next few days. To God be the glory!
Grateful for all of you,
matthew
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
An exciting excursion to the village
On Tuesday,
we went on an excursion to visit the church in the village of Impani. We began by going to National President Rev. Mavoungou’s
house. Others from the Brazzaville
congregations met us there. We all boarded the bus along with a large drum, and
a picnic lunch among other things. The ride was a little over an hour but it
gave us a chance to see what is on the outskirts of Brazzaville. As with any
city, the houses began to have more space between them and then there were
fewer and fewer homes. As we drove through the countryside, there were some interesting
sights. One notable one was when we drove by a small river, there was a group
of people performing a baptism. Another was when we passed a truck that was
very overloaded (which was not surprising) with live goats suspended along the whole
side of it. Even our Congolese friends
on the bus with us pointed and laughed! I
recognized the French word for goat as they exclaimed “Oh, une Chevre!” The bus finally arrived at a small building
covered with branches. There was one house nearby, but no others within sight. As we disembarked, we could hear singing
coming from the small building. We were met
and welcomed by the Pastor, the congregational President, a parish Evangelist, and
even the Chief of the village! Matthew in turn introduced us, and gave them greetings
from Our Savior, Topsfield, as we began to worship together. During this
worship time together, we performed the drama of the “Wise and Foolish Builders”
and the puppet skit, “Jesus, the Good Shepherd,” and Matthew followed it with a
message. Peter gave his testimony. We sang the song “Freedom is Coming” and
Pastor Mavoungou joined us. He and the National
Vice President Rev. Albert Poungui also performed the “Psalm 23” drama. At this church the language barrier was a bit
more formidable. Everything was
translated to French Missionary Fred Reinhardt, and then again into their
tribal language. Things took longer, but the congregation still really seemed
to enjoy the activities. And of course we
sang “Making Melodies in my Heart” and the entire group joined in with big
smiles. We gave stickers, pencils and little
glider planes to the kids. When we asked
them to sing a song for us they all joined in with drum accompaniment. It was - as it always is – an amazing sound
and everyone joyfully praised the Lord together!
After worship
ended, we were treated to a picnic lunch prepared by President Mavoungou’s
congregation from food we had brought with us on the bus. It was a beautiful, breezy day so we thoroughly
enjoyed the countryside and spending this time together with the brothers and
sisters of Impani. After lunch we boarded
the bus for our return to Brazzaville. Matthew was exchanging music with one of
the evangelists and the whole bus broke into song a few times. What a great and blessed day!
Thanks for your prayers,
Karen
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
'Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...'
Monday
evening, August 19
I am humbled
to be here working alongside of President Joseph Mavoungou of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of the Congo. He is a
humble, energetic, joy-filled servant of Jesus Christ. He has been a gracious host to our team and
cared for us as we have partnered together in the Gospel during this trip. We have also been blessed by the terrific
translation of our missionary Fred Reinhardt.
It is clear that God has called him to serve the Church in Africa.
Today’s
training with the church leaders in Brazzaville was blessed by our great
God. The workshops were well received
and the encouragement to ‘press on in service to Jesus’ was a blessing to
all. Thank you for sending us and giving
us the privilege of serving on your behalf.
The ministry resources that we gave today will be used by these women
and men of God to proclaim the greatest news that the world will ever hear…that
Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world and rose again victorious from the
grave and that through Him we can have hope on earth and joy forever in
heaven!!! ‘Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or
imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!
Amen! Ephesians 3: 20-21
Hello
friends and family! It’s Monday evening
at 11:30 p.m. or so and all of my teammates are sleeping. Peter is much better and was able to eat
dinner with us tonight and join us for our evening devotions. He plans on going to Impani tomorrow, one of
the churches in the countryside. Karen
was a little better this evening, and hopefully after a peaceful sleep will be
able to join us tomorrow as well. Thank
you for your prayers for Peter and Karen.
Praying with all of you that God will accomplish even more than we can ask or imagine during these days,
matthew
Two Amazing Days in Brazzaville
Two Amazing Days in Brazzaville
During the Sunday school session which we ran prior to the service, the children loved the Good Shepherd puppet show. We also played a version of “hide and seek” with the sheep (aka the lost sheep). We asked the children to hide their eyes and then go find the lost sheep. I think a few of them may not have the concept of hiding their eyes, they found the lost sheep within seconds. However, when I hid the sheep behind my back under my shirt it took them a lot longer! We all ask for your healing prayers for Karen and Peter so that they may join us tomorrow in Inpani.
Mark
Training Days in Brazzaville; prayers for Peter and Karen
August 19,
2013
Our ranks are thinning…
Another soldier down…Karen is in bed today with some sort of gastric disorder. She had been generous earlier in the week and shared her Z-Pack with Matthew, so President Mavoungou and Matthew went to a pharmacy this morning and bought more azithromycin. Peter is feeling better, but weak and tired.
We are using the day in Brazzaville to
meet with the leadership of two Lutheran churches; Pastors, Vicars and
Evangelists and with Sunday school teachers.
As in Pointe Noire, the topics covered Drama, Spiritual Gifts, and
Budgeting. And, as in Pointe Noire, it is going well and seems to be well
received. Matthew & I have coughs,
but are otherwise feeling well. Your
prayers are felt!
Susie
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Matthew preaching during Sunday's worship service. The Bible text was from 2 Kings 6: 8-23. The main idea was that God has met all of our needs in Jesus just as He met the prophet Elisha's needs for protection and provision. What a mighty God we serve!! Missionary and Pastor Fred Reinhardt has been a wonderful translator!
Contrasts
Sunday,
August 18, 2013
Susie
Friday, August 16, 2013
Thursday training activities; Happy Congolese Independence Day!
Happy Independence Day from the
Congo, to all of our Brother’s and Sister’s back home. I will never, ever
complain about the pot holes back home. And how many times have you ever had to
drive across planks in a road that barely fit the width of the car’s tires,
just so you can cross a ditch? My guess is not many!
What a wonderful morning with
had with all of the Pastor’s, Vicar’s and Evangelists. It was a full morning
filled with a worship lesson, teaching drama’s, describing the importance of church
financing as well as spiritual gifts. May we all listen to the words in
Ephesians 4: verses 11-12, “He is the one who gave these gifts to the church;
the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and the pastors and teachers. Their
responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church,
the body of Christ." We all appreciate your prayers, keep them coming!
Mark
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Hearts and Voices Raised to God
We have had an amazing couple of days in Pointe Noire. The people here have warm hearts, quick smiles and such incredible voices! Tears filled my eyes often while listening to them raising their voices to God. What a blessing! Of course, the children's faces are electric with the excitement of having "les persons blanc" visiting. Their laughter is so contagious! So far it has been absolutely overwhelming! Thanks for sending us and lifting us up in your prayers!
Susie
Susie
A 'Pointe Noire Post' from Karen
Wed. August
14-- Pointe Noire
We are enjoying our visit to
Pointe Noire. After a long day of travel, we were treated to a spirit filled
worship service. We arrived to the sound
of singing and rejoicing! The music here is wonderful. I am always amazed at how much sound is
produced when everyone joins in praising God! This small congregation puts ours
to shame! Yes, that is a challenge to you at home. Next time we worship together, don’t think
about how well you sing or let others sing for you, praise the Lord with all of
your heart and I’m sure we will produce equally amazing praises to God. During the service, we sang songs, prayed,
heard scripture read, we presented a drama and a puppet show, and Matthew gave
a message. We also sang, “Making Melodies” for the kids. This song is so memorable that many children
and adults began smiling the moment Matthew introduced it! They still
remembered it from 2 years ago! Peter and Mark gave their testimonies, which
were heartfelt and well received. One
memorable moment for me was as worship ended, the girls’ choir began singing
“We Are Marching” in English. I went
over and joined in singing with them. It
was really wonderful to be able to sing together in the same language. As we
concluded we handed out crosses to the kids.
We were then asked to pose for a picture. This turned into picture after
picture with different members and families.
We felt like Disney characters that everyone wanted to pose with! This just shows how much they appreciate our
visit and want to be in relationship with us. We praise God for this
opportunity and thank all of our senders! The people here also send their
greetings to you!
Karen
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
A day of greetings, prayers, planning and rejoicing!
Hello from Brazzaville! We had a joy-filled first day in
Brazzaville. We had a quiet morning with
everyone getting caught up on sleep. The
guest house where we are staying is run by SIL, Summer Institute for
Linguistics. One of SIL’s primary
ministries is Bible Translation work, and one of the Pastor (Pastor Gustav) of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo is here working with missionaries
to help translate the New Testament into his native language! Praise God for Pastor Gustav’s willingness to
serve in this way!
We had a delicious lunch at
President Mavoungou’s home and enjoyed visiting with him and the other church
officers. His wife Victorine is a
wonderful woman of God and she enjoyed many of the ‘New Englandy’ gifts we
brought for her. Thank you to everyone
at church who donated these items!
St. Augustine’s parish hosted a
Vespers Service today at 4 p.m. that was full of joyful music and prayers. What an honor it is to partner in ministry
with these dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
It was such a joy for me to see friends that we made two years ago, and
it was a great joy for my teammates to praise Jesus with their brothers and
sisters from the Congo. What a blessing! And praise God for Missionary Fred Reinhardt,
who not only is a great encourager of the church leaders but is translating for
us as well! Please pray that God
continues to give Fred wisdom, strength and perseverance in his translation
efforts.
We had a planning meeting this afternoon with President Mavoungou and
General Secretary Jean Pierre to plan the ministry activities in Pointe Noire. We will be having a drama and creative arts
workshop with church pastors and leaders, a workshop for Sunday School teachers
and youth leaders, a time of prayer and encouragement with pastors and their
wives and more. We fly tomorrow morning
at 9:30 a.m. to Pointe Noire and will be there until Friday evening.
Please pray
that God will use us in Pointe Noire to encourage and equip our brothers and
sisters in Christ and spur them on in their ministries of proclaiming Jesus’
love!
We love you all and thank God for
your prayers, matthew
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Bonjour from Paris!!
Hello OSLC family and friends,
We arrived safely in Paris this morning and have four hours until our Brazzaville flight. We are humbled and grateful for all of your prayers and the gift of being commissioned this morning by all of you. We love you and thank God for all of you! More to come from Brazzaville...
We arrived safely in Paris this morning and have four hours until our Brazzaville flight. We are humbled and grateful for all of your prayers and the gift of being commissioned this morning by all of you. We love you and thank God for all of you! More to come from Brazzaville...
Friday, August 9, 2013
Welcome to Our Savior Lutheran Church's Congo blog!
Welcome to Our Savior Lutheran Church's Congo blog!
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