Our love affair was about to blossom for a continent Jesus is besotted with and favors....Africa!
The adventure began with Cathy-Lee almost aborting the trip, due to suffering an unlikely epileptic fit at the airport before boarding her flight. Fortunately sisterhood prevailed, and Jessica forfeited her much anticipated trip to Cape Town, in order to stay with Cathy at the hospital.
While Julie, Rachelle and Belle were traipsing around Cape-Town's police station after having a phone pick pocketed,
, during a 'sightseeing' trip. An eventful week to say the least, and we hadn't even started the missions trip yet!
Once all 12 members of the team finally reunited in Lusaka, the road trip began and we started to head north (via road) to Congo. Finally a culmination of 7 months of preparation reached a crescendo, where we would finally put feet to our dream, to love the least of these.
The first leg of the journey gave us plenty of opportunities to bond, as we travelled in our trustee van with our trustee driver Gift, a man who would later prove to be God’s divine appointment for the seed group in Lusaka. Going from town to town we ministered, learned, listen to the stories of some incredibly brave, strong people. Ps. Alice our escort and ‘mama’ on the trip, introduced us to one girl, in particular her niece who had been raped by a white, South African and fell pregnant, we listened with awe at her epic tale of incredible forgiveness, healing and how she overcame such a horrible ordeal by God’s grace.
We also prayed for the sick in a compound where women had been raped and abused, also giving them brightly colored, silk scarves. The church that worshipped there, usurped the former witch gathering ground, and converted it to a thriving church. God had blessed them with vast, fertile land so that they could be a self sustaining community.
After driving several hours through the north of Zambia we finally reached the much anticipated Congo border.
Drama followed closely behind every leap of faith we took.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Our first 24 hours in Congo resembled that of an Indiana Jones adventure, and also established
a precedent which proved highly effective for the rest of our ministry in Lumbumbashi. For several hours at the Congo border in 'no man's land' we battled territorial spirits trying to keep us at bay. Ironically this battle, provided the ammunition necessary to increase our motivation to seek God all the more. Many men tried to bribe us and take advantage of our perceived naivety. As prepared as we were with the necessary documents, we were quickly accelerated to a point of no return when it came to practicing the presence of God. We worshipped and prayed like never before, nothing like a good dose of adrenalin to drive you to your knees. Jessica our resident ‘jukebox’ led worship with gusto and determination for several hours in order to see spiritual breakthrough.
During our ‘little stop over’ Belle found herself prophetically declaring Isaiah 58 over the gates of Congo. Police and men started to gather to try and understand what she was declaring from the scriptures. At one point our Local escort Ps. Alice warned of potential arrest if she kept going. It was this defining point where God delivered Belle of much fear she was experiencing. She kept preaching and soon after, victory came and the final gates were opened and we were free to go.
After an arduous 6 hours at the border, 2 hours of travel to the bustling city of Lumbumbashi, the team was hungry for sleep. Several hours later we were faced with the prospect of being held captive. At one point at midnight, we were held against our will at a place of residence due to a cultural and communication malfunction. Subsequently, Kevin, Belle and Pastor Alice, tried to bust down the steely gates, so we could make a speedy escape to our beds.
Every time we were hemmed in by secret police, immigration officers, God would always convert our crises to revival. Resembling a pop up book for the wonders demonstrated in Acts, we saw the impenetrable darkness dissipate, with liquid raw love, that pierced the macabre, darkness of Congo.
Preaching, prophesying, healing the sick, led to outbreaks of intense warfare that would normally go undetected in the trappings of sleepy suburbia. At one point one of the police that
held us up got saved and brought his wife to be prayed for. Children and crowds, gathered to hear these, would be missionaries minister to them.
On the final day of these mini revivals many people expressed a desire to come to church, however the day was met with shooting on the streets and the city of Lumbumbashi was literally heaved upside down. The army closed down the city. As our faces glued to the van windows the next morning, the normally bustling city Lumbumbashi resembled a ghost own. We were astounded at the after-mouth of our witness. Could our revival endeavors have provoked the principality strongholds of Lumbumbashi? Could our meek efforts, bring the city to a holt? At this point we recognized our need for a greater authority and wisdom. This was a battle for another time, where greater spiritual preparation was needed.
During the hold ups we tried to contact intercessors who were covering us on prayer, we thank God for their diligence which enabled us to minister in safety.
The meetings for Hope Lumbambashi were off the Richter scale. The shanty little tin shed where we met, was filled a thick glorious presence. A presence that few could miss. At one point two of the team members had a visitation of Christ! Jesus had said to a team member, ‘this is my home and I am not ashamed to call these my brothers.’ He proceeded to dance and clap with His Congolese siblings.
Neru also saw a vision of Jesus placing crowns on the heads of the Congolese and was greatly touched by the Presence of Christ in the meeting. The Congolese responded with deep worship, wept and poured out there hearts to their King. The brothers of Jesus prayed like they meant it, no pretense or feigned passion, just uninhibited, raw passion for Christ. It was mos
t certainly contagious. We danced and clapped our hands till they turned red, our hearts were filled with unspeakable joy as we realized they these exotic people were not the least, rather they were highly esteemed kinsmen of Christ.
The team preached up a 7 hour storm and imparted the core values to the pastors. The pastors and leaders hungrily devoured the impartation as if it were there last meal.
We have so much to learn from our Hope family in Congo.
Other Africans look to the Congolese as incredibly deep worshippers, this was an understatement! With a simple pig skin, dusty drum, and a passion expressed in rhythmic clapping and boisterous voices and dancing, the worship peaked to a point of complete ecstasy and prophetic delights before God.
We wondered, how could the magnificent Author of life reside in a dusty shed, so powerfully? How was it, we found the glorious presence of Jesus in the dirt? No lights, stages, or entertaining speakers, just a sincere unadulterated devotion escorted us to delightful realms in heaven and an intimacy with Christ, few find.
Love was transforming us.
Escaping the clutter of our busy urban lives had quickly yielded unlikely returns. Within a month, we had planted a seed group in Lusaka which has since grown after our departure to 30 people.
We ministered to over 50 pastors in the city of Lumbumbashi and will endeavor to buy over 50 bicycles for the pastors so they can minister to their respective towns and churches. As the mission, drew to a close, lions, chimps, elephants, Victoria falls and river rafting were the order day for a much needed recovery for the team. With a couple of days to spare, the team crammed as much of the wildlife, thill seeking adventure sports, that Africa had to offer.
Love had caused our arms to extend wider, our hearts to synch with the heartbeat of heaven. Love led us to an incredible people. Love is not a schedule or program, Love is Jesus. Now the challenge will be this love transform our hearts so that what we tasted in Africa will forever remain in our hearts.
A concoction of excitement of 'living the dream, childhood visions fulfilled, and mixed fears, brewed within a vibrant team of young, would be missionaries from Hope Oceania.
