Encounters in Congo
I am walking home down a dirt path, enjoying the sounds of laughter and excited conversation. It’s
delightful. My four ministry companions during our week in the Congo, Zachary, Samuel, Pepin, and Germain, are having quite a time
together. What a difference a couple of days make. Two days ago when we left our time of training to begin doing personal evangelism
at appointments set with their friends, the only laughter was nervous laughter and the conversation was limited and laced with apprehension.
We
had two meetings that first night---one planned, one not. At the first we led eight children to the Lord. I said to myself,
"I'd rather be talking to their parents, but this may be a good place for them to get their feet wet." Well, my team got their
feet wet all right, and today we did meet with the parents of these children to a great end. That night we also had an unplanned
appointment. We stopped in the evening at a small cafe to buy a pop for everyone. Inside we encountered eight young men in their
twenties. Germain is a big girl, and she began to call in a jovial yet taunting way for them to join us around our table.
Before long, Pepin was guiding them through my testimony. Their eyes began to intensify as our conversation proceeded; they
talked for a least two hours back and forth with us. In the end all were led to pray to receive Christ.
Should we say,
"Good! They prayed, so now let's go get some more and hope the Church people follow them up when we leave?"
WRONG!!! That’s
not the program. We want to help the church begin discipling them right away. We set appointments with those people for today,
and today we kept it. And so did they. They arrived at the Cafe with Bibles in hand. Each one had completed the
first discipleship lesson. Each one had questions. Each one wanted to meet again as soon as possible!
Now my team
is walking home. They are rehearsing to one another illustrations and ideas on how they can continue to communicate the points
in the first discipleship lesson. They just finished doing this lesson with these eight men over the last two hours, and they
still want to talk about it. Zachary and Samuel didn't stay with the group through the whole lesson. Two other men came
up and asked, "Can we join you?" Zachary said, "No, this is a special study for people who have said they want to follow
Jesus. You come with me and I'll share with you how you can follow him, too." Off they went with Zachary to share my testimony.
Another man came with the same question, and Samuel pulled him aside with the same answer. Three more people prayed tonight,
and we all were baptized together into the joy of discipling excited new believers.
Now the night air in Brazzaville, Congo, is
filled with the scent of cooking fires and the sound of conversation and laughter, and I am really enjoying it.