The halfway point.

So much has taken place since I last wrote…and it’s only been one week! It’s amazing how fast time flies by; it’s as if I blink and all the sudden I have a zillion memories. I’m realizing how important it is to simply live in the present and to let tomorrow come as it may. It’s a good thing that Jesus is patient, because I feel like He’s tried to teach me this lesson time and time again…but, each time I think I begin to understand it a little bit better than I did the time before. I’m also being reminded of why we go through difficulties and hardships…and of the great love of God our faithful Companion who walks through painful circumstances with us, holding us through the whole way; his healing hand against our side as we deal with wounds.

This past week has been filled with some incredible opportunities that have caused me to think more and more about my identity and who God has made me to be today. I’m realizing that today is yet another step in the direction that God has led me to walk in. I’m also realizing that although God leads us on a certain path at a specific time that God also uses that path to lead us to the next…which may be in a completely opposite direction from what we think God has in mind. Which is why we MUST be quiet enough to listen to His calling and His leading in our lives EVERY day; we don’t want to miss the trail-marker, now do we?
All this to say…I’m learning about the changing of “seasons” and how so much of life works in these “seasons.”

So, what have I been up to the past week that has led to these realizations? Where to start?! Well, along with so many wonderful conversations with some spectacular people, I have had the opportunity to attend a few “seminars” and services both here in Isiro and outside the city in 2 different villages.

On Sunday, 11 of us piled into the VDM’s Land Rover and headed for Nala, a small village of about 100 people just South of Isiro. Freddy and Calist (two Congolese ECG members who work in the department of Scripture Use) were hosting a weekend seminar. They showed the Jesus film on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning they held a service that covered two topics: the importance of your mother tongue and the beauty of music that is used to glorify God. It was incredible! They told a story about how some people died recently because they didn’t know their mother tongue; they hadn’t been taught it at home. They put together a skit to reenact the story…A village was warned (in their mother tongue) that rebels were nearby and that everyone should flee from the village, but there was a family who did not understand the warning because they only spoke French and Lingala. The Congolese soldiers came through the village and found these people who had not fled as they were warned to do. In order to make sure that the people were not part of the rebel army, the soldiers told them to speak in their mother tongue, but they didn’t know how to! The soldiers ended up killing these people because they believed that they were a part of the rebel forces. This is only one example of many reasons why people need to speak their mother tongue. Not only can it save your life, but it also gives life! Many children cannot communicate with their grandparents anymore because they don’t speak a common language. Calist spoke to the congregation of people about the importance of keeping culture and communication within your people group…having a mother tongue should not bring disunity, but it should protect unity! The section of the service that covered the importance of music (especially music sung in your own mother tongue) was very interesting, too! Calist talked about why we use music… “When an African sings, he shows the way he lives and thinks”…in other words, he shows his heart. He mentioned how “strong rhythms help during work to give them strength, courage, and perseverance” and that “songs and music can bring blessings or curses; they bring life, but they can also bring death.” He spoke about how important it is to praise God and glorify God in our songs. The way he was talking about songs and lyrics made me think about our lives being like a song…what kind of song am I singing? How is my song affecting others? Is it a beautiful melody and one that brings a smile to God’s face?
“Sing it out. Sing out loud. Take what is left of me. Make it a melody.”
-Jon Forman

Monday afternoon, Marian and I were given the chance to go and sit in on a “Mayogo translation-checking” session! Liz Raymond (an ECG member who lives here in Isiro with her husband Tim…wonderful couple!) is working alongside 3 men from the Mayogo people group, and together they are translating sections of the New Testament into Mayogo. The session that we attended was on 1 Corinthians 7. Translation work is quite the detailed job! It was fun to watch and listen as they discussed the original Greek text and how it can best be explained to the Mayogo people so that they can understand what God is saying in His Word (keeping in mind their culture!) …translation work is quite the feat!!

Wednesday, Anna and I got to attend a “Trauma Healing Seminar” which Calist put together and hosted at his church here in Isiro. The seminar was put together for leaders from different churches in the area (people who are in charge of prayer groups and such.) Although the people came in order to learn how to help others who have experienced traumatic events, they themselves expressed their own hardships and painful circumstances too. One by one, people stood up and shared from their own personal story. They spoke about their children dying, their family members beating them because of anger issues, health problems (many times caused by others), and how all these things can cause the feeling of “loneliness” and abandonment. But even though these beautiful people, scarred by deep wounds, spoke of their heartbreaking experiences, they all also spoke of God’s faithfulness and love.
“Nzambe azali bolingo”…God is love.
“Nzambe azali Nzambe na ngolu”…God is a God of compassion.
“Nzambe azali tata na biso”…God is our Father.
“Nzambe azalie mobateli na biso”…God is our Shepherd.
Calist used Scripture to remind us of God’s true identity and of our own identity in Christ. He spoke about “refinement” and that though it may be painful it is worth the beautiful gold that comes as a result. He used the passage of 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 that speaks of comfort in times of suffering.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too…”

It was so encouraging to see so many people, who have experienced more pain than I can imagine, turning to God and proclaiming His goodness!! And it’s such a comfort to know that no matter what we go through, whether “good” or “bad”, it can all be used for beauty, for the encouragement of others, and ultimately for the glory of God our Father!

This weekend I’ve been given the opportunity to attend an AIDS seminar held just outside Isiro…in the middle of the jungle, really! It’s about 35 minutes outside of Isiro, and much of the trip is along foot-paths through the lush jungle. Yesterday I traveled to the seminar on the back of a German doctor’s motorbike (“lady” style…feet off to one side!)…it was such a great trip and a wonderful time of learning more about AIDS: how it affects people and communities, as well as how to combat this fierce disease that is causing so much death and destruction to families and communities. I’ll hopefully be attending another session on it tomorrow morning. It’s a bit difficult to understand everything since it first must go through the minds of two translators before reaching my own…Lingala to French to English :) I am VERY thankful for the translators, though!! And wow…was it beautiful out there in the jungle! I half expected to see monkeys swinging from the vines of the trees!

Along with these wonderful seminars, I’ve been enjoying my time with the VDM’s as we continue working on school, the concert that’s coming up (only 2 weeks away!), and as we simply spend each day getting to know each other better! It’s been so fun to be a part of this family and we’ve had ourselves quite a few laughs the past few days…just a taste of what happens in this lovely household; just this week (all within about an hour of time) I almost fell down the “cho” (the hole-in-the-ground toilet outside…), Joanna had a “snake-lizard” crawl up her dress, and someone came to the gate trying to sell us a 2 month old baby Baboon. It can get pretty exciting around here :) I’ve enjoyed being drenched in the evening rainstorms and learning how to get “avocat rouges” from the tree in the back yard. It truly has been such an enjoyable week.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and for the emails of encouragement and support I’ve been receiving from you all…it is always so sweet to hear from you! Please know that I hold all of you in my heart as I experience all of this. I’m excited to know that Jesus is doing great things in your life right now too, wherever you are presently. We serve a GREAT God… “Hallelujah?” “Amen!” (as the Congolese say!)

The Lord be with you!
Much love from Congo to you,
Jo


Prayers:
-Thanksgiving for what God is doing in Bible translation here in Congo and for the Scripture Use work also
-Thanksgiving for good health here at the VanderMeer’s
-Prayer for the rest of the AIDS seminar this weekend…that the people who come to it will be able to understand the information and know how to relay it to their own communities all throughout the area.
-Prayer that the people of Congo will hear the Word of God in their own heart language and that they will spread the love of Christ in their words and actions.
-Prayer that the government of Congo will know the needs of the people, and that the Congolese people will have the courage and strength to work for the unity of this country and not the destruction which is caused by greed, bitterness, and being lazy about love.