God Sees Us!

For years they have prayed. Yet nothing happens. At least it seems nothing happens. But they still pray.

The people of the DR Congo, where our team of 7 spent three weeks, have been praying. They've been praying for years. When the genocide of the past decade was raging out of control; when their families were chased from their homes in order to escape with their lives; when they wouldn't or couldn't run and were massacred by the thousands...they prayed. Pastors with no Bible School training were/are leading churches. For that matter, Pastors with no BIBLES were teaching people the Bible. Only 4 years ago, of the 150 Pastors in the province of Maniema, there were 3 Bibles and only 1 Pastor with Bible School training.

We knew we had to go. These people, this part of the world, needs Jesus and the best way is to train the local people in God's Word in a Bible School. We funded the building of the first phase and prepared the team to go. But there were questions.

We questioned the safety of the trip. It's a volatile area. Could we guarantee the safety of the team? The obvious but unsettling response was "no" even though the war has been over for 5-6 years. We left our ladies at home to remove any potential issues in this area that has never in it's history had a "white" team come. We prayed much.

We questioned the expense of the trip. For the price of our team we could almost fund the completion of a building. Wouldn't it be better just to send the money and let the locals build?

In the end we felt it was the Lord's leading for us to go and visit this place where "nobody goes." We soon realized why God had opened the door. We realized that money is an incredible help to this people but our presence made it clear to them that God had heard their cries.

We were met at the small airport, the main connection to the outside world since you cannot get in and out of Kindu except to fly, by a suited delegation of church leaders. I'll never forget them standing in a row, with ties and jackets in the intense heat, to welcome the delegation of Americans in our dockers, t-shirts, and me in shorts. What a contrast. We came as a work crew. They saw us as God's answer.

I knew we would be appreciated and even be a bit of a spectacle. What I didn't expect was to be the answer to their prayers. Not that we did anything special, we didn't. We worked, we helped, we served, we preached, we did what any team would do. But this is Kindu, the place where nobody goes. It wasn't what we did that mattered but that were were there!

"We have lost much and sacrificed much. We have prayed and prayed but no help ever comes. Nobody comes here. No one knows where we are. We began to wonder if God knew that we were here. Did God see us? Now that you have come we know that God sees us If people from America know we're here, God certainly knows we are here."

We enjoyed the time with the people of Kindu. Pastors were encouraged, people met Jesus, a Bible School building has a foundation and excitement came through the wazungu (white men) just by being there.

I wonder if people in our home towns are praying. I wonder if they might realize that God sees them because you or I came into their lives.