Our Last Day in the Congo

The days had passed quickly since our arrival in the DR Congo and Sunday was to be our last full day there.

We arrived at Zion Tabernacle (where the wedding had been held on Friday) and this time Sis. Sandy and I were taken immediately up front with our husbands to sit on the platform. They wanted to honor us Americans and they sure did everything they could to make us feel special. Fourteen other visiting ministers were there and sitting with us. But we were the only ladies. Maybe pastors wives experience this type of treatment often, not being one I wouldn’t know, but I have never been treated so special at a church service as when I was in the Congo.

We still had to use ear plugs because not only do they like their music loud – they like everything else at high volume as well. The church was completely packed with people sitting along the walls on the outside of the church.

They asked my husband and the other brother from American traveling with us to greet the people as well as 8 other ministers. Then Bro. Ron from the U.S. preached. The service was translated into French and Chiluba.

At the end of the service they had us go out a back way to the pastors study where we waited for our driver and car to be readied so we could go visit Bro. Diyoka’s church of 12,000. Bro. Diyoka’s service starts at 9am and lasts until 4:30pm. Truth, people!

I’ve made a video with clips of the two services we went to. I think you’ll enjoy them. It was such a blessing to be with these precious people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iw9Nr9sAoI

After the second service, we mixed with the church congregation a little. They are a shy people who would stare at you, unsmiling, while they walked completely by you all while keeping their eyes on you.  But when you would wave at them and smile big, with a “hello”, they would all smile back at you and many times wave back. We enjoyed the little children so much. Kids have a way of stealing your heart without doing anything.

The Lord Jesus sure loved the little children…

 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. Mark 10:16

By the end of the day, I was actually feeling a little ill. I think it was the pollution. There is so much of it there and it seemed especially bad on Sunday. But it was still a wonderful day.

Our flight was early in the morning and we had to leave for the airport at 3:30am and that my friend was a whole other experience that was quite unsettling that I’ll tell you about in the next post.

I’ll leave you with a few random photos from our time there.

I think what I chose off the menu looks a lot better than this! 🙂

Laundry Service at our hotel.

Shirts delivered back with a cute cardboard bow-tie attached.

A few different times there were some Congolese believers that we had met during our time here who would come to the hotel to visit. The people love to fellowship! So what else do you do at a hotel when you visit but go to the dining room to have a little something to eat.

A French dessert served at the hotel.

We were surprised to meet up with this couple (Ben & Julie) once again. They had visited the states many years ago.

The brother from the far left is a pastor in another city.

And finally, this is the Congo River – the deepest river in the world. In places it is up to 700′ deep and discharges more water into the Atlantic Ocean than any other river outside of the Amazon River.