Congo

I made my first visit to the Congolese families Monday. When I arrived, they were eating, and as the young man who answered the door spoke in English, I said in English that I would be back later, and left my card. As I turned to walk down the stairs, another man said Hello, one of the elder sons of the family. I asked him if it would be easier to speak in French. He said yes, it would. And so I told him who I was, why I was there. The door flew back open as the people inside heard French. They invited me in, and we talked for a while. They have only been here for a month, and are still getting acclimated to being in America.

They have church sponsors, but not really a place to worship. Some speak English, some not yet.

The really powerful thing was how much it meant to them to hear a language they understood and were comfortable with. It meant a lot that an American came to visit them, and that I came as a pastor to them. The father kept saying that it was such a good thing that I came by. The mother and children kept putting their hands together and bowing to me. You can never underestimate how important a visit is. We need to think about this not only in terms of immigrants, but also in terms of our being Ambassadors for Christ. We ought to be able to say that we are hoping to welcome people into the Kingdom, which is a foreign country, and welcome them generously... but I digress. The elder son I talked to said, “it is a good thing when people come together with the Word of God.”

The French I speak is a bit childlike-- there are a lot of words I don't know, especially theological words.

Yesterday, a man from Liberia walked into the church asking about our GED programs. He had a long history of working with missionaries, and he had a good time telling his story. Then later that afternoon, a Congolese man called me. He is a Methodist pastor! Son of the first democratically elected leader of the Congo (back in the 60s). Sad that someone so educated has to start over so dramatically... When I told him that I wanted to minister to the Congo immigrants and provide spiritual care, he jumped on it. I am hoping to meet him this week.

La Roche roule toujours...