As many as five million Congolese have died in the wars that have ravaged the country since 1998. Humanitarian organisations believe that millions have fled their homes and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped. The people are traumatised. I was invited by Bishop Lamba Lamba to minister in Lubumbashi.
Arrival
My arrival at Lubumbashi International Airport was without incident, only because my friends Ps Jeff, Ps Andre and the RTIV television crew were standing to one side of the terminal calling me. They dealt with all the necessary bureaucracy, something we Africans just can’t do without – it’s our way of creating jobs.
Then it happened; Ps Andre arrived at the vehicle and advised that the immigration official said that because I had a new passport I had to pay US$10 – I pointed out that the passport was old (1 year) and that I had already travelled to the Congo on this passport last year. The previous visa was available for all to see, and I had paid the ‘new passport fee’ last year – it worked – no fees.
Redtco Congress
One can get called on at anytime for a television interview whilst ministering with the Come and See Church and Redtco (The acronym stands for “The Gathering of the Children of God for the Transformation of the Congo”). Once again I was caught by surprise (in Africa we don’t plan anything too long in advance) but when we arrived at the television station all the electricity went off, so the interview took place the following day.
I found out the theme of the Congress when I arrived the day before we started – my lecture topics were given at the same time.
The Minister of Education, Minister of Sport for Katanga Province and the Mayor of Lubumbashi were guest speakers at the Congress. The Mayor had her body guard in the church hall with an automatic assault rifle over his shoulder. Not often one sees this in a church.
The main theme of the Congress was: The Search for Identity
My lecture topics included:
- Is Christianity compatible with Secular Thought?
- Can Women change the Congo and the World?
- The Place of Youth in Nation Building
- Biblical Governance
- I also preached at the Sunday morning worship service where thousands gather
to hear the Word of God expounded.
Youth
Of the three day Redtco Congress, one was dedicated especially to training the youth. In dealing with families as the building block of society and one of God’s ordained areas of government, I spoke about the most taboo subject viz. sex and relationships. Protection was also high on the agenda. The Congo is a gun-free zone. Then came the question from the floor: “How do we protect the young in the East (the war zone), they get kicked around like political footballs?”
I explained that arming families would be the only way to protect the young children. I then thought that a family explanation would do: “I have a firearm in South Africa that I use to protect my family…I have also armed my two little sons (6 and 8 years old) with knives (they have been well trained in the use thereof) and I’ve explained to them that if anyone attacks their sisters (2 and 12 years old) that they must stab the attackers with their knives.”
This story was too much for my Congolese friends to contain. The hall erupted with shocked laughter and loud discussions in the pews. My friend and interpreter Ps Oscar still has a good laugh every time he remembers the episode.
It is amazing how illustrations to African youth differ from those in Western nations e.g. I told the girls that when a boy wants to sleep with them out of wedlock, they must tell him to go and play with the crocodiles in the river.
One politician mentioned that the youth must have smaller families when they get married. She said that if they ‘only have’ 5 children then they will have less problems than if they have 10 children. (I corrected her humanistic thinking during my lecture.)
Devotions
I led morning devotions at the school of 700 pupils at which Ps Andre is headmaster – the assemblies take place outside; there is no hall. The children listened intently when I dealt with the St James Massacre and how I had to deal with bitterness and forgiveness thereafter. Again when I explained that I had returned fire at the terrorists in the church, shocked laughter and discussions started. I had to wait for the excitement to calm down before I could carry on.
I suppose when you’ve lived in a gun-free country, where only the government and criminals have guns (no country is gun-free, the government and thugs are always armed) it is pretty shocking to have a missionary shoot someone in church, albeit a terrorist.
Marriage
I learned how various culture groups in the Congo prepare for marriage:
- the man goes and kidnaps, with force, the lady he likes and takes her home; when her family arrive to fetch her they are beaten off by the kidnapers family. This show of force makes the bride-to-be’s family very happy because it shows that their daughter is in very safe hands. A bride price is then negotiated and paid by the bridegroom i.e. the kidnapper!
- two families meet and decide who will marry whom and what the bride price will be. The couple do what they are told – after all their parents know better than their children.
- boring western type engagement, but with a bride price (labola).
The Congo is a wonderful place to work, the Congolese have had enough of the chaos of the past and are looking for real answers to life’s challenges. The humanist worldview has caused the mess and people are very open to the Gospel and Biblical discipleship to see real change that will further the
Kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of man. A consignment of bicycles to help further the Gospel by ‘putting wheels under the Word’ is on its way to the Congo thanks to the blessing of ministry partners and friends in the USA.
Opportunities
Crime is still out of control in South Africa; burglary, murder, rape and hi-jackings are happening where we live and near the Frontline Fellowship mission. However, the government attack on legal firearm owners is gaining momentum. We have to renew our gun licences we were issued for ‘life’. I’ve helped establish a court action for the state to pay compensation to those who have to hand over their firearms to the state.
Our ministry radio programme on Radio Tygerberg is still going strong and reaching tens of thousands of listeners every Tuesday. You can listen to our programme at www.104fm.org.za at 9pm GMT +2.
Dr Peter Hammond’s Biblical Principles for Africa (French Edition) has been consumed by the Congolese and is now out of print. There are desperate pleas for more copies. Please pray with us that we will be able to print more for these desperate brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yours in the service of King Jesus
Charl van Wyk
Missionary in Africa 