Participants: Danny Shelton (Host), Yvonne Lewis (Host), Keith Mosier & Barry Mosier
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY017062A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words Let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:09 Thank you for joining us as you do each and every day. 01:13 And as always, thank you for your love, 01:14 and your prayers, and financial support of 3ABN 01:17 as we endeavor to take this great gospel of the kingdom 01:21 into all the world. 01:22 My co-host today is Dr. Yvonne, so glad that you're here. 01:25 It's so good to be here. 01:27 Oh, we're going to have a great time in the Lord. 01:29 I know. I know. It's gonna be great. 01:31 And we want folks at home to put on seatbelts. 01:34 That's right. 01:35 We're going to be flying to the Congo, right? 01:37 Yes, to the Congo. 01:39 To the Congo. 01:41 And I love seeing God work. 01:44 Oh, yes. 01:46 And the miracles, 01:47 today we're going to hear some miracle stories, 01:49 we're going to hear some... 01:50 We're going to hear about a plane crash, 01:52 but it turned out okay. 01:53 Praise the Lord. 01:54 We're going to hear, so we don't want to scare anybody, 01:56 we're gonna hear all kinds of stories. 01:58 But I always love 01:59 when people are able to stop by the studios, 02:03 and we're able to talk... 02:05 We would call them the modern day missionaries, 02:07 we grew up hearing missions stories, 02:09 but you don't have to just read about them 02:11 like we used to in the papers, they're here today. 02:14 So I'd like to introduce, 02:15 we have Barry, and Keith Mosher, 02:17 thank you so much for being here today. 02:19 And, Keith, you're president, it's Congo Frontline Missions. 02:23 That's correct. And so, and Barry. 02:26 Of course, your father, right? Yes. 02:29 And I would say, he passed for a brother, 02:30 how's that doing? 02:32 How we doing? 02:33 So, well, at least, brother in the Lord, right? 02:34 We're brothers in the Lord. 02:36 And, Barry, so good to have you here. 02:37 Thank you so much. 02:39 And we want to talk about the Congo, 02:42 the work that you're doing. 02:43 And the reason we do this is it's not to uplift these folk. 02:47 Right. But it's to uplift Jesus. 02:49 Amen. 02:50 And uplift... 02:52 or to say thank you at least to folks like you at home 02:55 who support ministries like this, 02:57 or literally making a difference 02:59 in the lives of fellow brothers and sisters 03:02 in different areas of the world. 03:05 And I might say, doing so with many sacrifices. 03:08 One is, I don't know if I should tell this or not, 03:10 but it's probably, I'm the host, 03:12 and I'll get away with it, is like he's here, 03:15 smile on his face 03:16 but I understand right now, that you're... 03:19 what have you got? 03:20 I got malaria. Malaria. 03:21 So right now, 03:23 suffering because you haven't been here too long, 03:25 and your wife, which we just prayed for her, 03:27 she's in the Congo with... 03:29 Malaria also. Malaria. 03:31 And so these are just some of the things, 03:33 I guess, you deal with and you sacrifice. 03:37 Yes, yes. 03:39 It really, you know, in church, 03:42 we have the mission stories all the time. 03:44 And to actually meet missionaries 03:47 is such a blessing, it really is, 03:48 and to know how God is moving in your life, 03:51 and to know how the enemy is also trying to do things 03:54 that they can take you down 03:56 but God is victorious, He's the conqueror. 03:59 Amen. That's right. 04:00 He says, greater is he that is in us 04:03 than he that is in the world. 04:04 Yes. That's right. 04:05 So, today again, we're very thankful 04:07 that you all are here 04:08 but also we're thankful for the music and my niece, 04:12 Valerie that's gonna be singing for us today. 04:15 And Valerie is going to be singing, 04:16 "The Best Is Yet To Come". 04:37 The race is long 04:40 Sometimes I stumble 04:44 He helps me up each time I fall 04:52 When I lose hope 04:55 He gives me courage 04:59 And I press on 05:03 And give my all 05:08 I know I'll never have to run alone 05:15 And I can hardly wait to make it home 05:22 The best is yet to come 05:26 The promise heaven awaits 05:30 I'll finally see my Lord and Savior face to face 05:37 For He has set me free 05:41 For all eternity 05:45 When my life on earth is done 05:51 The best is yet to come 05:59 In every joy 06:02 In every trial 06:06 I need to keep my eyes on him 06:13 He is the way My sole provider 06:21 No matter how 06:25 The road may bend 06:30 When earthly treasures cloud my point of view 06:37 He reminds me that I'm only passing through 06:44 The best is yet to come 06:48 The promise heaven awaits 06:52 I'll finally see my Lord and Savior face to face 06:59 For he has set me free 07:03 For all eternity 07:07 When my life on earth is done 07:12 The best is yet to come 07:18 Nothing can compare to what's in store 07:25 When we will join the angels singing 07:29 Holy is the Lord 07:33 The best is yet to come 07:36 The promise heaven awaits 07:40 I'll finally see my Lord and Savior face to face 07:47 For He has set me free 07:51 For all eternity 07:55 When my life on earth is done 08:01 The best is yet to come 08:12 The best is yet to come 08:21 Amen, thank you, Valerie. 08:23 Her tone is just so sweet, it's so soothing. 08:25 Isn't that great? 08:27 Just like a personality, she's a sweetheart. 08:29 She is. 08:31 And I love you very much, Valerie. 08:32 Thank you for what you do... 08:33 I love you too, Valerie. 08:35 For the cause of God. 08:36 All right, we're going to get back to our guest now. 08:37 All right, good. 08:39 So again we have Keith and Barry Mosier. 08:41 And you all, we want to talk about the Congo today. 08:44 And your journey has been a number of years, 08:48 this is not something new 08:49 but you spent how many years in Congo now? 08:52 I've been in there almost ten years, now. 08:53 Ten years. 08:55 And before Congo, where were you all? 08:57 We were in Tanzania. 08:59 Started in Tanzania in the year 2000, 09:01 and I was there eight years before I joined Keith in Congo 09:04 for three more years so total of 11 years in Africa. 09:08 What makes people decide to leave the comfort of, 09:13 you know, America and go to countries 09:17 that are underdeveloped or whatever, 09:20 what makes you besides, of course, the Holy Spirit, 09:23 but what are some of the things that... 09:26 What's the process involved? 09:29 You're an accountant, right? 09:30 You're an accountant. You're in Minnesota. 09:32 Yeah, I'm a certified public accountant in Minnesota. 09:33 Minding your own business there. 09:34 But something says, 09:36 "Go to the continent of Africa." 09:38 For us, we are blessed to be around people 09:40 who were involved in mission work in other countries, 09:44 the McNeilus family. 09:46 And we were inspired by the things 09:48 that we saw them involved in and, 09:51 you know, as you're exposed to these things, 09:52 it makes you want to go yourself. 09:54 Okay, wow. 09:56 So you went to Tanzania? 09:58 Went to Tanzania. What did you do there? 09:59 What did you do? 10:01 Well, I was the accountant, of course, treasurer, 10:05 but I was also the evangelism coordinator 10:08 and publishing director and a few other hats, but... 10:11 Okay. Yeah. 10:14 And did you go to Tanzania too? 10:16 Yeah, I was 16 when we moved over there 10:18 and that was really, 10:19 probably the most life changing experience 10:21 I had up to that point 10:23 was coming out of my comfort zone, 10:26 my home environment in Minnesota, 10:29 and having parents who were willing to leave life behind 10:34 pretty much and move over there. 10:36 I had experiences doing evangelism. 10:40 We were building churches 10:42 and as we go out and weld people's bicycles, 10:43 and tools, and sharpen their axes, 10:45 and machetes, and through my experiences, 10:48 I realized that God was calling me. 10:51 He was doing something special in my heart 10:53 and wanting me to continue this service. 10:55 In fact, I remember very distinctly, 10:58 a church service in Tanzania. 11:00 The old man upfront was preaching in Swahili 11:03 and he brought out Romans 10, 11:05 and the verses there just seemed to jump off the page. 11:08 It was like God was telling me, 11:10 "That's you, you need to be a preacher. 11:12 You need to be an evangelist. 11:13 You need to go tell someone else, 11:15 use your feet to bring the gospel to someone." 11:18 And so I said, "Okay. 11:19 I guess I'll be a missionary, Lord." 11:22 Wow! 11:24 And how did you settle on Congo? 11:26 Well, I was working just in Tanzania, 11:30 had gotten some short training for a few months 11:32 at a small Bible college with Pastor Louis Torres. 11:35 And I began preaching around Tanzania, 11:37 doing more church buildings. 11:39 And it was when we saw the church leaders 11:43 up at the division office in Nairobi, Kenya 11:46 and we just went to tell about what we're doing. 11:48 I kind of went along as my dad's sidekick, 11:50 you know, just to tell, 11:51 "Well, I'm along with my dad 11:53 preaching and working in Tanzania." 11:55 And the leaders from Congo were there, 11:57 the church leaders were there at the meeting. 11:59 And they said, they singled me out. 12:01 They talked to me afterwards 12:03 and said, "We want you to come to Congo." 12:05 Okay. 12:07 So I said, "Well, I don't know. 12:09 I'm not sure about that. 12:11 There's work in Tanzania, I'm happy there. 12:13 I don't know if I'm going to come to Congo 12:15 but I'll pray about it." 12:17 And those prayers, they had an effect on me. 12:21 Actually I kept praying for Congo. 12:22 I said, "Lord, if you don't want me to go, 12:24 send somebody else." 12:25 Okay. 12:26 And yet, well, I went to college, 12:28 started getting my pastoral training 12:29 but the thought kept coming back to my mind, 12:31 "You need to follow that call, I'm calling you to Congo." 12:34 And I realized that was the only place 12:36 that the Lord had made clear to me 12:37 that I should go and work. 12:39 And I knew the language, I spoke Swahili fluently 12:40 by that point. 12:42 So by the end of my first year in college, 12:47 I was pretty well convinced 12:48 that I needed to do go to Congo. 12:50 But to start, so you went there, 12:52 were you married at the time when you went? 12:54 No, I wasn't married. 12:56 I was a single man 12:58 but interestingly enough at the same time 12:59 that I was praying about Congo, 13:02 there was a young lady in Minnesota 13:05 who is also thinking and praying about serving 13:07 as a missionary nurse in Africa. 13:09 And as she looked at the different countries, 13:11 Congo is the one that grabbed her heart. 13:13 Really, wow. 13:15 She had this desire to serve Jesus 13:17 wherever He wanted her to go 13:19 but the needs in Congo just jumped off the page for her 13:23 when she looked at the different countries. 13:25 She was going through the library books 13:26 and seeing what countries are like 13:28 and so that was Tammy Ritenour, a good friend of mine 13:32 but God made it clear to us 13:34 specifically each of us individually 13:37 that we were to go and work in Congo as missionaries. 13:39 Really. 13:40 So after I'd been in Congo for a pretty short time, 13:44 our communications increased 13:46 and I came back to visit and we got engaged. 13:50 Wow. 13:52 Now you're smiling, that's what she... 13:54 Go ahead and ask whatever question 13:56 and then we'll get on with the interview. 13:59 So how long after you came back did you two realize 14:04 that not only was God calling you to the Congo 14:07 but He was calling you to serve together in the Congo? 14:12 Well, I think she knew it before I did. 14:14 Yeah, she knew that God was calling her 14:16 to come in Congo 14:18 and join me in my ministry there. 14:19 And I'd been praying and just on my knees, asking, 14:22 "Lord, make it clear to me 14:24 who should help me over and work with me in Congo." 14:26 And as we got to see each other the same summer 14:30 that I started my work in Congo and spent time together, 14:33 the Lord was making it clear in my mind 14:35 so I started increasing our communication. 14:36 And then when she agreed to be my girlfriend 14:41 and then become my wife 14:43 and then I came back six months later. 14:45 I had to get back to Congo the work was calling, 14:47 she had to finish her nursing. 14:49 And then God's timing was perfect. 14:52 On the 19th July 2009, we joined our lives together. 14:56 In fact, we just celebrated eight years of happy marriage. 15:01 Good. Ah, that's awesome. 15:03 Four children's worth of happy marriage. 15:06 Praise the Lord. 15:07 I never missed a chance to show grandkids. 15:09 So I think we do have a picture. 15:11 If you got a picture, we can share. 15:12 Sure, we can show that. 15:14 That will be awesome. 15:15 We praise God to be able to work with our church leaders 15:17 and so we'll put a picture up on the screen 15:19 together with Nancy and Ted Wilson 15:22 that we took just a number of months ago. 15:25 Back over in Africa, 15:27 they were there at the meetings in Nairobi again 15:29 and I was there with my family. 15:31 Oh, wow. 15:33 The church has been so supportive 15:35 of our work in Congo in every way, 15:37 the division, the General Conference, 15:40 so many leaders have been helpful, 15:42 and supportive, and encouraging. 15:44 I want to... 15:46 We're going to come back to the Congo 15:47 but I want to go back to you. 15:49 A number of years ago, you're a pilot, right? 15:52 No, chief certified public accountant. 15:55 Okay, so you're in a plane and where are you 15:59 when this plane decides 16:00 it doesn't want to stay up in the air? 16:03 Well, we had been in Tanzania for eight years working, 16:07 getting used to Africa. 16:08 And then Keith starts this Congo Frontline Missions, 16:11 and our friends in Tanzania said, "Don't go to Congo. 16:14 It's not a good place." 16:15 And of course, there'd been a war there, 16:17 probably five and a half million people 16:18 died in that war. 16:20 Terrible. Wow. It's terrible. 16:21 But we did know that 16:23 that country needed a message of hope, 16:25 most people were discouraged. 16:27 So we flew up, Keith called us to come and help him. 16:30 And we said, "Well, we'll go up and visit him. 16:34 And while we're there, the Lord will show us 16:36 whether we should go join him in the ministry." 16:38 So we were on our way flying up in the last flight, 16:43 never got off the ground. 16:45 We are at the end of the runway, 16:47 just ready to take off, 16:48 and the plane crashed through some buildings, 16:51 the engine blew up, we went through some buildings. 16:54 And finally crashed on to an open air market. 16:56 That's the picture of the plane, 16:58 we were right in the middle of those flames 16:59 just about over the wing. 17:01 And, you know, 17:03 47 people died in that airplane crash that day. 17:07 But all four of us got out alive by God's grace. 17:09 Amen. 17:11 And we're just praised his name and... 17:13 Who all was with you? 17:14 My wife was with me, and then my daughter, 17:17 April who was 14 at the time, 17:20 and then my little 3-year-old son, Andrew. 17:23 And so, all of us got out alive. 17:27 It was actually my daughter April 17:28 who ran up ahead in the plane 17:31 and saw a crack in the side of the plane 17:33 and because we couldn't find a way out 17:35 and she just tore a hole in the side of a plane 17:37 with a bare hands. 17:38 I think the angels did that, she couldn't do that. 17:41 No. 17:42 And so we all got out alive and, 17:46 you know, I remember that night April saying, 17:48 "Dad, I think the Lord's telling us 17:49 not to move to Congo." 17:51 Can you imagine that? 17:53 And I said, "Well, let's keep praying about it." 17:56 Then four days later, we got on another plane, 17:59 same runway and flew up to meet Keith. 18:02 It was a great reunion 18:03 because he had gone to the airport 18:05 to meet us that day. 18:07 And they goes to the airport, 18:08 that said, "No, the plane crashed." 18:10 You can hardly imagine, 18:11 when you go to pick somebody up at the airport 18:13 and you find out they're not coming, 18:15 their plane crashed, in Congo 18:16 usually everybody dies in a plane crashes. 18:18 They're pretty bad, you know, some crash off in the jungle, 18:20 turned out they're still in the city there, 18:24 I couldn't get any communication 18:25 just had to lay it before the Lord on my knees 18:28 and say, "God, if my family's alive, 18:30 it's all up to you." 18:32 Wow. 18:34 So we went on to visit Keith 18:37 and while we were up visiting Keith over the next few weeks, 18:40 my wife said, "You know, we should be dead. 18:43 That should have been our grave down there in Goma 18:47 where we were taking off. 18:48 But if the Lord can... 18:51 He has work for us to do 18:52 and if He can keep us alive through airplane crash, 18:55 He can do it through anything. 18:56 So I think He wants us to move here and help Keith." 18:58 So we did. 19:00 And we moved there and worked there 19:01 the next three years with Keith. 19:02 Wow. 19:04 Okay, why don't you explain a little bit 19:05 how your ministry works? 19:07 What is it exactly you do? 19:09 God has called you there, 19:10 the leadership there wanted you, 19:12 Keith, so what is it? 19:13 How do you start from nothing and say, "Okay, 19:16 we want to make a difference in the lives of the people 19:20 in this entire country." 19:22 Explain how this works? 19:24 Well, the needs in Congo are really overwhelming. 19:27 There's so many people that have needs. 19:31 You can imagine a country that's torn apart by war, 19:34 and this country that's had a lot of hurting people, 19:38 you know, a lot of the deaths 19:40 that happened through the war years 19:42 were from starvation 19:43 or people that weren't able to get medications 19:45 for their families when they got sick. 19:47 And so we were trying to see 19:50 how can we reach out to these people. 19:52 There was hardly any infrastructure. 19:54 The roads, you couldn't even get in 19:55 and out of Kisangani when we moved there. 19:58 We flew in, we had to fly in our first vehicle 20:00 because we couldn't get it in the roads, 20:03 that's how isolated we were from the rest of the country 20:05 and the rest of the world. 20:07 We knew... 20:08 For sure, we couldn't do this on our own. 20:10 We'd have to get people to help us 20:12 and so we began to pray and we began to train people. 20:16 So the core of what we've been doing 20:18 has always been teaching people 20:21 to share the Bible with other people, 20:23 planting churches through sharing 20:26 how the Bible that has touched our lives 20:29 can touch their lives. 20:31 And so I could show you a little picture 20:33 of what our campus looks like right now. 20:35 Sure, absolutely. 20:36 Well, first of all, we've got this picture on the screen 20:38 of our training program 20:39 which is the core of what we're doing, 20:42 teaching evangelism. 20:44 And then, I'll show a little video clip actually 20:47 which shows what it's like to come on to our campus. 20:51 Okay. 20:52 Now like those folk who were there, 20:54 where did they come from? 20:55 Is that throughout the whole country? 20:56 Yeah. 20:58 The people on the screen there, 20:59 they come to our training program, 21:01 they're coming from whatever regions, 21:04 some of them right there in Kisangani, 21:05 some of them have walked for days. 21:08 Our first program, I remember, we conducted it in a church 21:11 and we had people walking for weeks 21:13 just to come to our training seminar. 21:14 Wow. 21:16 So they come to learn how to be better witnesses, 21:20 and to go out, and to win souls for Jesus. 21:22 That's right. 21:24 And you equip them with the right tools 21:26 and the right message, and how to do it. 21:29 So you help them do that? 21:31 Yeah. Okay. 21:32 So you design the curriculum then 21:34 or are you using some studies from somewhere else, 21:39 and then they learn it from there? 21:41 How do you do that? 21:42 Well, of course, I naturally use things 21:45 that I was taught in my Bible training 21:48 under Pastor Torres. 21:50 But we've specially designed our church planting program 21:55 for the Congo. 21:56 Pastor McKenzie's experienced in Tanzania 21:58 and other areas in Africa 22:00 helped in my background in witnessing there. 22:04 So we've just taken what we find in the Bible 22:07 and teach other people. 22:08 In fact, I'd love to share a Bible verse with you guys. 22:11 Sure, yes. 22:12 My wife and I claim 22:13 a brand new verse of the Bible every day. 22:15 And you can always find a verse that's meaningful. 22:18 Our verse today is in John 16:24, 22:24 now I can read it to you in Swahili or English, 22:26 I don't know which one you want. 22:27 Both. Both. 22:29 In English, it says, 22:30 "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. 22:32 Ask that you will receive that your joy may be full." 22:36 And in Swahili that says, may open it up here. 22:41 In Swahili that says, 22:43 "Mpaka sasa hamjaomba chochote kwa jina langu. 22:47 Ombeni nanyi mtapata ili furaha yenu ikamilike." 22:54 So furaha yenu, that's your joy. 22:58 Jesus wants to give us joy, 23:00 He wants to give us peace when we ask things from him. 23:05 He loves to answer our requests. 23:06 And so over in Congo, we've got a lot of requests answered, 23:09 a lot of miracles happened as we got this campus 23:13 that was given to us by God. 23:15 In fact, twice given to us. 23:17 And I'll share the story at some point 23:19 how God gave us our property two times 23:22 but maybe I'll start by sharing that video clip 23:24 that shows what our campus looks like. 23:26 Yeah, all right. Let's go to it. 24:00 Wow. 24:01 So there's several homes like in a compound there 24:05 and you have one of those buildings, 24:09 is dedicated to academics or school Bible study 24:13 and then the cafeteria. 24:15 How's it set up? 24:16 We've got a classroom, and a cafeteria, 24:19 and dormitories, an office building, 24:22 and then a number of housing units 24:24 right there on our campus. 24:27 I live in the house that my dad had built for himself 24:29 and then when dad moved back to the States, 24:31 I took that one over. 24:32 Okay. 24:34 And we've had an amazing experience 24:37 just building that campus, 24:38 you know, it was just raw jungle to begin with. 24:41 Crawling around, trying to fight through the jungle 24:43 because it's really dense. 24:45 The jungle just grows and grows 24:47 and if you leave an area for a few years, 24:49 you can hardly know 24:50 that you used to be able to pass through there. 24:52 Did you say crawling around? 24:53 Yeah because... 24:55 Isn't there are all kinds of big snakes and poisonous snakes 24:58 and things like that over there? 24:59 I've never been bitten by a snake in Congo 25:01 but we killed plenty of them. 25:02 Oh, really. 25:04 Even in my house, I've killed a couple. 25:07 You may have recognized those buildings, 25:10 those are one day church buildings. 25:11 I thought so. 25:13 The one day church people, those are such good people 25:15 and they helped us, 25:17 they sent over two containers of buildings. 25:21 And that's what was the start up of our campus. 25:24 And we had so many miracles, that was one of the big ones 25:27 when those containers showed up. 25:30 But, you know, we knew we had to have gravel. 25:34 We bought about 107 acres for our campus. 25:38 Okay. 25:39 And it's five miles north of Kisangani, 25:43 city of about a million people. 25:45 So we're five miles out of town and we needed gravel, 25:50 we needed sand, and we needed bricks 25:53 to do our construction. 25:54 And I remember Nathan who works for us there saying, 25:58 "You know the Lord probably has this all here for us. 26:00 I think I'm just gonna get down and dig. 26:02 I think we'll find the gravel and sand right here." 26:04 And sure enough it was there. 26:06 He went down, dug the whole low spot, 26:08 and found all the gravel and sand we needed. 26:11 We had seven great big termite mounds 26:13 that were right in the way of 26:15 where we wanted to build our campus. 26:16 And you probably experience this 26:18 when something's in your way 26:19 and you kind of frustrated about it. 26:22 Well, we found out that material 26:24 that termites left behind, in those, 26:27 these were big 20 feet high, 50 feet across, 26:30 made perfect brick material. 26:32 So that was our bricks right there 26:34 and we didn't know it. 26:36 And so the gravel, sand, the bricks, 26:38 the one day churches there was our campus. 26:40 Lord, had it all there for us. 26:42 God is incredible. 26:43 Look at how he just, you know, had everything there for you, 26:48 everything that you needed was there for you. 26:50 How did the people receive you there? 26:53 Were they happy that you were coming? 26:56 Or was there resentment? 26:57 How did they receive you? 27:00 We've been very well received in Congo. 27:02 A lot of people are happy to see missionaries come 27:05 and share the gospel with them. 27:06 I think of experiences that we've had 27:09 and that our missionaries have had going out, 27:13 but of course, it varies by the person and by the area. 27:16 Our church planters usually go out by bicycle. 27:19 That's the most common method of transportation. 27:22 And I'll show you a picture of some of our church planters 27:25 that we trained 27:26 a number of years back here on the screen, 27:28 heading out with their bicycles, 27:29 and the guy right in the middle is Bongowa Posho. 27:32 He's got a black shirt on there. 27:35 And Posho went out and was training, 27:39 was going out to plant a new church 27:40 and the first thing we tell him is, 27:42 you know, you can't do it all by yourself, 27:44 you got to train other people too. 27:46 And so he started training the people in his area 27:50 how to share the Bible and study it with other people. 27:53 And we tell them they've got to be a light. 27:55 That's the whole purpose is you need to be a light 27:58 just like it says in the Book of Isaiah. 28:01 It says in Isaiah 42:6, "I the Lord, 28:05 have called you in righteousness. 28:08 And will hold your hand." 28:10 I love the fact that God holds our hand 28:12 when we're out there serving. 28:13 We're not in this alone. 28:15 I wouldn't be willing to go to Congo for a moment, 28:18 if God wasn't holding my hand. 28:19 That's right. 28:20 But when He's holding my hand, 28:22 I can go anywhere that He calls. 28:23 So He continues on, it says, 28:25 "I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, 28:27 as a light to the Gentiles." 28:29 So Posho was going out to this village and sharing, 28:33 and trained this person how to be a witness. 28:36 And this guy went out to a different village 28:39 along the river system, 28:40 on the low mamy river which flows into the Congo. 28:43 And was starting to share his faith there 28:46 in this remote location. 28:48 He started sharing with the people in the village. 28:49 He thought, "For sure, I'll begin with my family 28:52 and that will work out well." 28:53 Well, his wife would have nothing to do with it that, 28:55 she said, "Forget it." 28:56 You know, are they religious people? 28:58 Well, he was, but his wife said, 29:00 "I'm not moving churches." 29:01 She said, "Whatever you've been learning, 29:03 whatever you're teaching, I'm not going there." 29:04 I don't know what the problem was. 29:05 But he started building the church 29:07 and got a little Albino boy 29:09 in their village to start coming 29:11 and a couple other young men coming but he was struggling. 29:14 But he was doing whatever he could. 29:17 And after a while, one of our evangelists 29:19 heard about this and went out to visit them. 29:21 And had quite a time getting there, 29:25 turned down to just a little track 29:27 and he went through with his motorcycle 29:28 with a generator on the back, 29:30 going through, and got out there, 29:32 and did evangelistic series. 29:34 And while he was there, 29:36 they had over 20 baptisms at the end of this series. 29:40 And started this little church out in the jungle. 29:42 And the good news is that man's wife, 29:45 she turned around and said, "Okay, now I understand. 29:47 So I'll join your church now, I'll be a part of this. 29:50 Because I can see what you're teaching 29:52 is coming right out of the Bible." 29:54 What was the prevailing religion there 29:57 before he went there? 29:59 Was it Christianity, Islam, what is it or was it anything? 30:04 There's quite a variety in Congo. 30:07 There's number of people 30:08 who claim Christianity as their religion 30:11 and others who are part of Islam, 30:16 there's a number of Catholics in the country. 30:18 I think 44%, the people are Roman Catholics. 30:22 And the challenge that I've found 30:25 is that a lot of people don't know their Bibles. 30:28 So no matter what they're claiming to be, 30:30 they don't know what the Word of God says. 30:32 So we're trying to always point people at the Bible. 30:34 And whatever the Bible teaches, that's what they need. 30:37 And I will say that in spite of what people may say, 30:41 a lot of the people really believe in voodoo, 30:45 animism and just believing in the devil 30:48 and his power is a very strong part of the Congolese culture. 30:52 Okay. 30:53 So spiritualism... 30:55 Yeah. Is very prevalent. 30:56 Yeah. Okay. 30:58 They're not always very receptive 30:59 when we come out even when our church planters 31:01 go out to new areas. 31:03 So we've used a couple things 31:05 that have kind of opened the doors for us 31:07 because at first whenever our church planters went out, 31:10 they'd be hearing Seventh-day who? 31:13 You know, what's that? 31:15 We don't really want anything to do with this. 31:17 And one was well drilling. 31:21 I remember telling a man in Nebraska 31:23 about how what a blessing would be 31:25 if we could drill wells there. 31:27 And he said, "I'm impressed, 31:29 I'm going to give you a portable well drilling rig." 31:32 And we've used that, we've drilled 48 wells so far. 31:34 This is the one we're hoping to send 31:37 in the next couple weeks to replace that unit. 31:41 This will be such a blessing but you know, 31:43 70% of the issues of people's health 31:46 comes from drinking bad water there. 31:48 So when we go to a village and drill a well, 31:52 whereas before they said, 31:54 "We don't want anything to do with this," 31:55 now, "Oh, you've got us clean water. 31:57 Now they're feeling good all the time. 32:00 Well, sure, what do you got to tell me? 32:02 I'd like to study the Bible with you 32:03 and it's opened the doors." 32:05 And I think the other thing has been our radio station, 32:08 that was a dream of Keith from the beginning 32:11 was to have radio on. 32:13 He went to Adventist World Radio and talk to them. 32:15 And they said, "Well, we've never partnered 32:17 with a supporting ministry 32:19 but I think we will with you." 32:21 And we started in that partnership, 32:23 they gave us some equipment. 32:25 And we put up a radio tower there on the conference office 32:30 and started broadcasting. 32:33 And our signal goes out about 160 miles. 32:36 We've got a 1,000 watt station there. 32:39 And there's ten other stations in town 32:42 but we've become the number one radio station 32:46 in that whole region. 32:48 And so the wells, the radio, 32:50 and these types of ministries just open the door. 32:54 Now when we go out, they are more likely to say, 32:57 "Oh, are you the people from that radio station? 33:00 Oh, well, great you finally came out to us. 33:03 Now we can put a phase with it. 33:04 We want to know what you have to say." 33:07 So these are great door openers for us. 33:08 Yes. 33:09 The easiest way to know how many people are listing 33:11 is what happens when you go off air. 33:13 Oh, yes. 33:14 Because then they start complaining. 33:15 The complaints come in, what's the matter? 33:17 What's going on? 33:18 Actually that happened earlier this year 33:19 when our transmitter went out 33:21 but the good news just over this past weekend, 33:24 AWUR committed to give us another transmitter. 33:26 And I'm taking back to Congo with me in about a week. 33:29 Oh, wonderful. 33:31 So we're happy to see that. 33:33 God has blessed so much. 33:35 In fact, we've had new churches come out, 33:37 the picture of the one day church 33:39 that you can see on the screen 33:40 is a church that started from radio ministry. 33:43 Okay. 33:44 And a story that goes along with radio ministry 33:46 is a man named Nabian Drombie. 33:49 Now he went out to a remote area 33:51 with his family, 33:52 it took him about ten days 33:54 just to come to where we were by bicycle with his family. 33:56 And then several more days 33:58 to get to where he was stationed in Ubundu. 34:01 While he was there, his wife gave birth to a little boy 34:07 and that boy got sick and died. 34:10 Then she was pregnant again 34:12 and they were looking forward 34:13 to having another member of the family. 34:15 And she gave birth prematurely 34:18 at the little health center in their village. 34:21 And they were happy to see 34:23 a brand new little baby boy come out. 34:26 But then the bleeding didn't stop. 34:31 And so as she continued to weaken 34:35 and realized that she was going to say goodbye, 34:38 she called her husband to her side and said, 34:40 Nabian Drombie, whatever you do, 34:44 don't stop doing God's work. 34:47 Take care of our kids and keep serving Jesus. 34:51 I'll see you in the kingdom. 34:53 And they said, "Good bye." She passed away. 34:55 And I went out and cried with this man 34:58 over his wife's grave and prayed with these people 35:00 and spent time with him in his village. 35:02 Now he is working in a new area, 35:05 one of these villages that was started 35:07 by the radio station. 35:09 Somebody, we moved him to a new area 35:11 but he wanted to keep serving Jesus. 35:13 And the good, the thing that makes 35:15 this story extra special 35:19 is that his little girls have a new mommy now. 35:23 Okay. 35:24 Because he married his first wife Flavi, 35:27 his younger sister. 35:29 And so now, they have an aunty who's now a mother. 35:32 And they're still serving Jesus together as a family. 35:35 Wow. It's amazing. Wow. 35:37 Now tell us about, do you have a new hospital there? 35:41 Are you building one or tell me the story? 35:43 We have a beautiful dream for the hospital, I tell you. 35:45 Dr. Eddie Perry and Carolina Perry 35:49 both doctors, 35:50 they just have finished their residency 35:53 and are planning to come in October. 35:56 They've got some language training to do. 35:58 We've got the building project started. 36:01 Now, we have clean title 36:03 which is very important in Congo 36:04 to get a clean title to your property, 36:06 we have a clean title to a piece of property 36:08 where they will build this hospital 36:11 right along the Congo River. 36:12 And we are so excited about this 36:14 because health needs in Congo are serious. 36:18 A lot of people that, we test people for malaria 36:20 on a regular basis, 36:22 right on the front porch of our house. 36:23 My wife's a nurse, 36:25 I'm familiar with all the parasite medications 36:28 and all the major problems in Congo, 36:31 but a lot of people have problems 36:32 that we can't deal with. 36:34 Cancer and surgery needs and other things. 36:36 So we were looking forward to this. 36:38 I've got a picture of Eddie and Carolina, 36:39 they've spent time over with us in Congo. 36:42 Here he's driving a boat and he was driving motorcycle 36:44 and going out to visit the remote areas. 36:46 In fact, you wouldn't know it by looking there 36:48 but he was limping at the time of this picture 36:51 when they were out on the boat 36:52 where that's going down the Congo river 36:54 because he hurt his foot out on the motorcycle in the bush. 36:57 He has been to just as rough areas or worse 37:01 than I have out in the Congo 37:04 traveling to where people 37:05 really can't get good healthcare. 37:07 And we're so excited, 37:08 the focus of this hospital is saving people 37:12 not just for now but having them in the kingdom. 37:15 We want people to have eternity with Jesus 37:19 and that's our focus. 37:20 Do you have all the funding 37:22 or is it something that some of the folk here 37:23 before we close, we maybe put up an address? 37:27 Is there something that our folk can help you with? 37:29 We would love to have assistance with that. 37:31 We've already sent over a container of equipment. 37:33 It's on the water right now going to Congo. 37:36 A container of medical equipment 37:38 but now we're looking for funds to build, 37:41 to build the building. 37:42 Will you do a one day type hospital 37:45 or you going to do some bigger, would you? 37:47 We're going to use campus, a campus 37:51 that's very similar to the one day church project 37:53 but a little bit wider buildings 37:54 is what we need for the thing. 37:56 And right in the center of the whole thing, 37:57 we're putting our chapel. 37:59 So that no matter what building you're in, 38:01 you can listen out your window and hear the music, 38:04 hear the sermons, 38:06 hear the devotions on a daily basis. 38:07 Nice. It is, it is. Most certainly. 38:10 Well, I'm impressed that doctors Eddie and Carolina, 38:14 husband and wife physician team could have gone, 38:17 you know, you could make a lot of money as a couple. 38:20 And here they are going and pouring their lives out 38:25 in service in the Congo. 38:27 And I'm just impressed with young people. 38:30 I'm excited about that, young people willing to go out 38:32 and spend their lives ministering in difficult areas. 38:36 I'm just very proud of them, excited. 38:38 Wow. 38:39 Yeah. 38:41 The good part about this is the lives being changed. 38:44 So here you are, you go because you have a vision 38:47 for whatever reason. 38:49 You say, "Lord, send me." 38:50 So you go Tanzania and then you go to Congo. 38:54 You train workers, these workers go out, 38:57 they train others. 38:59 And now you're building churches. 39:00 Do you have any idea how many churches you built? 39:03 Or how many people have been baptized 39:05 in the last several years? 39:07 We've baptized over 6,000 people 39:09 since we've been there in Congo. 39:12 And in the church plants we have around... 39:16 We have almost 90 church plants right now 39:21 that we are working in on a weekly basis 39:24 where we're supporting the person out there 39:27 who gets just a simple stipend, 39:29 it takes about $105 39:31 to keep one of these frontline workers 39:33 sharing their village and that includes, 39:35 there's over... 39:36 Just in the villages that we're currently working in, 39:39 there's over 3,000 people 39:40 coming on a weekly basis to church. 39:42 So $105 a month to send more Bible workers. 39:44 Yeah. $105 a month. 39:45 That's amazing, you know... 39:46 It is. 39:48 And you know, really almost any of us could afford that. 39:50 If we really want to do things we can make sacrifices to do. 39:54 Or if you can't, maybe somebody can do 20 39:56 and someone else 20 and... 39:58 That's right. Get a group together. 39:59 So we would encourage you, 40:00 maybe to talk to folks at your church. 40:02 In just a little bit, we'll put up an address 40:05 but say, you know, we should be supporting 40:07 some of these frontline workers 40:08 because that's amazing 40:10 and the amount of baptisms that are coming in, 40:12 the amount of people accepting Jesus Christ 40:15 as Lord and Savior. 40:17 And so what you're doing there, God has put His hand. 40:20 I understand you even had contact with some Muslim, 40:23 maybe a Muslim moment. 40:25 Tell us about this a little bit? 40:27 Well, I'm so blessed to be able to serve in Congo. 40:30 And I remember going down to Kindu, 40:33 where we built a center of influence 40:36 and this center of influence 40:38 was going to have a medical center 40:40 and also a training center for teaching people 40:44 how to, and there's the picture there, 40:45 you can see. 40:46 Teaching people how to reach out 40:49 to their neighbors with the truths of the Bible, 40:51 specifically in this area of the country, 40:54 to their Muslim neighbors. 40:56 Down in Kindu and in Kasongo, 40:59 the predominant religion is Islam. 41:03 And so I traveled down there with my family. 41:06 And it wasn't exactly an easy trip. 41:09 We went down by vehicle and then motorcycle. 41:13 Now to get through the roads is a challenge. 41:18 Just the bridges that you have to go over. 41:20 And actually that's why we had to go by motorcycles 41:22 because you can't, you can't get a vehicle 41:24 over these bridges. 41:25 Maybe Yvonne would like to go try something like that. 41:27 Might be a good experience for you take that 41:29 go across that bridge and... 41:31 You know... 41:32 On motorcycle. Well, I'm just thinking. 41:33 I don't think I'm called to that. 41:37 Well, my wife likes to go anywhere I like to go. 41:39 And so we planned, we planned this trip together. 41:42 I didn't twist her arm, 41:43 we planned to go down together to, on motorcycle. 41:47 And it was a several day trip to get there. 41:50 I had my kids on, the bike with me, 41:52 and she was riding with my friend. 41:54 And we went, and actually her bike went down, 41:58 there was a little rut, it wasn't a bad accident 42:00 but it just slipped just enough to get her wheel in there 42:03 and the bike went down. 42:05 And she was trying to take care of my son to hold him up 42:08 because he had just gone to sleep as she's holding him, 42:10 he's right in front of her. 42:11 And, you know, 42:13 we made it through the end of the day all right. 42:15 She was hurt, she's like, I'm a little sore 42:17 but we didn't realize till that night 42:19 that she'd actually broken her rib on this trip. 42:22 And so we're traveling to these remote areas 42:25 but we wanted to go 42:26 because we wanted to see the people in these places 42:29 that our church planters are winning for Jesus. 42:32 So we spent a Sabbath with them 42:33 and kept going out to these remote places, 42:35 to see some of the people that we hadn't gotten to see. 42:37 We'd sent them out there 42:38 but we hadn't even seen who was worshipping there. 42:43 And one of the places that I got to visit on that trip 42:46 was this little village 42:47 along side of the Congo River called Samba. 42:51 And it's real near Kasongo 42:53 which is where the Muslim capital 42:55 of that area of the country is 42:56 but I went over to Samba. 42:58 And this was this lady her name was Wayuma. 43:01 And Wayuma grew up in the Islamic faith, 43:05 her husband was teaching in the mosque. 43:07 And yet she was uncomfortable. 43:12 She realized there was something missing in her life. 43:15 And so she was looking 43:18 and somebody came to her village now 43:20 teaching the truth of the gospel. 43:23 And she went to their home and started learning 43:26 what they were teaching out of the Word of God. 43:29 And found a new life, a new hope in Jesus, 43:33 someone who is willing to forgive her sins, 43:35 someone who is willing to give her a new life 43:38 and come back and take her home in heaven. 43:40 And so she was full of joy. 43:42 You can imagine the joy of finding Jesus 43:44 after years of not knowing Him. 43:46 Wow. 43:48 How did her husband receive it? 43:49 He was not very happy. 43:51 Honestly, you know, he actually lost his position teaching 43:54 because all sudden, 43:55 he was teaching in the mosque 43:56 and his wife wasn't interested anymore. 43:58 And he got very angry. 44:00 In fact, he came in to visit her, 44:02 he came to where she was kneeling in prayer 44:04 by her bedside. 44:06 And he got so angry, he looked at her and said, 44:08 "You know, we can't have this Christianity in my home. 44:13 I'm going to do something if I ever see you again," 44:16 he'd began to threaten her. 44:17 He said, "Only Allah knows what I will do 44:20 and you better just give up this prayer." 44:26 So, but I'm amazed at her strength and her courage. 44:31 She looked back at her husband and said, 44:32 "No, I want you to join this church. 44:36 And more than anything else, I can't stop praying 44:38 because that's my connection with Jesus 44:40 and He gives me peace, 44:41 He gives me satisfaction in life now. 44:44 I can't give up my Jesus." 44:46 Wow. 44:48 So as it turned out, he saw her again praying 44:51 and as though he was going to do something 44:54 filled again with rage 44:56 but when she looked up as she was done praying 44:57 he said, you know, I couldn't. 44:59 What I'd planned to do, I was not able to do 45:02 what I want to do to you just now, he left. 45:06 He went to another woman, 45:09 left her alone with her children. 45:12 And she now has the challenge of eking out a living 45:16 with her family out of a small garden 45:21 but she has the joy and the peace 45:23 of knowing that she has a savior. 45:26 And she has a home that's being built for her 45:28 up in heaven by the one who promised that back 45:31 when He was here on earth. 45:33 Amen. 45:34 Barry, the Bible says, train up a child in the way 45:36 he should go and when he is old, 45:37 he'll not depart from it. 45:39 When you said here and, 45:41 of course, you've been there and you lived there 45:43 but just sitting, these stories coming back to your mind. 45:47 Talk to us for a second about parents and their children 45:52 and the blessing of the go, 45:55 rather than talk about you're going? 45:57 How has that affected your whole family? 45:58 Well, it's such a blessing. 46:00 Of course, we're still supporting, 46:01 I'm still the treasurer for Congo Frontline Missions, 46:04 and work with Keith. 46:06 Well, I hope to get over there this fall 46:08 again to visit the family, the grandkids and see the work. 46:12 Because as the work goes forward, 46:14 it's just every, you know, in this completely dark area. 46:18 There were 13 million people up in the upper Congo River basin 46:22 and just completely unentered. 46:25 And knowing that, you know, my son is there working, 46:29 trying to get that message out to these people 46:32 in these latter days. 46:33 It's just thrills my soul and we came from, 46:36 we used to read a lot of mission stories at home 46:40 and we're glad we did. 46:43 Absolutely. 46:44 And we did bring a gift for you, Danny and Yvonne. 46:48 Okay. Keith can hold it up. 46:51 Just assured that this was something somebody did just, 46:55 just a couple of weeks ago. 46:58 They had a trail ride for Christ, Christ to Congo. 47:01 And... 47:02 Thank you. Yeah. 47:04 Okay. Thank you. 47:05 It was for Bibles. 47:06 We can get Bibles for about $11 each. 47:08 Okay. 47:10 And she had it organized this trail ride. 47:13 We rode, I was on the trail ride, 47:14 we went 26 miles and that event raised $11,000 47:19 for Bibles for the Congo. 47:20 That's enough to buy a 1,000 Bibles. 47:22 So that's the way it's been. 47:23 We've partnered with Sabbaths schools, 47:25 churches somebody like Amanda who organized this event. 47:29 And, but people praying for us. 47:33 It's such a blessing. That's why I'm alive. 47:35 Remember that airplane crash. Absolutely. 47:37 That was because people are praying for me 47:39 that we're alive. 47:40 And so prayers for people, 47:42 people doing fund raising events, 47:44 partnering, you know, that way, 47:45 even though they can't go, they can be part of it. 47:49 When they read the reports, 47:50 "Wow, I was participating in that with some funding." 47:54 And that's how people get involved. 47:57 And then coming. 47:59 We really could use more workers. 48:00 The harvest is great, but, oh my, we could use more help. 48:04 Keith can tell you some of the needs, 48:06 I know our dental work could use someone, 48:09 our dental person just left to go to North Sudan to work. 48:13 We're happy to be able to share our missionaries. 48:15 They needed him more in Sudan than they needed them in Congo, 48:18 so we let him go. 48:19 Okay, all right. 48:21 But God has a lot of work to be done. 48:22 And we need medical personnel to come 48:26 and staff the hospital and work with us. 48:27 Even, you know, if you don't know 48:29 try coming for a short term. 48:31 When I say short term, maybe a couple of months. 48:34 Or you know, whatever you could fit into your schedule, 48:37 come visit us and spend time. 48:38 You can't do it in a week, 48:40 it takes too long to get there and get back home 48:42 but come and visit us and spend time 48:43 and see what it's like over there. 48:45 In spite of the fact that there are security issues 48:47 in Congo in general. 48:49 Our area has been very calm and peaceful. 48:51 Amen. 48:53 So in spite of the rebels and the different things 48:55 that we read about in different areas, 48:57 we can praise God that we're in a place 48:59 that's been quite secure over the years 49:02 that we've been there. 49:03 We've never had a violent incident 49:04 on our campus. 49:06 Praise the Lord. Yes. And that is a blessing. 49:07 Considering that there's kidnappings 49:08 and other things happening in some of these other areas 49:12 where there's been conflict. 49:14 So we could use people to help us, 49:16 we could use anybody who likes to teach or preach 49:18 or you know, wants to come 49:20 and spend some of their time of their life, 49:23 some of the best years of their life 49:24 or the last years of their life 49:26 or their early years, whatever you want to give to God, 49:29 we'd love to see people come in and work with us there. 49:31 Okay. 49:33 What I'd like to do is talk to the folks at home 49:34 for just a minute. 49:35 You've heard these needs. 49:37 I mean, this is what's happening here 49:39 is tremendous, Yvonne. 49:40 It's tremendous. 49:41 When Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world," 49:43 He said, "all power is given me." 49:44 Yes. 49:46 You know, "Go ye therefore," and it says, 49:47 "teaching all nations, baptizing them," you know. 49:51 This is exactly what's happening 49:53 and it's not often that people know really 49:56 where the money is going? 49:58 In other words, you see things on television 50:00 or people advertising and you find out the, 50:02 a lot of that money goes for administration 50:04 and rarely sometimes gets their 10%, 20% 50:08 but we know these folks, we know their background 50:11 and we can tell you that the money that you give 50:15 will be used for God's honor and His glory 50:19 for the winning of souls. 50:20 So we want you to ask the Lord, what He would have you to do? 50:24 And I'm going to ask Yvonne, we don't always do this 50:26 but I'm going to ask you to do a special prayer right now. 50:29 Sure. 50:30 So we want to pray and ask the Holy Spirit 50:33 to lead, guide, and direct each one of us. 50:35 I know I want to do something. 50:37 The Holy Spirit is impressing me 50:38 that I should be a part of this. 50:39 So I want to do it. 50:41 And those of you at home, we want you to pray with us 50:43 and say, "Lord, what would You have me to do? 50:45 Because there are many, many souls 50:47 that still need to hear about Jesus." 50:48 Yes. 50:50 Maybe you're in an area here and you say, 50:52 well, I thought everybody, no, they don't. 50:54 Around the world, we need help, you see you can volunteer 50:57 but many of you can't. 50:58 You're not able to but you can help prayerfully, 51:01 you can help financially. 51:02 So why don't we just right now, you bow your heads with us 51:06 and, Yvonne, you say a special prayer. 51:07 And then right after the prayer, 51:09 we're going to go to an address roll 51:11 where you can contact the Congo Mission. 51:14 And also find out how you can contribute? 51:18 Would you pray for us? Sure. 51:20 Father God, we just thank You so very much 51:23 that by Your Spirit, 51:24 You have impressed this team to go into the Congo 51:29 and to do Your work there. 51:30 And we see what's happening, 51:32 we see the fruit of their labor, Lord. 51:33 And we thank You so much. 51:35 We ask that now those who are viewing 51:37 will be impressed 51:39 by Your Spirit again to do something, 51:42 to partner with this ministry, to show that 51:45 they are in support of the efforts 51:47 to get this gospel out to the whole world. 51:50 We just thank You and praise You, Lord, 51:52 so whatever You impress upon them 51:54 please move upon them to be obedient 51:56 and to listen and to support 51:59 and to partner with this wonderful ministry. 52:00 Yes. 52:02 Thank you Father God, 52:03 and one day we can all meet around the tree of life 52:06 and we can celebrate, 52:07 we can celebrate the fact that You've done 52:10 all that You've done to bring us there. 52:13 We thank You and we praise You in Jesus' name, amen. 52:16 Amen. |
Revised 2017-09-28