AP's-Elders Nkong and Kabengele ZL's- Elder Kabeya and Kintembila
We have sent missionaries to Kipushi two days a week since Jan. and the size of the branch has just about doubled.
When we went there in November they had just rented a building and it was in terrible shape. I didn't even take pictures because it was so bad. I never imagined it was repairable or that they could ever get the mold off the walls to make it a safe place to meet. They have been working very hard. They had put up walls to form classrooms and built a chapel on the back of the house. It was painted and cleaned and so much better. They were excited and proud to show it to us and we were thrilled to see it looking so good.
Chapel / Primary Room / Classroom
We attended the full block of meetings, which is always interesting for me. When it was time to start Relief Society there was one other sister and me there. She spoke no French or English, only Swahili. I was stuck with my meager French and basically, "Hello, how are you?" in Swahili. About ten mintues into the meeting a darling young woman arrived. She spoke French and Swahili and was prepared to give the lesson. We sat in a little circle as she read the lesson from the manual - first a line in French and then translated into Swahili. By the time the meeting ended there were eight of us in the circle. None of them, but the teacher, spoke French. The lesson was on the priesthood and each time the teacher had a question she addressed it to me. I answered in my bad French and she translated into Swahili. They were most interested when I told them that having the priesthood didn't make a man an important person, or a chief. That was not it's purpose. It made him the servant of all of God's children. I said that as a righteous priesthood holder a man would give service, share the blessings of the priesthood and care for the members of his family and the church. It lead to a lively discussion, in Swahili, which I think ended with them all agreeing that it was a wonderful thing to have the priesthood to serve us.
In Sunday School the first counselor in the branch presidency gave the lesson. He shared a personal story about how the Church can change us. He talked about how he used to come home and tell his wife and children to make his meal and leave him alone. He was the "MAN" in the family and they were there to make him happy and not bother him. When he learned about the gospel, he said that he went home and invited his wife and family to eat with him. They were very surprised at the change in him. Now they all gather around the table and enjoy meals together. He said that his children even come to him when they have a need. He said the gospel teaches us how to be a good family.
Next, we had just settled ourselves in sacrament meeting, after having shaken hands with and "bonjoured" every single member of the branch, when the Branch President sent one of the AP's, who had already invited to sit in the chairs at the front of the room, over to Brent. He whispered that Brent had been invited to be the Sacrament speaker. This is often the case when we visit congregations. So, Brent moved to the chairs at the front of the chapel. I was feeling very safe and secure in the audience since all the chairs for participants were filled. Then a deacon was sent to invite me to sit with Brent and a chair was moved up front for me. I was pretty nervous about extemporaneous speaking assignments. Fortunately, just Brent and Elder Kabengele were called upon. As usual, Brent said just the message they needed to hear. He spoke of how Lehi, in his dream, desired that his family partake of the fruit when he had tasted it's sweetness. Then he told them that is the way we should be as members. We should share the gospel with our families and then be unified as families in the church. Family unity is still a very new concept in Africa. (Not one family, with husband, wife and children, was sitting together in this meeting.) He has become very good at delivering a timely message without much warning.
What wonderful, humble saints these people of Kipushi are. They are beginning to bring the gospel to their city. They are few in number but faithful and sincere.
Brent also visited with a man who has been attending the church for over 4 years. He has two wives and many children and a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. This is one of the hardest situations that we see here in Africa. Brent tried to encourage him to remain faithful to his knowledge of the truth and told him that the Lord knew his heart and someday his patience would be rewarded. It's a heartbreaking situation.
After the meeting the cute girl who had taught the lesson in Relief Society told me that the Relief Society President lived just behind the church and was ill. She asked if we could go and visit her. So, we went and sat for a little visit outside her home. Several of the other ward members came with us. You could really feel the spirit of service in this little branch.
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On Monday we went to Kolwezi for two days. We have decided that flying there is the lesser of two evils. It's a choice between a hard 5-6 hour drive on a dirt road with lots of police or just 45 min. of flying terror. So, we took the flight on a small, prop plane, usually made in Czechoslovakia and piloted by somebody who is not African. This time the plane was bigger and even had a flight attendant who offered an in-flight beverage directly from the can or bottle. We landed at a tiny airport that does have an asphalt landing strip-Kolwezi National Airport.
Kolwezi is more isolated than Lububmashi, but is a fairly large city. It is made up of two kinds of houses-old Belgian homes that have not been repaired in 5o years or small brick homes. There are a few paved roads, with lots of potholes, but most of the roads are dirt.
We stay in the Hacienda Hotel (aka the Pepto Hotel.) It is really quite tastefully decorated and they treat us very well. The owner even put fresh roses in our room again. It is really a very pleasant African hotel, although very, very PINK !
We invited the missionaries to come to lunch, since they missed out on the lunches during
Pres. and Sister Headlee's visit. Opening the city of Kolwezi is a challenge and we felt that they needed to feel the support of the mission more an any of the elders.
We visited the missionary apartment and found that it still needs a lot of supplies to be a comfortable place for them to live. T'hen we held a meeting with the Distict President.
The Kisulas
We also met with a senior couple whom we have called to work as part-time Church-service missionaries. They will live in their own home and work to support the young elders. As far as we can tell, these are the first part-time service missionaries to ever be called in the Congo. We have been able to see some pretty historic moments in the history of the Church.
The Kisulas are a sweet, faithful couple. They are devoted members of the Church who were among the first people baptized in Kolwezi in 1987. He has served as a branch president and on the district high council . She has been branch and district Relief Society president. They have given great service to the Church. We helped them fill out the paperwork for their call since it was not available in French. When we started working on the papers we realized that Sister Kisula could not read or write. She also speaks only Swahili. I wrote for her as they gave us oral responses to the questions on the form. She signed it with just a mark. Elder Kisula could fill out his application with some help from Brent. Neither of them had received any formal education, but they are wonderful, sweet saints who are willing to do whatever they can to build the Lord's kingdom. We hope this call will be a real blessing to our elders in Kolwezi, as well as to the Kisulas.
After our business, we arrived at the airport to find that the Provincial Governor had spent the day in Kolwezi talking about paving the streets (which seriously need it) and other issues. They had a large group of military men, a small band, some young men waving flags and singing and a large group of dignitaries waiting for him to depart. ( It was a little nervy to take a picture at an airport and with the governor coming. It was actually a little rash, so it's not the best picture. But taking any picture was an act of bravery or stupidity.) Our plane was ready but we had to wait about a half hour until the governor came and left before we could take off. We'd had a successful trip, but were glad to get home, bolt the door behind us and settle in for a while.
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Things are really starting to gear up with the coming of the mission in just one week. Shipments are arriving, movers, technical support and decorators from S. Africa are coming and there's much to do. Again we are privileged to be a part of a historic time in the Congo as a second mission opens in one week. It's a blessing to serve.
