as we prepare to return;

From a book by David Shibley.....'A Force in the Earth'.......

A century ago a battered battalion of weary soldiers was being pushed back toward imminent defeat. With men falling on every side, the general ordered the bugler to sound the retreat. But there was no bugler; he had just been killed. Anxiously the general inquired if anyone could blow the bugle. One young recruit responded yes. 

"Well sound the retreat," the general ordered.

"Sir," the new bugler responded, "I don't know how to blow the retreat. I only know how to blow the charge."

"Then blow the charge!"

And with the blowing of the charge, the troops were energized, the tide was turned, and victory rose out of sure defeat.

The Holy Spirit is enlivening the church to produce a force in the earth that does not know how to blow the retreat. While some may think circumstances call for retreat, we only know how to blow the charge. The battle is hot. The global situation is less than favourable. But the Spirit of God is commanding us to advance. Victory is inevitable. 

"For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" Isaiah 11:9

Here am I Lord, send me! 

A survivor story from Goma's Nyiragongo volcano, as recorded by Pator Raha;

Catherine Nabintu was 35 years old, recovering at home from a C-section 3 days earlier when the unthinkable happened! The volcano suddenly exploded.

She sat weak and terrified, holding her wee infant as ir was announced that people must evacuate the city immediately. They heard that the lava was rapidly consuming people and homes. It was the beginning of a frantic evacuation.

She says  “there was nowhere to run to, nobody to turn to for help except God alone”.

She had been keeping her children in the house so they would not get lost in the massive crowd as they were trying to escape the terror. Everyone was running and no one knew where to go. She testifies “It was a chaos, everyone ran to save his own life”

When the lava began to flow behind her house, she seized her 3 children and left her house empty-handed with no money, no food, and no time to plan.

“Could you imagine with me that situation so critical? In my eyes, it was the end of the world! Total chaos! I had no idea if I left my house open or not? Did it matter? I didn’t know what would happen next. Everybody was traumatized, behaving in a deranged fashion! It was the end of the world to my own eyes!”

They walked for the next 6 hours with no destination. They became overwhelmed, exhausted, and so so tired, making it impossible to think.

They eventually arrived in Bukavu, 181km from Goma. She had no relatives there and knew no one. Here is her story, “Miracles still happen, even today!

I was not there long before I met with Wezesha’s team (Pastor Raha and our team) doing identification of volcano’s victims. I registered for food aid distribution. 

We had prayed to God for His miracle to get food. It is very hard to describe the hardship we endured…. for one week we had no food, just boiling water, and surviving on anything I could get from good people.

I received food aid with great joy and satisfaction, flour, rice, oil, sugar, salt, and bread!

Thank you very much, Canadian people!”

Because of all of you, our faithful supporters!

TOGETHER Building Africa

 

Church Plant update

 this is the church today....

they are prepared to begin serving the community.....

                                                    ...... just needing benches and latrines

Please pray for this new work.

In other news, Eric & I have secured tickets to return at the end of November!! Thank You Lord!

Excited to see our precious family again!

Church Plant

 Pastor Raha, the one on the left, is standing in front of the newest Church Plant in the eastern region of the D.R. Congo.

The people of the region have had no church in their area for 7 years! 

They are so welcoming for this New Life church coming close enough to reach their children and community!

The Amsterdam Declaration:

"We pledge ourselves to work so that all persons on earth may have the opportunity to hear the Gospel in the language they understand, near where they live. We further pledge to establish healthy, reproducing, indigenous churches among every people, in every place, that will seek to bring to spiritual maturity those who respond to the Gospel message."

Forgive me for the long silence. We have had a few issues with our last distribution. 

All was resolved last week and 1,040 people received one month’s food aid for their families!

We are so thankful to God for making this possible!

Perhaps we will have stories to share in the next few weeks?

For now, here are the photos of people receiving food supplies….

People waiting to take food aid home. You have never met them, and yet it is your provision sitting at their feet, going home to feed their families!

There have been 1,040 people identified for aid. They bring in a small group at a time, the others remain outside the gates. It took two days to distribute everything.

Together Building Africa and all its supporters want to send our deepest appreciation to Pastor Raha, first of all, for his powerful leadership, and all the skills he has to organize something of this magnitude!!

He formed a capable team, located a place for distribution, obtained all the supplies, and had everything guarded safely. Thank you Pastor Raha, may God reward you!

For all the team who worked together to make this happen, TBA sends its thanks and applause for your excellent support. You were being the hands of Jesus to the people He loves! 

Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire 

           and the power to do what pleases Him.

We send our love, and thanks to our brothers and sisters in the Congo!

It has been the privilege of Together Buiding Africa to help widows survive and gain dignity. Our program operates under the able leadership of Mapendo, the one whose vision motivated us to respond to this great need.

The senior widows are often invisible and excluded in society, leading to serious economic hardship. The program is called Tupende Wazee (Swahili for 'loving our seniors'). Since its inception, these women have been fed and cared for, found friendship, and become visible. They testify to restored health and strength. 

These are the faces of the lives you have changed!

Thanks to our supporters!!

 

 Dear Friends;

We have been able to send further aid for food and water. 

Added to the crushing urgency of keeping people alive, our team members are dealing with the loss of family members, resulting in a delay in organizing the distribution. However, we expect to hear reports in a few days. 

The suffering and needs of thousands of displaced people and their children are beyond what we can imagine! This remains a staggering humanitarian crisis!

They continue to need our prayers!