Saturday’s Post….(Published on Monday…oh how I love Congo internet!)

Today we had a fun, informal meeting of three of the new leaders, Anna, and I. It was great to catch up after a while  since we have all been very busy lately with the wedding of a missionary to a Congolese pastor. Nono told me that she’s been seeing changes in her life since she’s started reading the Bible daily (she started in Genesis and is now in Numbers!!! Yay!!), and gave us the whole history of the Israelites up to Numbers. It was encouraging to see how much she had remembered, if a bit tiring to listen to it all. Gloire hasn’t been reading her Bible lately, but she said she was encouraged by us to read it this week. Anna started a discussion on what counts as ‘work’ on the Sabbath day that took us all over the Old and New Testaments. And Marie, told us of some of the things she had seen in her life that needed changing after reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Praise God that they’re still learning and growing! Please pray that we will all have the courage and determination to discipline ourselves daily in  our Bible reading.

Another prayer request is for next Thursday, as the neighbour girls are (supposedly) coming at 6:15 AM for a short devotion together. That is, if they can get up and over here in time. Last Thursday they couldn’t, but they assured me they’d try harder. If it doesn’t work this week, we’ll change the time.

Stammering Lips and Dull Hearts in the Potter’s Hands

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.....

We bend low together, heads touching as we scrutinize the stained, creased paper on the table. Fingers trace the lines of print, foreheads crease with questions. As we prepare our lesson, it comes again. The old, old feeling. It washes over me like a tidal wave, and carries me back out with it into the sea of doubt. This sounds so ridiculous…so feeble. How will the girls ever understand? Do the leaders themselves understand? Are we sowing the Word of God or our own weak words? They shake their heads, and say the words I’ve heard so many times, “I don’t understand.” I manage a faint smile, and we turn back to that paper. I printed it yesterday, but it looks so old. I explain, and as the words pass from my mouth I hear Anna on the other side of the room explaining too. What rejoicing when the new leader finally understands! What cold dread when she shakes her head and says, “I’ll just try to do it.” and you know that even if she does “do it” fine, she hasn’t absorbed it, hasn’t understood it, hasn’t made it part of her life. What right have we to tell girls how to live their lives if we can’t live ours first? How far we are from holiness!

What a God we serve! How He could ever make use of us, of our feeble attempts to make known the glorious mysteries of eternity that angels long to look into, is beyond my comprehension. How does He use these stammering lips, these dull hearts, these broken lives? I just can’t understand it. I sit back, stretch, look wearily at those girls trying to learn by heart the lesson when all I want is that they would learn it with their heart.

Tomorrow and Thursday we are again teaching the girls.

Pray for us, as the going can seem so hard, the mystery so great, the road so tedious.

Pray that it is Jesus who is preached – not our feeble, broken selves, but JESUS – the master potter who is molding us into vessels for His glory. May we have the eyes of faith to look beyond these moments into the eternal fruit it will bear.

Our Day of Joy!

Yesterday was the closing ceremony for the month-long journey we’ve struggled through.  At times, the going was tough and it was hard just to keep on keeping on. The soil of the girls’ hearts seemed to be rock hard and at times we despaired that the seeds of truth we were planting would ever take root and grow. Looking back, I see so many opportunities God gave us that we ignored, so many pains we should have taken but instead shirked, so many words that could have been spoken or shouldn’t have been, that I’m amazed that God brought us through anyways. Amazed and humbled that He would not only bring us through, but also give us the love-gift of yesterday to keep our goals high and our vision clear. Because yesterday was a Day of Joy.

It started with cooking. We had invited all the parents of the girls to come to a closing ceremony, and in Congo you can’t have something like this without cooking up a grand meal for all the invited ones. So we cooked! It took hours of hard work to sort the pondu (manioc leaves), steam it (and burn our hands in the process!), pound it (a LOOT of work), peel the garlic, roast and pound peanuts till they became powder to put in the pondu, chop tomatoes, green onions, spinach, etc. and cook it all on charcoal fires, peel and clean the cooking bananas, re-heat our palm oil, sort the rice, wash the rice, cook the rice…..you get the idea. But it’s always fun doing it with friends, and even if Michelle washing clothes in the middle of us made it a bit more complicated (and the food a bit more soapy!), we perservered and had it ready in time for the parents arrival.

pounding pondu with Anyesi

Even though a lot of parents didn’t show up, we had a wonderful time together. Dad and Mom both gave little speeches encouraging the parents in their important job, and Anna and I explained what we had done with their girls during June and what we were planning to do in July. We asked for advice and permission to continue, and received both.

Nono's father

We gave each of the girls a certificate of participation, and a little gift. Signing the certificates (for the FIRST EVER time in my life) beforehand, I had this sudden qualm of terror as I asked myself, “what right do you have to do this? And what on earth have you gotten yourself into, Maaike?” The verse from 1 Corinthians came echoing into my mind; and who is adequete for these things? But our adequecy is from the Lord…. I kept my eyes on Jesus for the rest of the day. He is the one who makes this possible, carries this through…. all the same, it was exciting (and a bit strange) giving out the certificates.

We knelt in the center of the floor, and the parents surrounded us to pray. It was powerful. We were so grateful to the parents for their support, gratefulness, and encouragement.

prayer

We then invited our parents to eat the huge feast we had prepared, as well as feeding some friends who Jesus sent along to help us with our three huge pans of rice! Even after we all had finished eating, we gave out three pans of food to other families, and still have enough to eat today. Somehow, by the end of our ceremony we also had so much more joy than I thought possible. Even more joy than we had rice! All us girls had fun laughing together as we ate, sensing that somehow we had been bound together into a sisterhood in Christ. Almost all the girls mentioned how they had always just went to church then put their Bible away for the week, but now are reading it every day and thinking about what they read, too. That was what made the joy so beautiful, so real, so earned - the fact that we had laboured together and learned together and because of that, we could laugh together. There are changes in the lives of those girls, in the lives of Anna and I. That is the most beautiful, unbelievable thought and I cannot wrap my mind around it! It is a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit, the seal of God’s approval on our month of labour. It wasn’t in vain. The sowing was hard, but we had a faint taste of the joy that will come in the harvest yesterday. I can’t wait for it – can’t wait for the harvest. Can’t wait to find out what fruits all those little seeds bore. Can’t wait to see how God was working it all for the good. Can’t wait to see how the tears we shed in the planting were used to water and soften the hard soil. Can’t wait for the joy that will be on that day….. so much joy!!

We Kneel

left to right: Anna, Anyesi, Maaike, Grace, Nono, Michelle, Gloire

Let this be thy whole endeavor, this thy prayer, this thy desire –

that thou mayest be stripped of all selfishness,

and with entire simplicity follow Jesus only.

-Thomas a Kempis

Gloire

Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. – Andrew Murray

Today, we are fasting the whole day and praying for the coming month and all our plans. Pray that we truly would be ready to sacrifice anything for the kingdom of God. We had a good time kneeling together to pray. We read passages which described God, and marveled that through the blood of Christ we can talk to this great God, and He listens!! We agreed that His answers can vary, but we trust that everything in our lives is there for a reason, for our best, and His glory. What refreshing truth!

Anna!!!!

The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray.

-S.D. Jordan

Anyesi; sweet, shy, faithful (also the youngest in our group)

Prayer does not fit us for the greater work;

Prayer is the greater work!

-Oswald Chambers

the sun was bright on our eyes

 

Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence.

-W.S. Bowd

kneel with us!

 

“The essence of prayer does not consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion. Prayer is continual abandonment to God. Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life, Prayer is not asking, but union with God. Prayer is not a painful effort to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all life. The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him.” Sadhu Sundar Singh

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!

Heart Changes and More Adventure

Sometimes, the words just won’t come. Sometimes the heart is just too full to be put into words. Like when I’m gazing at my sister in Christ, tears glazing my eyes and the bitter taste of unwept tears stinging in my throat. When she’s telling me how lost she is, how there’s no way she’s going to heaven, how she can’t ask God forgiveness because she doesn’t want to give up her sin. Then she comes back, and I see the burning need in her eyes. She keeps coming back and I keep hoping, hoping and praying in faith that one day she will become a new creation in Christ. Another sister-in-Christ comes to talk and voices her desire to be pure because of all we’ve been telling her. Yet another talks with me about becoming a totally new person in Christ, and the challenges that brings. In my mind echoes the words of CS Lewis  -

“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

My heart brims full and beats fast, and I try to put into words the knowledge of Christ that I wish I could just burn right onto her heart forever. She takes long to understand, and I pray that my passion will be channeled into the peaceful earnestness of the Spirit. I pray John Miller’s prayer;

What I long for is a love big enough to be disturbed by what people are doing, and strong enough and patient enough to carry them to the place where Christ wants them to be!

We keep walking this path with the seven girls, and we are seeing changes in their lives!! There is nothing more exciting than being part of the change, and watching them turn to God and start living with high standards. Please, please pray that it won’t just be the positive peer pressure but will be something deeper – the work of the Holy Spirit that will last forever.

Yesterday we told the girls that “next week, we’re finishing. The week after, we’re beginning.” Anna and I are grateful for the weekend before we again do a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday stretch with the girls as we finish up this month, and prepare a meal and program for the parents of the girls on Wednesday to ask their advice and blessing for the next weeks….when we begin again! This time the girls will be teaching (with us) weekly in their own parts of town. It’s a whole new adventure but we know that there’ll be enough grace for each moment of every day. This is the time when the youth need us. They have no school and if they aren’t gone to visit family they have nothing to do except get into trouble. Pray that we can encourage our friends to use their summer months for God.

In Christ alone!

 

 

 

The Leader’s Challenge – To Be a Servant!

Yesterday we did a lesson on being a servant leader. How often humility is forgotten in ministry!

We talked about how Jesus washed His disciples feet as an example for us to do the dirtiest tasks joyfully as we serve others, even the people we know are planning evil for us – our enemies! What a high standard we have to follow! We then announced that we (Anna and I) were going to wash their feet. The girls were a bit uncertain about allowing us to wash their feet! There was a lot of laughter, and we even did the feet of a neighbour lady who walked in, sniffing, and asking, “I smell something nice in here – what is it?”

Anna washing feet

This is just a thought…. when Jesus told his disciples to go to the place where they would eat the Passover, He told them that they would find that all they needed was there, ready. He gives us the same promise, that He will supply all our needs. The slave to wash feet was a “need” in that culture, but Jesus didn’t provide that because He wanted His disciples to learn a lesson in serving. Does He also leave a need unmet in our lives so that we can learn to get on our knees and humbly serve others?

 

 

 

 

 

 

After washing the girls’ feet, I discovered that my hands smelt sweet from all the  soaps and lotions I had been using. Is that the “fragrance of Christ” that we bring  to those who are perishing – the fragrance of sweet, selfless servanthood?

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

The Adventure Continues…..

On Saturday, we covered one of the subjects in our Leader’s Training: A Gentle Heart: Being A Servant. We asked the girls doing the leader’s training to come to this lesson, as it was especially for them, and….over half of them did.

some of the girls coming for leader's training: r. to l., Nono, Anyesi, Marie, Grace

The ideal was that we know by now who is going through with this Leader’s Training, but we have girls with conflicting schedules and desires and are waiting on God and them to see who’s going to really do this. I know it’s frustrating to pray for girls when you’re not really sure who you’re praying for, but it’s frustrating for us, too. We had our first lesson Friday, and although the girls came over an hour late and half didn’t come at all, it was a really good time together laying out what we believe, our goals and vision, and the cost of being a leader. After the lesson we did the last “interview” with a girl who came late. The questions we asked them ranged from “what is your favourite colour?” to “are you committed to purity until marriage? Are you a good example for young children? How does one get to Heaven?” It was fascinating seeing those girls, in all shapes and sizes, answer the questions!

One girl coming for the Leader’s Training that I want you to meet is Marie:

I only met her last Thursday, but I love her already! She is a sweet, bright sixteen year old and (this is AMAZING in my opinion) she asks questions!!! She actually tries to answer questions, and asks more, too! Please pray for her, as her mother is sick with malaria. She’s fasting from food and water every day (except for a little in the evenings) in prayer for her school exams. But she still comes a loooong way in the scorching sun and then back again in the evening to be part of the leader’s training! What an answer to prayer this wonderful young lady is!

For any faithful readers, the name Nono should be recognisable to you. All along, we knew that she would be one of the first to do the leader’s training. She is the most faithful girl I have ever seen, and is miserable if she misses a meeting of BBP. She is so sweet and sensitive. If someone voices a need, she is the first to jump to fulfill it. On Saturday, someone saw a mango (the season’s almost over, so they’re scarce now) and for the next fifteen minutes, she was throwing one rock after another to knock it down.

Someone finally got a stick. (look for the one dot of yellow – that’s our mango!) FINALLY she got it down:

After all that work she INSISTED we take the mango – she got it down for us. And, believe me, it was a big mango!

We are so grateful to have Nono with us!!! We are really asking these girls for a lot. I didn’t think many would want to make the sacrifice, but there are eight girls considering and about three to five girls who pretty much know for sure. Once again, I’ll wait to post about them when I know.

To finish up….here’s some of the little girls who came Saturday for the lesson and the neighbour kids (who came to watch the mango drama unfold!)

Have a great week!!!

Update on Leaders…

Like I mentioned before, we were supposed to start the Leader’s Training on June 1, but since the schools held exams this week, we are moving the first lesson to tomorrow, June 3. To our great surprise, a total of 6 girls showed up at various times during the afternoon yesterday! 5 of them wanted to be new leaders, so we asked them our “interview” questions and it was so interesting listening to their responses. To be honest, it was also a little bit discouraging because none of the girls mentioned Jesus when asked how we get to Heaven! They also weren’t exactly sure of why they wanted to become a leader, so we warned them that our standards for them will be high, and asked them to think and pray about it again. Pray that they would catch the vision of redemption for this country and people, and that God would make it clear to Anna and I if we are to refuse any girls (we are praying for 5 girls, but we have 8!!).  We have two more girls to interview today, and we start tomorrow.

We are so excited!!!!

Note: these are a few of the girls from a few weeks ago. A few of the older ones are considering becoming leaders….when I know for sure I’ll point them out.

Please Pray!

in the picture is an open Lingala Bible on top of our freshly-printed Leader's Training material

Blessed be the LORD, my rock,

who trains my hands for war,

and my fingers for battle;

my lovingkindness and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield and He in whom I take refuge.

Psalm 144:1-2

Finally, we have the notes for the upcoming Leader’s Training (Bakambi ya Sika) printed out and in our hands! We expect to have to make many changes as we go, but it is so encouraging to have somewhere to start. We ask you all to keep us in your prayers! This is a crazy adventure neither of us has been on before. We are asking the girls to have a desire for holiness and Christ-likeness that is greater than all other desires, and that they will be willing to make difficult sacrifices throughout the month. It can be tough asking for that, especially from our close friends. So pray that the “chaff” among us will be blown away from the start, and that we’ll be left with the girls who are chosen by God for this.

We were planning to start on June 1, 2011, but exam dates in the schools may change our dates to beginning next week. When we have confirmed the leaders-to-be, you’ll see some pictures. I’ll try to keep this blog updated in June, but don’t stop praying if we are silent!

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are perishing…and who is adequate for these things? For we are not as many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God. – 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 – pray that this verse would be true for us this month! 

Going Far

There is an African proverb that keeps ringing in my head. It says,

“If you want to go fast, go alone.

  If you want to go far, go together.”

Lord willing, the Bana Basi ya Kopela group wants to go far. So we must go together, even if that means slowing down and taking time to learn to walk together. Ever since the beginning of Bana Basi ya Kopela, the burden on our hearts has been to have the girls here become leaders and take over. Anna is planning on going to university in September, and our family will eventually leave Congo, so it is crucial that other girls step up if BBP is going to survive. Many months ago, I wrote in my journal, “If ever a girl comes to me asking if she can be a leader, I would cry, “YES, a thousand times yes!!”” Now is the time that we are going to start spreading the word that we need leaders.

We have around a week and a half to do a LOT of work on our Leaders Training, so please pray that we will stay concentrated on even the more boring details so that we will have a good quality, effective training for the leaders. And we beg you, pray that there will be leaders to train! As of yet, we only know one girl who we can wholeheartedly say has the right heart for this. We are praying for five, and that we will know in two weeks. God does miracles, right? We’re praying for a miracle! Pray that only girls who are called of God would come, those who are ready to die so that others can live. As Amy Carmichael put it, this work is a “chance to die”. Pray that they will have a wholehearted desire to lay down their lives to that extent, beginning in June when we will have a highly intensive training course of an average of four afternoons a week besides keeping up our regular BBP meetings besides me trying to still accomplish my Grade 11 homework!!! Pray that God gives us grace and strength. Pray that the parents would be supportive of their daughters and encourage them to come to each session.

Thank you for praying!