That My House May Be Filled

Part 2—Needs, Local Industry and Personal Testimonies

January 30, 2010

What happened last week: Brother Joel Mapamu took a one-month missionary tour among the poverty-stricken villages in the Sankuru Province in central Democratic Republic of Congo. The congregations in these villages are growing rapidly. Three villages have already benefited from the building of simple church structures. Fifteen villages have been selected to help in the construction of simple bush churches, schools and clinics; and the village chiefs have already donated land for this purpose.

What comes to your mind when you hear the words “missionary fields”? In the villages of Sankuru, we literally have missionary fields, planted with rice. Brother Joel Mapamu insisted that every village have such a missionary field to feed the members. What if we also had some goods in common, like the church of the apostles in Jerusalem? They had to have all in common, because they had nothing to eat otherwise.

The school in Lodja is doing well, but the teachers are suffering from a shortage of means. We could solve a few immediate problems after Brother Mapamu’s visit,

but there are many more needs. The school building needs repairs. After three years of torrential rain, the mud walls are “moving” and the wall which serves as a blackboard needs fresh paint. There are many children in the Lodja school, and they badly need another structure. This will be almost the same project as the first, with burnt bricks.

Through the grace of God we were able to donate a solar oven and send it from Austria to Congo by plane (which is expensive). It was very well received and immediately put to use. A project using the priceless gift of God, the sun’s rays, will greatly improve the lives of our dear brethren in Congo.

I am happy to attach a few brief testimonies of people whose lives have been transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Brother Omba Pascal:

I am a fisherman from Yenga. I was spending the night in the jungle at the river, looking for fish. I heard the message in 2006, delivered by God’s worker, Brother Joel Mapamu. He stressed that we should be prepared to meet the Lord any day or night. I was troubled by this message. One day I decided to go to visit my father. As I opened the door of his hut, I was met by my sister, who said to me amid tears: “Father died eight minutes ago.” My sister had called me to see my father still alive, but I was too late. The enemy began to bother me: “You are always late; you are a loser, and you will also be late to enter the kingdom of God.” I began to cry, not so much because of the death of my father, but because I had missed being with him at his death. The missionary brought the message of encouragement I needed: Only Jesus could give me His peace. God’s messenger, Brother Mapamu, encouraged me and helped me to accept the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. He prayed with me for God to help me to see the events as He sees them. I would like also to encourage others who are caught in similar situations.

Sister Agata Esombo:

I came out of a great darkness. I did not believe that God existed. The missionary’s message led me to repent. Previously, I would travel by plane at night to market places where the people believed I was the queen of witchcraft; but I did not go to work the day I heard the message of the missionary from Kinshasa. I began to cry and decided to abandon the darkness and to come into the light. The speaker told us that we should be the light of the world. He came to my hut with his team and prayed for me. After he left, I could not sleep. I had the impression that the hut was burning. I felt sick, but the prayer revived me again. Thank you, Lord, for deliverance!

Lunganga Joseph:

I was born to a pagan family in Lushima. My father decided to send me to live with an uncle who was living at a Protestant mission. I learned there that Jesus is the Son of God, and I sang every Sunday in the church choir. But I was not a repentant sinner. I fell in love with a lady from the choir. We were the first to arrive at the church every Sunday. One day, I came back to my village and I saw a booklet, “Vie Nouvelle en Christ” in the Tetela Language (translated Bible lessons by Marshall Grosboll). I read the booklet but did not understand the message very well. We heard that a missionary would come to our village and offer a Bible Seminar. I went and heard about the imminent return of the Lord. I was surprised and afraid for my soul. Thanks to God, I accepted the message and decided to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. I prayed for my father and mother to become Christians, and my prayer was answered. They have now accepted Jesus as their Redeemer.

Undoubtedly, many more testimonies could be given. The light is rapidly spreading in this dark country in central Africa, but the needs are great. Please pray about what the Lord would have you do to help.

“Our work in foreign fields must constantly broaden. Our efforts in fields already entered must enlarge. As new fields open for gospel effort, the church must act quickly in sending missionaries to enter these fields. Special efforts must be made, while the angels are holding the four winds. All can now do something. Those who can not be spared from the home field, or who are not fitted to go abroad, can give of their means; and all can pray that the Lord of the harvest shall raise up laborers. Pray, brethren, pray earnestly, that the hearts of some who are doing very little, and of others who have as yet done nothing, may be opened, and that the means which God has entrusted to them may be used wisely in sustaining his cause at home and abroad, to the glory of his name.” Review and Herald, April 14, 1910.

By Samuel Minea. Democratic Republic of Congo.