10 days

Here’s for a general update, some Congo information, and a bit of insight.  I’m home now, and have been from SAGU for 6 days now… and I have 10 more to go until I finally fly out. 

A little while back, I think started to realize what it means “to number our days,” as the Scriptures tell us in so many places to have the wisdom to ask for.  I only have 10 days left, and then I won’t see anybody I’ve known in the States for a long time.  Because of that, I'm making the most of every opportunity to greet a friend, shake a hand, help someone, pray, worship God….  Like the other day, while walking in the library to find a place to finish a paper, I saw a friend off to the side.  I could have kept walking and gotten started on my paper…or I could have gone over to talk to him for a bit.  Since I wouldn't see this guy but for another few times before I left, I decided that a waiting a few minutes to finish my paper while talking to my friend was definitely worth it. It seems that when time is short, the things that really matter and last the longest become easier to prioritize and act upon. 

Center of town

 This mentality should carry over to our entire lives—statistically, I only have about 60 years, or 720 months, or 21,900 days left to fill.  Tomorrow, that will be 21,899.  Soon enough, if I’m not careful, I may find myself if the same attitude as now, with only this many days left.  There is the wisdom—making the most of every opportunity, appreciating every moment, loving every person, because there just isn’t enough time to do otherwise.

Well there’s my philosophy spiel for today.  I’ve been asked a few questions frequently about my trip and I hope I can knock out a few of them here.

When will I be leaving?  I’m driving down to DFW with the fam early on Sunday the 18^th, then from there I’m arriving in Washington DC that afternoon.  After some probable historic DC adventures and meeting up with the rest of the interns the next morning, we’re flying the next day to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then finally down to Lubumbashi, DR Congo. 

Our house in Lubumbashi

With whom and where will I be staying?  There’s an on-site mission compound, and the missionaries, Bill and Sonia Shaw, have a house there.  I’ll be staying with them.  The other interns will be staying in the other house on the compound along with our Engage student dean, Rachel DiTrolio.  I posted some pictures they took of the surroundings on here.  And there's a cat.  This is definitely confirmation from the Lord that I'm supposed to be here... I freaking love cats.

What will we be doing there?  Our supposedly normal daily schedule will go something like online studies in the mornings, then language learning/ministry time in the afternoons, and internship discussions/ministry time in the evenings.  I can speak French, Congo’s national language, decently well after taking 4 years in high school, so instead I’ll be learning Swahili, the trade language, and the language that’s most commonly spoken in the area I’m called to—Kenya/Tanzania to the east of Congo. 

Cat

As far as specific ministry opportunities, I can’t say right now—a big principle of missions, or really any organization that wants to develop projects overseas, is that plans made at home without first consulting the people being helped in regard to their actual needs most likely will not bring much help at all  to the local people.  The foundation of missions is understanding and relating to the local people.  So on that note, I anticipate that we’ll spend the first part of our stay learning from the people and observing their culture.  But for some current ideas and possible starting points… I’m still thinking about starting that radio ministry, there’s plenty of university students, of course childrens’ and youth ministry, a couple of the interns are interested in medical stuff, there’s Engilsh as a second language too, and the local churches are into street evangelism… the list goes on but I’m looking forward to really implementing some of these and sharing about what the Lord is doing there!

 As far as funding goes… for plane tickets, living expenses and such for the entirety of the 11 months, I needed $11,895.  But as of today, I’ve received $19,631.  Yeah.  Yeah.  That’s 165% of what I needed!  If that’s not a testimony to the provision of God, I don’t know what is.  I’m very blessed to have the support of friends, family, home church Gateway Church, my away-from-home-church Waxahachie Bible Church, and even strangers.  Wow.  I’m very thankful.  The excess will be used towards those ministry projects later on. 

For contact while I’m there, I’ll still hopefully  have internet because I kinda have to do my online classes.  That means I’ll still be on Facebook, email (zachc4@att.net), Skype, and this blog.  We’ll have phones, but I don’t have the numbers for those yet or if they’ll be useful for contact overseas.

That’s about all.  I’ve been reading a couple books on Congolese history.  I’ll share more about that and the current state in Congo, or at least what I've read on the internet from here.  Thank ya’ll again for your tremendous support.  Every day I’m reminded of how much a blessing my friends are.  A couple things to be in prayer for too… not sure about the current status of this, but the missionaries were having some trouble getting their vehicle through customs.  Please pray that works out!  And that we prepare well to face whatever we face in Congo, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Ya’ll are the best.