Let's go to the DRC
Islands in the Rain Forest - cities hidden throughout the Congo Basin
The DRC is the Democratic Republic of Congo - the other country in Africa where my work is focused. It is a very large country (almost 1/4 of the US), bordering 9 countries, with 69 million people who speak over 200 minority languages.
There is no way to drive across Congo, making it vital to fly into one of 19 cities to reach into the 26 provinces that are spread throughout the national territory. I am the Field Coordinator (a liaison) for ten language communities in the region of Gemena in the northwest, where I visited once several years ago. Presently, six of the languages are involved in Oral Bible Translation and the other four are waiting for the next step.
One last trip to the Continent - leaving this Friday
Pray for me as I embark on one last trip to Africa this year. I leave on Friday (Nov. 28), in order to arrive on Saturday (Nov. 29) night in the capital city, Kinshasa, to catch my final flight on Sunday (Nov. 30) morning. Lord willing, I'll fly to Kindu city Sunday in east central DRC in order to meet new field partners: Reverend Katekesombe, the director of FOCOTBA and his technical support team. We are funding a two-year Oral Bible Storying (OBS) project for six different languages. By the end of the two-year project, each community will have a panorama of the Bible in story form.
Besides meeting the FOCOTBA staff, I will be able to observe the second week of a OBS workshop. In this workshop, six speakers from each of the six language communities (Kusu, Hamba, Ngungele, Siamba, Nganya, & Langa) that FOCATBA is working with will take specific stories from the Bible and put them into their own language in the style that they tell stories in. These stories will be checked for accuracy as the participants work through each story. By the time the workshop is done, there will be another three or four stories ready to be shared throughout their communities when they return home.
Pray for all the people I will be meeting for the first time. Pray that I will be a blessing to these individuals working to bring the Good News to their communities.
Thankfulness for you!
Thank you for standing with us - praying for us and giving to support this work. I could not do this work without your partnership. Together we are impacting many communities with Scripture. We are thankful for each of you who read these blogs, pray, and give.
As you gather with family and friends to celebrate THANKSGIVING this Thursday, remember to be thankful for His Word in your language.
Before you finish reading this blog, please take three minutes to watch this video - you'll be reminded of why we are doing this TOGETHER.
We have much to be thankful - thank you!
Enjoy your time of Thanksgiving and we'll talk when I get back from the DRC!
