Congo Mission 2019
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved.” 14 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And
how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they
to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they
are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the
good news!” Romans 10:13-15
Through my mission work in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, I have learned first-hand the meaning of the above text. The apostle
Paul explains to Christians that God extends his grace throughout the world. Everyone
who comes to faith in Christ Jesus is saved from their sin and gains the
promise of eternal life. But how will people come to faith unless God’s people
share the gospel?
For five years, Pastor Stéphane Kalonji and I have traveled
to the Congo in obedience to Jesus’ Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20.
Christ calls all Christians to go into the world making disciples and teaching
the Word of God. This is precisely our mission as we go; to preach and teach
God’s Word, and to provide training for others that they may be messengers of
God’s grace. Upon this, my third trip to Congo, I have again seen how God
continues to build up his Church and bring people to faith through the hearing
of the gospel.
Pastor Kalonji and I visited three Lutheran parishes while
we were in Congo. We first went to the city of Boma where two years ago I was
commissioned by Bishop Keya (Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Congo) to be his
missionary to the Lutheran Church in America. I have made friends in Boma,
friends that I pray for each day. Upon our arrival, we received a welcome much
like that of a family member coming home after an extended period. One by one,
people would come to the church and visit with us, telling us of how they have
been getting along since our last trip.
In Boma, Pastor Kalonji and I led two seminars for pastors
and lay people; we sang with the choirs of men and women; and we preached together,
me in English with Pastor Stéphane translating into Lingala. During the hymn following
the sermon, a young man ran up to me and dusted off my shoes. This is a common reaction
to the preached Word of God in Boma. “How beautiful the feet of those who
preach the good news.”
That Monday, we traveled to the city of Tshela, a place
neither of us had been before. In Tshela, we were greeted by an excited
congregation of God’s people who lined the street leading to their place of
worship. The welcome we received was extraordinary to say the least. This was
an unexpected addition to our trip, but the joy we found and the response to
God’s Word as we taught women and men, and then preached can only be described
as unbridled enthusiasm. Children sat in the doorways and windows of the
building, not to mention those who occupied the front four benches directly in
front of me.
As Pastor Kalonji preached to the crowded church in their
native language, I connected with the many children using a common language we
all understood. We exchanged funny faces, smiles and even a bit of laughter. It
didn’t matter that we couldn’t understand one another as we spoke. We
understood one another as we shared a relationship established by God through
his Son Jesus Christ. Once more, at the completion of our presentation and my
telling the congregation of the joy I
have witnessed through their faith, a young man came up to me and dusted off my
shoes in a gesture of thankfulness to God for sending his missionaries to
preach the good news.
From the Pastor’s Heart
by Pastor David Nuottila
