Congo-reka!

Just to date myself, I’m a fan of Oklahoma rock group Flaming Lips. One time they released an album—actually four discs (dated again!)—meant to be played simultaneously—called “Zaireka.” They wanted a name that evoked chaos and joy . . . and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC) was the ultimate byword for chaos.

Not so, on the One Africa Team’s travels to Lubumbashi, a busy, thriving mining city in the southeast of the DRC. We need the government’s permission to go there and offer workshops to the confessional Lutheran church group—the Evangelical Lutheran Mission to The Congo (MELC) —with whom we are exploring the possibility of fellowship. The intelligence officers monitor One Africa Team missionaries’ visits closely, both for their good and for ours. We have heard that they are happy to have us visit, so that we can spread the word that Lubumbashi is safe, orderly, and open for business.

But we’ve also heard that they like what we’ve been teaching. As they’ve read reports of our pastoral training workshops, they’ve mentioned that they think the content—which has been the small Catechism of Luther, so far—is wonderful. The gospel Word is spread, sometimes in surprising ways.

In November, One Africa Team Adjunct, Pastor Joel Seifert, and I presented a second training workshop for the pastors and evangelists of the  MELC who came to Lubumbashi from as far away as Kinshasa in the west and Manono to the north. On Wednesday evenings, I continue to hold French-language doctrinal studies on Zoom with the leaders of MELC.

Thank you for whatever ways you’ve been supporting this new mission field! Congo-reka! And soli deo gloria. Peace.

Written by Missionary Keegan Dowling, world missionary on the One Africa Team.