As we meet people on the street, we never know what pain they may have suffered in the past. Coming from a time of war here in Congo, many carry with them the horrible memories of the past.

Yesterday we helped a Rwandan woman whose little son needs hernia repair. She is haunted by the horrors of the past. The smallest reminder brings back a flood of painful memories. She wept bitterly as she related her story. We will share only a little.

When the genocide swept across Rwanda in 1994, she was only in her mid teens. Suddenly, one day their village was surrounded by the rival tribe armed with machetes and spears. As she ran with other teens she could hear the screams of her family and fellow tribesmen who were brutally murdered. Soon realizing that there was no escape, she laid down amidst the bodies of the slain. Finally, the perpetrators left, confident that their evil work was complete. Seeing all of her family was dead, she fled with the little money she found in the pockets of the victims.

She and a few other survivors ran day and night towards the border. She remembers being so hungry that she ate dirt. They feared to meet anyone lest they be betrayed.  Finally, she crossed the border into Tanzania and eventually married a Congolese man.   Now that she lives in DRC, she still fears soldiers and people of the rival tribe. She leads a broken life with her husband and children- haunted by painful memories.

April Mosier has made friends with the daughters of our landlord here in Kisangani. Now that they are friends, they finally confided in April some of their memories of the war here in Kisangani in 2002. They were trapped in their school when the fighting broke out. They remained there for days without food as the sound of bullets and exploding mortars filled the air. When they were finally rescued, they made the mistake of looking around while they walked home. Now they too are haunted by the memories of bloated bodies on the street, including a pregnant woman who had been dismembered. At home they found part of their home (where Nathan Rittenour now lives) destroyed by a bomb.

Last week, one of our church planters came for help with his twelve year old sister Angela who lives with him and his wife. Angela had just been raped by the son of a high official in their town.  When he went to the official to seek justice, he was told, “Get out of here! If you make an issue of this, I’ll kill you.” We helped to get the sister sewn up after the brutal assault. However after a week of futile efforts, he has given up trying to get justice in this corrupt society. Sadly, the national disgrace of ongoing rape continues, and this little girl can only ask Jesus to help her forget that terrible day.

We have spared our readers from many gory details in these stories and many more stories could be shared.  As we pass people day by day here, we can only guess what sadness and pain lurks under the surface from Satan’s assaults. We praise God that we can bring the hope of a soon coming Savior to hurting people.  Only through Jesus can people let go of the pain and bitterness. His love is enough to bring healing and peace. Please pray for us as we minister to wounded hearts and bodies in DRC.

An interview with Keith Mosier, President and Nathan Rittenour, Development Director

Ques: Congo Frontline Missions is constructing a new campus five miles north of Kisangani. How is the progress going?

Nathan Rittenour: It is going well. When we look forward, it seems overwhelming. However, when we look back, we see the bulldozer clearing the campus, building a road, and bringing the campus up to grade. The two containers with building materials have now reached the port in Matadi.

Ques: What will be the functions of the buildings on the campus?

Nathan Rittenour: The buildings include a classroom, cafeteria and dormitories to train church planters. In addition, we will build staff housing, a shop, an administration building and greenhouses.

Keith Mosier: The purpose for our school will be for training in evangelism, health and agriculture. The focus of all activities will be evangelism.

Ques: Have you had any unexpected blessings up to now?

Nathan: Yes. Right on our 125 acre property, God provided gravel, sand and clay for construction and road building. We also have water and good farming soil. So far, we have made over 30,000 bricks and have some of the wood on our property to fire them.

Keith: So many blessings. People who have built campuses around the world gave us valuable advice and building plans. Others gave us funds to acquire land, a 4 ton truck and a pickup. Nathan Rittenour joined our team to make the development possible. Someone offered to pay for a bulldozer to clear the land and build the road. We received some generous gifts like a skid steer loader, trailer and cement mixer, along with a container to ship building materials from America. However, the biggest blessing has been the donation of steel frames and roof sheets for 22 specially designed buildings from the One Day Church project. We will be the first “One Day Institution” and we’re excited about it! It’s hard to list all the blessing, but we praise God for them!

Ques: Do you still have some challenges ahead of you?

Nathan: Building supplies in this country are very expensive. Some supplies are just not available here in Congo. We’re scratching our heads to figure out which country might have them.

Keith: Cement is so costly. We are praying for donors who will help us buy cement and other building material. We are short of money to complete the campus. We are also grateful that a few qualified people have offered to come and help us build, we could use more volunteer carpenters, masons, plumbers, etc for the construction project.

Ques: Does CFM still have some specific needs to make the campus a reality?

Keith: Yes we do. We need, funds for cement, windows, doors, plumbing and for finishing the buildings. A big hurdle for us will still be bringing in electricity from about 2 miles away. We continue to move forward in faith. God has led us to this point and we know He will see the project.

Two of our church planters–Mikendi and Clementina walked from house to house in the village of Six on the outskirts of Kisangani. As they approached one home, they heard the terrible screaming of a young girl. After a loud knock, a lady opened the door and just beyond her, they saw the father beating his young daughter mercilessly.

“Why are you beating your daughter?” they asked.

“I found out she’s a witch and I want to beat this witchcraft out of her,” answered the father in a rage. “She’ll tell you herself. She’s a witch.”

Soon little nine year old Jenny had recovered her senses. She tearfully explained. “I was living with our relatives in the capital city a year ago. They used witchcraft a lot. Soon evil spirits threatened me and I started doing witchcraft with my aunt. I was afraid to stop or they would kill me. When I returned home, I never told my parents. Secretly, I sneak out of the house on certain nights to meet other witches at our meeting place in the graveyard. We did many powerful and bad things in the night. Last night before we started our chants, two shining white beings appeared to us. We were afraid, because they were so bright and seemed so much stronger than us. They said to us, ‘Jesus is coming very, very soon. He is just outside the door. You need to get ready. This is no time to be practicing witchcraft!’ After they disappeared, we all agreed to leave our witchcraft and warn people about the soon coming of Jesus. When I told Daddy what happened, he started to beat me.”

“There! You see! She admits to bringing witchcraft into our house,” shouted the father as he prepared to resume the beating.

“Wait! Don’t hit her,” shouted Mikendi. Don’t you see that she is already converted. She wants to follow Jesus. He helped her to leave witchcraft behind.” As they reasoned with the father, he calmed down. Finally, Clementina dressed Jenny’s wounds and they got some medicine to help her. But best of all, they are studying the Bible with Jenny. She is excited about her new hope in Jesus.

Most of all dear reader, she wants YOU to know just how soon we will see Jesus coming to take us home. Let us let go of the things in our lives that will hinder us from rising up to meet Him in the air. Please listen to the warnings of these angels. Thanks for your prayers and support for our church planters here in the heart of darkness.