Lose everything or lose your soul?

Lose everything or lose your soul?   Which would you choose? Recently, I was traveling on the East Coast, and wanted to make sure I had enough gas before entering a large city, that was not familiar to me.  I deviated from the highway in search of a gas station. It was a super windy day. I wanted to get the latch set on the gas handle so I could get back into my car, but it was broken,  I stood there pumping the gas, wishing it would go faster.  Before I knew it, the gas tank filled up and started overflowing onto my hand, my leg, into my heels, and onto the ground. The nozzle never clicked off. I walked into the mini-convenient shop in shock. The man behind the glassed-in counter was helping a woman, as another man with his daughter was talking on a phone.  When I explained to the man behind the counter what had happened, he told me to wait and then asked me to show him where the gas was outside. Then he proceeded to hand me a roll of toilet paper to help me clean up, while he watched to make sure no one was stealing from him inside the shop. I explained to him that I needed to wash out my shoe and leg, so that I would not have to drive with the gasoline smell in my car. He rushed inside and told me I could use the "out-of-order" bathroom. The man went back to the counter and never did anything about cleaning up the gas outside. He was more worried about what was happening to the stuff in his shop.  As I shared this story with a  friend, she reminded me of Matthew 16:26:       "And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?"   A lighted match or a cigarette thrown into this puddle, could have been fatal. Lives lost. But the man was more concerned with the things in his shop. How often do we concern ourselves with things in our lives that truly don't matter.  Especially when all the Lord cares about is your soul and the souls of others. Will you give everything you have and everything you are to Him today?

80% of my monthly budget is raised!  Thank you to all of the individuals and churches who have chosen to partner with the ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo! If you have not already become a partner, would you, your church, small group, or family prayerfully consider becoming a part of what God is doing in training Congolese teachers, professors, and leaders.  Because of your support and prayers, I am able to go! Training is still needed, so that more students will hear the truth of God's Word and reach their communities to bring a transformation in their relationships, families, government, churches, schools, and personal lives.  Can you help? Would you give up something for souls to be won for the KINGDOM? If you are already a partner, would you consider increasing your giving by $10-$20/month? I just need:   5 people to give $100/mo. 10 people to give $50/mo.  20 people to give $25/mo.   5 people to give $10/mo.   You can give on-line, by pushing the link to the right "Mission Giving" or email me at gbiffert@hotmail.com if you would like a form emailed to you.  I need all forms filled out and turned in before I can go.  My goal date to return is May 2016.

Picture of a Congolese classroom Praise Reports -Live are being touched through ministry here and in the DRCongo! People are being called to GO! -The budget is being raised! Hallelujah!! -My good health - Praise the Lord! -Over 24,000 miles driven for ministry in 10 states (Car and driver doing well!) Will you GIVE - GO - PRAY? Thank you to all of those who gave so generously during the Christmas holiday. I am so blessed!

Marching in honor of 50 years of the A/G in Kinshasa Prayer Requests -Traveling mercies (I have a few more months of travel on my own) -Reaching 100% of my budget by May -God’s continued direction and His (God) ideas in reaching the 550-600 A/G schools in the DRCongo -Finding Congolese teachers, to build a team, that are passionate about God & education to want to reach their nation through training other teachers in our schools.

Sunday Afternoon Get together

Each Sunday afternoon, these children come from around their neighborhood to be with "Frere  Willy!"(Brother Willy)  Willy has been working with children since he was a youth member.  Each time he has the opportunity to share the Word with children, he does it with a smile on his face. I met him in 2005 for the very first time.  I don't think I have ever seen him not smile. Three years ago, he started inviting children in his neighborhood to come to his house.  Along with his wife and sister, they set up chairs for children to come and dance, sing, hear Bible stories, play games, and get to know one another.  He started out with a just a handful of kids, but now he has about 40 regular attendees. 

 

Sometimes you even attracted others and they hear all that is being said and sung. Do you see the children sitting on top of the hill behind the tree branches?

The children even made themselves a little drum set!

They are so creative!

 

At the end of the meeting children had the chance to answer questions about the story that was told. If they got the answer right, they got a chance to knock over a bottle to receive a point for their team.  Frere Willy has done well with teaching the children to encourage one another, as you can see in this video.  Please continue to pray for Will, his family, and all those that come to his place once a week.  That God would use him to change a nation.



50th Anniversary of the A/G in Kinshasa March

The National A/G church in Kinshasa, the 37th community, is celebrating 50 years of ministry in DRCongo. We started the festivities in N'Djili and then marched to Masina, about 3-5km away.  It was an incredible experience!

 

Lots of people marched and showed up at both services!

 

Teaching, Training, Sharing, Equipping, and Preaching????

Well, once again I find  myself behind.  It has been several months since my last blog...so much has happened, I am not sure where to begin...

Aside from training in the primary and secondary schools, I have also been asked to train the professors for our Bible school.  It is our hope that in training these professors, that they will in turn train the professors of our over 10 extensions in Kinshasa and in the interior.  Although, I would love to travel to all of these places to do the training, it would be very exhausting mentally and physically.  Many of these professors are pastors of churches here in Kinshasa.  They know the culture, the language, and the way of living way better than I do and can reach so many more.  I do hope to visit some of our extensions in the future. 

I have also been sharing the love of God in women's meetings here in the city. The mamas are so wanting to hear from God and receive His blessings on their lives.  They run into obstacles daily with not having enough to send their children to school, or feed their own family. Through the Word of God, I have been able to help them see the importance of education in the home and finding answers to their problems. These mamas come to church each Wednesday morning from 6:30am-8:30am.  So can you guess where I was the last two mornings. I woke up without the sun, for the first time in a long time. (There is no daylights savings here.) What a blessing these mamas were!

Sharing the Word of God is something that I enjoy doing. However, I have been asked to preach in several churches the last couple of Sundays.  God is good!  He fills in where we lack! PTL! All glory to God! One church had more children at the beginning of the service than adults.  It was great to see them worshipping God and be excited about coming to church.  I found out afterward, that they had Sunday school before church started. This church of about 100 people meet in a school courtyard, where they set up each Sunday and put a tarp over the basketball hoop to keep the sun from beating down on them. It was a great group of people!

 

 

Here is also a video of my drive to a church service.  We were so glad that it did not rain, as we would have had trouble on this dirt road.

 

 

As part of training professors for our Bible schools, I had to meet with a colleague in Tanzania, who is the creator of the training sessions that are being used for the accreditation process.  What a joy it was to sit with Dr. Murriell McCulley and learn from her.  There is never a time to stop learning. 

 

It was fun to talk education in Africa with her.  She has been in Africa with her husband for almost 40 years.  They will retire soon and they will be missed.  Although, she has told me I can keep in touch, if I need anything.  Please pray for more teachers, professors, and trainers to come to french speaking Africa.  We need you!

 



In the next couple months, I will be training 20 professors will then train other professors in our extension Bible schools.  Please pray that the training sessions will be fruitful and that these professors, also pastors, would catch a passion for training others.

The next three weeks I will be teaching at the Bible school, as well as, doing another training session with the professor.  Your prayers are treasured!

Summertime Fun!

Bonjour de Kinshasa!

Summertime starts a little later here, than in the US.  Most schools don't get out until July 2nd.  I have had the opportunity to visit the end of the year ceremonies in the schools that I have worked with this year.(Preschool, Primary, Secondary, and Bible schools) Since school has let out, I have spoken at a youth convention, handed out diplomas at our Bible school graduation here in Kinshasa, spoke at women's meetings, and visited camps.

Here is a video of the youth convention. (It may be difficult to see, as it is truly this dark in the church, but at least you can hear the joy!)

I felt honored to hand out diplomas to the graduates of our Bible school and it's extensions here in Kinshasa.

Here are some students presenting at their end of the year program...

 

 

My students from the Theological Seminary here, will finish their studies in Togo for three months and then graduate.  We shared a Congolese lunch together with the Directors, other students and staff.

 



Training Teachers & Pastors. Transforming Generations.

Teaching, Training, Sharing, Learning, Observing...

The last couple of months have been quite busy! 
February-April were months of attending an accreditation conference for our Bible Schools, preparing and teaching at the Bible School, presenting a three night seminar on education in a local church, and hosting another missionary who came to see how children's ministries is done here in Congo. He did one session on how to do puppets, using socks. The teachers loved it! Here are some videos and photos of my journey.

This video is of a route I had to take to a local church, where I did an education for three nights.  This is one of  the more difficult roads I had to travel on.

 

There were close to two hundred people and almost 75 kids who attended each night. (Tried downloading the video several times...I will try again in the next post.)


Teaching at the Bible school has been so rewarding.  I have learned so much from my students! Each day begins with prayer and worship:

 



Puppets are for everyone! These teachers found out that even adults like Puppets.

 

Please continue to pray for these churches, teachers, students, and those committed to spreading the Good News! May they be passionate about their mission... to make a difference in their community and in their nation!

 

A la prochaine!!

 

Bad Silence, Good Silence...

The day before New Year’s Eve, I experienced a silence on my street that would normally be "happily accepted," because I live on one of the busiest streets in Kinshasa, and sometimes I can't even hear myself think. But this particular morning, it was eerily quiet.  I was preparing to leave for a missionary conference in South Africa, but was called by a Congolese friend saying there was fighting in the city and the airport was closed.  I would stay home in silence the rest of the day. Not knowing what to expect, a missionary associate who is working here and myself met in a central location that was not high up (her place), nor was it close to the road(my place) We stayed the day in our directors home that was in the middle of the compound and waited it out.  We had heard from news reports online and phone calls from friends here that there was a lot of shooting taking place throughout Kinshasa, including the airport and the TV/Radio station which is less than a mile from our compound.  The amazing thing was, we heard nothing! PTL! God was there and we were safe. While facing the unknown, I realized God was in the silence. His ways are higher and greater than our ways...His plans are higher and greater than our plans!  Here is a short clip of what a normal day outside my wall looks like.  Hopefully it will help you understand why it was eerie to hear nothing all day. Part of the commotion in the video is advertising something, can you guess what it is?

 This is not the day of fighting, but imagine no people or vehicles on these streets...

 

We were able to leave for the conference a couple of days later.  We were "highly favored," as the next regular flight was to be at the end of the week.  We would have missed the whole conference, but South African Airlines added a flight for New Years' Day. (We think it was sent "special delivery" for us! ;) The meetings were God ordained and we participated in some great collaboration with others wonderful colleagues from the continent! I was able to enjoy a few days of good silence with God and His breathtaking creation at Cape Point, SA. Only God can take a bad situation and bring something good out of it.

Cape of Good Hope

 Cape Point, South Africa

Thank you again for all your prayers! Words can't express how much they help persevere through some difficult days and also not-so-difficult days.  When you pray, God brings a peace that passes all understanding to the situation and it is unexplainable, how calm I felt the day we waited out "the storm."  To me...you are like the beautiful ocean that rolls in the shore that soothes the soul with fresh air and a calm like no other. Every blessing to you!