Africa Click here for a Power Point Presentation.
Hello, COTR people. Thanks for checking out my blog at www.churchontherise.org. As you know, I recently spent 15 days on the great continent of Africa! My life was forever changed as I experienced the dramatic variety of this continent. Some areas were incredibly progressive and westernized and looked very similar to the U.S. Others were completely different, reflecting our more traditional views of Africa as an untamed land. Enjoy this summary log of my time there for your reading.
Tuesday, October 7th—I arrived after a 15 hour flight in Johannesburg, South Africa. As I stepped off the plane I thought, WOW, I just crossed the entire Atlantic Ocean and I’m on a whole different continent. How cool is that! I was met at the airport by one of my colleagues for my time there, Pastor Dave Bulger. David is a missionary to Africa and has been on the continent for six years now. He is a native of Chicago and former missions pastor of Willow Creek Church in Barrington, Illinois. From the airport, I went to David’s home where I would stay the next two nights. David and his wife, Sherie, are truly full of love and hospitality. They pour their lives into the people of Africa. David is extremely kind but also very driven and organized, focused on his mission with the ministry of TOPIC. TOPIC is a non-denominational organization that trains pastors and leaders worldwide.
Wednesday, October 8th—After about 10 hours of sleep… This was a day spent primarily adjusting my biological clock. I spent several hours completing a School of Ministry class for my return. I did get out with David and run a couple of errands in the city. I was struck by how westernized Johannesburg, South Africa was. It was very similar to any major U.S. city. There is tremendous coverage and awareness of the United States in South Africa. Everywhere I turned there were signs of the U.S. in everything from coverage from the presidential election to movie DVD’s. I was able to pick up a couple of souvenirs for the family at a cool mall there.
Thursday, October 9th—Thursday morning we loaded up the trailer behind the Land Rover with all our supplies. We were met by David Muller, our other colleague for the ministry time together, better known as Muller. Muller was a complete sanguine—full of life and quite funny at times, and we thoroughly enjoyed one another’s company. I found out quickly that we had one thing in common other than Jesus—a tremendous love for coffee! Keep in mind that Africa is more of a tea continent than a coffee continent, so although coffee is around it is not always something you’re able to enjoy. Muller and I had many great coffee moments on this trip. We departed Johannesburg before midday and began our journey towards the border of Zimbabwe. We arrived at the Zimbabwe border close to dark. This was a unique and somewhat scary experience. Zimbabwe is a nation in the midst of unprecedented political and economic oppression. There were hundreds of people at the border carrying supplies from South Africa back into the country of Zimbabwe because of lack of money and supplies that are available there. It was quite stressful getting through the border pass and getting our trailer inspected and approved for entry. But that wasn’t nearly as scary as the ride to the Gweru Baptist Guest House! This was my first experience of true Africa outside of progressive South Africa. The roads were horrible and extremely dark. There were animals wandering up and down the road and oftentimes into the road, but we faithfully followed our GPS to our destination and arrived about 10:00 p.m. There I was able to meet one of the local pastors and three other American missionaries who were staying at the Guest House; one from Los Angeles and the other from Colorado. These brothers were tremendously kind and we had a good night’s rest.
Friday, October 10th— After some boiled eggs for breakfast, we set out in our travels across Zimbabwe. We met in a very depressed area with a wonderful pastor, Pastor PF. He, his wife and son, Cooley, shared of the tremendous struggles they are experiencing in Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe continues to lead with an oppressive dictatorial style. They shared about his intimidation of many of the citizens and the frustration with a lack of economic options. This pastor was a true man of God standing in the gap with many, many people. We left as many supplies as we could there for him and his church. We traveled from there to meet up with another wonderful pastor in the city of Harare. We spent some time in his home and met his children. His daughter in particular was such an impressive young lady. That day was her last day of high school and she plans to attend college in the U.S. That night Pastor took us to an Italian restaurant in the city of Zimbabwe. This was a unique cultural experience because the restaurant was filled almost 95% by white South Africans. Many white South Africans have left and returned to Europe and various places because of the economic struggles. The food was great. We stayed in a small guest house cottage that Pastor provided for us. The next day we journeyed on traveling the remaining way through Zimbabwe headed for our ultimate destination, the country of Zambia. Right at the Zimbabwe border to Zambia we had lunch and fellowship with a precious missionary couple from Pennsylvania, the Lesters. They had been missionaries in Zimbabwe since 1971 back when the nation was still called Rhodesia. They had survived the Rhodesian revolution and now the current oppression in Zimbabwe, not to mention three cases of malaria! We had great fellowship. They live on a river and travel up and down the river on a houseboat for 10 to 15 days at a time ministering in the deep tribal areas of Africa. From their home we entered into our destination, the nation of Zambia. Hallelujah! The rest of the day we traveled to a major city in Zambia, called Lukasa. Lukasa is a progressive city of 2,000,000 people. Once again, everything around me changed and looked very similar in many ways to the U.S. We had dinner at a mall area that was packed with hundreds of people as it was Saturday night. We had pizza and burgers and watched soccer in the mall! There we met with a Christian couple who David knew to exchange some money for local currency. Because of the late hour, they insisted that we stay overnight in their home, which was a blessing and probably the best accommodations we experienced in our travels.
Sunday, October 12th—We departed early that morning for a full day of traveling to the city of Mansa. On the way, we took a detour about five miles back into the bush to visit the memorial of the great missionary, David Livingston. David Livingston is a great Christian historic figure of Africa. He was there during the 1800’s and was a tremendous influence in developing Christianity. Upon his death, those who he discipled removed his heart and buried it at the monument sight that we attended. Afterwards they wrapped his body in a shroud, carried it on foot a thousand miles to the Atlantic Ocean where it was placed on a ship for burial in Westminster Abbey, England. We read of the many exploits of David Livingston on the way to the monument and were amazed. This guy was a flat-out Christian stud! We was mauled by a lion, survived many rounds of malaria, and continued uninhibited preaching the Gospel till he fell over dead praying at his bedside in his 70’s. We were inspired by his life. We left there and arrived that evening in the city of Mansa, where we would spend most of the rest of the trip. We stayed in a guest house of a local pastor. It was good accommodations, and we even occasionally had running water!
Monday, October 13th—The day had finally come to begin our primary focus for the trip, our pastors and leaders workshops in Zambia. We left early Monday morning to travel to the city, Samfya. The workshop was actually held at an Assembly of God church in Africa! Everyone I spoke with told of the great work that the Assemblies of God is doing on the continent of Africa which made me proud to be a part of our fellowship. The church was incredibly hospitable, opening with powerful praise and worship–some in Bimba, the native language and some in English, the national language. My spirit was so refreshed. My first teaching session went well although it did take time to get used to the culture and speaking with an interpreter. I believe my message on Servants and Sons encouraged each leader and helped them on their journey. After a long day of teaching and training, we traveled back to overnight in Mansa. We returned the next day for the second half of the workshop, and when we gathered everyone together for the closing session many shared of how their lives had been incredibly touched and encouraged through the teaching and the principles of pastoring of pastors, which was the theme of our training.
Wednesday, October 15th—Wednesday morning we traveled to our second city for our next two day workshop, Nchelenge. This was also an Assembly of God church. During the morning, I had my first major physical scare. This was the only time that I began to feel ill, sweating, feeling dizzy, etc. I walked outside and began to cry out to God for Him to touch my body. I did not want to be a distraction to the ministry. I knew how important and life-changing this time was for all the local pastors of Nchelenge who had gathered, and if I had to receive medical treatment it would be a distraction. God healed me! Without any explanation other than His hand upon me, I began to feel dramatically better. Praise the Lord! The workshops continued and that night we spent the night in Nchelenge. We were excited when we found a room at Prosperity House, a guest house there. The room had a refrigerator, running water and—Praise God—a ceiling fan, a first for our travels. After dinner we returned for a plush night at the Prosperity Guest House. Unfortunately the refrigerator didn’t work, the water didn’t work, the roof leaked, and the electricity went out for a while. As my colleagues there said, “TIA” which means “This is Africa”! The good news is the ceiling fan worked, so we got a good night’s sleep. We completed successfully our second days of workshops in Nchelenge, and pastors once again responded that it was a life-changing time for them. Several people in Nchelenge, after sessions, came up and asked for prayer for everything from physical ailments to protection from witchcraft in their family. It was a privilege to pray over these precious people.
Friday, October 17th—We began our final round of workshops in our host city of Mansa. At this point we had connected with the greatest native of the continent of Africa, Pastor Henry Mumba. He was a precious brother who rode his motorcycle everywhere. He pastored a local church and was an overseer for an apostolic network of almost 200 churches. He was extremely gracious and kind and took good care of us. The workshops in Mansa on Friday and Saturday were great as well. Pastor Henry provided coffee and cookies anytime we wanted in his office. This was a great treat in between sessions. I returned to my room Saturday night with anticipation building of my return to the U.S. There was no moment while I was there that my precious wife and three children were completely out of my mind. I found myself constantly wondering what they were doing being six hours ahead in their time zone. The nights in Africa could be extremely lonely, but God is faithful. His presence would come in like a flood as I would sleep under my mosquito net with my flashlight and Bible in hand. I’ve never found God’s Word so alive and comforting as those times at night.
Sunday, October 19th—Sunday morning we prepared by packing everything up and heading after lunch towards the city of Ndola, but had to travel through a small portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congo has been in civil war for almost five years with literally millions killed. Only in recent weeks has it become safe to travel through. There was tremendous corruption at the border as we had to bribe each attendant to gain entry, but if we were not able to pass through this small section of the Congo it would have added 4-6 hours to our time to reach Ndola. Pastor Henry traveled with us and we could not have made it without him. Sunday night in Ndola, a mid-sized city in Zambia, we stayed in a guest house of a minister and teacher, Dr. Lazarus Phiri. Dr. Phiri was away so we were instructed to see his next door neighbor for keys to the guest house. This was a precious Christian family, and they showed us some restaurants and how to get to the airport the next morning. We had a good night’s rest on Sunday night as my anticipation continued to build for the return home.
Monday, October 20th—Monday morning I was dropped off by David and Muller at the small airport in Ndola from which I would fly back to Johannesburg, South Africa to prepare for the return flight to the U.S. I realized in those departing moments how much I had come to love and respect these two brothers I had spent the last two weeks with. I had entrusted my entire life into their hands in a strange country where I knew no one. They had treated me like a true brother and I felt great sadness as we departed knowing that I may not possibly see them again until Heaven. I expressed my heart to them and we prayed together. The flight from Ndola was smooth and I was met in the Johannesburg airport by my other connection in South Africa with AFNet, Pastor Johan Combrinck and his associate, Christo. Johan was my original contact in Africa, but he was in the U.S. part of my time there and connected me up with David and Muller. We shared a meal together. During the meal, Pastor Johan expressed some concern about my health as my color was off, and after 10 days of bony chicken and fish I chose to eat a hamburger instead of a steak. They encouraged me to watch my symptoms, particularly in guarding against possible malaria—if I had problems to seek immediate treatment. These are great brothers who are pouring their lives into all parts of the African continent. My plane left on time Monday, and I began the 18 hour flight to the U.S. As most of you know by now, unfortunately about 4 hours into the flight, I became extremely ill and the final 14 hours felt like 24 hours! But God was faithful. Little did I know that my family had arrived in Washington, D.C. to surprise me as I got off the plane. It was them who received the surprise as I had gotten off the plane into an ambulance and taken to Reston Hospital in a suburb of Washington, D.C! Thank God for my precious wife. Once she realized where I was, she calmly secured my luggage, got directions, spoke peacefully to the kids and said, “Let’s go check on your dad.” In the emergency waiting room, I had dozed off to sleep and woke up to see my wife’s beautiful face. I thought, “Either I’m in Heaven, or I’ve slept eight hours and didn’t know it!” It was so great to see my family. Words cannot describe how joyous I felt being in their presence again. The wonderful doctors replenished the missing potassium and fluids in my body and diagnosed me with some type of viral infection. After an overnight’s stay I was on the road to recovery, returned to Rocky Mount about midnight Wednesday night, October 22nd.
What an incredible experience my time in Africa was. I came back with a new appreciation for the blessings of God on America and the comfort we enjoy, but I also came back with a new resolve to never let those things become my primary source of strength and contentment. I learned that whether well-fed or hungry, in plenty or in want, I can do all things through Christ. I look forward to the Spirit of God continuing to speak to me more lessons from this adventure.
Thanks for reading this,
Pastor Richard
