TALKING DRUMS

The newsletter of Bill and Sonia Shaw, serving the Lord in Lubumbashi, DR Congo

 

P.O. Box 1521, Port Orchard, WA 98366 Tel: 564 218 7695 / 564 218 7812

bill.shaw@agwmafrica.org sonia.shaw@agwmafrica.org

AGWM Acct# 2162196       

Giving link: https://rb.gy/sg7eg       Autumn 2024

 

“Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you” (2 Thessalonians 3:1).

 

Dear friends, loved ones, and partners of our ministry in the DR Congo,

 

Hectic! Busy! Here in Lubumbashi, we launched the 2024-25 academic year, which began two weeks ago on the IBTAD campus. We said goodbye to the 2023-24 classes in July with a total of 150 registered students in the morning and evening sessions. We anticipate a large influx of new students this fall and plan to graduate another large group in January. Speaking of graduates, we have Sonia with a recent grad, Naason Richard. He left IBTAD to plant a church in Zambia, the country south of the DRC.

 

In August, we sent another six students from the Lubumbashi extension of West Africa Advanced School of Theology to Lomé, Togo, to complete their B.Th. degrees on the main campus. Among the six is Isabelle Lebédé, pictured here. She hails from the desert nation of Chad, where we served three terms, so we are particularly proud of her achievement. Another student, Lovert Nchanji, a Cameroonian doctor, plans to return to his nation to work among the Fulani (a nomadic Muslim ethnic group that travels across the Sahelian nations) with his new bride Naomie. Jean Lunumbiki Ilunga, the IBTAD Lubumbashi administrator, will also walk the graduation line in November. And the list goes on—Philippe Imbongo, a pastor and professor at another Bible institute in Kolwezi; Eli Tapo Hanania, professor and the IBTAD Lubumbashi librarian; and Zachée Kabongo, a local pastor in Lubumbashi. Bill plans to be present at their graduation in November.

And this is your responsibility! How could you do this? Expanding the Kingdom, one graduate at a time! All because of you.

We spent the last full week of July in Kisangani, where our colleague, Rebeckah Moore, lives and breathes and has her being. A truly remarkable woman, Rebeckah continues to direct and develop the Bible school, serving as its director and main professor. She also puts shoe leather to her classroom teaching by working among the local churches while battling vision loss. After 40 years of service, it is hard for a fellow missionary to impress us—we have “been there and done that, got the t shirt and moved on” enough to know the real deal when we see it. This woman is the real deal. We are proud to have Rebeckah as our comrade in arms. Pray for her! She needs a miracle for her eyesight and a difficult heart issue. Look up the word “trooper” in your dictionary, and you’ll see her picture.

 

Bill spoke at the Kisangani Bible institute graduation as well as throughout the week for the 5^th anniversary of the local AG church in the Cité Paradis neighborhood. This outstanding church began in a poverty-stricken section of the city, but as it grew and matured, they have witnessed an economic upturn in the neighborhood. This church uses an assimilation program we have never seen before. All new believers have a mentor assigned to them—someone who encourages that person to regularly attend all services, goes through the discipleship program with them, and helps them through any struggles they experience for at least a year. As a result, this church serves as a model for others to emulate under the direction of Pastor Innocent and his wife Francine.

Kisangani is in the middle of the Congo Rain Forest and is also a port city on the Congo River. It is the farthest navigable point upstream from the mouth of the river and a major distribution point for the northeastern part of the country. The rapids and Wagenia Falls, just beyond the city, serve as a center for the local fishermen, who use large, cone-shaped baskets to snatch fish from the rushing waters, just as their ancestors have done for centuries. These waters once carried the blood of another missionary, JW Tucker, who died in a civil war in the Congo in 1964. You can read his story here: https://rb.gy/oxotx3  When challenged to not return to the Congo, JW famously replied “God told me to go. He never said I would come back!” And the beat goes on, and on, and on.

 

Our continuing privilege finds further expression in leading the English-speaking congregation. Our Super School department gave all the moms and dads a break by hosting a Fun Day for kids of all ages. There were organized games, a bouncy house, monkey bars, swimming, and a big family-style meal at the conclusion of the day. Another celebration in the English community was a potluck gathering for all the home cell groups on July 27^th. We count our leadership team as personal friends and marvel at how the Lord continues to expand their horizons as their English language proficiency opens doors for their future. Sadly (or happily?) we see a semi-regular exodus of our members as they pursue educational and employment opportunities far beyond their current horizons.

 

In August, we made a short trip to Zanzibar to participate in the wedding of the daughter of our lead pastor at La Parole Eternelle, Pastor Guy and “Mama” Thérèse Amani. Our English congregation serves as an outreach of this much larger (3,000-plus member) French-speaking congregation. Zanzibar is one of the spice islands, located off the coast of Tanzania. We stayed a couple of extra days to celebrate our 47^th wedding anniversary. Once again, what an awesome opportunity to make a small investment in the life of the next generation such as this young, and extraordinarily talented couple, Bénie and Sam.

 

August also included back-to-back dedications of the provincial AG office building on campus and the provincial superintendent’s church in Likasi. Both were joyous occasions. Check out the celebration at the church dedication with this link: https://youtu.be/FpMn82dekYY  I believe Congolese will be those who lead the celebration in heaven!

 

We would like to share several special miraculous events that have blessed our hearts recently, and we hope they encourage you as well.

1. Kezia turned six! The doctor told her mother that to save her own life, the child’s life needed to be terminated, but Thythy and her husband Karim (members of the English congregation) refused to accept that diagnosis. They clung to the Lord in prayer, and the doctor delivered Kezia at seven months gestation. She was too small even for preemie clothes, but she breathed on her own from day one.
2. We have a thriving Indian community in Lubumbashi, and we want to include them as a part of our English congregation. We have had a few come and go over the last seven years, and recently one of the young men had a dramatic transformation. Bill baptized Satpal and five others in the July 28^th service, and he has just returned to Delhi to be married. We hope to welcome him and his bride back to Lubumbashi soon.
3. The last baptism candidate that afternoon was a young man who had experienced a complete mental breakdown last year. Another brother from the congregation took him into his home, counseled him and prayed for his recovery. He now plays bass guitar in the worship band.
4. Several years ago, a teenaged girl, Laura, lost her parents. Melodie, at that time a single young woman from the church took her in, along with a couple of other orphaned girls in crisis. When Melodie married, the congregation helped the girls find a place to live and assisted them with their education. Laura recently graduated from university due to the support the congregation gave her. She serves on the usher team of the church. Once again, a life with new horizons.
5. Another young woman named Gaëlle recently testified that she had lost her family and had no means of supporting herself. She worked at whatever menial odd jobs she could find until landing a permanent position. She said that she had found family again by being a part of the English congregation’s choir.
6. We recently returned from South Africa, where we attended the AGWM area retreat for Central and Southern Africa. While there, Bill also had cataract surgery on both eyes and now has 20/20 vision once again. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in every situation!

 

May the Lord bless all of you for your devoted service to Him. Thank you for faithfully supporting us as we continue to minister here in Lubumbashi.

 

Bill & Sonia Shaw

 

Recent Posts