We were on TV!

Hey all! This is Emily posting.

The days are really starting to fly by now! It’s hard to believe we’re in our last week here. I’ll try to recap the last few days.

Sunday was great because we got to spend our last Sunday church service at Jean-Baptiste’s church! The church was bigger than the first church we went to, and smaller than the second. The people were welcoming like usual, and the atmosphere was really great there! It’s kind of a routine that we do songs and a testimony or two, and here was no different. We sang some worship songs for the church, and Rob shared his testimony.

After church we had some time to talk with a few people. Aurora especially enjoys these times since she has the easiest time with the language barrier. :) She had a great conversation with one girl from the church named Judite. Judite leads choirs at church, and has a real passion for worship. As we were sitting around, she had a chance to teach us one worship song in Lingala. On Friday we’re going to keep up our end of the bargain and teach her an English worship song. :)

After church we headed over to Jean-Baptiste’s house for a celebration for Alysha’s birthday! His family was super sweet and hospitable. Their house was decorated with balloons and drawings, and the meal Jean-Baptiste’s wife made was delicious and so generous. I think Alysha really enjoyed having a family away from home to celebrate her birthday with her.

Sunday night left a few of us a bit stressed about Monday. All we knew from Jean-Baptiste was that we’d be going to the School of Missiology to share in a church service. Oh, and we’d have a 30 minute spot on a Congolese television show.... Oh boy.

So Monday morning came around, and was a lot less stressful than we’d imagined. We started off with the church service, joining with the students in a time of singing and prayer. We sang a couple of songs for them, and Amanda and Josh shared their testimonies. For me, the service was one of those times when I go into it hoping to encourage the people, and come out of it feeling very encouraged. The people we met were such a blessing. Their prayers for us, and genuine interest was just so encouraging.

After this we got to see a bit more of the school. If I have everything right, it’s basically a Bible College/Seminary with a focus in missions. The students there can study for up to 5 years, and most have ministries that they are really involved in outside of the school. It was really neat hearing some of these stories.

Oh, as for the TV show... We learned after the service that the guy running around with the video camera was actually taping for the TV show. So those close up shots and Aurora’s interview will all be broadcast! Good times. :)

Today we went back to the school. We got to sit in on a class taught by Jean-Baptiste on Mediation and Evangelisation. It was great hearing him teach! The role playing at the end was pretty amusing too. :) We also attended the church service again today.

Right now we have some time off, so we are back at the house. We’ll be going tonight to another church. One of Jean-Baptiste’s students at the School of Missiology is the pastor there.

One more thing. As weird as it is to say... it’s been cold here! Well maybe not cold by Canadian standards... but I had goosebumps! Twice! Also, I saw more than one winter coat in church today, and a man was literally running back and forth in the street to warm up! Hehe. Well, it’s a nice break from the heat for sure.

Thanks for reading! We're praying and missing you all at home.