Last Saturday I left Nakuru, accompanied by two Kenyan pastors, for a survey trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The purpose of this trip was to lay the groundwork for some of our men to go to the Congo later this year to start churches. This was my second time to the Congo, last September I went on my initial trip accompanied by a pastor from the U.S. and one from Canada.

Sunday I preached in the Cornerstone Baptist Church, Kigali Rwanda. To the best of my knowledge it is the only Independent Baptist Church in all of Rwanda. I was able to share with them some of what happened in Kenya last year as they were very interested because of going through a similar thing in 95 but to a much, much greater extent. There were about one million people killed in their genocide. During their trouble there were no churches that stood for what is right and sadly many of them butchered those who sought refuge from them. The stories and testimonies from Kenya of churches and pastors standing was touching to the people with many of them showing visible signs of emotion. During the invitation four adults trusted Christ. A member of the church, named January, introduced himself to me after the service telling me that the place we were going was his hometown and he had been praying for five years that someone would go there and start a Baptist Church. He fled the area when the war started and had not been back since. He still had two sisters and numerous friends that live in the town. He said the Lord touched his heart during the message and he believed he was to accompany us into the Congo and serve us on our trip. I spoke to his pastor who gave a big endorsement to him and it was decided he would accompany us on this trip. I cannot begin to explain the help that he was to us from beginning to end. He proved himself to be a doctrinal sound, wise servant of God. He was an angel sent from God to minister to us. Through January we were able to learn much culturally, historically and spiritually concerning the area of the Congo that we are targeting. Time and time again God has prepared things ahead of time for us as we reach out to this neglected corner of the dark continent.

As we continued our trip on Monday we finally made it to the Congo around 6:00 pm. To our surprise there were a group of 25 men waiting for us at our hotel welcoming us into the country and wanting to know when we could begin teaching them. These were some of the men we met and taught during our last trip to the Congo. We made arrangements to meet with them on Wednesday. While on the bus traveling through Burundi we were in a horrific accident as the bus hit a little girl of about three years old. I was sitting directly behind the driver and he did all he could to avoid her. He was speeding a little but the girl stepped right in front of the bus. There was a sickening thud as she was hit and her little body went flying through the air. Fortunately there were police in the vicinity, if not the driver probably would have been lynched by the mob that quickly assembled. We were delayed for some hours and after the driver paid a number of bribes we were back on our way.

We met with the group of men on Wednesday, in all about 33. We taught lessons on Salvation, Eternal Security, and Baptism. We also left other lessons for them to do that we will discuss with them on our next trip. All of these men have expressed deep interest in a church being started. Many of them probably are not truly saved but we must wait for the Holy Spirit to convict them.

We were able to accomplish much of what we needed to on this trip although we were not able to meet with our lawyer to get our questions answered regarding some immigration issues. We were able to meet with the area chief (government representative) and he was very happy that we were planning to come and start a church. We were also able to confirm that we indeed have been registered with the government and are officially permitted to actively minister in the name of the yet to be started church. We spent a lot of time confirming the prices of goods and the cost of living.

We plan to travel back to Uvira, DRC in about a month. At that time we are hoping to find housing and a place to begin the church. Our tentative plans at this time are to have a permanent presence in Uvira during the month of June. Please keep this a matter of prayer. The Grace Bible Baptist Church of Nakuru, Kenya is stepping out by faith, believing that God is leading and we know that where He leads, He will provide. I am not sure if anything of this magnitude has ever been attempted by a church here in Kenya and our desire as always is to glorify God and be an example that others can follow. I will give more details concerning this new ministry to this desperately needed area of the world in the coming weeks and months.

A big thanks for all who prayed for me while I was in the Congo and for my family as I was away.