Goma, Congo

Here's what I tried to post Thursday morning but was unable to...

So I’ve been in Congo now for 3 days…and it’s tough. It’s difficult to get things done in Kenya but it’s proven to be even tougher here. I’ve always been against bribes because I feel that they just feed the corruption and I was always able to avoid them in Kenya. So far we’ve had to pay way too many “government fees” that are pretty much seem to be a bunch of BS. The government workers here get paid next to nothing so they get as much as they can out of us when they have the chance.

Goma seems to be a relatively safe city but I’ve kinda felt on edge here. I’m trying to figure out if all the stories I’ve heard of bad things happening are looming in the back of my mind. Or if I’m picking up on what the people here are feeling. There is a huge spirit of fear over this city and I’m not surprised by that at all. Rebel soldiers in the bush all around the city. A towering volcano that destroyed part of the city in 2002 still sits smoking letting us know it’s not finished yet. Rwanda’s border is on one side and a lake on another. One could easily begin to feel trapped here.

My team and I have spent the week trying to get settled and figure out the city and how things work (or don’t work) here. Today we plan to go visit some IDP camps. We also have plans of visiting a child soldier rehabilitation center, malnutrition center, hospitals, etc. The girls are going to work with a couple of small groups of women that they can disciple and train in leadership. We have our photography project that we may start next week as well. There’s also the possibility of a leaders conference and children’s conference. The opportunities for ministry here seem to be endless at this point so it just depends on where we’re feeling lead, how much money we have and how much we can squeeze into 3 weeks.

Thanks for continuing to keep my team and I in your prayers. Specifically, I really hope to see some mind blowing miracles while I’m here. I’m also feeling like we’ve been trying to run upstream with all we’ve be doing here so you can pray that we come against less resistance.