Mission in the Congo: Updates on Edouard and Upcoming Trips

Persecution
or

Superman wears Edouard NGoteni Pajamas

As many of you know from reading previous posts that our friend Edouard has been under tremendous persecution in The Republic of Congo. He has wholly given his life to preaching the Gospel and he has paid a tremendous price for it. Since the team left in March 2007, he has lost his wife back to her family who is deeply engrossed in witchcraft, been imprisoned and had multiple attempts on his life. I think it is necessary to tell more of his current story.

The day that we left Congo was also the same day that we buried John Wesley. It was a defeat that greatly affects us to this day. Personally it has driven me back to our original objective to see the Kingdom of Heaven established in this war torn area of the world. Edouard's persistence has truly paid off. Everyday someone has been added to the church in Congo. Everyday there is a healing or a miracle that just adds more fuel to the fire. Edouard's church leaders really heard what we were there to teach; that everyone is called to preach the Gospel and are we are to take this message of the Kingdom into everyday life. One of his leaders in particular has taken his calling seriously and is now considered a prophet among his peers. His name is Emme (not sure of the spelling). He is the worship leader in the church and is also one of Edouard's closest friends. They are not friends because they grew up together or even because they like the same kinds of movies. They don't have that luxury. They are the closest of friends because they preach the Gospel together and Emme has stood by his pastor and friend even when it could have cost him his own life.

Right after we left, Edouard's wife became bitter that John Wesley did not get raised from the dead and she focused all of that bitterness and anger on her husband. She was sequestered by her family and they rallied to have Edouard thrown in prison. They accused him of sacrificing his first born son to the devil and then selling his body parts to the white men. A ridiculous accusation that led to Edouard's arrest and imprisonment. Edouard was locked in a cell and chained hand and foot. Because of the favor of the Lord on Edouard's life, he was brought before the highest judge in all of Congo and was able to tell his story in it's entirety. He told him of his belief that Jesus raises the dead and that he prayed for his son to be raised from the dead. He then told the judge that the fact that even though his son did not get up, it does not change what the Bible says. Edouard testified that everyday people were getting healed and delivered and that Jesus was working miracles through them. The judges response was classic: "You believe that your God raises the dead? What kind of God is this?" Edouard then told him that even if the judge were to die that day he believes that God would raise him from the dead and that he would gladly pray for anyone who died and God would be faithful despite what happened to his own son. When the judge saw his unshakeable faith he exclaimed "You are a man of God. These charges are false! You can go now!"

When Edouard's wife saw that he was released, she was furious. Her father is the equivalent of a Senator and had used his political power to effect those charges against Edouard. They then hired a witchdoctor to kill Edouard. Those who have always lived in the sheltered environment of America, sometimes find it hard to believe that witchdoctors have any power. But let me assure you that this is nothing to scoff at. These guys are the real deal and mean business. After multiple attempts to kill Edouard the witchdoctors concluded that the power that Edouard has was superior to their own. This took things to a totally different level. Edouard's wife then rallied her family together to hire four assassins to kill Edouard physically. These four men did not understand the power of Jesus when they took the job.

The first attempt happened on a week day when they were sure Edouard would be at his newly rented church property. He was not there. The second time they tried to poison his food and the Lord told him not to eat it. The third attempt led to the assassins loosing one of their own to the enemy. The enemy here being the Lord Jesus. The assassins had assembled together and had decided to send one of their own as a scout to find Edouard and report back to the others after Edouard was found so they could all go and kill him. The scout found Edouard but after a few short minutes Edouard had led him to the Lord. The assassin is now a born again, spirit filled believer and is winning people to the Lord and healing the sick right along side Edouard.

When Edouard's wife heard that the assassin was born again she became very afraid because he was spreading the news to everyone that she had hired him to kill Edouard. She then hired four men from the local police precinct to gang up on the ex-assassin and kill him. She did not want him spreading her story around. The police, wearing only street clothes, found him and tried to over power him. What they did not know is that this man is the Congo wrestling champion and easily overpowered them and left them bleeding in the street. During the fight a general in the Congo army happened to walk by and see the ruckus. He pulled the man aside and asked him what was happening. He told him the whole story. The General responded "I do not know this pastor you are talking about but this woman will not get away with this." A search was started for Edouard's wife and forced her to withdraw the attempts on Edouard's life. The story doesn't end there, things get even wilder.

One afternoon the former assassin had a visit from an old friend, a witchdoctor that he had known for several years. The witchdoctor told him a story of a lady who had come to see him. She paid him to kill the former assassin. He ended with this: "I am not going to kill you. Here is half the money she gave me, go and buy yourself some juice." Edouard told me that that afternoon the former assassin came smiling into his house with a wad of cash in his hands telling the story of what had happened with the witchdoctor. JESUS IS KING!!!!!

Since then another witchdoctor has approached Edouard with pictures and personal items that Edouard's wife had given him as a point of contact to kill him. The witchdoctor said to Edouard "I can protect you if you are willing to pay me." "I don't need your protection. I have much better protection than you can give. I have God. Take your witchcraft and go." was his reply.
The truth of it is, Edouard is nothing short of a spiritual stud. He has never backed down and even facing the worst possible circumstances he has not wavered in his faith and love for his Lord Jesus.


The Return

The church in Congo is growing despite the continued persecution, or maybe I should say is growing because of the continued persecution. Church history has shown us that persecution has always helped to grow the church in strength and in number. That is exactly what is happening in Congo. Though they are growing they still need our help. The American church is known for its great teaching, its revelation of the Word. Though we have recently seen an increase in the number of those here who are stepping out in their authority to bring the Kingdom, in general most of the church doesn't act on the revelation that they have. The people of the Congo are not only hungry for that revelation, they are hungry to walk in the power of it. The Friday night that John died was proof of that. After teaching them about their authority to preach and heal the sick, many stepped out and did exactly what we told them that they could do. The result was hundreds experiencing Jesus in the streets. The following Sunday was again proof. After a short prophetic teaching and activation time, many of the congregation stepped out and upon receiving very accurate words of knowledge and prophesy for people in the streets, lead many to the Lord.

This is something that we have a responsibility to foster. I have been in regular communication with Edouard and his comments are always the same, "Please pray for us, and please come and help us to preach the Gospel more effectively." For years, with some of your help we have sent books, tapes, and made trips to this part of Central Africa. The books have been helpful. The tapes have been encouraging, but the one thing that has produced the most fruit is showing them first hand that with God all things are possible. This has been evident here as well. We have written stories, shared revelation but the one thing that has truly encouraged others to do what they are designed to do is taking them out and showing them that if you will obey the Lord, he will back you up with healings, miracles, signs and wonders.

This principal is the reason that Edouard is in ministry today and producing the fruit that he is. In 2002 my family and I moved to Congo as missionaries. It was during that time that Edouard and I traveled together preaching the Gospel. Edouard at that time was just my interpreter. He had been born into a Christian family but was frustrated at the church's present condition. Because of the miracles and power that he saw as my interpreter, he completely surrendered himself to the Lord, moving in the power of God and is now discipling others to do the same. I knew when Faith and I left Congo with our kids in 2003 that we would one day return to help finish what we started. It is no longer just our vision. God has since spoken to others in leadership in our home church. The Lord made it quite clear that it was not just my family that was called to Congo but our church body as well. Because of the events of our more recent trip and the fruit that Edouard is obviously producing, we are now supporting Edouard financially and by organizing trips to serve what he is doing in the Congo.

We are in the process of organizing another trip that should take place at the end of August or perhaps September. Because of the increased persecution I will not be taking a team with me. This will be a solo mission. My heart has never changed for the Congo and the timing is right.
Most trips cost between $3000 and $5000 dollars depending on season and how much time is spent traveling in the bush. After trip expenses there are also bills that need to be paid at home. All of this can add up quickly, and there are more trips we are planning in the near future. We thank God for the opportunity to go and serve what He is doing in Congo.

If you would like to sow into the work in Congo you can through our home church. All donations given through our home church are tax deductible and they will immediately issue you a tax receipt. You can give in either of two ways:


Online - With a credit/debit card here:
http://ngca.org/congo.htm
just be sure to write "David Congo trips" in the notes line


By Check - Made payable to:
Northgate Church of Atlanta
ATTN: David Congo Trip
PO BOX 2190 Woodstock, GA 30188


The Vision

Our vision now is to spend as much time serving Edouard as possible. This means starting with short term trips until longer trips can be planned. Two to three weeks is actually considered a short trip in Congo. Especially if you are leaving Brazzaville and going into the bush. Africa is a totally different animal. It takes twice as long to do anything, sometimes longer. I am speaking of natural things like buying tickets and getting your baggage straightened out (flights do not come in and out of the country everyday. If your baggage did not arrive with you, you could be without it for quite a while). These are a hungry people and they are good soil.

When we lived in Congo, Edouard was my disciple. He followed me and learned from me. He served me, taught me, and was a good friend. Now things have changed. Edouard has a heart that seeking God above all other things. At first I was the leader, now I truly want to return as the servant. I want to help him fulfill what God has called him to do and that is to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Congo.

Long term goals that God has given Edouard for his church:

1. A place to call their own. Right now they are having to rent the space to hold their church services and because of the persecution they have been forced to moved from one place to another, uncertain of how long they will be able to be in one place. Land in Congo is expensive (around $40,000 for property and a shelter) but it is the only way to ensure that they will have a safe place to meet and teach those they are bringing to Christ. They also want to equip the facilities to bring in other pastors from surrounding villages who want to be trained. They can then be sent back to their villages full of the power of God. One brother named Christopher came while we were in Congo in March and is already starting house churches in Pointe-Noire.

2. Church planting in other villages. There is a village that is very pivotal for all the river travel in Congo. It is a village called Mosaka. It is situated on the Congo River and there is a huge mixture of people from every tribe that meet here for the fish and bush meat trade. From this village all the villages up and down the river could be evangelized. This is also a village that we will possibly be visiting on my next trip.

3. The Pygmies. This has been a passion of mine even before our first arrival in Congo. It is the reason I originally went. There are thousands of people living deep in the forest who have never heard the name of Jesus. Most call them pygmies. Though these days the term pygmy is considered a derogatory term meaning small stature (their average height is 4' 8"), it is still the most common name used to represent the numerous tribes of forest people living in the jungles of Congo. They are looked down upon by their own neighbors as sub-human and are often treated as animals.
On our trips into the jungle, Edouard and I had amazing miracles happen among these little people as entire villages would get healed and born again. Both Edouard's and my heart aches to get back to these people. This is a recent news story that will shed some light on their situation.
pygmy group segregated- click here. This article tries to explain it away but the truth is they are almost always viewed as sub-human.

4. Transportation. Because only the super rich have a vehicle in Congo, getting from point A to B can be quite an ordeal. A good source of transportation is needed to make ministry trips possible. There are quite a few pastors asking Edouard to help them and right now it is not possible because of travel limitation.

Please pray for Edouard and his church and also please pray for me and my family as we continue to make trips into the Congo. The Lord has started a great work and He will continue to provide.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support.
David Dixon

Flesh Eating Bacteria - Grady Hospital Atlanta

It was a Sunday afternoon and the forecast was threatening rain. We were completing an incredible weekend of evangelism training and impartation meetings with our hero, Surprise Sithole. This was our last chance to take teams into the streets and show them how to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, prophecy, and cast out demons. Soon this awesome weekend would come to a close. But what an awesome weekend it had been so far.


I was heading up a team that was sent to Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta. Our mission was to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Grady. My mission was to show how easy this can be when you just rely on Jesus and do what he told us to do (Matt. 10:7-8, look it up).


All the teams met together in the parking garage next to Grady and then split up to go to different parts of downtown. Some went to a nearby park others to "The world of Coke" and others to Underground Atlanta. We were staying put outside of Grady. I was excited. I had never been to Grady without seeing someone healed or born again. It was going to be a good day. As we left the parking garage reality was standing their proudly as if to deter us from our faith that things could change. The first person we saw was a lady obviously strung out on drugs who was trying to sleep wit her head propped up on a nearby newspaper machine. Wino's and drug addicts surrounded us for a few feet. The good thing about "reality" is that Jesus can make it bend to his will. "Reality" comes crashing down at the feet of Jesus and his true reality takes its place.

We had a brief chance to lay hands on the lady who was trying to sleep before she asked us politely to leave her alone and let her sleep. As we made our way across the Entrance grounds to Grady I commented to the three ladies that were with me that this was highly unusual for their to be so few people sitting out in the benches in front of Grady. This is usually where all the action was and to make it really bizarre, there was no one sitting out there with any obvious ailments. After a few minutes of walking and scanning the area I had a slight pressure in my sinuses and a slight impression of a head ache. There were two ladies sitting in a bench nearby and we made a b-line towards them.

"Excuse me ladies i have a weird question for you. I might be way off in left field with this but are either of you having problems with pressure in your sinuses that are causing problems with headaches." The lady to my right had a puzzled look on her face and exclaimed "Yeah, me!" "Well I just wanted to let you know that Jesus is King and his Kingdom is on this Earth. Can we pray for you? The pain will leave and not come back." "Sure but I am not feeling it right now it is something that comes and goes pretty frequently." We laid our hands on her and prayed for her that it would not return but then things got even better.

"We prayed for you about that, is there anything that that is pressing right now that needs prayer? We want to help bring the Kingdom of God to you."

"Since you asked we are here because our sister is upstairs in the ICU because she has a rare flesh eating bacteria and is in a medically induced coma to make sure she doesn't get any worse. You can pray for her." we couldn't get up into the unit so one of the ladies pulled out a handkerchief that she kept in her bible and we began to pray for her healing while laying hands on the handkerchief. (Acts 19) We then told the lady to go and lay that handkerchief on her sister and she would be healed.

For most that would have signaled the end of the ministry time with these two ladies but the Lord began giving us words of knowledge. Their hearts began to race and tears filled their eyes as we began to reveal their hearts and talk about a conversation they had just had a few hours previous. I can not express the joy that two ladies had when we finished telling them what God was showing us. "We were just talking about that not an hour ago and I said those exact words. This must be God." It is amazing to me how encouraged people get when God shows you details especially about their giftings and callings. Most just want to know why they are here and to know that they have a purpose.


As we were about to walk away one of the ladies from my group had an idea to give them the church's address so they could tell us any news about the sister who had the flesh eating bacteria. I quickly asked one of the ladies we were praying for, for her number and text her the church's website address. When we left they hugged us with tears in their eyes and thanked us for the words. Both of them had previously given their heart to the Lord but this was what they needed to get back on track and they were amazed at what God had just done.

We went about trying to find someone else to pray for around Grady but as i said before it was an unusually slow day for the outside of Hospital. Our group passed back by the ladies about 30 minutes later and they were still in shock. Amazed and still crying they thanked us again and waved to us as we walked off heading back to the parking garage.

We were all encouraged but we had not seen anything dramatically healed on the spot. That night when we met back at the church to tell the stories we sat and listened to the other teams tell amazing stories of healings. Blind eyes, visible swelling, all kinds of things had been healed that afternoon but we didn't have a story to tell. The words of knowledge were incredible and these ladies were encouraged but there was nothing along the same lines that everyone else was sharing. This is unusual for me. I am accustomed to being up there telling the stories with everyone else. We had a good day and the team that was with me was really excited. Most of them had never done anything like this before and this was just what they needed to help them step out and do what God had told us all to do in normal, everyday life.



The Report

The following Wednesday afternoon my wife was busy with the kids and wouldn't be home till late so I headed out with a friend into a neighborhood where he had been going every week to preach the Gospel. When we loaded into the car he told me about a strange email he had received on the church website asking about our outreaches. He sent a quick email back explaining our vision and what we do. The reply he got back was amazing.

The email explained that a group from our church had prayed for a prayer clothe at Grady Hospital and told her to lay it on her sister who was in the ICU with a flesh eating bacteria. She went on to explain that she worked for the CDC and that the bacteria was unusually rare and was definitely life threatening. She laid the handkerchief on her sister and within an hour all of the flesh eating bacteria was gone. JESUS!

This is what happens when we obey. The sick are healed, the blind see, the dead are raised, and the Gospel is preached to the poor. Jesus truly is King and his desire is for His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven (Matt 6:10).

Congo: Heaven and Hell Collide part V

Is this really happening?

That night was very difficult for all of us. We decided to stay up all night and pray. Edouard had told us that they would try to get the body out by the next morning, which was Saturday. We knew what was ahead of us and we prayed all night. Oh boy, did we pray. We all gathered in one room in the Hotel crying out for the mercy and grace of God to raise the dead. The effects of being in a situation like this, makes it is impossible to accurately explain the emotion involved. It was intense.

The thoughts that ran through my head only solidified my resolve. "It is the Gospel that I brought that caused the attack that killed this baby." Only hours before, we were standing in a crowd of hundreds on people seeing the sick healed and people on their knees giving their hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus. Not only were we preaching the Gospel, we had trained others to preach and heal the sick as well. It is one thing to have a missionary team come through and preach, it is a totally different situation for that team to raise up others from that area that will preach the Gospel everywhere they go after the missionaries are long gone. This is why Hell took action. Luke 10 is the only place in scripture where Satan falls like lightning from heaven and it happened right after Jesus sends seventy people to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.

We knew there would be a fight but we did not know it would hit so close to home.

The next morning Edouard arrived early at the Hotel. The plan was for Edouard to go to the Hospital and retrieve all the necessary paperwork to have John Wesley delivered to his house for a "funeral service." We took up a quick offering and presented Edouard with about $600 to cover all the expenses. As Edouard left it was evident that his resolve had not changed. "We serve a God that raises the dead. We will give him back to his mother."

I had to fight back the tears. Tears not from the sorrow of loosing John Wesley, but the amazing realization that my friend, my good friend, whom I brought the Gospel too, was not wavering in his faith to hold his first born son again. Because his God raises the dead.

As the day went on we continued to pray. That evening we had a meeting scheduled. Not sure of what was going to transpire we prepared for anything. Edouard had made it clear to his family and to his in-laws that no one was allowed to mourn in his house. The house of God was for worship and praise, not mourning. His brother opened his home to allow the family to mourn there. This was not a popular decision among his family and Edouard was already receiving a lot of flack for taking this stance.

Later in the afternoon, word came from Edouard that it would not be possible to get John Wesley's body from the morgue. It was a Saturday and many of the government offices were closed and he needed their signature to release the body. This is Congo and you need numerous signatures for everything.

As the evening service time fast approached, I wondered what would happen. Would the people be grieved so much that we would have to spend the entire time consoling them? What would Edouard do? There was no way to know. Many of the congregation were not there, but those few present were obviously worn out. Not Edouard. Praise and worship began and we watched something that sticks in our minds to this day. A man of God that just lost his son, his only son, his first born child, began to praise the Lord with such intensity and fervor that it spread to the rest of the congregation. And he did not only worship in front of his seat, but he grabbed the mic and led worship in front of the whole congregation for a brief time. The worship leaders were obviously affected by the loss, but a man who had not subscribed to the idea that his son was truly gone, worshipped the Lord with all his might and it became contagious.

We encouraged the people that circumstances do not change the Word of God; to keep their focus on the Kingdom of God. The basis of our faith is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. The meeting was incredible and we all began crying out for more of the Lord. The following day, the Sunday morning service was very similar and we knew that soon we would have John Wesley back with us.

After the Sunday morning service, we expressed to Edouard that it was not necessary for us to have any more meetings, but he insisted that we go ahead with our training that was planned for Sunday night. "You are only here for a short while and we need to be equipped to preach the Gospel more effectively." What a strong man of faith. That night we taught on prophetic evangelism, visions, words of knowledge and then prayed for impartation. Many moved in prophesy that had not done so up to that point.

Monday morning

When Monday morning arrived we had left the hotel when we got the call from Edouard. The body was on it's way to his brother's house. We rushed to have everything in order and were soon on our way to the house where the body would be delivered. The house was located on a back road off the main road that runs through the city. After a maze of dirt and sand alleys blocked by mud, trash and sticks we arrived at the house.

The concrete courtyard in front of the house was filled to capacity with family friends and mourners. The hand made cinder block wall and house was typical of Congo and every space was filled with people. Some sitting, some standing, all there to mourn and pay their respects. As we walked into the house Edouard asked everyone in the front room to leave. There would be no mourning here. As the people cleared the room a small wooden coffin was revealed in the center of the room. It is difficult to portray the reality of the situation, but we were there to raise the dead.

The coffin was open and beads of condensation were standing on top of John's cold head. We began to worship with everything we had. We were told that we had an hour but it ended up being much less. Standing over the casket, singing with all our hearts, I could feel the power of God in the room. It was more tangible than anything I had ever felt. I knew any second little John would open his eyes and take a breathe. As we were praying a man entered the room talking loudly in a mixture of French and Lingala. I understood very little but I could see that he was not happy. He was soon ushered out by Edouard's older brother Pierre. We found out later that he was Edouard's brother-in-law and he was not happy about us praying for the child.

We were then told that we had to get the body in the ground in the next 30 minutes or we would be breaking the law. At this point we had only been praying for 20 minutes. The worship and the prayer intensified. Just a few minutes later men began to put the lid back on the casket. "Not yet!" was the thought that was screaming in my head. Edouard then assured us we would have a few more minutes to pray for him on the way to the cemetery. No one had given up yet but we had to start moving in the direction of the cemetery.

A few men carried the casket out of the house and headed for the alley with us right behind them. As we cleared the gate leading into the alley, we loaded the casket into the nearest taxi's back seat. The sound of a large crowd to our left caught all of our attention. There was a fight breaking out in the alley and our first reaction was to walk towards the action to see what was going on. The next thing I saw was a picture I will never forget. A woman with hands lifted up, asking the crowd to stop, was beaten to the ground by a man with a tree limb in his hand as he stepped over her. What was going on? At least a hundred people were headed in our direction and maybe only about 150 feet away. Their intent? Killing us!

I was standing in the doorway of the taxi with one hand on the casket when I realized what was happening. Ryan, Danny and Nathan were in between me and the crowd. The interpreter that was standing with them, with a big goofy grin on his face that he always seemed to have, relayed the following message, "Your lives are in great danger, RUN!!!!"

Edouard loaded me in the first taxi with his son's casket in my lap. Ryan, Danny and Nathan ran past me on their way to the Toyota taxi behind me. The scene was more confusing than even movies can portray; people running in different directions, taxi drivers with their foot on the gas backing up to avoid getting beat. Our team and Congo brothers were scurrying to get in another taxi that was free from the sand and able to move. I remember yelling to Edouard's men to protect my guys; that they did not know the language and could not fend for themselves. Immediately Edouard' men surrounded them like secret service men and ushered them in a different direction. I buried my head in the casket praying in tongues thinking to myself that if they yank me out of this car, this casket is coming with me. My taxi headed down one alley only to be blocked by mud and sticks. Then down another alley this time blocked by people from the mob bent on killing us all. Finally we were out on the open road, flying down the street, dodging men and other vehicles by mere centimeters. I still had my head laying on the casket and praying in tongues.

I found out later from Ryan, that his very full taxi had almost over-turned on a few occasions while trying not to slow down as they were driving for their lives. While we were all on the road, Edouard got a call from his in-laws accusing him of witchcraft and telling him that they would find him and kill him and that they would search for us all and kill us.
As you can probably imagine Congo is full of witchcraft and one of the highest sacrifices is your first born son. This was the accusation being thrown at Edouard. The accusation also came that we, the mondeles (white guys), were the high priests that helped him.

We arrived at the cemetery in record time. It was an unkempt field filled with mounds of dirt, some covered with concrete and tile but most were poorly marked. The small dirt path that we were now on ended abruptly as more graves were being dug where the road had previously continued. As we exited the taxis, nuns and mourners returning to the main road, starred at us with curiosity. "What is a white man doing out here?" We made our way to a small grave on the far side of the road. Still praying in tongues, I asked Edouard one more time to check John to see if he might be alive. Edouard consented to check one more time. He lifted the top from the casket and revealed John's still lifeless body. I broke as the body was lowered into the ground. We were all fighting back extreme sorrow. National and tribal laws force the dead to be buried within a certain time limit. This we were unable to fight. Edouard then took the first shovel full of dirt and placed in on the casket. He handed the shovel off to someone else and said, "It is done, but Jesus is still King." He then began to worship Jesus, saying "John I will see you in heaven." I did not see him shed one tear. He had told us all along that if he buried his son he would cry but not until then, but even now he stayed focused on his God whom he serves with all his heart. "The Devil will pay for this!" were his final words before leaving the grave site.

As we walked out of the cemetery thoughts of John's birth echoed in my head. I remember the day John was born and Edouard was so happy. I talked to John over the phone on many occasions in the last few months. Edouard would put his cell phone up to John's little ear and he would laugh when I spoke to him. I remembered that just a few days ago when I met John face to face how much it was evident that Edouard loved him more than anyone else alive. Now he is buried in the ground. We had lost!!!

Getting out of Congo

With the final goodbye to John Wesley Ngoteni we headed out of the cemetery to the main road. Reality hit us again. We came in two vehicles, a 1980's Toyota corolla and an even older Toyota van that were used by the Congolese as taxis. We were advised by Edouard to find another taxi to help us get back to the Hotel. All four of us in one taxi would not be able to safely evade the mob that was still waiting to kill us. After Edouard found us a new Taxi he advised the driver to take as many back roads as possible instead of driving straight through town. Edouard sent his most trusted men with us to make sure we got back safely.

Our hearts were still racing but there was an eerie numbness because of all the events that had just enfolded. Now here we are again running for our lives.

We made it back to the hotel and Edouard's men waited in the front lobby instructing the front desk to keep our whereabouts a secret. We headed to our rooms, grabbed our things and packed them all into one room, locked and secured the door. Our luggage was set in a way that if we had to leave we could grab it quickly. Thoughts of moving to a different hotel were being tossed around but we only had a few hours before our plane flight. But moving hotels might be a necessity if the mob finds our hotel.

A few hours passed and Edouard came to the Hotel. He told us that he met with his leaders and encouraged them. WAIT!!! Did you just read that?? He encouraged them! This is the man who just lost his son, encouraging his church to not give up. What an incredible man of GOD. He then told us that the mob went to his house and destroyed his church building. We fell on his lap as he sat on the side of the bed praying for him and asking him to pray for us.

Danny pulled out the video camera and Edouard sent a greeting and a plea for prayer for him and his Church. He ended by declaring that he would run with the baton that we had passed to him without failing and that Jesus is King and His Kingdom is on the Earth.

Later that day we said good bye and headed home to the States. The experience we had in Congo was life changing. It was a reality check that forced us to view this Gospel that we preach with more reverent fear. When we arrived back home we told the story more times than we can count. Each time the response was the same from those hearing the stories: "WOW!" Stories like these can do two things to those that have lived through the actual events. One is to live your life telling the past stories of God's wonders and your battles, or two, it can compel you every day to lay your life down again for this Jesus who has so lovingly poured out His life for us. We have all chosen the latter.

Edouard's steadfast heart has inspired us and we will continue to support him not only with our prayers but with finances and more trips in the future to go back and help him strengthen his church.

Through it all Edouard has stayed strong. The days following our departure from the Congo have been just as tough. Edouard has suffered great persecution. He has had numerous attempts on his life, lost his wife to her witchcraft family, and through it all has seen incredible church growth and miracles. He continually stands firm and never wavers from preaching the real Gospel. Have no doubt about it, the persecution has come because he refuses to back down from the Gospel and the Devil hates him for it.


More about Edouard and up coming trips soon!
to be continued...