7/25/2014 – Rwanda and Congo

I returned from the Congo about 9:00 o’clock Wednesday night by bus. Yes, that will be my last bus trip ever. In case you are still wondering why I am so opposed to bus travel between Rwanda and the Congo, let me offer another explanation on top of what I have already offered. Over one-hundred people were killed in bus related accidents last month. The reason these buses are so dangerous is because of the driver contracts with their companies. They are paid by numbers of trips to and from each week. Some drivers do not sleep for more than a few hours for an entire week! From this point on, I will gladly pay the extra cost of the fifteen minute flight from Changu airport in the Congo to Kigali airport and vise versa.

Our teaching class in Bagira turned out to be better than we expected. We had a total of seventy complete the course in Bibliology. Because of some unforeseen circumstances in Kigali, I had to return by bus immediately after we concluded class-time. Three of the men wanted to accompany me all the way to the bus depot, so we were forced to take separate motorcycle taxis between the border and the bus station. It is only about a ten-minute ride. However, I regret not being able to send pictures of the four of us as riding passengers on motorcycles winding our way around Lake Kivu back to the bus station. It was a memorable way to end my time there. One of the men who rode with me is Gabu, whose father is a Baptist pastor up in Goma. We hope to have some interaction with him shortly by email to determine if he is interested in hosting a class for the nearly forty pastors in his district for next year. Please be praying about the development of the Congo portion of our ministry here. There are some developments which will bring change and growth for next year.

Tomorrow we will sit down with the leadership here in Kigali and set the stage for next year’s class. We are planning on maintaining the extra women’s class and adding a children’s class. Once we iron out the details we will share that information and begin preparing. This African trip has had its challenges in 2014, but in the end it has been very profitable, and we have exceeded our goals. In total, we have seen a total of 158 individuals trained, while 122 have received certificates of completion for theological training. We are seeing numbers of men and woman trained that exceed all of our earlier expectations when Global Baptist Training Foundation began. The fields are truly white unto harvest and the needs are greater than we could possibly have imagined. Pray that God will give us wisdom as GBTF continues to grow and expand around the world, bringing training to indigenous men and woman who want to serve God in Biblical, Baptist churches. Finally, let me encourage all of our coffee-club members, readers and supporters to share the blogs, pictures, and messages of GBTF on your Facebook pages etc. There are many people in our particular spheres of influence who have yet to hear of what God is doing here at GBTF!