Dear Friends,
Thank you for your faithful support and prayers last month as we taught God’s Word in two different conferences in Goma (DR Congo). Our trip lasted just shy of two weeks.
The first conference that I spoke at was a 3-day conference titled “The Sovereignty of God and the Responsibility of Man”. The topic was chosen by our friend and associate Pastor John Gakuru. He had about 60 pastors and church leaders from his network of churches in the region, along with a small group of deaf church leaders. The course material was well received, and the feedback was excellent. Perhaps the biggest complaint from the pastors was that it was too short, and they wanted more time to absorb the information since much of it was new to them. It’s definitely a case of mixed emotions to hear pastors and teachers of God’s word say “I’ve never heard that before!” after reading a laundry list of verses dealing directly with the issue of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Many of them insisted they were going to take the material to their home churches and teach on it. Pray that God will give them wisdom as they challenge dominant cultural narratives (ie, misunderstandings) about the nature and work of God.
The 5-day deaf Bible camp was well attended. We had about 90 people traveling in from different cities (and countries), and about 40 local people. In total, we had just over 130 people in attendance. During the Q&A session, we could see different strains of Roman Catholic and Muslim doctrine woven into the fabric of various notions held by the attendees. We’re thankful for the opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word on the hearts and minds of the camp attendees. In particular, pray for Chance Bakunzi and Didi Luanda. These two young men struggle with Muslim and Roman Catholic teaching from their upbringing. I was able to have hours-long conversations with them individually, working to direct their attention at plain Scriptures that challenged their notions of God, man and salvation. Pray that they’ll abandon the false doctrines permeating their thinking, and cleave to Christ alone.
In Him,
Tim Foster
Director
Christian Mission for the Deaf
