Catching Up After Ethiopia.

Dear Friends:

Since I have not been able to enter any blog comments for the past two days, this one may be much longer.

First of all, my computer and phone/wireless card did not work when we arrived in Ethiopia. Now, we are safely in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and it seems to be working. Thank the Lord.

Secondly, our flight from Rome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was very, very good. The food was great. We all got a lot of sleep...at least I did. The service was fantastic. And, it was a very, very comfortable flight.

On the flight, I met Tchitenge Motumbo. He is the owner of a TV station in Kinshasa and is the brother of Dikembe Motumbo, the 7 foot 2 inch all-star NBA center for the Houston Rockets. He wants to travel with us to film some of the things we are doing in Kinshasa and maybe send a TV crew with us to Lubondai!! The Lord's wonders never cease. He is a wonderful Christian man whose father served with the Rev. Bil Metzel here in Congo. It's a small, small world.

We are hoping to meet with him here in Kinshasa and get thing started. He also wanted to facilitate the broadcasting of sermons from pastors in America broadcast every morning here in the Congo. Well, we'll see.

Next, we stayed in a wonderful hotel in Addis Ababa. The most amazing thing was that the hotel and all the food (dinner and breakfast) was included in our ticket over here!!! The food was great!

We went back to the airport and flew to Kinshasa. Good flight, good food, safe landing and we're here!!!

Now, we are at the Methodist/Presbyterian Hostel in Kinshasa. We are relaxing and now discussing the scope of the project that we are going to assess in Lubondai. We are going to fly to Kinanga and drive down to Lubondai with a rebuilt Toyota Landcruiser. That should be fun.
We are now talking with Larry Sthreshley, a 21 year Missionary here in the Congo who knows and loves Bill and John Metzel. He is catching up us on some of the particulars about Lubondai and other communities to provide us some up-to-date information that will be very, very useful.

On the way, we're going to see hippos, giraffes, and other African wildlife. And, no, we're not going to get eaten by any lions, tigers, or bears!!!! (Ben and Sam).

All in all, this trip has the Blessed Hand of God upon it/us. There is no doubt in my mind that God is guiding us every step of the way. The people we are meeting. The contacts that we are making. The information that we are gathering. And, the possible hope and help that we can bring to the blessed people of the Congo and Lubondai seems to be endless. Now, we need to go to the site (Lubondai) and see if for ourselves, meet the pastor, tribal chief, and people to begin the process of developing a partnership with Lubondai. What form that "partnership" will take will be, I don't know yet. But, we do have some ideas. The ideas for the partnership will come from our meeting the people, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit while we are there. The most important thing that we need to do is listen, listen, listen.

That is what we are going to do. I'll be doing some preaching while there and probably here in Kinshasa at a church where the pastor has invited me to come and share the gospel with the people. All of these things are yet to be and I feel filled with God's Holy Spirit in a way that reminds me of my earlier missionary journies of some 18-20 years ago.

I am so blessed by God. WE are so blessed by God.

I/we cannot thank God enough for what we have experienced so far. I/we cannot thank the people of the First Presbyterian Church of Annandale and the First Korean Presbyterian Church of Virginia for praying for us, providing for us, and making this trip possible.

May the Lord bless all of the people that we love so very much back in the States. I send special kisses and hugs to my blessed sons, Ben and Sam, and the precious gift from heaven that God brought into my life, my wife, Genny.

Until the next time...

Dr. Chris Looker