Congo's Got Talent; How About Us?

I heard a great sermon today, in a language I don't understand. The pastor was preaching at a dedication ceremony for some literature (dictionary and pastoral epistles) in the language of his own people group, and I wasn't his target audience, so the fact that I didn't follow doesn't bother me.

He read his text in Swahili first, so others would know the text, and I mostly followed that (mainly because I was reading along in the English). His text was Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the ten talents.

After reading the text, he really got into it, and worked the crowd and really challenged them. He explained the parable, I understand, then made the application to what we were doing today. Today God has given you all some more resources to invest. What will you do with them? Will you buy them (for as little as $0.50 for the Epistles booklet) and read them and apply them in your lives? Or will you bury them, and wait for your master to come home, and then give your excuses?

It was particularly challenging to think that this man was challenging them to use the resources they had, and they didn't seem that much. He was preaching out of a published Gospel of Matthew. They also have a Gospel of Luke, I think. They just now have the pastoral Epistles, and an AIDS booklet, and alphabet chart, and some story books. It all fit neatly on a short bench, /significantly/ smaller than your nearest Christian bookstore.

If this pastor is challenging his people to invest the spiritual resources they have for eternal benefit, what would he say to us Anglophones, who have the entire Bible in how many translations, and how many commentaries and devotional works besides?

There is no question that our Master gives us different resources, and that it is up to us each to invest them for His good. But if we are to compare what I saw today with what I was raised with, 10 talents v. 5 talents doesn't seem to do it justice. We have been given SOOO much. Are we investing it? Or are we burying it, and preparing to tell our Master that He is the harsh one, and that He shouldn't be mad at us. He has entrusted us with true riches; lets invest them and meet our master with Joy.

Kids after church

nuff said. Finnish's son is on the right.

Me and the Mullahs

Finnish Mullah and family

I ran into Finnish Mullah and his family today. We've been praying for them for many years, as he studies to go back to pastor in his native Sudan. He's studying at the seminary run by the church I visited this morning. He seemed very encouraged by our visit, and they all seem to be doing fine.

Emma and Allen Kiwanuka

I met up this morning again with Emma Kiwanuka, a Ugandan pastor who spoke at our church almost ten years ago.  Since then, their seminary has outgrown the place and found another. The church school seems to be up and running fine, and their clinic at the church is being remodeled.  I spoke with Emma briefly after church, and they seem to be doing fine.

The house not taken ...

This house would have been within our budget, but there were a few things that made it hard to swallow. This house is being offered furnished, and in addition to the pictured furniture (don't worry moms, the broken glass on that dish cabinet is taped), two of the three bedrooms came with built in armoires. perhaps the French would cringe at that word  used in this case -- they were brick walls covered in cement and painted, like much of the rest of the house, leaving little interior room for clothes, etc, in addition to the questionably pleasing exterior.

But the real kicker (or shall I say head-butt-er?) was the door-jam between the dining room and the kitchen, just behind the dish cabinet pictured.  Even after being warned, I still got a goose egg on it.  I checked it afterwards, and standing straight, it comes to the bridge of my nose (about 5' 8").  I guess I should be glad I didn't get a broken nose on it... Turns out all the people working on the house are significantly less than 6' 1", and no one noticed that it might be a problem for someone like me.

Power to the people

I don't know why it took me so long to notice these.  Once I did, I saw them everywhere.  Truck chassis, welded together into power poles.  Of course.  Why not?  I understand power costs $20/mo. for a household, however much you use (and however much you get!) Someone said that there is a lot of disrepair and inefficiency in the power delivery because the people working on the lines don't live where they would get power themselves.  But if $60 is a good wage for a night guard, I doubt he would be paying that bill anyway.  Twice in one week I saw a notes on the desks of someone I visited (once at a colleague's house, once in a university office) that were written in bold, red ink, "to be cut off in 24 hrs!!"  I wonder how often they get those notices.