Ministering to the militia

7/26/2012 03:29:00 PM sendtheroths 0 Comments

 Amethyst and I had the opportunity to travel to Kalehe, a small village in South Kivu, 150kms from Goma. Accompanying us were two visitors from the US, Jennifer Gonzalez and Katelyn Tinker.

Our trip to Kalehe was an exploratory trip as many of our trips are. But this one was different, we knew we would be near a particular rebel group. That was the reason for going. We sat face to face with a rebel leader. He knew that missionaries had come and was anxious to hear the Word of God too. So, out from the bush he came in search of finding us. This was dangerous for him too. He could be found out. What if someone recognized him?

He found where we were staying and came in one afternoon during lunch. The air in the room was uneasy; anxiousness permeated.

The owner of the house had suffered at the hands of this particular rebel group, his village has suffered, his family has suffered. After all, think about the feelings you might have if you saw loved ones killed in front of you and one of the men responsible was sitting opposite you.

We spoke to this rebel leader about righteousness and living a Godly life. I shared from 2 Timothy 2:4 – “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”  Likewise, Disciples of Christ must not entangle themselves in the affairs of everyday life. This was a “subtle message” about the nature of this man’s line of work. 

I asked if he had any questions. What came next, we could not have imagined.

 

“You know in our camp, we have people from many different denominations and religious backgrounds. We need to start a church. Which church or denomination is best? Are you willing to plant a church in our camp?”

He proceeded to ask us if we are willing to go visit their camp. We encouraged him some more by saying that one denomination is not better or worse than the other but they have to follow Jesus and make sure to follow the full teachings of the Bible. But, he returned to his initial question,

“Are all of you willing to visit our camp so that we can start a church?”

We were not sure of what to do. We didn’t want to turn down the offer of having an opportunity to visit them but then again, that seems a bit, well… DANGEROUS!

He noticed that time was becoming late and had to return to his camp. But he didn’t want to leave without an answer (specifically a positive one) to go and visit the whole camp. We released him and said that we would contact him later about an answer.

The Colonel with a prophetic gift

As a team, we prayed about the offer of the rebel leader to enter the camp. We sat in the living room pondering this opportunity, and then another person entered the house. (Keep in mind this is less than three hours of time that has elapsed.) He was the regional commanding officer for FARDC, the Congolese national army. He was touched when we prayed for him the previous day and wished to pay us a visit. He sat down and began sharing his heart. This officer expressed his interest to quit the army to do the work of God. Ever since he was a young child he said that he saw visions from the Lord.

As he began to explain these visions, the whole team started to get Holy Spirit goose bumps as he explained the many visions. The prophetic implications of these visions could only come from Heaven. He continued to speak to us for two hours explaining vision after vision and his heart for wanting to do full-time ministry.

One vision in particular stuck out to me. In the vision, God enabled him to fly as if to see over the entire land of Congo. As God took him up into the sky, God had to peel back and cut through cloud of darkness. As he flew he was below heaven but above the sphere of the earth. Beneath him he saw Satan and his demons having full reign over the earth. He saw the destruction that they were doing all throughout Congo.

Then God sent him back down to earth and said that there will be great destruction all over Congo. (This vision took place before the Congo wars.) In the vision, God brought him back to the earth and said that he would keep him safe. Then after saying that, God placed him and his family in a bunker made out of concrete and showed him about the wrath to come over Congo. God showed him a vision of two animals. The first was a dog, frothing from the mouth that was seeking to harm people. Following the dog was a ferocious pig that caused ten times the destruction of the dog.

These were symbolic of the Congo wars and the wrath of Satan that would be poured out over Congo. But then he saw a vision of God from heaven, piercing through the darkness with a long double-edged sword and then the prosperity that would come to Congo once evil has been uprooted.

Wow! Is all that we could say. The theological and prophetic implications of this was mind-blowing. Without even knowing it, he spoke about many theological truths as illustrated in Needless Casualties of War by John Paul Jackson as well as Biblical references to the promises of God for those who pray, repent and seek the Lord.

After this, we thanked him, encouraged him, dialogued about some of the visions and then he said that he had to go as it was now very dark. Before living we subtly asked, “How is the security to go to “such and such” a village?”

Quickly he responded, “That village is not safe at all. There are many rebels in that area. It is a strong hold.” Then he insisted, “I could give you three soldiers with guns to accompany you though if you needed to go there. Our FARDC camp is on the way to the village you can stop by on your way.”

Okay this solved our dilemma as to whether or not we were to go to the rebel camp. Great, three FARDC soldiers and a group of missionaries roll into a remote rebel militia camp. That wouldn’t work out very well. Moreover, our vehicle is known and we would have to pass right by the colonel on the way. It’s not like we could just skip by without being noticed. If we were to go there without the permission of the colonel and the local authorities, that could prove to have big problems for us!

Maybe another day.