The Impani parish church building from the outside and inside--from within these palmed walls came mighty praise today!

Dancing and singing the praises of our awesome God in Impani!

The pastor, evangelist and church president of the Impani parish hold three of the Children's picture Bibles in the French language that we privileged to give to the congregations. Thank you for all of the donations that made bringing these picture Bibles possible. The church leaders are very thankful to have these for their Sunday School programs.

The parachute brought a ton of laughs on Monday at the Impani parish! Notice that the inflatable balls bouncing on the parachute have John 3:16 on them--"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." Alleluia and Amen!

Monday was a day filled with joy as we shared God's Word to children, teens and adults at the Impani congregation! Situated about one hour outside of Brazzaville, it is a rural parish that we have had the honor of visiting in 2013 and 2011. Two buses of people came with us from the congregations in the city so it was a joyous day of learning, celebrating, praying and playing!

Scott and Chantal: a brother in sister in Christ from two different continents yet united in the Gospel

Giving photos to pastors, evangelists, catechists and their families from previous mission trips. What joy!

The joy of the Lord is our strength!

President Joseph Mavoungou and his wife Victorine with Pastor and Missionary Fred Reinhardt. Fred has been an outstanding translator for our team during all of our days in the Congo. We learn from his missions heart and desire to see the church in French-speaking Africa be strengthened and encouraged.

The young women's choir sings praises to our awesome God during Sunday morning worship

Reading God's Word at the Sunday worship service at St. Augustine Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo

Friday evening was spent with our sisters and brothers in Christ at Rock of Horeb Mission Parish. The welcome greeting was absolutely remarkable! We visited this parish in 2011 and have not had the opportunity to return since. The joy of the Lord was in that place! We were so honored to be with them and encourage them to remain steadfast in their following of Jesus.

We had the honor of spending Friday afternoon with some of the pastors and church officers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo. Here we are with National Church Secretary Pastor Jean Pierre Nkara, a dear brother in the Lord. Some of the topics included a Bible study from the Book of Ephesians and evangelism and faith sharing ideas. We were privileged to distribute evangelism resources and children's picture Bibles to them. Thank you for all of your prayers and monetary donations that allowed us to bring these resources!

The traditional wedding of President Mavoungou's daughter, Emmanuelle, and her new husband Delfort--read below for Scott's description about the ceremony

This afternoon we attended the traditional wedding of Papa’s daughter Emanuelle and Delfort at his sister’s house.  What a blessed event to share in!  I would guess that almost 200 were in attendance.  Though a mixture of French and Lingala were spoken, we could still follow… and what an event it was!  The ceremony consisted of acting out a number of traditions, with two dueling emcees (one representing each side of the family) hamming up village traditions.  First, a “taxi” was called (one of the girls pretending to be a car) to go fetch the bride—with all sorts of hijinks about police delays, getting the wrong person, needing extra money, etc.  When she arrives, she “searches” for her husband, hidden in the crowd.  Then, about four or five rounds of gifts are brought forth, dowry and “thanks”, which consisted of cases of soda and other beverages, and ending with all sorts of housewares and food and animals.  After this was completed, Emanuelle brought Papa a beverage representative of her fiance’s village (Fanta grenadine…. Clearly not accurate!).  She said a small monologue, offering it to her father for him to drink with the implication being that if he trusted enough to drink what she brought, he acceded to the marriage; he did.  What a joyful time it was!  And I even got to see my dear sister, Mama Chantal, again!!!  Truly, my heart was bursting with joy--- what a close friend she became after our 2011 “roadtrip” portion.

     One last bit that I had wanted to mention was the delight which shines forth during all of the kids activities that Matthew has arranged.  They love being a part of acting out God’s word, doing crafts, and playing with balloons and the parachute.  Matthew was so good as to “give” his “Making Melodies” song to Papa to lead, who then translated it into Lingala.  How wonderfully it was received by all the kids and the parishioners to see the president of the national church leading them in silliness, showing that he is a humble servant, willing to be low.

Dinner with President Mavoungou (otherwise know as 'Papa') and his precious wife Victorine at the home of Papa's sister. It is such an honor to encourage and pray with this dear man and woman of God!

A precious child of God playing a fun balloon game!

Pastor Fred Massala and Scott--brothers in Christ

One of our greatest joys thus far during our days in the Congo are the prayerful conversations around the meal tables with many of the pastors, catechists and evangelists of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo. It has been an honor to listen, pray with and pray for these dear servants of Christ while also talking about God's unchanging Word and how to live and serve Jesus faithfully.

"Mbote na yo!" Reflections from Scott Butler

Mbote na yo! (hello to you!)

  What a joy it has been to see old friends again and to meet so many new ones!  From the moment we landed, we have received the warmest of Congolese embraces…. just look on YouTube for “Congo Brazza Greeting” for one example (Matthew & I would be happy to greet you as such, if you can’t find what I am referring to!).  I came with such an eager anticipation of seeing those with whom we spent so much time with in 2011; they have been the focus of my prayers and their faces have been etched into my heart and photo albums.  While I have had many moments of elation (and more to come as we are back in Brazzaville), I have also had a moment of deep pain as I confirmed that I would not get to hug my dear sister in Christ, Blandine, again on this side of heaven as she went to be with the Lord a few months ago (you can see the impact she has left in our lives from the 2011 blog).  Between her and the other instances of sickness and sudden death I have heard about, it is a reminder of how fragile life can be.

     More than anything, I keep coming back to the thought of “familiarity.”  How familiar these friends, streets, sights, smells and sounds are, even though it has been five years.  Moreover, the “exotic” aspects which surround have become less of a distraction and I am struck with how familiar everybody is that I see on the streets.  You can see it in the eyes.  And even though the pushing in the crazy airport queue is a different manifestation of our brokenness, what you see is the same heart which needs to know the truth of the Gospel… no matter where in the world you are, be it another continent or next door.

     We spent a busy first few days in Pointe Noire visiting with many pastors (Fred Massala, Jean-Baptiste Mouanga, Joseph Mboungou, and Nestor Gampaka) and evangelists, each time getting to praise our Lord alongside of the saints in a number of parishes.  We visited parishes now clad with tin roofs (praise God!  That was a field we visited five years ago!), partially encircled by a few cinderblocks, or in what we might define as a back alley.  No matter where we were, God was being praised so fully in song and prayer.  Though I am painfully aware of my inability to understand and speak French or Lingala, one’s heart clearly beats in understanding with what is being sung!  As Matthew has likely said, we have been blessed with so many opportunities to share from God’s word, enabled by wonderful translators like Fred (French), Joseph (Kituba/Lingala) and a young man named Pascal (French, Kituba/Lingala).   Matthew has preached from 2 Kings (Elisha: “those who are with us are more than those against us”) and illustrated Jesus calming the storm and David & Goliath (with help from some great kids).  Lest our hearts grow cold due a casual familiarity with the Gospel, I have been encouraging all to think through Paul’s message in Ephesians (often via question/answers), that our hearts might be warmed with awe as to what God has done for us, for you:

     -that he has known and chosen you from before the foundation of the world,

     -that we were dead in our sin but made alive through Christ’s life and death (this being a gift to all who believe and nothing of our doing),

     -that we are now citizens of God’s kingdom and should live as such

     -that, with this incredible knowledge, we should witness this to others

(many thanks to Frances for her visual highlighting these four phrases!)

     What a tremendous blessing it has been to be with God’s people here, again, in Congo-Brazza… I really can’t say that enough!  And for the prayers and outpouring of care for Katie, Jack & Christie… what sustenance that has been for me to know of!  Lastly, I leave an important quote for those who struggle, like I have, with the thought of not going on a mission trip because “I don’t know what I can do”:

     “When we see you come and visit us, it gives us great strength”  --Pastor Fred Massala

A Congolese reenactment of David vs. Goliath like never before! All who heard were encouraged to believe that God is greater than all their goliaths! Alleluia!

National Church Body President Joseph Mavoungou, Pastor and Missionary Fred Reinhardt and Scott singing a song to our awesome God with the children and teens at Wittenberg Parish in Pointe Nore!

We had a joyful visit to Pastor Fred Massala's new church plant in Pointe Noire on Monday morning! One of the activities we did was make salvation bracelets, with each bead representing a part of the Gospel story. The members are showing their bracelets in this photo. To God be the glory!

Scott with Pastor Gampaka and Pastor Mboungou and their faith-filled wives. Both of these brothers in the Lord were ordained last September! What a great joy to see them serving our awesome God!

Pastor Jean Baptiste leading worship at Christ Roi parish in Pointe Noire! What joyful singing and dancing to the Lord! Their joy in the Lord is contagious!

Scott encouraging God's people from the Book of Ephesians during Sunday morning worship. God used him in a wonderful way! And LCMS Missionary and Pastor Fred Reinhardt served as an amazing translator as in years past!

Singing the praises of Jesus during Sunday morning's worship service! Three parishes combined together for one powerful worship service!

Greetings from Pointe Noire, Congo! Thank you for your prayers!

Dear church family and friends,

God's grace, peace and mercy be yours this day.  It is Sunday evening, August 14th at nearly 7:00 p.m. and Scott, Fred and I are enjoying a restful Sunday evening in Pointe Nore, Congo.  We arrived safely on Saturday evening and we were joyfully welcomed by President Joseph Mavoungou, president of the Lutheran Church of the Congo as well as Pastor Armel (one of the pastors ordained last year) and Benjamin, a young man who will begin his pastoral studies in Dapaong, Togo this coming Tuesday at the Center for Lutheran Theological Studies.  Pastor and Missionary Fred Reinhardt arrived a few hours later and we all enjoyed an evening meal at a local restaurant.

It is such a joy to be back in the Republic of the Congo.  This is my fourth time here and my heart is full of thanks for this ministry partnership that God brought about 5 years ago. We flew this morning to this beautiful coastal city of Pointe Noire and arrived by 10:30 a.m. in time for the 11:00 a.m. Sunday worship service.  Scott wrote a short skit on some of the key truths that the apostle Paul presents in the Book of Ephesians.   It gloriously reminds people that they are chosen by God, made alive in Christ, called 'citizens' of God's kingdom and given the amazing privilege of telling others about this awesome Savior.   I preached and encouraged the people from God's Word and the music was amazing!  Three of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo parishes combined for one worship service and all three of their choral groups sang.  The entire congregation sings with such strength and joy!  The drums were beating, the maracas were shaking and it was a wonderful worship service!   Amen!  Then we had a late lunch at our hotel in Pointe Noire with President Mavoungou and three of the pastors here in Pointe Noire. These meal times are some of my favorite times as they provide wonderful opportunities for learning, discussion, encouragement, theological discussions and more.

We will be in Pointe Noire until Wednesday morning and then we will fly back to the capital city of Brazzaville.  We will visit three churches tomorrow (Monday) and two churches on Tuesday to provide some encouragement from God's Word, ministry resources, evangelism ideas, children's ministry and more.  Two of the parishes began this past year so it will be a great joy to be with the people.  Please ask God to use us to be a blessing to all that we meet and serve.  What a privilege to be servants of Jesus!
With gratitude for your prayers,
matthew

Your prayers are a gift as we begin our Congo Missions Trip this coming Friday, August 12

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

God's peace to each one of you!  Please pray for Scott Butler, Missionary Fred Reinhardt and myself as we serve in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) from this Friday, August 12 to Wednesday, August 24. We will have the honor of encouraging and equipping pastors and church leaders at various churches withing the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo.  We will serve in two primary areas, the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire.  Church President Joseph Mavoungou will serve as our host again this year, and he is a faith-filled follower of Jesus Christ.   This is our church's fourth time in visiting Congo Brazzaville.  Our partnership in ministry began in 2011 and has been filled with joy and thanksgiving.  We've been privileged to witness pastors being ordained for holy ministry in 2012 and 2015 and had the humble joy of praying with, worshiping with and learning from our dear sisters and brothers there.  Your prayers are a gift.  We will do our best to update the blog as often as possible.

Together in the Great Commission of Jesus,
Matthew Beish

2016 Congo Mission Team