Externally Focused at Watermark

WOMEN

On this trip, the heavy lifting and teaching of the Shelter from the Storm materials was performed by 6 amazing ladies from Watermark Church who spent the past year readying the materials for an African audience.  It was exciting to see Congolese women break down in tears and for the first time tell the stories of sexual violence against them.  This transformation of the hearts in Goma happened because 4 of the women on this trip were willing to tell their own stories of past abuse at the outset of the conference.  Immediately, barriers were broken down among the women from Congo as they realized they were not “terminally unique” and that other women, even in America, suffered as victims of sexual violence.  But, they also saw how Christ suffered horribly through no fault of His own, just like them, and because of the pain He endured, greater good was done.  For many of them, an understanding of how the acts against them might be something God could redeem for His greater use flew in the face a lifetime of shame, guilt, and internal bondage.

 LAWYERS

I was blessed to have Russ Brown join me to carry bags for the gals on the team and spend some time with a group of Christian lawyers in Goma diving deep into scripture for the first time in many of their lives.  We examined parables and passages and had some “lively” discussions on the meaning and application of scripture.  In the end, they were left with a practical model for examining, interpreting, and applying scripture.  It was another step in the process of equipping them to use scripture as the basis for how they confront the temptations of life in central Africa.  We are hopeful that the next step before we return in the fall is a weekly bible study for the lawyers led by a pastor in Goma, who helped establish our relationship with the lawyers there.

 ORPHANS

We were also blessed to spend an extended time at the girl’s orphanage in Goma that we visited last fall.   It specializes in taking in child sexual violence victims.  The director of the orphanage told us they have now 143 girls of which 67 have been raped and rescued.  They are between the ages of 5 and 19, so you can imagine the emotional state many are in.  But, we found that many are joyful because they are safer in the city than out in the bush (areas outside the city of Goma) where most were raped by soldiers or militiamen while retrieving water or firewood for their family.  Unfortunately, there is a need for: money, clothes, shoes, beds & food.  We are hopeful that we can develop a plan to send shoes and clothes from Dallas to this orphanage in Goma. 

MEDICAL

Finally, we once again spent time at Heal Africa hospital (www.healafrica.org).  A great facility that ministers to the needs of children who are sick or have been injured in the ongoing war as well as adult victims of rape rescued from the bush. Part of our time there was spent with founder, Jo Lusi, talking about the serious need for western doctors to come and perform medical mission trips including: medical procedures, training for African doctors.  The needs in Goma are every bit as serious as those in places like Haiti.  Unfortunately, long before there was an earthquake in Haiti or a tsunami in Indonesia there was war, disease, and poverty in central Africa.  Lots of help is needed, it is just a little more inconvenient to get there.

 Thank you to all who prayed for us as we prepared the trip and carried out the mission. 

 - Rick Howard