Tag: Faith

A Church for Today, A Memorial for Tomorrow

We invite you to continue reading the story behind our Church building project—and learn how you can help provide a place of worship for today while leaving a legacy of faith for the next generation.

For more than 114 years, Ndjoko Punda, formerly known as Charlesville, has been a place where God has faithfully worked through generations of believers. Today, the historic church building is no longer safe.  The walls are cracking and crumbling.  The front wall of the church behind the choir loft is half gone with no roof over the choir loft. The main roof has been repaired and propped up several times in recent years following severe wind storms. 

There are places where history is more than something written in a book. It is carried in the stories of the people, remembered in the lives of those who came before us, and passed from one generation to the next.  Ndjoko Punda is one of those places where the Gospel and God’s faithfulness continues to impact lives and bring transformation. A place where our parents served and we as siblings have our early childhood memories.

In 1912, the Congo Inland Mission—now known as Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission—established its first mission station at Ndjoko Punda. For more than a century, the story of God’s work in this community has been told and retold. The mission station, the church, and the people who have worshiped there are part of a living legacy.

Three years later, in 1915, the first two converts were baptized.  Pastor Luaba Isaac, one of the first two people baptized at Ndjoko Punda, became the first pastor of the church.  Under the leadership of Pastor Luaba Isaac and another pastor, Negalula Joseph, God blessed the church and caused it to grow, even amid great difficulties.

Kafuna Josue, known as a “bush soul winner”, was a young man working as a houseboy for the captain of a riverboat traveling between Leopoldville (Kinshasa) and Port Franqui (Ilebo). From Port Franqui, products would continue down the river to Ndjoko Punda, the last river port before a major waterfall.  Little could he have known how God would use his life. Kafuna became the first outstation evangelist for the Congo Inland Mission (C.I.M.).

A soft-spoken man, Kafuna never became known as an outstanding leader by the world’s standards. Yet God had called him to serve in remote, out-of-the-way places—in the “bush,” where many others were unwilling to go. He was a personal evangelist, faithfully sharing his faith with individuals, one person at a time. Only heaven will reveal the full fruit of his labors.

One of the men Kafuna led to Christ was Kazadi Matthew. In time, Kafuna’s influence helped lead Matthew to dedicate his life to the ministry, who in future years became a primary leader of the church and guided the church through the tumultuous years of the 1960s. Through the faithful witness of this quiet servant, God was preparing leaders who would help establish and strengthen the growing church.

As the Congo Missionary Messenger reminds us, the story of the early church in Congo is not simply one of growth, but of faithful servants who answered God’s call. Their legacy lives on in the churches they helped establish and the lives they touched.

Evangelism is part of their DNA.  By 1948 Ndjoko Punda was the largest of seven mission stations.  The church and the surrounding area had grown to 5,238 members with 648 people under instruction for baptism. Outreach extended to 152 communities receiving regular Bible teaching from 152 evangelists.   (Congo Missionary Messenger)

God used these “living stones” in building the Church at Ndjoko Punda.  They could not see the children who would grow up hearing the Gospel.  They could not see the pastors and teachers who would later serve the church.  They could not see the generations of believers who would worship Christ in that place and yet they remained faithful as “living stones”.

Today the Church is strong and dynamic; however, life in the community is difficult.  A typical Sunday has 800 in attendance with many participating in the life of the Church.  Evangelism continues to be a strong focus particularly among the youth.  Half the population in Congo are youth.  It may be in the form of youth soccer evangelism or moving out beyond the community on evangelistic missions either on foot or traveling up the Kasai River in a dugout canoe to places as far away as 5- 8 days.

Ndjoko Punda Congregation

Youth Evangelism Mission
Youth Soccer Evangelism

The writer of Hebrews reminds us:  “We are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith… Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
— Hebrews 12:1

Those who came before us ran their race.  They built churches.  They taught God’s Word.  They planted seeds.  They endured hardship.  They trusted God.  Now it is our turn.

This is more than a building project.  It is an investment in a place of worship today and a legacy for tomorrow.  $87,500 is our goal.  $67,500 remains to be raised.

Donations can be made to:

Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission
        P.O. Box 744
          Goshen, IN 46527-0744
          USA

Or through PayPal using the link: https://www.aimmint.org/donate1.html

Designate your donation –  NP Church

What Do These Stones Mean?

What Do These Stones Mean?

“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land.’”

— Joshua 4:21–22

There are places that become more than places.

A building can become a landmark. A bell can become a familiar sound. A steeple can become part of the landscape. But sometimes these things become something even more important: they become reminders of what God has done.

Today, when we look at the historic church at Ndjoko Punda, there are visible reminders of that long story.

The steeple rises above the church with a bell. I remember as child listening to the bell as it called people to worship.  The bell also rang daily during the week to let people know what time of day it was.

Jim Bertsche in his history of Congo Inland Mission shares the story of the church bell ringing several weeks after the missionaries had evacuated in 1960.  As the bell was tolling several Congolese came to the entrance and challenged the bell ringer, “What’s the matter with you?  Are you crazy?  Why do you ring the bell these days?  Who has time to listen or to come?  Even the missionaries are gone.”  The man pulling the rope paused for a moment, then asked: ‘And has God gone too?’ With that he gripped the rope firmly and once again bent his back to his task.  The bell continued to send its message of rebuke and remembrance across the station and to the surrounding populace.”

In 1912, the Congo Inland Mission established a mission station at Ndjoko Punda in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the time, there was no way to know what God would do through the small beginning that was established there. Missionaries came to a remote part of the Congo with a desire to share the Gospel, teach the Scriptures, and establish a Christian witness among the people.

Three years later, in 1915, the first two converts were baptized.  Two people.  It would have been easy to look at that small beginning and wonder what lasting impact could possibly come from it.  But God often works through beginnings that appear small.  Those first baptisms were not simply an event recorded in a mission history. They were the beginning of a story that would continue through generations.  They could not see the children who would grow up hearing the Gospel.  They could not see the pastors and teachers who would later serve the church.  They could not see the generations of believers who would worship Christ in that place.

For more than a century, this place has been connected with the proclamation of the Gospel. Generations of believers have worshiped, learned, prayed, served, and raised their families there.

The physical reminders of that history matter because they help us remember the people and events that came before us—and, ultimately, the faithfulness of God.

The story of Ndjoko Punda is therefore not simply a story about a mission station established in 1912. It is a story about a Gospel witness that has continued for more than a century.

The church we see today did not begin today.  It has roots.  It has a history.  It has a testimony.  And that testimony reaches back to those early missionaries who stepped into an uncertain future with the conviction that the Gospel was worth proclaiming.

The Bible repeatedly calls God’s people to remember.  The question is not simply: “What happened here?” The deeper question is: “What has God done here?”

Our desire is that future generations will have a visual reminder and ask: “What do these stones mean?”

And someone will tell them about generations of Christians who worshiped Christ in that place.  They will tell them about the prayers that were prayed, the Scriptures that were taught, the lives that were changed, and the faith that was passed from one generation to another.  And perhaps most importantly, they will tell them: “This is what God has done.”

That is why Hope for Congo continues to invest in the community of Ndjoko Punda.  We remember what God has done and we want future generations to remember.  Because remembering the past is not about living in the past.  It is about recognizing God’s faithfulness—and carrying that testimony into the future.  The story of Ndjoko Punda is a story worth remembering.

The question I ask myself and I am asking you is: “What stones can we leave behind as a memorial to God’s faithful witness of His Grace and Love”?

Hope for Congo is making plans to build a new church building at Ndjoko Punda. We recently received a gift of $20,000 towards the launch of this project and we invite you to become part of this adventure through your prayers and financial support.  Be watching for more information and plans to follow over the next several weeks.

CLCN, Participant Photo #9

13230081_10154007557099473_3934235845983652333_nCharles Buller said this dear couple, Rev. Mwengi and his wife have seen generations come and go. Their enduring presence bespeaks the presence of Christ through their gentle demeanor. Well advanced in age, they didn’t miss a session of our seminars and exuded a desire to keep learning and growing. In my mind, they represent the absolute best and beauty of the church of Jesus in Congo. Perhaps others who know them better can comment further.

Naomi Unruh praised them. “Pasteur Wenge, old and enduring is putting it mildly, through the rebellion in the 60’s, village pasteur and evangelist, who has given his most and best, and when things had deteriorated to a point that only an outsider could be brought in to resolve the conflicts and church politics of leadership, he was the man! Aged and now impaired with failing eyesight and cataracts, they still hold to the faith in desperate financial circumstances that surrounds them in old age with no pension, they truly live by FAITH. I’m moved again beyond words to see this picture as I was to see them in person.”

Praise God for such a dear couple.
© 2016 Hope4Congo