A few days before our deadline of Thanksgiving, we met for prayer as a team. It was Monday night at 9pm and we were all exhausted. It was the first time we had really prayed together seeking Congo as a team. Man, let me tell you, it was powerful. We all relaized that it was about letting go of Congo and realizing what the purpose of our team was. Was it to go to Congo, or to serve God? Once we all acquired the purpose of our team, the Holy Spirit flooded the room. Our prayer time lasted 2 hours or so, and within that time, we began to get visions and pictures of the team and where we were supposed to go. We met for prayer 3 more times before our Wednesday night meeting. God continued to speak to the whole team. He spoke to each one of us about going to Congo. Whether it was pictures showing the outline of the country Congo, images of African children, letting us feel at peace even if we were unsure, it was clear that God was direcing us towards Congo. The morning that we had to decide where were going, Ryan shared how his mom had been in a car accident, she was T-Boned and pushed into oncoming traffic where she was hit again. She was rescued by an off duty paramedic who was standing on the street corner when it happened. He rushed to the scene and held her neck until the ambulance got there. When she got to the hospital for observation, she was talking to one of the paramedics who had brought her there. Due to the large amount of medication she was on, she was going random events in her life, she eventually shared about how her son is heading to Congo. The paramedic stopped what he was doing, and asked why, she explained, he said "I will pray for them. I am from Congo." Wow. I couldn't believe it. Also our leader had gotten into contact with a pastor in Congo, he was in search of a YWAM DTS team, he didn't know Jon's purpose, but once he found that out, they both continued to pray about the chances of us going there.
After we all laid Congo down, we began to see what a precious gift it was to be able to go there. We really saw what an opportunity and amazing experience it would be to go there, and we would wait for God to give it back to us if He that was what he truly wanted. In the mean time we just wanted to work on building our team and listening to His voice. By the chain of events that happened in those couple days, we began to see God really speaking, yet we were still conscious of His voice. The Wednesday that we had to make a decision by, we met for prayer in the morning. During this prayer time, we recieved several impressions, especially that God was giving us Congo back. We left from the prayer time, continually thinking about this challenge that was facing us head on, but knowing that we had to have an answer by that day. That night, we were meeting with the Base Leader who told us we had to have supernatural confirmation. It was during worship time that God spoke to me, telling me that He wanted to give Congo back. I waited a bit, heard it again, and then thought about when I should tell my leaders. I waited until singing was over, then I couldn't find my leaders. Then lecture started and I couldn't leave, and then finally on break, I found my leaders praying in the staff kitchen. I told them, via note, and left. At lunch time, we met as a team, and they shared the results of their prayer time. They said once again, God spoke and felt like Congo was where God was planning for our team to go...It turns out, when I brought the note in, they were praying for impressions of confirmation for going to Congo. So cool how God's timing works out...
That night we shared with Jan. We talked about how we saw God calling us first into unity. Before we could think about the country we had to unite with one another and re-adjust our focus to Him and not Congo. We shared every single event we could think of that pointed to Congo. There were no dramatic events, but we shared our hearts and our confidence that God wanted us to go to Congo. We finished and he seemed unsure and then said, "During my prayer times, I have been feeling Congo is where you are supposed to go. One requirement, satellite phone. Otherwise, I am very excited."
So here we are planning a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's unreal. It has been my dream to go to Africa for a while...and here it is...happening. We still don't have a lot of details about what we will be doing, but have somewhat of a rough sketch. For the time being, we are praying, figuring out our budget, praying, planning dramas, praying, meeting together to learn about each other, praying, working on learning french, praying, fundraising, praying...you know how outreach goes.
I ask that you continue to pray for our team when you think of it. I will work to send you details as we find them out ourselves! I really appreciate your support. It makes my day when I get comments or emails from you guys at home! Love you all!
Here is the Jesus-Congo Team!
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