[Note from Jan Bassier on Wendy's MPN - my computer crashed in November 2010, and was a long time getting fixed.  Here is a LONG overdue update from Wendy herself from January 1, 2011)

 

News from the Congo Baptist Community General Assembly, held in mid-December:  Praise the Lord, the first steps toward reconciliation have been taken, with new statutes and bylaws adopted by a clear majority from both sides in the 6-year-old conflict.  The two leaders embraced, then we all shared communion.  We still need prayer for a smooth transition at the grass roots level, as there are still some pockets of resistance and communication from the top has not been good.
 
I had a busy week after Christmas, with a trip to Inga, site of a huge hydroelectric dam on the Congo River.  We showed films two evenings, and presented the True Love Waits program once.  Also had a guided tour of the dam, with authorization needed from the electricity company, immigration and the secret service!  Quite a contrast from Hoover/Boulder dam near Vegas, where I grew up, where the dam is a major tourist attraction! 
 
I've had a very quiet new year's day.  I was supposed to preach at our interdenominational church here, but services all over Kimpese got rained out; it started pouring before 8 AM, complete with soime thunder and lightning and a power cut, and didn't stop till nearly noon!  My cat, the CamnDat, was out and came back drenched.  I think we got the equivalent of a year's rain in Vegas in one morning (actually we get that much rain several times a week these days). When the power came back on, Pat and I watched three episodes of a BBC TV series on DVD, Lark Rise to Candleford, delightful stories set in late-Victorian England.  Then we had dinner with Pat's boss, the high school principal, and his family.
 
On Tuesday of this week, we've planned a youth rally in the afternoon, and on Thursday I'll be going to Kinshasa to welcome a young Swiss volunteer who will be with us for two months helping in our nursery and pre-school.  In two weeks, I'll be back in Kinshasa when my sister Jo comes for a visit, and I'll also see our International Ministries Africa director, Charles Jones.
 
May the Lord grant you a most blessed new year in His presence.  I am reminded of some hymns we used to sing when I was growing up:  Jesus says, "I gave, I gave my life for thee; what hast thou given for me?" (We still sing that one in Kikongo at communion services.)  And another hymn replies:  "Give of your best to the Master" in 2011! 

Thanks for your prayers and support which enable me to continue ministering here in the D.R. Congo!
 
Shalom,
Wendy 

 

(P.S. - Wendy had a great visit with her sister, Jo!)