One of the great privileges Dan Carlson and I had was the opportunity to help lead a retreat for the Nehemiah Committees, which are part of HEAL Africa's multifaceted ministry. As their name implies these teams are committed to rebuilding their communities. They started their work after Mount Nyiragongo, the VOLCANO that is just north of Goma, ERUPTED in January 2002. Seeing that they could not look to the outside world for the degree of assistance they would need they made the decision to build partnerships among the churches in Goma to do the work of rebuilding their city. Five and a half years later that work continues.
Dan and I were invited to lead what turned into a prayer retreat with these men and women. After discussing the format with Pastor Bolingo, the chaplain for HEAL Africa, we decided to walk the committees through the Lord's Prayer, praying the prayer as we went. "Lord, in Goma, in eastern Congo, may you character, your heart, your Name be known. May your kingdom come and let your will be done in this city, in North Kivu, in the hearts and lives of the Congolese, the Interahamwe, the other rebel forces. Give to the people all that they need to be your people. Grant to them the grace to receive forgiveness and to forgive. And when they are tested protect them from the Evil One who wants to get them not to trust you." It was a remarkable experience to think through the prayer and pray through the prayer with these courageous men and women.
There was a moment of comedy while I was teaching the fourth petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." In an attempt to lighten the mood a little bit I decided to tell a story that had been pretty funny when I told it in Berkeley. I did not get the same reaction in Goma, at least not at first. Instead of smiles and laughter I got furrowed brows and anxious glances at Pastor Bolingo. In a somewhat weak attempt to get people to think about our uncontrollable wants and desires (in relationship to our prayer for daily bread) I told the story of what happened in July when I was car-camping with a group of young adults in Lake Tahoe. A HUGE bear got into the church van in the middle of the night and started eating a cheesecake that we had mistakenly left in the cooler which was inside the van. How that happened and how I got the bear out of the van is another story.
All of our teaching to the Nehemiah committees was translated from English into French (one of the languages of the Congo). As I told the bear story I was met with blank stares. Fortunately, Paul Yeager interrupted my teaching to inquire whether they knew what a bear was? Maybe the fact that they had no reaction to what I was saying was because they didn't understand how big and intimidating a bear living in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California can be. It soon became clear that it wasn't because they were unfamiliar with bears. It was because the translator thought I said "BEER", not "BEAR". So my story, when translated into French, was about a HUGE BEER in the back of the church van and the BEER was eating cheesecake. No wonder they looked at me like I was psychotic. Once they understood that there was a BEAR in the back of the van they were with me. That was a talk that was almost lost in translation.
Peace,
Tim
Dan and I were invited to lead what turned into a prayer retreat with these men and women. After discussing the format with Pastor Bolingo, the chaplain for HEAL Africa, we decided to walk the committees through the Lord's Prayer, praying the prayer as we went. "Lord, in Goma, in eastern Congo, may you character, your heart, your Name be known. May your kingdom come and let your will be done in this city, in North Kivu, in the hearts and lives of the Congolese, the Interahamwe, the other rebel forces. Give to the people all that they need to be your people. Grant to them the grace to receive forgiveness and to forgive. And when they are tested protect them from the Evil One who wants to get them not to trust you." It was a remarkable experience to think through the prayer and pray through the prayer with these courageous men and women.
There was a moment of comedy while I was teaching the fourth petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." In an attempt to lighten the mood a little bit I decided to tell a story that had been pretty funny when I told it in Berkeley. I did not get the same reaction in Goma, at least not at first. Instead of smiles and laughter I got furrowed brows and anxious glances at Pastor Bolingo. In a somewhat weak attempt to get people to think about our uncontrollable wants and desires (in relationship to our prayer for daily bread) I told the story of what happened in July when I was car-camping with a group of young adults in Lake Tahoe. A HUGE bear got into the church van in the middle of the night and started eating a cheesecake that we had mistakenly left in the cooler which was inside the van. How that happened and how I got the bear out of the van is another story.
All of our teaching to the Nehemiah committees was translated from English into French (one of the languages of the Congo). As I told the bear story I was met with blank stares. Fortunately, Paul Yeager interrupted my teaching to inquire whether they knew what a bear was? Maybe the fact that they had no reaction to what I was saying was because they didn't understand how big and intimidating a bear living in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California can be. It soon became clear that it wasn't because they were unfamiliar with bears. It was because the translator thought I said "BEER", not "BEAR". So my story, when translated into French, was about a HUGE BEER in the back of the church van and the BEER was eating cheesecake. No wonder they looked at me like I was psychotic. Once they understood that there was a BEAR in the back of the van they were with me. That was a talk that was almost lost in translation.
Peace,
Tim
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