The six newly ordained pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo--thank you for your prayers for these dear men and their families! Many of you have prayed for them for over two years through the OSLC Congo church leader prayer cards. Your prayers were answered today! Please continue to pray for these brothers as they serve the people in their communities and do all they can to share the amazing grace and Truth of Jesus Christ!

Many tears of joy were flowing today in thankfulness to our great God, who continues to build His Church!

Newly ordained Pastor Fred Masala. Fred will serve two congregations, one in Dolisie and one in Pointe Noire. He is also a nurse.

Victorine and Honorine, co-laborers for Christ with their husbands

Victorine Mavoungou (in the purple/blue) and Honorine Mouanga (in the yellow/red) pose for a photo at the Ordination celebration worship service on Sunday, September 6, 2015.  These two amazing women of God serve with their husbands in ministry.  They coordinate women's outreach ministries, Bible studies, caring for the sick and much more.   Victorine is the wife of President Joseph Mavoungou.  Honorine is the wife of Jean-Baptiste Mouanga, lead pastor in the Pointe Noire area of the Republic of the Congo.  You should have seen them dance today in celebration of our awesome God!  Wow!

Singing and dancing before the Lord in celebration of His great faithfulness at today's worship service/ordination ceremony!

Praying over the six new pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo: these men are equipped and ready to share the matchless love of Jesus Christ throughout their nation!

Worshiping Jesus in the street under three large tents in Brazzaville!

The St. Augustine Lutheran Church was too small to hold the ordination ceremony/Sunday worship service so the national church office rented tents and we praised Jesus together on the street in front of the church.  In this photo, Pastor and Missionary Fred Reinhardt is encouraging the people from God's Holy Word.  The joy that filled this tent was palpable!

Two of the six new pastors ordained today in the Lutheran Church of the Congo: Pastor Joseph Mboungou and Pastor Gaston Ndomba

Wow!  What a joy-filled celebration today of God's faithfulness as He continues to build His Church in the Republic of the Congo!  It was a great joy to be here to encourage these dear brothers and sisters and rejoice with them!

Praise break between training sessions today!

Here are some of the vicars, pastors, other church leaders and their wives singing to our awesome God in between some of our training sessions today.  And sing we did with joy!! It was an honor to share God's Word and encourage the wives along with their husbands as they truly are partners in ministry.  Please join me in praying for a Jesus-exalting, Holy Spirit led worship service tomorrow as together we rejoice that God continues to build His Church around the world!

Fred Reinhardt, Jean-Baptiste Mouanga and his wife Honorine

This photo was taken today (Saturday) in between some of our training/prayer sessions with the vicars, pastors, catechists and evangelists.  Jean-Baptiste graduated from the Center for Lutheran Theological Studies in 2005 in Dapaong, Togo.  Our OSLC Togo Team met him and his family when we came to Togo that year.   Praise God that ten years later Jean-Baptiste serves as the lead pastor in Pointe Noire.  He has served as a mentor/supervisor to some of the vicars being ordained tomorrow.   He and Honorine are faith-filled followers of Jesus and have a precious family.  They are here to encourage and rejoice in God's faithfulness!  It has been a joy to encourage and pray with them.

Shining their shoes in preparation for their ordination; many wonderful conversations continue

Vicars Jean-Bosco Malanda and Joseph Mboungou are shining their shoes on Saturday in preparation for their ordination ceremony that will be held Sunday at 9:00 a.m.  The joy and anticipation that these man and their families have is contagious!  Some of them have served as vicars for over 5 years.  It has been a joy to pray with them, encourage them, and share God's Word with them.  They are servants of Jesus that He has called forth to serve His people!  Amen and amen!

A Church Plant realized that began in August 2011 when our OSLC team visited

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  This is Vicar (soon to be Pastor) Gaston Ndomba.  He will be ordained tomorrow.  Gaston will be serving in Mouyondzi, the town where our 2011 Congo Mission team stayed at a hotel during our travels in visiting churches.    The hotel owner said to us when were were visited in 2011 that 'we need a church here in our place.'  Well, four years later God is answering her prayers!  Gaston has been leading Bible studies in the Mouyondzi area to begin the church plant.  He will return to Mouyondzi to preach/teach after his ordination.  We have been praying for him on our OSLC prayer calendar for the past few years.  God has answered those prayers!  To Him be the glory as He continues to build His Church in the Republic of the Congo!

Singing the praises of our awesome Lord and Savior!

Encouragement and Prayers--God is answering your prayers!

  God is always good!  Thank you for your continued prayers.  God is answering your prayers for good health and safety.  He is also answering your prayers by giving me the great honor of listening to concerns and praying with President Mavoungou and missionary Fred Reinhardt.  We've had Holy-Spirit led conversations at meal times and in taxis about the joys and challenges of ministry.  God has truly raised up President Mavoungou to serve during these years as the President of the Lutheran Church of the Congo.  He is a wise, compassionate, joyful, and humble man who loves Jesus most in his life.  He is respected by all and bears much responsibility yet does it with joy.  He is truly a servant leader and it is my honor to encourage him and learn from him.  He has a heart for evangelism and missions that is contagious! Fred Reinhardt continues to work hard for the building up on the local churches in all of French speaking Africa.  Fred is the one who connected OSLC to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo in 2011 with the purpose of establishing a ministry partnership in the Gospel.  Four years later I continue to say thank you, Fred!

Vicar (soon to be Pastor) Nestor Gampaka and his wife Justine; a joy-filled, Jesus-loving, humble couple

Vicar (soon to be Pastor) Nestor Gampaka and his wife Justine pose for a photo on Wednesday afternoon at the church leaders training session.  Nestor and Justine have seven children and are waiting with anticipation the ordination ceremony on Sunday.  Nestor has served his vicarage in Pointe Noire and has grown as a follower of Jesus in many ways. He is a humble, joyful, and kind man who wants to serve Jesus and His Church.  Justine is his beautiful and dedicated partner in ministry.  He and the other vicars/church leaders are so thankful for the prayers offered on their behalf during their years of ministry formation.  Praise God that He is building His Church in the Republic of the Congo!

Three 'Freds' and a story of God's faithfulness

LCMS Missionary Fred Reinhardt is standing with Vicar (soon to be Pastor) Fred Masala in this photo.  The 2011 Congo Mission Team from Our Savior Lutheran Church met Fred when he was serving his vicarage in Dolisie.  Now Fred Masala has completed his vicarage at a congregation in Pointe Noire and will be ordained this Sunday!  His son, the small boy, is also named Fred.  This little boy was in his mother's womb when we met her (Carmen) in 2011.  Carmen was in the hospital in Dolisie with malaria and the doctors were very concerned with the baby's health.  Praise God that baby is now the 3.5 year old boy (Fred Jr.) you see in this photo!  Praise God for His marvelous faithfulness!  And Fred and Carmen also have a new baby girl that is only five months old!

Balloons bring joy around the globe! Game time at the children's outreach at Christ-Roi Church in Pointe Noire today

Precious Congolese Children of God

Praise God because He loves all the children of the world!  This morning we hosted a children's ministry outreach at Christ-Roi (Christ the King) Church here in Pointe Noire.  The theme of the outreach event was how special, unique and loved by God the Congolose children are and how they are such an important part of God's Church.  The visors were a craft that the children designed--one of the many resources I could bring because of the generosity of all the senders back home!  Thank you, senders!  God is good, all the time!

Table Talk Theology in Pointe Noire

Monday late afternoon and early evening were spent listening to, encouraging, praying with and talking theology in Pointe Noire with Vicars (soon to be pastors!) Fred Masala and Joseph Mboungou, Missionary and Pastor Fred Reinhardt, Catechists Samuel and Bertin and President 'Papa' Mavoungou.  What a fantastic time of fellowship and what a joy to reconnect with one another after two years.  I was able to show them their OSLC Congo prayer cards that we made after the 2013 trip, and they are very thankful for your ongoing prayers for them.  Conversation topics included preparing your heart for ministry, hiding God's Word in your heart, the challenges and joy of full time Christian ministry and more.  We also put one another in specific ministry situations and then had to verbalize how we would handle that situation.  It was a faith-filled time of physical and spiritual nourishment.  Tomorrow we will host a children's ministry outreach at one of the churches and then have church leadership training sessions in the afternoon and a worship service in the evening. Thank you for your ongoing prayers!  (And yes, some of the church leaders have already told me this photos makes me look like either a turkey or a peacock with the plant leaves in the background!  Gotta love their sense of humor and fun!)

Thank you for your prayers; arrived safely in Brazzaville last night and now in Pointe Noire until Friday

Dear friends,

Thank you for all of your prayers, kind words and partnership in the Gospel!  I arrived safely last evening in Brazzaville.  My flight from Paris to Brazzaville was delayed for 3 hours.  Upon arriving at the Brazzaville airport in the Republic of the Congo, I was joyfully greeted by EELC (Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Congo) President Joseph Mavaoungou, General Secretary Jean-Pierre Nkara, Felix Bimpalou (Development Director) and Pastor/Missionary Fred Reinhardt. It is a great honor to be with brothers in Christ again.Their hospitality and kindness is such a testimony to God's grace at work in their lives.  After a good night's rest, delicious French-style breakfast and time of visiting, Fred, President Mavoungou and I flew to Pointe Noire, the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo.  It's  on the Atlantic Ocean.  It's a beautiful city filled with ocean breezes and blue taxi cars.  We will minister God's grace and truth here together for the next few days before returning to Brazzaville.  God's grace be yours in abundance, dear friends!

With thanks,
matthew

Congo 2015 Mission Blog OSLC