Pray 4 Congo.

In the midst of an American election, our approaching Christmas, and the busyness of life it is easy to forget that there is a desperate situation in the Congo that needs our prayer! George Boloko, from Northgate CV, is in the Congo (not in the fighting area) as well. Let's pray for the peace process to bring fruit quickly in the Congo.

KIWANJA, Congo — Sporadic gunfire and explosions echoed Wednesday around this town in eastern Congo, as rebels fought pro-government militiamen for a second day, forcing thousands to flee.

A wider cease-fire between the rebels and the government was holding, however, and diplomats scrambled to assemble a regional peace summit Friday in

Kenya.

Associated Press journalists who visited Kiwanja before being turned back by rebels saw several thousand people on the roads, including mothers with babies on their backs, as insurgents loyal to warlord Laurent Nkunda searched houses.

Kiwanja is about 45 miles north of the provincial capital Goma and the clashes between rebels and a militia known as the Mai Mai appear to be taking place on the town's far outskirts or in the hills and fields of coffee and corn beyond.

Scotty, We Need More Power!

We just got back from Kigumba, Uganda. It is in the northwest of Uganda, and it is about 200 km from Kampala. It took about 3.5 hours to get there. The road was quite good for 100 km, but terrible the last 100 km. Thankfully, they are working on repairing it. Pastor John is a very good driver and he got us there safely through potholes and dodging trucks, cows, goats, monkeys, children, boda boda drivers, chickens and bicycles. You could meet all of these things in the space of 1 mile, so you need to be careful!

When we got there, we were brought to our lodging. Pastor John checked it out with us and he decided it was not suitable - for which we were grateful. The rooms were ok, but they only locked from the outside with a big padlock. They were also right off the bar...Not sure if it was an old jail or what, but I was happy to avoid this place.

The next one that we went to was much brighter and cleaner! The power had been out in the whole town for 1 or 2 days already and never came back on in the 2 days we were there. No one seemed to know why it was off or when it would come back on. They just kind of live with it. Can you imagine if that happened in Canada?! The coke was warm, the fans and lights didn't work. I could picture the Captain of the Enterprise calling Scotty for more power. (if you don't know what that is, I'll pray for you... :-) )

The conference we did went very well - and I'm not just saying that because we were the presenters! There were about 100 - 125 pastors and leaders from various churches. Some came from very far away just to be further trained! The people were so receptive and responsive. Pastor Scott did a fantastic job on teaching about the church. It is a passion of his and it shows in his presentation!!

We also team taught and taught about church issues, personal and leadership development. We had a great time of prayer at the end with a sense of God moving in a powerful way. The people were so grateful that we (Northgate) would leave the comparative comfort of the city to come out into the hinterlands. Truthfully, we are so grateful to be a part of this.

I will write more later about some of our experiences there. There are some things that are just different in Africa...

Crazy Drivers

I've traveled a bit in my life. I know that in many other countries driving is really interesting. In fact, in Mexico I love the challenge of driving a trailer and a 15 passenger van through the narrow streets and cars cutting you off. I've driven in Germany and loved the experience of 150 km/h on the Autobahn, only to be passed by someone going 200 km/h plus. I've driven in Ghana and you have to pay attention and be good with beeping your horn. Yes, every country seems to have its challenges.

Uganda has taken this to another level of seeming insanity! People pass on the inside and outside. They will cut you off. Yesterday we narrowly avoided hitting a man that bolted in front of us and we slid to a stop on the muddy, wet pavement.

People pass and play chicken with buses and semis, darting in at the last minute. In the past two weeks there have been 50 plus deaths in traffic accidents in this city of 2.5 million. That is apparently not that unusual. Pastor John had a colleague killed last week as he was filling his car with gas and a truck went off the street and hit him as he pumped his gas. There was a fire and other cars were hit and all told 6 people died.There were 18 killed the day we got here when a bus lost its brakes and plowed into cars and then into people. There were pictures of bodies on page 2. Yesterday, a young man was hit on the side of the road as he sold charcoal. They put his splayed and bloody body on the front page. These people were just going about their day and did not make it home.

Can you imagine if there were 50 traffic deaths in Greater Vancouver (equivalent population nearly)?

Please continue to pray for us. We are grateful to God for his protection in every and all areas.

Ever Wonder What that REALLY meant?

Hi there. We are in Kampala, Uganda. It is not nearly so hot or muggy here as Ghana (35). It was rainy and cool today (around 23)

We flew from Ghana to Dubai (8 hours overnight), 3 hrs on the ground. Then, 3 hours to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to drop some folks off. Then finally about 2.5 hours to Kampala. Needless to say, we were tired. When we finally got to bed in Uganda, we had been up nearly 24 hours. We went to bed around 8 and needed an alarm to wake us at 6:30! I haven't slept that long in years. Pastor Scott has an update on the day here. It went really well!

On a side note, while out in this village today, we were joking to each other about now we know why Jesus had Mark 16 in the Bible.(regarding ingesting deadly poison and it not hurting you). We had boiled and mashed bananas, ground nut (peanut) soup, corn boiled and mashed into a paste, rice, a 'stew', and some sweet potatoes. Nothing was bad, but when eating in the village, you are always a bit more concerned. People eat with their hands and get their food from a common dish with their hands. We were blessed to use forks and get our food first. You might wonder why I mention this? While, I read in a newspaper in Ghana that over 90% of people don't wash their hands with soap after using the washrooms. And, not to be too graphic, the outhouse didn't have any TP...I'll let you guess the rest. I'm a bit of a germaphobe at times...Ok, lots of the time! Needless to say, I was really blessing my food and praying Mark 16 over my life. :-)

The food was actually good. We are very thankful! It reminded me of when I tell my kids, "If you want to travel, you have to be willing to eat things that are set before you." Well, girls, dad got to experience that personally today. And, praise the Lord, I'm feeling great!!

It has been so great to see and hear testimonies from pastors that are encouraged and excited at what God is imparting to them through the ministry. They are going to go back to their churches and build these things into their churches. One of the highlights for me is that there have been many different denominations represented at the conferences. The churches of the community are coming and gathering together in worship and training. It is exciting to be part of equipping the church of the city!

Thank you all for praying for us and supporting us here and always. We really are blessed to be able to extend the reach of Northgate in this way. We could not do this without you holding us up! THANKS!!