IMPORTANT DATE FOR BESI - JAN 2, 2016
Praise the Lord, I made it over the Congo / Rwanda border and back OK on Jan 2, 2016, and made the FINAL payment on the house in Rwanda! Kathy, as always, begins to pray me through the traffic cops and their dragnets and barricades, as she sees my big cloud of diesel smoke pulling out the gate, until she gets an answer to her cell call that I have made it back OK through Immigration to the Bukavu side.
I parked the Toyota at the Nguba Grace Church and caught a very smoky, trembling old taxi cab that normally I would rather not have ridden or, suffered in, but he was available when I needed him and I was in a hurry to get there! The taxi returned, and was back in place there at the top of the hill above and before the borders and no man’s land to pick me up when I came back across. I rolled the window down as far as I could, but that wasn’t far enough!!! Oh well, I don’t seem to have an allergic reaction. I sprayed my legs with bug spray before leaving, but I do seem to have that creeping feeling — it’s tick and flea season after the rains.
Editor’s Note: The same trip was made five or six times hand-carrying the payments to the bank in Rwanda to complete the purchase. We praise the Lord for guarding against robbery but, there was one close call when the owner of the property made the crossing with our very large partial payment and was attacked by a group of men from the Congo side attempting to rob him in “no man’s land”. However, the Lord intervened as we prayed! The Border Police from the Rwanda side saw what was happening and came out to the middle of the bridge between Rwanda and the DRC to the rescue, only after clothes were torn and blows were felt. The owner refused to come back for the rest of the payments so Richard had to brave the crossing each time and catch a taxi to a bank 5 kilometers away on top of the Kamembe Mountain to transfer each payment to the owner. Life is a little different on the frontline of Eastern Congo...still volatile. We pray for the Holy Spirit to breath peace on this war-torn region of the world so that the Congolese people may live a “quiet and peaceable life.” I Tim. 2: 1 - 2. Radio Kahuzi is the voice crying out in the wilderness with the real and only solution...to come to Christ.
VICTORY IS AT HAND! FEB 5, 2016
Good, good news we can tell you, if you haven't heard, we have the deed to the house! So much work and doubts and sometimes fears. We finally have all the papers and the deed for the house and property in Rwanda, for which our good lawyer from Kigali worked soooo hard--to make it all official and finish it up! Such a huge answer to prayer when Rich came back from Cyangugu with all the legal papers in hand! It's been a loooong haul! We received the papers on Feb 5, 2016! We won't soon forget that date!
ANOTHER IMPORTANT DATE - FEB 22, 2016
OUR FIRST NIGHT IN THE NEW HOUSE IN RWANDA!
I went across to Rwanda Monday with a van rented from Mr. Kabila our mechanic who is fixing the brakes and tightening bolts on our Toyota and getting the yearly inspection for us.
Kathy: We have some curtains up and one load has been taken to the house, but until now, we couldn't put too much over there as we had to be sure of the deed first, to make sure we weren't being tricked! Praising our Lord for all He's done to make this all happen, we do our part, but in the end, it's His Program, and He has to do it right, in order for anything to be accomplished for His Honor and Glory!
Richard: There are many details, but not much time here in Bukavu to use our Internet system to write, as I will be going back before the border closes to spend another night there to prove we are residents! The officer did not want to let me come back yesterday without a passport. So I went up to the District Immigration Office and he gave me a photocopy of it and wrote a note on it in Kinyarwandan saying we are moving different loads of personal affects and he has the paperwork for our visa application.
I brought the van back today and the mechanic has not yet brought our Toyota. I will probably take a taxi back across as we have to pay to pass each side of the border, on the DRC side it will be $25 for multiple entries for a month. In Rwanda it will be $25 for one month but one entry only! So, I need to have a load in the van to make it worth using.
We hope they decide we have been there and slept enough days to be considered residents. They may find fault with our definition of being “residents” and Kathy may need to be there a week with me, or several days to satisfy their formula. They drive by your house to see if you are “in residence.”
I visited the Mayor’s office and “Division of Private Investment” to start the process to receive authorization to begin radio and other ministries. The new Mayor will be elected this week, so there was no one to see in that office. I started at an office called “One Stop Center,” that is to help find solutions, contacts, etc. They want me to write a project proposal; however, after I told them we are an “association,” they understood the steps I anticipate taking to move forward to begin a new ministry in a new country.
We love you all and THANK YOU EACH ONE for all your prayers and for all the help to keep Radio Kahuzi in DRCongo humming and keeping us going as we pursue Rwanda! We, truly, are blessed over, and over, again!
With Love and Thanksgiving in our hearts to you all,
Richard and Kathy McDonald
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