Why Congo's Volcano Watchers are Worried

Why Congo's Volcano Watchers are Worried

Volcano in Goma

Volcano in Goma

HAD A LITTLE EARTHQUAKE JUST NOW!

Security Alert #4 – Volcanic Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo – Increase in Intensity and Frequency of Seismic Activity   Location: Western Rwanda, specifically Rubavu District in the Western Province Event:  Earthquakes and seismic activity, including the release of harmful gases from fissures, continue as a result of the May 22 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo.  There are reports of damage from the earthquakes throughout Gisenyi, including of buildings and streets.  Remain vigilant, monitor local media, and follow instructions of local authorities. U.S. citizens who feel unsafe should consider departing Gisenyi. Roads between Gisenyi, Musanze, and Kigali remain open. U.S. citizens are encouraged to report their whereabouts and any requests for assistance to the U.S. Embassy at ACSKigali@state.gov.  KATHY MCDONALD REPORTS she saw a map with roads blocked by magma flowing to the lake and stating it was too dangerous to cross over because of the heat and deadly gasses and liquid fire inside these tunnels of magma! HAD A LITTLE EARTHQUAKE JUST NOW!

Congo-Kinshasa: Nyiragongo Eruption near Radio Kahuzi

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlIOcRycG-g

Richard McDonald reports; 

Lots of activity today, Sunday, the volcano continues movement into Goma and the airport.

Goma is approximately 100 miles north of Bukavu and the home of Radio Kahuzi. 

To read more articles go to All Africa News, page down to the links on the righthand column under the photo of Rich and Kathy McDonald.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIcApD61JbU

Mother's Day Greetings

Dear Friends of BESI / Radio Kahuzi,

Kathy and I would like to wish all our mothers a Blessed Day in the Lord...those will with us and those who have graduated to their Heavenly Rest as Kathy's mother, Millie and mine, Faith. They are missed each day and we look forward to our reunion in Glory. Love you, Mom!

Some have asked us to share what our daily ministry looks like. It is nonstop each day with trips to the bank to pay local electric and water bills, and to have funds to pay our staff. Sometimes there are trips to the hospital to pay for staff and families medical bills and to the store to purchase our own food and pharmacy needs. Kathy and I have also enjoyed each week preparing music and messages such as programs of "Joy in the Morning" and transferring them to the Radio Kahuzi computer at the new studio.

Last month the Lord answered our prayers and gave us a wonderful opportunity to minister to African and European participants in the funeral of a very special French lady who was a member of the Bukavu community.

Mme DeCandolle

 1980’s

When her mother became very ill, Caroline, her daughter, asked us to come and pray with them, and as the visit progressed, she and her mother wanted to be led in a prayer for salvation. As her  mother had difficulty hearing, Caroline asked Richard to pray in French, and she would repeat each sentence for her to repeat leading her in the sinner's prayer. She was near death at that time. 

Surprisingly, she recovered and became involved with our ministry and enjoyed reading and correcting some of our French manuscripts of Pastor Kulp's messages for posting on our Blogspot and for publishing our messages on Eternal Security. What a joy to watch her “grow in Grace.”

 

Last month she said Good-Bye to her Bukavu staff with a reassuring smile, stating that she would not be coming back from the hospital to her home, because she had assurance that her future home was with Jesus Christ in Heaven.

Mme DeCandolle’s casket being taken by boat across

 Lake Kivu to be interred on her plantation.

 

As we have been Rejoicing in this Resurrection Season, may the Lord continue to Bless and Prosper Spiritually yours and our Families and Outreach Ministries to His Praise and His Glory! That's why we are here on earth and later on in Heaven—After ALL 

We are Truly Blessed to be able to experience and to share God's Grace here at Radio Kahuzi to this vast country of D. R. Congo!

Because you are there for us we can be here for a very large family of believer's in Bukavu and beyond.

Your prayers and faithful support have brought us through  these many years of sharing His Good News.

 

With Love and Thanksgiving in our hearts to you all, 

Richard and Kathy McDonald

"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of 

God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

 I Thessalonians 5:18

Happy Birthday, Richard

 

Tomorrow, May 2, will be your 47th Birthday spent in Bukavu, D R Congo! We love and miss you both but know it is where you do your best work for the Lord. All our love and many more prayers, Barb and Smitty

He is not here, He is Risen Indeed!

 

Our Lord's Cross is the gateway into His life: His Resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to you and me. When we are born again from above we receive from our Risen Lord His very life.

Dear Friends of BESI / Radio Kahuzi,

The first thing we want to do after the plague of our century is past is to return to church and rejoice in Communion and the fellowship of fellow-believers as we partake of His Body and Blood in remembrance of Him.

ANOTHER RESURRECTION STORY

As we at BESI celebrate our 35 years of ministry, we have been taking a look back to our many resurrection stories...times of looking into the face of death only to be brought back to serve again.

We had a real surprise of the same order on December 28, 2015 for that afternoon's broadcast relay as Pastor Gregoire returned to Bukavu from IDJWI Island with ten pastors and leaders during four days of Pastor's Conference and decision making. Truly, the prayers of the Saints and the power of the Holy Spirit came to the rescue of our staff member Pastor Gregoire, and a boat load of 80 people doomed in a terrible storm on Lake Kivu!

It almost paralleled the story of the Apostle Paul and his shipwreck in Acts 27: "...But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. ...and we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship...all hope that we should be saved was then taken away."

Gregoire asked the pilot of the ship with 80 passengers to pull in and let the storm pass, but the pilot refused and kept on sailing into an impossible stormy gale with a tornado and clouds dropping right down to the water. The waves became like mountains, and the boat was thrown in every direction, so it was impossible to steer, or know where they were going, and the water hit their bodies with such force and freezing cold that it was very painful!

After forty-five terrible minutes of terror when the clouds dropped onto the water and the tornado hit, several pastors came up from their cabin below deck stating the boat was filling with water. The Captain ordered everyone to remove as much clothing as possible and prepare to swim for their lives! This was an impossible situation in frigid water and no one knowing which way it was to the land; plus, the Captain and the Pilot were the only ones who had life preservers to wear, and no one knew which way to swim in the direction of IDJWI Island!

Just as Pastor Gregoire prepared to jump over board to swim for his life, a woman grabbed him by the leg and screamed for him to pray for Jesus "to Save us from the storm!" So he obeyed the Holy Spirit and gave a salvation message and prayed for each soul aboard to submit to the power of the Gospel and be Reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Soon after that, the storm subsided and they arrived safely in IDJWI Harbour.

(Note: It is the second-largest lake island in Africa and the tenth largest in the world. IDJWI is roughly 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 mil) separating its western shore from the DRC mainland and a similar distance between its easternn shore and the coastline of Rwanda.)

Scripture indicates that God intervenes, personally, when someone is saved from certain death. We are to be used of Him to Glorify His Name, not our own. We are to tell others what He has and is doing around us.

We Praise the LORD for returning Pastor Gregoire to us to continue with the Radio Kahuzi Broadcasting and his church leadership role, along with the other ten pastors and lay leaders aboard that boat!

Likewise, with your prayer and provision throughout our 35 years, our little (BESI) Believer's Express Service boat has also been saved to continue afloat in this turbulent region, daily broadcasting the Good News of Jesus Christ's Birth, Sinless Life, Death and Resurrection for our Justification and Adoption into His Family!

Praise the LORD for those who tossed us another lifeline to buoy us up to make it to our next destination...our "appointed times."

"For we are laborers together with God:...For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 

II Corinthians 3: 9 - 11

Keep Looking Up!

American Congressman's Intervention

 Dear Friends of BESI / Radio Kahuzi,

January, the "in-between month," can sometimes be a time of sadness for what's coming in the new year. sadness because Christmas is over, and Hope for the months ahead.

Kathy and I would like to share with you from our Reflections and Praise to the Lord for His Super-Abounding Grace to us over these past 28 years of broadcasting and 35 years since establishing BESI.

We praise the Lord for your wonderful fellowship in ministry, as we celebrate the end of another year of service with our Radio Clubs and journalists, as we continue in lockdown mode in Bukavu.

You have helped us with our Kahuzi Radio Clubs near the Panzi Hospital to celebrate the ten widows who maintain the gardens and the feeding program for malnourished children and adults and the Kazaroho Health Center.

Thank you for your prayers and Coming Along-Side in this the most difficult year thus far in our experience. We Praise the Lord that tomorrow we will also be able to finally pay our 2020 Redevance tax to the Ministry of Communications and Media, to finally complete that critical obligation for the past year.

Thank you sincerely, as our hearts swell in joy and relief for your Love of our Lord and His Service.

This picture, taken last week, is a wonderful reminder to us of the Lord's Working in Mysterious Ways to accomplish His ministry of radio through two debutants in remote Africa.

Some thirty years ago, a Peace Corps Director told us that a Congressman was secretly passing through the Orchid Hotel about this time in 1990. We "button-holed" Congressman Solarz of NY, with the U.S. Ambassador below this antelope concerning our pursuit of a broadcasting permit from Mr. Mobutu, the then President of Zaire.

The American Ambassador was very non-plussed, but the Congressman's response was more than positive. Someday in Heaven, we will know the rest of that story! But the Director of the American Cultural Center later shared that Congressman Solarz continued to send him faxes to press for a response from the President of Zaire on our behalf.

In July 1991, the Ambassador and the Director said goodbye to President Mobutu and Zaire, and on the evening news we saw them present him with an American Fishing Eagle statue. Later, we received our Presidential Recognition by Decree signed in April 1991 and our broadcasting permit signed July 4, 1991.

We praise the Lord for an impossible dream come true, and that we live every day-because the Lord continues to come-along-side, for whatever His reasons are!

Richard and Kathy with Mike Axman in 2007 attending 

NRB Convention in Orlando, FL. Mike installed our 

1,000 watt shortwave transmitter in 2000. All praise to our Lord!

We continue to be amazed at His Supernatural Grace to us two novices with such "impossible dreams."

May the Lord continue to fill your years with Joy and Vision and renew your strength in 2021!

"For we are laborers together with God:...For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 

I Corinthians 3: 9 - 11 

Keep Looking UP!

We are looking for His Soon Appearing in the Heavenlies!! 

Richard and Kathy McDonald

Up All Night Building a Chicken Coop

Dear Friends of Radio Kahuzi,

We all Praise the Lord Anyhow

We're just getting through another week of "ups and downs," and we Praise the Lord, Anyhow--as Ernie Green (our friend from the good 'ol days on the mission field) used to say!

New Security Fence

We're thankful for all the friends that are helping to get the holes dug and the fencing put up Next Door to the studio, at the new location, where the shortwave antenna is being put up.

Doggie in the Hole

The Monday we were to start installing the gravel and the antenna metal poles, Dona (the man who digs the holes) came that morning and said that someone had forgotten to tell us the day before, that a big doggie had fallen into the antenna hole! Sooo, that morning the guys went back to see how they could get the poor doggie out of the hole without hurting themselves as the hole is really deep. Thankfully, a mechanic friend came and went down into the hole, tied a rope around the doggie's neck and one around his front leg, and he lifted, and the guys up above pulled and pulled, and finally got the dog out! Thankfully, no one got hurt! and the doggie was very happy!

Unhappy Neighbor

We went ahead and bought ten big poles and nails to start building the security fence in the front of the antenna; and right away the neighbor lady got ornery and said we couldn't do that because she wants access through to the main road above, through our property! We checked with the higher ups and they said she had no right to block us, so we're going ahead with building the wall of fence, as one calls it.

Up All Night Building a Chicken Coop

Please pray for our relationship, as this same lady overnight, built a chicken coop out of boards, right on the same place, so she is not too sympathetic to Radio Kahuzi. But, thankfully, the owners are siding with us on the right side, so hopefully we'll see if that's all over with!

Workman Finds Rusty Nail

Yesterday, as Dona, was finishing up, driving in each of the first ten long fence poles from above, he jumped down and stepped on a board with an old rusty nail that was hidden in the grass, so he got his tetanus shot right away and said he would come back to work today, but that didn't happen--as we knew that wouldn't be the case!

Thankfully, there's another man who will help us with the fence until Dona's foot gets better. We have 47 poles in all to put up the fence!

Lots to be thankful for, even getting up in the morning is a blessing--in these days especially!

Armed Robbers Skipped His House

One of our friends wasn't visited by the armed robbers last night, but his neighbors on the right and left were! He said the robbers went into one of the homes and stole everything the family owned; and since the lady sells cement in the big market in Kadutu, somehow they knew she would have money, and figured they would make a haul at her home.

Our friend said the gun fire was so loud, but as soon as one of the commanders got there and started firing his gun the robbers fled. That's not always the case! They caught two of them! Sooo, our friend, Basedeke and his family were saved, once again!

Life is so fragile out here--as it seems all over the world! Thank you for praying for us and for your gifts that help keep us and the radio ministry going!

We are looking for His Soon Appearing in the Heavenlies!!

Richard and Kathy McDonald

Watchman's Son Shot!

 Greetings from Bukavu! 

This last week has been one of those weeks where one wonders what else could happen! 

We had a literal burnout! The wire from our line selector box turned RED with 380 Volts and smoked up the studio!

Samuel and Feza quickly turned off the connection, but several meters of cable had to be replaced with three new interrupter fuses in the fuse box.

Richard Lugano faithfully completed everything and we were back on the air at 14:00 (or 2 PM) Tuesday, 22 September 2020; however, SNEL electric service fell off an hour later for the afternoon.

We all Praise the Lord Anyhow, as Ernie Green, former missionary now with the Lord, used to say. We Thank You Lord, for your protection and intervention, as several more homes burned down in the city from electrical surges!

Needless to say, Kathy and I Look for the Appearing of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, Who will change us to His Likeness as He translates us to His Newest Normal!

Watchman's Son Shot!

Our night watchman came to work and told us his son, Zeph, had been shot and that robbers went to his son's house to loot all the goods he had for his transport and trading business between Bukavu to Fizi. This is his only source of income to keep their family fed.

Soon, the word came from Fizi Territory that the doctors there couldn't handle the bullet in his back and the burns from three bullets that grazed his stomach! So, the only solution was to get him here to the General Hospital in Bukavu!

Before that happened, word came that somebody had a car and drove Zeph to a hospital in Fizi, but they couldn't help him. Then, word came that the next day another driver agreed to take him to another hospital where they thought he might get help. But, alas, that wasn't to be either! They tried another place, and always the same answer, no help, too complicated! So, after another few days, and some more rides, they finally made it here to Bukavu after a week on the road! All the while, the bullet was still lodged in his back!  

The doctors want the wound to heal up more before they sew him up, (this is two weeks later) and the burns are healing nicely, so that's good news! The doctors are just amazed that this young mansurvived all the trauma!  

We know that the Lord still has some work for this young man to do, as his father, who is a pastor, says that he's a wonderful evangelist and that he loves the Lord and everyone around him knows of his great testimony for the Lord! Zeph says that he will be praising the Lord for the rest of his life, wherever he goes, and sharing of God's amazing care for him!

AMEN