Madingou Congo

Posted by Roger West | Revival Fire Ministries

Madingou Post Congo 25th -30th November
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Just getting to Madingou involved 3 flights from Nairobi with long layovers. I was thankful to have met Bill on the plane that told me about the Obelisk leisure lounge in Addis Ababa and gave me a pair of earplugs, saying you will need these. Thankfully I was able to sleep which I soon realised I needed for what lay ahead.

On arrival it was all go. We paid a courtesy call to the Governor, then recorded an interview with the local TV station, and then preached at the welcome banquet. The day was still not over. Then over to the field to check the technical set up. The Lord strengthened me and I got to bed a 3am

Day one the Lord gave us dry weather, not a single drop of rain fell in spite of the wind and flashes of lightning. Out of the handful of churches in the city with an average size of 40 or so the Lord drew around 3000 to the meeting! We were pleased with the start considering Madingou Post has a population of roughly 5000. It is a small town with almost no transport, not even bicycles or motorcycle taxies. People seemed content to walk. I preached as clearly as I could and the Lord breathed life into the message keeping the attention of the noisy crowd. It was moving to see almost every person understand the Gospel message and respond by opening their hearts for Jesus to come in.
The Catholic Church in Madingou is very strong and offers much social help. For example at planting time the church mobilises and arranges congregation members to support each other. It’s common for as many as 50 to go and help on a single farm digging and preparing the ground. The people say I can never leave this church because it’s so good to have all the help. Where will I get 50 helpers if I left? Another big issue here is the importance at a burial. The Catholic Church will buy a coffin for its members if they can’t afford one. Sadly going to church is reduced to what benefits can be received and not a matter of convictions or belief.

The Fire Conference started today with a difference. After the message on the Great Commission we divided into teams and reached out to the city. The 8 participating pastors all headed up a team and went door to door, to the markets, to the bars, to the streets and to the hospital sharing the love of Jesus. Then tonight I asked the teams to pray for the very sick. The teams were overjoyed to see how the Lord used them. A blind lady was healed, a lame lady walked and a man with severe pain in the back was able to move freely without any discomfort. These were teams of local people – I believe the teaching and then the practical outlet will cause long lasting effect in the area. People saw their possibilities in Christ.

Thursday night I was in my room and heard thunder, looking outside it looked black and as if rain was certain. Well it blew over and not a single drop of rain fell till all the people got home!
Tonight hecklers came to the meeting with the sole purpose of trying to cause a disturbance. I was told that they were sent by one of the traditional churches. While some of the ministry teams were praying for a man in a wheel chair the rowdy mob crowded around when the man from the wheelchair did not rise up they were all jeering saying, “you failed!” One thing shocked them however as the power of the Holy Spirit fell and several people fell to the ground and demons cried out! Oh my prayer is for God to shake this place. God kept the rain away till the meeting was over and most of the people home when a tremendous thunderstorm broke over the city. It poured down and then rained right up till about noon on Saturday!

On Saturday the strong presence of the Lord fell and many began speaking in tongues for the first time. A great joy swept the field, joyful praising and dancing took over. The whole atmosphere had changed what was a rather stiff meeting previously now was free. The crowd didn't want to go home!
Apparently before the meeting a “magic man” was on the field, he had said he would cause it to rain. A group of youth were asking him, “where is your power now we see no rain!” The evangelist said we should rush home then it will start. And start it did! Wow what a storm.

Sunday the Local TV station recorded the full message and broadcast it after the 7pm news across the entire area. Indeed the simple ABC of the Gospel has made a mark on this town. The participating pastors were inspired by the teaching and the practical outreaches. The 8 Pastors who took teams out to various parts of the city and were able to minister one on one leading over 110 people to Jesus. This greatly inspired these men of God as the average size church is 40 or 50. That’s roughly 12 new people each! Not counting about 1829 from the crusade! That means each church has the potential to grow 5 or 6 times.

A pastor travelled from Nkayi the previous city where we had a crusade telling us how the Lord had tripled his church! We asked him how it happened and he said we just followed up the converts from the crusade.

A lady could not dig in her vegetable garden as her eyesight was so bad. She was crying in the field when some children told her not to cry but go to the crusade and God will heal her. She came and received prayer and went home and knelt by her bed and told the Lord she was not going to sleep until the Lord opened her eyes. Then a bright light shone over and her eyes started trembling and then she could see. She went out in the morning to the field and said she was able to distinguish clearly the vegetables from the weeds and could also see a tiny ant walking on the ground. Her Pastor verified this testimony.

What is next? Bounza and Sibiti The fields are vast! The teams were so successful. We would like to invite you to come and be part of a team. This would involve flying to Brazzaville the capital city of Congo and then getting a local flight the next morning to Nkayi then a 2 hour journey by road to the city. Not for the faint hearted, why not join us in the Republic of Congo as we plan for June 2009.
Thank you for your love and support,
Roger & Shireen West and the team.