Home Sweet Home

Those words “home sweet home” have taken on an all new meaning for me since my most recent travels. I’ve been too tired and busy to write this earlier, but let me recount some of the reasons it is sweet to be home with my sweet wife and 5 sweet kids:

-Before boarding our first plane in Congo Tuesday the water bottle in my pocket leaked and all down the back of my pants at the Congo airport I was soaked with water. This was all before my trip had actually begun, and my son was already very fussy and we hadn’t boarded yet!

-To make things worse as I’m standing with my son in the hot sun we almost weren’t allowed to board the plane (you have to know Congo and the hassle that can be caused by people wanting to extort money)

-Once on board by an intervention of God’s grace, my boy wet through his diaper and got his pants wet and mine before the pilot turned off the fasten seat belt sign. So the front of my pants now are also wet with another fluid. And you guessed it, no change of clothes handy for either of us. Mind you this is before we’ve been in the air an hour! Oh well, it will dry, right?

-We weren’t allowed to request special seating on the connecting flight from Ethiopia to America till we arrived there, so when I got to the check-in area in the Ethiopian airport, I asked the airline agent if there was any way I as such a tall guy with an infant on my lap could get bulkhead seating (which airlines often reserve for lap tickets and people needing legroom). The agent curtly informed me he could not help me, the flight was completely full with no extra seats or extra legroom available. So I began a 17.5 hour flight with a squirmy fussy toddler on my lap, with the man next to me hogging the armrest, with my knees pressed uncomfortably into the seat in front of me, and with not even enough room to bring the tray table down to eat, and did I mention a squirmy fussy toddler on my lap who I can’t get to sleep and who is falling apart. After what seemed like an eternity, I checked my watch and saw there’s still 14 hours to go on that flight (and then another 10 hours before landing in Sac, so 24 hours to go)?? How did I make it through that flight? I’m still not sure, but I know I’m here (and I sure wished my sweet wife was there with me, especially on that longest leg of the journey). These were just the beginning of birth pangs, to use a biblical expression for tribulation ;)  

-Bathroom humorous moment that I didn't find humorous at the time: As I was changing my son standing on the changing table facing me (he prefers to stand rather than sit down and at that point I’m not about to fight it) and as you moms might imagine, he started to pee all over the place, including on me! Airport bathrooms are only slightly bigger than a phone booth so when that happens there isn’t a lot of time or space to avoid the shower of blessing (these pants are definitely due for a wash!)

-Finally by sheer grace we arrive in America! I have never been more thankful to see a land outside an airplane window than to see America and to point out to my son the land that I love that is now his land. But my journey was not yet over …

-In D.C. airport going through the long wait for immigration my son is losing it and the emergency lollipop I had been reserving for such a time as this that he is slurping on … in his fatigue he drops it, which potentially could have been one of the most dramatic and traumatic moments of his life. So I quickly pick it up off the floor and give it to him and he pops it back in just in time for the 3 second rule. Hey, he’s lived in Africa his whole life till now! Here he is happy to push these new cart things and to ride on one with Papa Didier

-In D.C. baggage claim I gather my bags and hasten to my connecting flight. Only later did I find out that my main piece of luggage wasn’t with me (I had someone else’s identical looking bag). So once again I am without my luggage, toiletries, and valuables, but I would much rather be in America without my luggage this time than in the capitol of Congo. 

-In D.C. I also was apparently tired after only getting 2 hours sleep the prior night as I also accidentally left my son’s diaper bags with not only all of his baby care stuff but his toys, motorcars, snacks, and other fun stuff we needed for the last 10 hours and 2 flights of our day to get home! As our plane from D.C. to Long Beach takes off for a 5-hour flight, I have no diapers or things to keep him busy and the last diaper he’s wearing is filling up and the stewardess tells me they don’t have any on board. So I pray … and God answers! A mom of another small child in the back of the plane loans me some diapers and baby wipes just in time! And by God’s grace for the first time I have an empty seat next to me and a nice passenger in my row, and I am able to get my son to take a much needed nap!

-When our long Long Beach layover is complete and very long trip is over as our last flight arrives in Sacramento, I think you’ll understand why I said the words “home sweet home” have taken on an all new meaning. My sweet wife and sweet children were waiting for us, and it was a very sweet time

With my first 4 children, my wife Jaime went through much difficulty and labor before each baby was brought to home sweet home, so it's probably only fair that I had to go through some pangs and contractions and labor before we could bring our 5th baby to our home ... still I'm glad it's over and that we're home and recovering from the delivery. Our sweet home was awaiting all of us, with a warm shower and a bed that’s long enough for me, and a long sleep, and sweet unforgettable moments these first few days in our “home sweet home.”  And my sweet son has found a sweet moto-car that you can put apple slices in and do other things with.

And, in case your're wondering, I threw my pants in the wash

Africa in the Bible, Part 2

Here are the Scripture references from Monday’s post about nations on the continent we call Africa (ex: Ethiopia, Egypt, Cush, Cyrene, Put, etc.).

1. In the opening chapters of the Bible, several African nations are mentioned by name (Genesis 10:5-7, 13-14) and promised to be blessed by God (Genesis 12:3, using same phrase as 10:5, OT equivalent of “all nations” in Great Commission).

 In regards to the names in the table of nations in Genesis 10:6, one scholar writes: ‘Cush can be used in a primary sense to define the kingdom(s) lying south of Egypt and in a secondary sense as an organizing term for the many nations to which it gave birth. The kingdom(s) of Cush would have fallen within the modern nations of Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Ethiopia … Put is an alternate spelling for the widely known Punt that was located immediately south of Cush and incorporated areas of modern Somalia. Similar to Cush and Misrayim [Hebrew for Egypt] Put probably referred to a kingdom as well as a broader geographical territory that may have covered … sub-Saharan Africa … Put may very well have included the many tribes that currently inhabit central, western, and maybe even southern Africa.’ – Keith Burton, The Blessing of Africa, p. 23-28.

2. Abraham’s firstborn son is half-African (Genesis 16:1, 3-4) and is blessed by God and becomes a great nation (21:13, 18, 20) and marries a wife from Africa (21:21)

3. An African woman in Genesis becomes one of the few people in Scripture who were blessed with a personal appearance from Yahweh (twice, Genesis 16 and 21). She also receives divine promises in those chapters and she is also one of a few who gives a name for Yahweh (El-Roi – the “God who sees”; Genesis 16:13-14)

4. Abram’s grandson Jacob, renamed Israel, moves to Africa at God’s command (Genesis 46:1-4), and pronounces God’s blessing on an African King (47:7, 10), and adopts 2 African-born sons (41:50; from a woman of the African land of On; Genesis 48:5-6;) and makes them part of Israel’s 12 tribes (as seen in later lists of Israel’s tribes and territories listing Ephraim and Manasseh even into the NT), and one of these half-African sons becomes father of the most prominent tribe of Israel, and his name becomes even a substitute name for the nation of Israel.

The MacArthur Study Bible explains the Hebrew phraseology in Gen 48:5-6 means Jacob “formally proclaimed adoption of Joseph’s sons on a par with Joseph’s brothers in their inheritance.” On v. 19-20 it says Jacob’s “blessing took on prophetic significance … since Ephraim would be the most influential of the two to the extent that Ephraim would become a substitute name for Israel … Ephraim did indeed become the dominant tribe of the 10 northern tribes, eventually being used as the national designate for the 10 tribes in the prophets (Is. 7:2,5,9,17; Hos. 9:3–16).”

5. Most of Israel’s first 500 years are spent in an African country (430 years in Egypt) where they had interactions with many other African peoples, some of whom came to faith in Yahweh and worshipped in the first Passover with Israel and also left with Israel in the Exodus (Exodus 12)

The “mixed multitude” of v. 37-38 probably was not only God-fearing Egyptians and other Africans with Semitic peoples, but also other strangers / sojourners / aliens [non-Jews, v. 19], who submitted to Israel’s Law and God by circumcision [v. 48-49]. OT law repeatedly makes provision for God-fearing Africans from Egypt and other foreigners / strangers / sojourners to worship equally with Israel in every way if they submitted to God’s law, including circumcision for males.

6. Israel’s great leader is adopted by an African and raised as an African (Exodus 2, Acts 7:20-22)

7. Arguably the greatest Israelite leader in the OT marries a black African who had come to faith in the God of Abraham, and God Himself defends and commends and blesses that marriage (Numbers 12:1; the text twice emphasizes Moses married a Cushite, an ancient kingdom in the country known as Sudan today. Cushites were well-known for their black skin, as alluded to in Jeremiah 13:23, and clearly portrayed in ancient artwork).

There is also extrabiblical Jewish writing confirming Moses’ marriage to a black Cushite woman. In v. 1 Miriam and Aaron object to this marriage but God in the text opposes them for opposing Moses and his “mixed” marriage, and God affirms the faithfulness of Moses in all his household and makes clear he has done nothing wrong (v. 4-7). In v. 9-10, some scholars have noted how Miriam spoke against her Jewish brother’s marriage to a black woman, and God makes Miriam white as snow in judgment. Another scholar says Israel’s leader marrying “a Black Cushite should also probably be viewed as a developing fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 (‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’). The promise to Abraham in Genesis drives much of the story in the rest of the Torah and the inclusion of one of the peoples from Genesis 10 (v. 6, Cush) into the ‘sons of Israel’ is a move toward fulfillment of that promise.’

8. One of Israel’s priests, whose name can mean “the Negro” or “the Nubian” is celebrated alongside Moses as one of Israel’s 2 great intercessors during the wilderness wandering. This man is the only other person in the OT besides Abraham who it speaks of God’s righteousness reckoned to, using the same phrase of Abraham’s covenant grace. The book of Numbers says this priest received an everlasting covenant from Yahweh.

At least 9 scholars have documented how the name Phinehas (Numbers 25) in this era and area ‘connotes either a person with unusually dark skin or a true African’ and in Egypt where he was likely born it clearly meant ‘the Negro’ or ‘the Nubian’ or ‘the Cushite.’ Daniel Hays documents and develops these points further in his book From Every Tribe and Tongue: A Biblical Theology of Race, p. 81-86: ‘Yahweh bestows the priesthood on Phinehas and all his descendants … Phinehas’ zealous defence of Yahweh becomes a model for subsequent generations … as Psalm 106 reflects back over Israel’s stormy history, it places Phinehas (106:30-31) along-side Moses (23, 32-33) as the two great intercessors of the wilderness time. [Psalm 106 says] “Phinehas stood up and intervened … This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations …” The phrase referring to the crediting (hasab) something to someone as righteousness (se’daqa) only occurs in one other place. In Genesis 15:6, Abraham believes God and God credits to him as righteousness … In Galatians 3, Paul uses this phrase (from Genesis 15:6) to prove that Gentiles are justified by faith and thus to be accepted into the church as equal to Jews. It is therefore, rather interesting to note that this phrase is used of Phinehas … [who] might very well have had a Cushite mother and therefore might have looked like a Cushite at birth, thus receiving the name ‘the Negro’ [which in the land they grew up in meant a black person] … Imagine the different route American Christianity might have travelled if the translators of the King James Bible had known Egyptian and had thus translated ‘Phinehas’ as ‘the Negro’. The early Americans would have read that God made an eternal covenant with ‘the Negro’, that all legitimate Israelite priests are descended from ‘the Negro’, and that God credited righteousness to ‘the Negro’ … it would have been extremely difficult to defend slavery or to maintain any type of superior-inferiority racial views.

While the meaning of Phinehas’ name is absolutely clear, the significance of this meaning is admittedly not quite as certain. However … it is extremely probable that Phinehas was at least half Black. When combined with the ‘mixed multitude’ of Exodus 12:38 and the Cushite wife of Moses, Phinehas reveals to us that there was a significant presence of Cushites among the early Israelites … at its beginning, the highest level of Israelite priesthood apparently had Black ethnic elements with it … As God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 (blessing to all peoples) unfolds, numerous different ethnicities are melded into the people of God in fulfilment of this promise.’

9. One of Israel’s greatest kings in history marries a woman who describes her skin to the Jews as “black/dark,” in a marriage passage celebrated for all time by the inspiration of God (In Song of Songs 1:5, the bride says “I am black/dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem …”)

10. Black Africans had close, friendly relations with Hezekiah, king of Judah, and fought to defend Judah against Assyria. These Africans also sent out a large army to relieve a siege against Jews in Jerusalem, that both 2 Kings and Isaiah records (this point is detailed further in the excellent scholarly work by Daniel Hays for those who like to study it further)

11. King David has one of his black soldiers tell him the news of the death of Saul and Jonathan in battle (2 Samuel 18; scholars believe his name or nickname “Cushi” was a reference to his ethnic identity as Cushite and/or his appearance), and a number of the men in King David’s army were from other nations but had come to follow Yahweh (ex: Uriah the Hittite, other Gittites, etc.)

12. Another Cushite (some translations have Ethiopian) man helps the Jewish prophet Jeremiah out of a well (Jeremiah 38:7-13), an African with true saving faith in Yahweh when few in Israel had true saving faith (39:16-18)

13. Nations of Africa by name are mentioned and prophesied to become recipients of salvation, which began in OT times and is promised in even greater measure before the end of time

On Psalm 68:31-32, the New Bible Dictionary comments: “The picture of Ethiopia, symbol of the great African unknown beyond the Egyptian river, stretching out hands to God, was like a trumpet call in the missionary revival of the 18th and 19th centuries.” Psalm 87:4-5 describes people from Egypt (Hebrew alternate name Rahab) and Ethiopia (Hebrew Cush) and other nations that God views as if they are born in Zion itself, the place of salvation. Psalm 72:8-9 speaks of the people from the river to the ends of the earth, perhaps referring to Africa south of the Nile to the end of the continent, as representatives of all the ends of the earth who would come to worship the true God from all nations (v. 10-11).

Isaiah 45:14 describes at least 2 African countries that will bow and acknowledge that Israel’s God is the only God. Isaiah 66:18-20 also speaks of other African nations who will see the glory of God and worship Him, from Put (possibly Somalia and/or sub-Saharan, though other scholars place farther north and east) and Lud (probably northern central Africa). Isaiah 18 addresses the people beyond the rivers of Cush, people known for their skin and stature. The chapter prophesies that true worshippers of Yahweh would come from that land (v. 7). Zephaniah 3:10 echoes this prophecy of worshippers from southern Africa beyond the rivers of Cush. This past Lord’s Day I got to worship with some of these people the OT prophesied about (south of Cush/Sudan is Congo!) and hear them sing again and again of Yahweh (the Hebrew word for Lord in that chapter and also their word for Lord in their dialect still).

14. An African nation is prophesied to become “My people” by God (Isaiah 19:18-25, an astonishing prophecy treating Israel’s former arch-enemy on par with Israel using language elsewhere only used of Israel)

15. The African nation of Egypt is mentioned about as many times as the Jewish nation of Judah in the Bible – nearly 700x!

16. The land of Cush in black Africa appears in the OT about as many times in the OT as the land of Canaan in the Pentateuch, which is where Canaan’s land is repeatedly promised to Israel, but many have never heard of Cush or God’s plan for that land [some translations render the Hebrew Cush as “Ethiopia,” but this should not be confused with the modern borders of that country, think Sudan as well in modern geography]

17. God tells Amos He views black Africans the same as the Jews (Amos 9:7 ESV: “Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?” declares the Lord. NIV: “Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” v. 12 goes on to speak of nations called by Yahweh’s name, plural nations not just Israel. A verse from this chapter is also quoted in Acts 15 to demonstrate that Gentiles joining the church is consistent with OT teaching)

18. Young Jesus lived on the continent of Africa for some time before living in Nazareth/Galilee, by God’s order to his family by an angel (Matthew 2:13-14). The NT records that it was important for God’s Son to come out of this African country in keeping with OT Scripture (Matthew 2:15) 

19. A man from Cyrene in Africa helps Jesus carry His cross (Mark 15:21), a man who became part of a noted Christian family (Romans 16:13)
20. In the book of Acts before the gospel goes to the Samaritans or Greeks or Romans (Acts 9, 10, etc.), God sends the good news to an African Ethiopian on his way back to his continent (Acts 8), and the eunuch in turn brings the Christian gospel to Africa, according to the church fathers

21. Some of the first and most fruitful evangelists to non-Jews in the book of Acts were Africans from Cyrene, and they saw great blessings and conversions (Acts 11:19-24)

22. In the place where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26), the first church leaders include a man from Africa (13:1; Lucius of Cyrene) and another man nicknamed “black” in Latin (Simeon, NET Bible notes says this refers to his black complexion, and most modern commentators on Acts agree this church leader was black, though it’s not stated what country he was from)

23. A preacher in the NT who has some of the highest language of praise for his power in preaching, is a man who Acts says was a native of a prominent city in Africa (Alexandria was where Apollos was born, Acts 18:24-28)

24. Paul and his companions more than once travelled on a ship from this African city (Acts 27:6, 28:11)

25. The Apostle Paul himself on one occasion was mistaken for an African from Egypt. He was asked “aren’t you the Egyptian?” (Acts 21:38)  

It has been a blessing for me to be worshipping with these brothers and sisters in Africa that the Bible has so much to say about in God’s heart and plan for them. I hope you have been blessed by this journey and study as I have and that you would be moved to pray for your brothers and sisters here and for those who have not yet come to worship Jesus as Lord, that the Lord would haste the day when every tribe and tongue on this continent and to the ends of the earth will have worshippers around the throne of Jesus their Redeemer (a theme that literally runs from Genesis to Revelation).

From One Family to Another

Monday was our last day with our family in Congo. Tuesday afternoon Didier left his biological family there and I left my spiritual family there, and together we climbed on an airplane to see our family in the States Wednesday evening (Thursday AM on Congo time). Didier considers Papa Jim Hagen in Idaho his father in every way, Didier is an adopted son to Jim, and it is a joy for them to be together, even though it is sad that Didier is away from his other family in Congo. Papa Phil and his son Matteus are also overjoyed to be together with their Stateside family, although it is sad to be away from the family in Congo as well. The sadness would be deeper if I wasn't with my son and my brother on the trip, my brother who has also gone from one family to another, my brother who I will see again next month when he speaks at our church, brother Didier.

Matteus has gone from one world to another, from one family to another, from Congo to California, from Africa to America, from his temporary family to his forever family. We look forward to introducing him to his new church family as well. He has gone "from one family to another" in more ways than one, and so have I (and so have all Christians).

It's difficult to describe the emotions and though our 36-hour journey over land and sea is now over, a new journey has now just begun.

Here is the sun setting on our final day on the other side of our journey

Didier is in the background playing his guitar. Matteus' first love, Didier's moto-car is on the right and some sweet kids in the family community are on the left. The world is their playground and their sandbox is endless.

If you were around these kids here you would understand why it’s hard to be leaving.

It was sad to be leaving these people who have made such an impact in my life and will always have a special place in my heart. My sadness was alleviated by the sweetness knowing I am bringing one of them with me who will always have a special place in our family. I pray he will make an impact on other lives in America that may never be able to travel to the country of his birth where I was privileged to spend more than 5 weeks this year.

Last time I was here, I tried for three days, to get him to smile, tickling, etc., but of all the kids at the orphanage he was the only one I couldn’t get to smile. He hadn't had much to smile about in life, apparently. Here is him in my arms when I first met him.

It's amazing how much he has changed to be with the Christian family in Lubumbashi and now with ours in such a short time. Now he has the biggest smile of them all when he’s with dad and here is giving me the thumbs-up in the orphanage (and the moto-car in his hand helps too!)

He's like a whole new person, kind of reminds me of what some Scriptures say about a greater spiritual transformation when we're transferred from one kingdom to another, from one citizenship to another, from one family to another.

Below is on the wall of the orphanage from Psalm 68: “A Father to the fatherless … God sets the lonely in families”

Beneath it are the names and hand-prints of the children adopted through Didier who are now in America. On the right is the newest addition to the wall.

The Scripture teaches us that we all were in a different family (Ephesians 2:3) BUT GOD saved us (v. 4-9), made us His handiwork (v. 10), brought us near (v. 13) to Him our new Father (v. 18) into the family and household of Christ (v. 19). Though my recent physical journey was one of my hardest days (1.5 days to be exact) by God's grace we endured for the joy set before us. It was infinitely harder for our heavenly Father and His Son to bring us into His family, but I am so thankful that Christ endured the cross for the joy set before Him so that we can experience the Father's love (Hebrews 12).

There is great rejoicing in heaven everytime a child is brought home in the Father's love (Luke 15), and yesterday there was great rejoicing on earth in the Sacramento airport, from one family to another.

THEY ARE IN THE US!!!!

I just got off the phone with Phil, they are in D.C.!!!!  Not only are they on US soil, but our son is now fully a United States Citizen, something to be treasured, and thankful for!  Something we take for granted everyday.

Phil got Matteus to say hi to everyone.  Phil said he is having a hard time, and only 10 more hours to go!!! :)

Keep praying for them, for safety, and that M will hold it together for the rest of the day! 

I Have a Good God, Mate

I only have a few minutes to write from the internet cafe in the Ethiopia airport, but wanted to let you know I made it here with Matteus and Didier. He has done really well the first few hours ... please pray for us on our nearly 18 hour flight to D.C. and then a few hour layover there and several hours to Long Beach, 3 more hour layover and then finally arriving in Sac at 6:00 p.m. Longer story than I can write on this blog now, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it on my plane to get out of DRC ... you might call it as the French say deja vous. In my little faith as the scene unfolded I thought I would not be here right now but God's grace is bigger than my faith. When I finally got on the plane an Australian man who had seen the trouble I went through said "good job, mate." If I had been thinking more quick on my feet, I would have said, "No, I have a good God, mate."

Africa in the Bible, Part 1

8 weeks ago this day while flying out of Ethiopia, I shared with you what the Bible has to say about that country. As I fly to the same country Tuesday and over other countries mentioned in the Bible, I thought this might be a good day for a follow-up post on what the Scriptures have to say about this continent.



The Bible doesn’t mention America directly, but you might be surprised to know how much the Bible has to directly say about Africa and God’s heart and plans for its people. Although the word “Africa” was not used when the Old Testament was written (this term as a common designation for the continent came later), references to peoples and countries from this continent abound from the opening chapters of the Old Testament through the New Testament Scriptures. Noah’s son Ham had many descendants settling here, and it came to be known as “the land of Ham” in Scripture. The Greeks in Bible times used their word Libue to refer to the continent we call Africa, especially northern Africa and west of Egypt, or the entire continent beyond Egypt (as the Romans did by NT times). So for example Acts 2:10 refers to districts or regions of Libue around Cyrene. Luke the Greek writer of Acts uses that term for the land we call Africa, not to be confused with or confined to borders of modern “Libya” (as some translations render that Greek word). Some modern nations on the continent we call Africa have retained ancient names (Ethiopia, Egypt, etc., though the territories have changed somewhat) while other countries in Africa had different names in Bible times (Cyrene, Cush, Chub, Phut, Put/Punt, Pathrusim, Seba, Sabteca, Havilah, Lehabim, Ludim, etc.). The exact locations of some of these are debated by some scholars, but for the purposes of this article, I am using the word “Africa/African” in the sense of referring to these lands and people from those nations.



Here’s a little quiz I shared with our congregation on a Sunday evening this summer (Scripture references will be listed on a future post). How many of you have noticed any or all of below in relation to “Africans” in Scripture?

1. In the opening chapters of the Bible, several African nations are mentioned by name and promised to be blessed by God

2. Abraham’s firstborn son is half-African and is blessed by God and becomes a great nation and marries a wife from Africa

3. An African woman in Genesis becomes one of the few people in Scripture who were blessed with a personal appearance from Yahweh (twice). She also receives divine promises and she is also one of a few people in Scripture who gives a name for Yahweh (El-Roi – the “God who sees”)

4. Abram’s grandson Jacob, renamed Israel, moves to Africa at God’s command, and pronounces God’s blessing on an African King, and adopts 2 African-born sons, and makes them part of Israel’s 12 tribes, and one of these half-African sons becomes father of the most prominent tribe of Israel, and his name becomes even a substitute name for Israel.

5. Most of Israel’s first 500 years are spent in an African country where they had interactions with many peoples from other African nations, some of whom came to faith in Yahweh and worshipped in the first Passover with Israel and also left with Israel in the Exodus.

6. Israel’s great leader is adopted by an African and raised as an African

7. Arguably the greatest Israelite leader in the OT marries a black African who had come to faith in the God of Abraham, and God Himself defends and commends and blesses that marriage

8. One of Israel’s priests, whose name can mean “the Negro” or “the Nubian” is celebrated alongside Moses as one of Israel’s 2 great intercessors during the wilderness wandering, and this man is the only other person in the OT besides Abraham who it speaks of God’s righteousness reckoned to, using the same phrase of Abraham’s covenant grace. The book of Numbers says this priest received an everlasting covenant from Yahweh

9. One of Israel’s greatest kings in history marries a woman who describes her skin to the Jews as “black/dark,” in a marriage passage celebrated for all time by the inspiration of God

10. Black Africans had close, friendly relations with Hezekiah, king of Judah, and fought to defend Judah against Assyria

11. These Africans also sent out a large army to relieve a siege against Jews in Jerusalem, that both 2 Kings and Isaiah records

12. King David has one of his black soldiers tell him the news of the death of Saul and Jonathan in battle, and a number of the men in King David’s army were from other nations but had come to follow Yahweh (ex: Uriah the Hittite, other Gittites, etc.)

13. A black man helps the Jewish prophet Jeremiah out of a well, an African with true saving faith in Yahweh when few in Israel had true saving faith

14. Nations of Africa by name are mentioned and prophesied to become recipients of salvation, which began in OT times and is promised in even greater measure before the end of time

15. The land of Cush in black Africa appears in the OT about as many times in the OT as the land of Canaan in the Pentateuch, which is where Canaan’s land is repeatedly promised to Israel, but many have never heard of Cush or God’s plan for that land

16. The African nation of Egypt is mentioned about as many times as the Jewish nation of Judah in the Bible – nearly 700x!

17. God tells one of the minor prophets He views the black Africans the same as the Jews

18. An African nation is prophesied to become “My people” by God

19. Young Jesus lived in Africa for some time before living in Nazareth/Galilee, by God’s order to his family by an angel. The NT records that it was important for God’s Son to come out of this African country in keeping with OT Scripture

20. A man from Cyrene in Africa helps Jesus carry His cross, and Romans 16 suggests this man was a believer, or became one

21. In the book of Acts before the gospel goes to the Samaritans or Greeks or Romans, God sends the good news to an African on his way back to his continent, and the eunuch in turn brings the Christian gospel to Africa, according to the church fathers

22. In the place where believers were first called Christians, one of the first church leaders is a man nicknamed “black” in Latin

23. Arguably most powerful preacher in the NT, who has the highest language of praise for his power in preaching, is a man who Acts says was a native of a prominent city in Africa

24. Paul and his companions more than once travelled on a ship from this African city

25. The Apostle Paul himself on one occasion was mistaken for an African from Egypt. He was asked “aren’t you the Egyptian?”



To Be Continued …

The Lord Has Given and Has Taken Away … And Has Given Again

Exactly 2 months ago today we heard the news of the death of my son Mark Joseph Layton. The Lord had given a precious baby to us who we can never forget or replace. And for reasons, the fullness, of which we may never completely understand, the Lord had given and the same Lord had taken away the same child. We shared those words from Job 1:21 that day with our church family, blessing the name of the Lord who is a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, and surely bears our sorrows, as Isaiah 53 says. 2 months later this Lord who has given and has taken away … in His Providence our gracious Lord has given again. But before this day and besides what He has given me in a 2nd adopted son, “He has given” in other ways as well.

He has given many opportunities for witness and ministry that I could not have had otherwise, and I’ve probably just seen the beginning of those.

He has given me spiritual growth and insights and an increased faith and prayer life through this.

He has given me and my family overwhelming love and support and care by so many in our church family and other churches and even people in other States and countries.

He has given me a platform and “pulpit” on this blog that I’m amazed to see sometimes hundreds of people reading on any given day. The stats say the blog has had over 12,000 hits the last 2 months, and from places like Israel, Latvia, and Malasia.

He has given up His own Son Jesus who died so that we could be adopted into His family. He has given us an understanding of our Father’s love like never before. He has given us the faith King David had that he would see his baby who died again. He has given us in the death of the greater Son of David all things (Romans 8:32).

He has also given us a son again.

2 Samuel 12:19 says ‘when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ 23 “But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” 24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved him …’

The Lord had given David a son, the Lord had taken away that son as a baby, and the Lord had given again.

We see a similar dynamic in the book of Ruth. Naomi recognized the Lord had given her 2 sons, Mahlon and Khilion, but the Lord had taken away her sons in death in chapter 1. But by the last chapter, the Lord’s sweetness overcame her bitterness, and the Bethlehem women are saying “Naomi has a son” (actually a grandson, but she was apparently cuddling him as if he were her very own son, like the sons she lost). The Lord had given and the Lord had taken away and the Lord had given again … and this special one He had given ended up being the grandfather of the man in the prior passage, King David.

We see a similar dynamic in the book of Job. Job recognized the Lord had given his children to him, and that the Lord had taken away his children and all things in chapter 1.

But by the last chapter of the book, the man who had said “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord …” this same man the Lord gave children again and more than all he had lost. The Lord had given and the Lord had taken away and the Lord had given.


I’ve seen a similar dynamic in my life in the last 2 months. The Lord has given and taken away and now has given me and our family Matteus Samuel. He has given us a joy that is greater than the grief we experienced. He has given us a special and sweet boy who is unique in every way and we trust God has a unique and special purpose for. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away and the Lord has given … Blessed be the name of the Lord. Alleluia. Amen.

More Worship with My Congolese Brothers and Sisters This Weekend

Friday night was another church service where Didier preached. Earlier that day I posted a blog article describing how much these Congolese Christians remind me of Acts 2:42, and interestingly enough, Didier was preaching on Acts 2:42 that same night! He was talking about how important it is for us to keep those 4 elements in that verse central in our Christian lives: being devoted to preaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. With their weekday morning services, Wednesday night preaching service, Thursday night teaching to youth, Friday night preaching service, and then Sunday morning extended preaching service, these Africans are an example to us Americans of being “devoted to teaching.” The same can be said of their fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer, all of which I’ve experienced in greater measure here than anywhere.

    This mom has a son the same age as mine who wanted a picture together after the Friday evening service.

You may remember her and her kids in a pic from my first trip. Her house doubles as a small pharmacy and her husband (who’s taking the picture) helps lead singing at the church and their love for the Lord is very evident.

The women here amaze me at what they can balance in their busy lives, and I don’t mean “balance” merely metaphorically – this lady on the left has her infant on her back with a native wrap and walks around the town selling a ginormous amount of greens (lettuce-type stuff on her head, Jaime could better tell you what it is). The lady on the right has several gallons of water on her head (think how heavy it is to carry a couple gallons of milk with your hands, then think about trying to balance that on your head).

They are strong people – Didier opens Coke bottles with his teeth, my front tooth got chipped a year or two ago by a piece of hard candy I was trying to catch in my mouth at a friend’s house! Saturday afternoon I met some strong Christians as well. Pastor Jean-Pierre runs a 24-hour Christian radio station here in town, and said maybe we could put together some American music or special service together sometime and they could air it for free (Jerry or Ron, if you’re reading this, maybe we could take him up on that offer as we put our radio programs together, maybe we could do one for them?). He asked that we in America pray for them.  I did that day, and said I would ask you to as well, which I’m doing now. Below is his face which I hope you will pause to pray for. There are many in this country who attend church but who need good Christian teaching, so please pray for good teaching in whatever venue God allows, including radio.

Below is Pastor Damien, who Didier hopes he can help re-start a church early next year, which is part of their fellowship along with Church 1 (Didier, Micky, Koko) and Church 2 (Peter, Stephan, and Mickey). Please pray for this brother as well who is currently working 7 days a week at this store to make ends meet but would like to be back in the ministry soon, if God allows and provides resources, a place to meet, etc.

Saturday we visited the local seminary where Pastor Peter attends. It is the Protestant Seminary of the area, and costs $350 a year to attend. Didier is helping Peter to attend as the church can’t afford to pay Peter’s way through school (their church benevolence fund always has more needs than they can meet just for the poor in the congregation). This semester the seminary is offering Hebrew, Greek, pastoral ministry, methods of exegesis, homiletics (preaching), etc. They pray God will provide funds for Micky to start soon – if he can’t by November he’ll need to wait till a year from now.

Didier explained Peter attends from 2:00-9:00 p.m. on Saturdays I commented to Didier, “wow, he must be tired when he has to preach tomorrow morning after a long day.” Didier replied, “Oh, no, tomorrow YOU will preach. You will preach on conversion, on regeneration, and on repentance.” I said, “oh … well, ok.” What else can you say when you know 2 Timothy 4 says “preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season …”


I’m not sure when he would have told me that if it hadn’t come up in conversation then, but I’m glad that fact came up so I had at least a few hours notice to get ready! (a few days would have been nice if he had this planned a long time ago :) Whether “in season” or not, it takes time to warm-up, or you might pull a hamstring like me on the softball field when I didn’t warm up (of course I hadn’t played softball for probably 15 years).


If I’d known I was preaching before I came I could have brought some study materials, but with nothing but a pen and 2 sheets of paper and Bible and about 3 hours to prepare (in the U.S. I usually spend 20+ hours in prep for Sunday morning), I prayed and prepared as best I could and relied on God to do the rest. They were kind enough to take my leg-hugging little man away for that time and for the 30 minutes before church so I could actually get some decent preparation and prayer in.

Here is the little man in his Sunday best

The church service on the compound (Church 2) had about 80 people, I estimated, packed into an estimated 20 foot by 30 foot space. The signal to start is not a church bell but drumming on a tom tom at about 9:20 a.m. and then people file in for the next 20 minutes to join the worship. This corporate worship service was still going at 12:40 in the afternoon when Didier and I had to leave so he could drive and pick-up his family at Church 1. Yes, that is correct – their church service was about 3 and ½ hours (and only about 80 minutes of that was me preaching :) It is a family-integrated service and the number of babies and toddlers and young ones who sat through 3+ hours stands out, and when they get too loud an older sibling takes them outside for awhile. The nursing section is whatever seat the mom happens to be in. Something else that’s different than most American services is that during worship all kinds of noise-making things are used that I’ve never seen before, including whistles.

There was much singing, exhortation, much time for corporate prayer, special music by the youth choir, then the “traditional” women’s choir as Didier called it. He explained they have 4 different choirs, today we only heard from 2 of them. “Traditional” worship here doesn’t mean Western traditions or hymns with piano as opposed to modern “contemporary” songs with electric guitar, etc., Didier explained it means “traditional” African dance. The choir doesn’t “walk” to the choir area, they dance, stepping and swaying in unison and singing in choreographed praise that does not strike me as performance, but as praise from the heart. They clap to different rhythms than this white guy is used to but on some of the songs I was able to keep up. If the internet wasn’t incredibly slow here, I would love to upload a video, but this picture will have to do for now.

Didier told me later my message was “a very good food and meal from God’s Word” and Peter later also thanked me very much. As they translated into French and Swahili I suspect they made it an even better message than the English original. I preached on Mark 1, on John the Baptist’s message of repentance for forgiveness of sins and how Jesus in that same chapter commands “repent and believe the gospel … follow Me” (and spent a lot of time explaining what that means). I talked about how “repent” is the NT’s first recorded word of John the Baptist and Jesus (in Matthew 3-4), it’s what His disciples preached when He sent them out 2-by-2, Jesus said the reason He came was to call sinners to repent, after His resurrection He commanded that repentance for forgiveness of sins be proclaimed to all nations, and I talked about how that’s what we see Peter and Paul do to Jews and all nations in the book of Acts. I talked about true repentance and the fruits of repentance and regeneration, using several biblical examples, and then closed with the story of the remarkable conversion of Mark Njoji, a Congolese saved from being a witch-doctor in the days my great-grandfather was in Congo, and a great illustration of that chapter. Sometime I hope to have time to share more of his amazing story. I realized as I closed that I had been preaching longer than the entire worship service back home, but no one seemed to mind and God seemed to be really blessing his message.

At the close of the message, a number of men and moms with babies came forward and knelt on the concrete slab in front of the pulpit to express repentance publically and their desire to follow Jesus. Whether this was their first real repentance or a renewal of repentance as believers, only God knows, but they prayed, and then I prayed for them as well. By this time it was 12:15 and Didier continued with “many more words” (reminding me of the Apostle Paul in Acts speaking to a church he wouldn’t see for some time). This is Didier’s last Sunday with them so there was much to say. This afternoon we got some rest and tonight for the 2nd night in a row I’m taking Didier out to dinner so Mama Annie gets a break from cooking. Tonight is Chinese food. I asked him what his favorite food is of all he’s had (including in America last time he came) and he said his favorite is foo-foo and okra. Even when we go to the restaurant he brings his own foo-foo.

Didier will be greatly missed by his family and church family so please pray for them and the strength and unity and blessing of the churches here in his absence.

PTL that I got the DHL

Quick Prayer Requests Saturday

-Please pray that we receive my final documents for my son via DHL this afternoon.
-Please pray also for my D.C. to Sacramento ticket which has not yet been purchased to my knowledge, but Jaime and our friend are working on it. Please pray also for the women's conference at our church this weekend that she's attending, for the Lord's blessing on it, and that Jaime would not be distracted by these things, and that God would give her and my family grace till we're all reunited soon
-Please pray for a dear sister in Christ who does not have long to live and I pray I will be able to spend some time with her soon if God allows.
-Please pray also for some spiritual warfare Didier and the orphanage community have been experiencing that is too difficult to explain in a blog post.
-Please pray for the seminary here that I hope to visit later today with Didier and that we hope the Lord will provide for some of the men he's mentoring to attend there (Pastor Peter is already attending).
-Please pray for the Lord's blessing on the churches here this weekend and on Didier's final time with his family before he will be away from them till December, which will be hard especially for Annie and their youngest.

I may not have time to give update this afternoon or share more till Monday but I thank you all for your prayers and encouraging comments and notes and I pray the Lord's blessing on you this Lord's Day.

Worship with my Congolese brothers and sisters

Last night (Thursday) Matteus and I sat in on the weekly outdoor youth service (ages 14-25). Didier led the singing with his guitar and then there was a time of prayer.

Here the leader gives some instruction as to what to pray for and then everyone prays at once out loud, but not too loud with the young people. Some of the older African men in corporate prayer start shouting out and it is a little hard to concentrate if you’re an American not accustomed to such yelling when you’re trying to pray. But their worship and prayer is very sincere and fervent and heartfelt, and is a reminder to me that in my traditions and what I’m used to it’s very easy to not be sincere and fervent and heartfelt in my prayers and worship. Though my culture is different than theirs, I have much I can learn from them, and I pray I will not forget what I’ve already learned.


Back to the more encouraging spiritual side of things from yesterday: Didier taught the youth in a circle from Ecclesiastes 12. He is a very gifted and engaging teacher, I could tell, interacting with each young person one-by-one, using humor and illustration. It was all in French, with Swahili interpretation but as a teacher I could pick up on these things even though I only recognized a handful of words in the hour-long service. In the Congolese culture, they haven’t bought into the American myth of “adolescence” (the idea that there is some inevitable transition time through teen years in-between childhood and adulthood, where adult responsibilities are not expected, and for American males especially, sadly, growing up is delayed into the 20s and beyond at times). Like most other cultures through history, I can tell the Congolese view their youth as adults, not “adolescents,” and they challenge them accordingly (at least the Christian community). Didier explained to me today that by age 12 a young lady is expected to cook and clean and carry her infant sibling on her back around. The Christian young fellas carry the water here and were our masonry team when Gabe and I built the garden boxes in September. No TV or video games in this community to addict and afflict the next generation. Alleluia. Amen.


Last night, two of the judge’s families came out to Didier’s home for dinner and to see the orphanage. It was a blessing especially for Mama P., whose home Stuart stayed in while in Kinshasa, and who met the Wilmarths who also adopted through her husband. She prayed with us, and for us last time I was here.  It was in her home that night that her husband said he wanted to “be a part of this ministry.” Didier said last night they were very touched and understand why their husbands were so moved to help this ministry and these children. After Mama P. prayed for me at her house and knew my story, it was a blessing for her to see the son that God has filled my empty arms.



2 judges wives in center, Mama P. on right. In typical Congolese custom, they are not smiling for the picture, but Didier and his wife on the right have been Americanized so they are grinning (Matteus in his arm is not fully Americanized yet)

On Wednesday night we worshipped, praised God, and prayed together at this mid-week church service on the compound. There were 60 people in attendance for a service on a hot day with no electricity for fans or lights to read your Bible, many who walked quite a ways carrying children, and it was a blessed time of worship even though I didn’t understand a word except “Yesu” (Jesus) … that was sufficient, because He is sufficient. I was struck by the fact that our far bigger church in America (with A/C and lights that we all have cars to drive to) often has less people in attendance on a Sunday evening service than last night’s midweek service here in the difficulties of Congo. GCBC back home typically has 10-20% of the adults from Sunday morning return for another service on the Lord’s Day – I think 90% of Peter’s church was there for a Wednesday evening service, either walking a long distance or paying precious funds to travel by public transportation. I’m just saying...

At the church in Kinshasa we had to leave at 8:15 to get to church in the traffic, and didn’t get back home till 2:30 p.m. These people are not in a hurry to get a religious duty over with and back to what they want to do the rest of the day … they remind me of Acts 2:42-47 (and how different much of American Christianity is from what we read there). If you read Bob Wheatley’s blog, I think he said he preached one time here in Lubumbashi for 2 hours? Maybe we should restructure our services at GCBC? Or at least our hunger for the Word and desire to be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day?


Here on the compound they also have 6:00 a.m. weekday prayer and praise meetings most mornings. The way these people sense their need for the Word and worship here is a great example (and rebuke) in contrast to our American delusions of self-sufficiency. I think you can tell I’ve been impacted by worshipping with these brothers and sisters over here. Didier preached in French and Peter translated in Swahili. It was on Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3. He is a passionate and powerful preacher, very animated and gifted in his communication. And Peter’s translation is no dry monotone – his translation is even louder and more forceful at times and sometimes they interrupt each other in their exhortation and it’s hard to tell who is louder or who is talking :)

Didier’s concern is that people can know many things from Scripture and be doing many things “for God” (like Nicodemus) and yet not be born again. I could tell he was talking about people who get all emotional in worship seemingly, but whose lives give no evidence of regeneration, who say “Lord, Lord,” but the Lord does not know them. Again he used a combination of humor and blood-earnest seriousness in his preaching. It was the first time I heard him preach and makes me wonder if we might be able to find someone who can translate French into English when Didier speaks to churches in America, so he can more freely express himself without the limitations of his 4th language English.

The worship didn’t have as many instruments as Sunday morning, but enough banging and clanging and drumming to be classified as “Psalm 150-style.” I clapped as the psalms command me to and did my best to join in their worship, as well as a white boy can.

I counted about 20 children ages 5 and under, which was a blessing to see the young life and young moms and families. Another expectation of their culture is that young children and even infants will sit quietly. At one point Didier stopped his preaching to shush some kids. Here are some pics of the kids around the compound:


Anita in front, Eliza behind her (Didier’s daughters), Elsie the beautiful girl with her brother on back, Nathan (son of Peter and Dorcas with dirt all over face), and Elsie’s brother, I think

                                 The train game at the orphanage (my son Adam would like this one)

                                                      “Give us this day our daily bread”

When you say “Bon Appetit” Matteus says “merci” (note to Jaime: Didier showed me how to make the breakfast he likes so he’s not frustrated in the morning – oatmeal w/out weird stuff in it, then 2 pieces of bread with Nutella on them broken into pieces and mixed in with milk).

                                      From left to right: Kiffanie, Elsie (crazy hair day), and Michel

                         Didier’s kids and Gracia (tallest girl, Mama Angelique’s daughter) off to school

Not so good news after all the good news yesterday:

After sending yesterday’s post, I found out from the embassy that there was a printing problem with my son’s passport and they hoped they could get it fixed tomorrow, but couldn’t promise. At the prayer time yesterday and many times this morning I prayed that his VISA would be printed correctly by Friday noon as the embassy closes half-day and won’t reopen till Monday, which won’t give us enough time in Congo to get the docs. If this is not resolved asap my plans to fly Tuesday with Didier are in jeopardy as I needed the docs mailed this weekend. Just like Jaime and I waiting for our VISAs to come here 3 weekends ago till the last minute, God again is reminding us He’s in charge and we need to trust him.

Update as of Friday late morning: An hour and a half before the embassy closes for the weekend I got a text from the embassy worker that she needed 2 more passport photos of my child to wrap up the file. This makes it look like I won’t be able to fly out Tuesday as I have no way to mail her pics before Monday and even that will take some significant effort to pull off … after spending $385 yesterday to get flights setup for me and my son Tuesday, this is not the news I was hoping for today, but if it’s God’s will I know he can still make a way for me to leave Tuesday if His providence is kind enough.

I tried to call her back a few times but to no avail so we began driving back to the guest house to get the extra 2 pics I had. I sent the embassy worker a text confirming if she needed two 2x2 pics of Matteus and she texted back, saying “sorry, wrong person!” She then texted back that everything is fine for “Layton baby” and that she can give the docs to Louis today (the guy we wired money to yesterday to overnight the docs to us). Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! And as that song says with those words for the chorus, “… and give Him the glory, great things He has done!”

Our Mountain-Moving Miracle-Working Red-Sea-Dividing All-Providing God

Yesterday I shared with you how Didier finally received very important papers for his land that he has been repeatedly trying to get for 15 months now. If you haven’t been to the D.R.C. to know how this country works, you may not to be able to appreciate what a work of God that was that he got it yesterday, but Didier said this was a “very big miracle” as far as he’s concerned. He was very happy and very encouraged and very much praising God yesterday, and I was very joyful and even tearful as I joined in.


After I sent my update yesterday from the internet café in town, we did a couple more errands in town and on the way home we stopped by another office to see if equally important papers of mine were ready. Praise the Lord they were as well! Both of these documents are huge evidences of grace from our mountain-moving miracle-working red-sea-dividing all-providing God. Some theologians would define “miracles” technically as supernatural acts of God that defy natural laws and would classify what we experienced Wednesday as extraordinary acts of Providence instead. But whatever way you define it theologically, logically these documents we hold in our hands can only be ascribed to the favor of the God who holds in His hand all things, including the hearts of kings.

On September 8th, I was not in the best mood after being caused to miss my flight back home because I was with friends who had a crying baby (and didn’t have a newly required document). But our God who moves in mysterious ways used that occasion for us to meet with a number of top officials face-to-face, and in His providence Didier now has a personal connection with them and so do I. What happened in September with the “baby-crying-Papa-Didier-on-the-tarmac-incident” has made Papa Didier now a household name with many of the airport personnel, and some of them remember me, too. In fact, when Jaime was here and I was buying a cell-phone in town, two ladies waved hello and came across the street and said they remembered me from the airport and asked how the twins were doing. I showed them a picture of the twins and a picture of Matteus and they were very happy and said they would see me at the airport.

When I saw the man yesterday, he remembered me and smiled and he helped us get a very important document. Didier said this is a huge favor shown to us by our faithful God who works all things together for God’s adopted children (Romans 8:28, 15). This includes things that are not good, like missing your flight, and includes even our attitudes that are not good, as our God mercifully works together His good purposes despite us.

Today I was in the same office and a lady who knew English asked me, “So why do you want to adopt a Congolese baby?” I was caught a little off-guard and wasn’t sure of her tone or intent, but I explained, “Why? Well, God has adopted me, even though I was not His child and I am different than Him, but He has brought me into His family, and His love in my heart is what makes me want to adopt a child to show His love to.” It was a great gospel moment. The lady didn’t seem to know what to say but a few moments later she asked if I would adopt her, too!

One other evidence of God’s clear providence and grace that Didier shared with me yesterday … Didier has known for 5 years and been praying for the salvation of a key Catholic man in the orphan community who helped Didier get the 3 new foster children he has now, the Wilmarth twins now in California, and Joel Cowley who is now adopted in Idaho. I spent a lot of time with him the first time I came to Congo. He helped me with the funeral arrangements for my son and was very touched by meeting me and I was praying I would be a good witness to him of my hope and faith in Christ in such a hard time. Yesterday Didier told me this man has said he has been talking with his wife and would like to leave the Catholic church and become a part of Didier’s church instead!! Please pray that God will draw this man to fully understand and embrace the gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and be willing to follow Him, even if it may cost him in relation to his past religion, relationships, and even resources.

I began the last paragraph with “one other…” assuming that was the end for today. I was just about to save this file on my laptop which is just about out of battery and then to head into town with Didier. Didier came over hurriedly and said it was Danielle from the embassy on the phone. When she began with “Mr. Layton …” I didn’t know if there was a problem, but she went on to tell me that my file was approved and ready and all the documents could be picked up this afternoon! I didn’t know what to say other than “wow, that is amazing,” and she said, “yeah, this one went really fast, you’re very lucky.” I was quick to clarify, “I think God has heard the many prayers for this and answered them.” She said, “absolutely.” I thanked her again and as soon as I hung up I tried to tell Didier the good news but I couldn’t get the words out, only tears for joy. He knew what I was trying to say and then called his friend who will meet her at the embassy today to bring the documents to me. As I send this praise report Didier is wiring the money to his friend in Kinshasa and we should have the embassy documents this weekend that we need to leave!!! From here we go to Ethiopian Airlines to change my flight to the earliest available one. Didier, myself, and Matteus will be landing on U.S. soil Lord-willing in less than 6 days!!!

Normally this embassy process takes a minimum of 10 days and an American who even works at the embassy who adopted warned how difficult the process can be when a parent is living but to pray because God can work miracles. I was just praying for today that the medical results would get there before the end of the day and that Danielle would have time to get to my file by Friday afternoon … and basically everything was done before lunch on Thursday! All I can do is give amazed praise to the God who is able to do exceedingly beyond all I ask or even think to pray, to Him be the glory (Ephesians 3:20-21)!!!