Agents of Change in DR Congo

The pastor of the church rose to his feet and said, “I have never expressed love to children, even in my own home.  I never saw the children as anything but a problem to solve.  Through these brothers, I have seen the heart of God for the children and want to commit publicly to welcome them in my church.”

Not often are we given the privilege of being part of a seminal moment, one that influences the development of future events, but this was definitely such a moment.  And these moments were repeated many times over.

Joe Cox and David Overstreet were the agents who gave the message of God’s heart and the Holy Spirit did the rest in this troubled northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  There are still Tutus and Hutsis killing each other. There is still profound poverty and illiteracy, but now the children no longer will only get to peep through the windowless frames in church walls.   Now the children will hear Bible stories and learn of the God who transforms lives, forgives sin and gives hope for their future.  Now the children will no longer be marginalized but included.   Now teachers have learned how to teach the children instead of only singing for two hours.  They have learned the Biblical model for working with the children from Deut. 6:4-9. Perhaps more will come to work with these leaders who often have hundreds of children with little or no help at all.  In any case, the children now will know that God has a heart for them!  That is a seminal change!