Dear Friends and Family,

The Kikongo women and I were totally blown away Dec. 22nd. It was during our annual Christmas meeting that the big surprise came. In order to understand how grateful we were, I need to paint for you a picture of how broken we were...

Have you ever wondered if something was irreparable? That is about how many of us had come to think of our women's group at Kikongo. Frustrated with weak leadership, unreconciled relationships, and unsolved problems, one by one women stopped attending. Finally our women's president threw up her hands in November and quit. She was tired. Each woman retired to their own house and yard to grieve the end of years of women's fellowship here. In larger urban communities, one can always find another group of women to be a part of, but here at Kikongo, we are all we have. We have known, worshipped and prayed together for years. I was sad for the loss of the one continuous contact I have with many of these women.    Just prior to the resignation of our women's president, I woke up at three one morning with a great sense of urgency. Who was going to lead the women? I was amused, because this had not at all been on my mind the day before. There was little else to think about as I lay in the dark, so I wrestled with the problem and became excited with some of the ideas I felt God was laying out for me. The next afternoon, the women's president surprised us by stepping down. I was jazzed. Not because she stepped down, but because it became clear to me that God was at work! His timing was perfect.

God blessed us with confidence and a good plan for the weeks leading up to Christmas. Our attendance bounded each week as we met in a new neighborhood. One week a noisy thunderstorm blew up, but the women came anyway. Rain blew down in the middle of a choir number and we all fled through flooded yards to the church. Forty-seven of us ended up singing and dancing in the church because the rain pounding on the metal roofing overhead was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think. It was a joyous time. The wonder of it was that the women didn't flee back to their houses, but that 47 of them committed themselves to come worship a second time that day, even though they knew it was going to blow and rain hard. (The church has big open windows!)

On the morning of the 22nd, I wasn't sure if the women would come. As usual, a few of us prepared a huge pot of beans for the meal afterwards. We rang the bells and waited. Nobody came. We rang the bells again. Nobody came. In Congo, if you want people to know it's time for church, you sing and play the drum. We sang and played the drum. Nobody came. We sang for over an hour. The women began to come, and come, and come! A hundred and fourteen! Friends I hadn't worshipped with in months and sometimes years. It was such a gift to be together again in worship. Joy was contagious. There was a release of bitterness. I haven't seen such freedom in the women's dancing and singing to the Lord in such a long time. One woman told about how the Lord had spoken to her in a dream about her refusal to forgive, and how she had decided to come back to the women's group because she was letting her grudge go. It was truly a humbling and joyous time together.

A gift from the Lord.

While the women's group is still fragile, and the women's trust not strong, there is a new spirit among the women. It is a relief and fills us all with hope. As the new year dawns, we ask for your prayers. Pray that the Lord would continue to reconcile us and fill us with wisdom for the future.

Love,

Rita