Pastors thank Society for help in their ‘terrible tragedy’

Goma pastors raise their hands and Bibles to indicate that they had received Scriptures from the Bible Society of Congo in the wake of the devastating volcanic eruption in January 2002. The pastors thanked the global United Bible Societies’ fellowship for responding to their emergency need for Bibles – and plead for more Scriptures for their people. Goma, DR Congo. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden. (DRC02DJ-169)

GOMA, DR Congo — After losing their homes, churches, libraries and other resources in the volcanic eruption of January 2002, Goma’s pastors gave thanks for God’s provision of Scriptures during a meeting with the Rev Christophe Kongo, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Congo. About 50 attended and several spoke to thank the Bible Society and the UBS Fellowship for their support.

The following excerpts reflect both the challenges facing the pastors at present and their hope for the future:

– “ We appreciate the donation of Bibles, and the work is continuing. We want to say thanks to the Bible Society. We appreciate what God is doing here.”

– “ We thank God for the Bible Society and its representatives. It is difficult for people to come here right now, and the fact that you left your homes and came here without being in fear, we thank God for that.”

“We wondered how we could continue the work. What helped us was the Word of God.”

– “We thank the Bible Society for being here. Because of the donations, pastors and church leaders now have Bibles they can use to teach Christians. Our relationship with the Bible Society has not stopped there; the Society has gone on to check to see how many Christians have lost their Bibles. Our hope is that one day it will be able to give Bibles to all the Christians here.”

– “It was terrible to live through this tragedy. But when we shared the Word of God with a brother or sister, immediately something changed in that person. The Word of God was the power that helped people through the disaster.

“When we went to the hospital they were treating many victims suffering from emotional problems. Many of them were in turmoil because they could only think of what they had lost. But when we shared the Word of God with them, we saw healing taking place.”

– “We want to encourage the Bible Society in its work, because we needed Bibles at that time. Around Goma, you can go into a church of 350 people and find only two Bibles. In fact, if I ask someone from another church to preach, sometimes I have to take him the only Bible I have so that he can prepare his sermon. The Bible Society must continue to send Bibles.”

– “When we receive Bibles, we still are feeding Christians. The Word of God is still here, encouraging Christians. But if the Word of God went away, what would we do? So we encourage the Bible Society to continue its work of providing God’s Word for our people.”

– “We had been through war, and then the volcano came and destroyed our Bibles, books and other things, and we wondered how we could continue the work. What helped us was the Word of God.

– “The need now is for Bible Societies to help provide Bibles for our people. We have received many things, but the most important thing is the Word of God. Thank you for helping us during that time of need.” (WR 372/19 - 11.02)