Whenever I return to Bukavu, I always need to get jolted back to the reality of the situation “on the ground.” Being away makes things seem simple and makes the problems seem easy to solve. Here are two quick stories: A good friend is majoring in philosophy at the university here. We asked him what they did for books. (In philosophy, one typically does a lot of reading.) He said they just get the professor’s notes and do research on the internet. Someone asked, “Doesn’t the university have a library?”
His answer: “Yes, we have a library, but there are no books.” Wow! A library with no books. We had our first business seminar today, which was an exposition of Genesis 1:26-28. I have become convinced that it is THE place to start when thinking about business, education, work and careers. One new friend asked, “When you start a business, sometimes the other businessmen get jealous and may get people to kill you. What do you recommend?”
Let’s just say that type of question is difficult to answer, but I know a God who knows the answer and wants to tell His people what to do. I hope these two stories give you a picture of reality here. It’s hard to explain without stories. Keep praying for God to transform the hearts of His people!
Greg
P.S. After the seminar, another friend talked about competition, “Competitors also turn to witchdoctors to cause problems, even disease and death, for their competition. The church really needs to train people to defend against witchcraft.” Ten years ago, I would have said he was nuts because witchcraft is not real. I have since changed my mind. It gets worse, but I will spare you those horrors for now.