Matthew 5: 1-10
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is a beautiful passage where Jesus exposes the power of God on a very deep and personal level. You don’t need to be strong to inherit the Kingdom of the Heaven, indeed if your strong you cant even enter it. Only if you are weak and you seek a saviour can you even know it exists. We live in a society that highly prizes strength and power however Jesus tells us that only those who allow themselves to be cut by the pain of the unrighteousness that fills us and surrounds us will be comforted. Jesus came to start a kingdom that would afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. All these attributes, meekness, mercy, purity of heart, humility and persecutions would be curses and not blessings if not for the power of God which exists and which they reveal. By Revelation in 2 Cor 12: 9-10 Jesus told Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” and Paul said: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

As I think about my trip to Kinshasa this week I see that the power of God and the promises of Christ are still as relevant and effective as ever. When I arrived in Kinshasa for my first trip 11 months ago on Feb 11th 2007 the church was only a small group of about 15 disciples. As weak disciples they had continued to pray for strength from God, seek daily discipling and encouragement from one another, and reach out to the lost in order that they too could know they comfort they had found in Jesus. Unfortunately their weakness had infuriated and challenged the strong people in their former congregation and they had been forced to start a new congregation. This Sunday when I approached the pulpit to preach my heart was pounding as I looked over an audience of over 240 people. The sound of their cheers, their zeal for the strength of Jesus nearly made me speechless.

In particular I would like to mention the leader, Lola and his partners Bavon and Agnes who are doing such a great job. These leaders are truely the salt of the earth, working so hard under such difficult conditions. You have all of our love and prayers. I made a short video of Lola and it is at the bottom of the page.

Also, I want to thank the Eugene, Syracuse and Phoenix and the London Church for making this trip possible. You all lifted the spirits of the Kinshasa disciples enormously. God is going to bless you and I can’t wait to see how!

I have to admit that I was quite emotionally apprehensive about returning to Kinshasa. Shall we say the temptation to stay in Canada making my BBQ’d pork ribs was strong! On my last trip I had been robbed by police officers when I landed. This time I prayed like a maniac to have courage to face whatever I may see in Kinshasa. By the power of God I was so calm when I walked down the stairs off the plane it was like I could have slept at the feet of the police. What a miracle! It was more than I could ask for.

One of our dear brothers is an army Captain and he met me right away. Everyone saluted him and I walked out of the airport without even talking to any of the police except the one who checked my passport and the official that checked my yellow fever card. I hate the feeling of fear and God removed it from me. All the disciples were waiting for me outside the airport and it was awesome. They took me back to the little compound of one of the brothers and an amazing weekend started.

The disciples took me on walks around the city and what I saw blew my mind even more than last time. One of the brothers lives in a garbage dump with thousands of other people. When it rains the water goes over the head of his children. He lives there with his wife and 4 kids. It was absolutely unlivable. Yet he is always cheerful, fruitful and giving to the church. What an upward call. The gang that owns the dump charges 75$ a month per family. Normally terrible things happen to pay that money.

As a consequence of the massive demand for material help I did not just go to Kinshasa as a preacher but I also went as an agent of our charity organization www.africatrustfund.org. When I sat down and talked to the leaders of the church we had to take a very real and unsentimental look at the future of the churches finances and charity operations.

One thing is clear is that counting on direct support in a hand to mouth manner on a monthly basis is the least desirable model. Every church in our movement right now either is a mission team or just sent a mission team. We are in a very aggressive expansion mode as we build churches in all the major cities of the world and as such the churches are inherently short on cash. Taking this into account and also looking to the future we have to break into the next level of financial and charity support: We need to build a local, third party, “tent maker” enterprise.

At the moment there are certain parts of town that do have concrete shops with steel bars where it is possible to do business. The police do come to request “gifts” which normally amounts to about 60$ a month however by western standards the costs of operation are very low. One business that is absolutely booming in Kinshasa (but also everywhere in Africa) is the Internet cafe. Most of the Internet cafes in Kinshasa have very poor service. The dial-up Internet company in Kinshasa which is from South Africa is very reliable but most Internet cafes only have 1 or 2 operating computers. As such an Internet cafe seems to be the best option. An Internet cafe with 20 computers can generate over 500$ a week profit which is the budget of the Kinshasa church for a month.

In order to accomplish this project we will need 20 donated used laptop computers (so they can fit in my luggage) and 7000$ in start up costs. This will include the costs of flying with all the computers and setting up the store in Kinshasa myself. This 7000$ project will support the Kinshasa church for years to come. The first 20 000$ of profit from this project will go into an account here in London in order to pay for a complete restart in the event of an emergency and also to start other Tent Maker Enterprise projects for our other churches in Africa as we send them out.

As such I started to look for investors to share the burden with Africa Trust Fund. When I brought this project to the attention of our dear brother Steve Fraser he immediately told me that he would cover all the startup costs of this project and come in as a co-investor with Africa Trust Fund. He is a very successful investor and a very respected member of the church. This means that Africa Trust Fund will now have its own “Tent Maker Enterprise” in Africa! In this bold strategy both the Kinshasa Church and www.africatrustfund.com will have found their financial support and their modus operendi for years to come. We hope to build such an enterprise along side each of our churches in Africa so that they can not only be self sufficient but also able to help support and plant other churches. My dear Father in Law who is a Canadian and a partner in a very respected accounting firm in Nigeria will have my back advice wise as well. Africa Trust Fund now has the legal, financial and technical support to set roots down in Africa instead of just living hand to mouth.

If you would like to contribute to the Kinshasa Tent Maker Enterprise by helping us to find 20 used laptops or personal computers please let me know. My phone number is (01144)7908461477.

By the power of God the weak disciples of Kinshasa are now becoming strong. In them God is making His power and might known in Congo and soon many other parts of Africa.

I feel inspired coming back to England. Now that we have a toehold in London we have to fight for even more faith to respond even more to God’s incredible and totally undeserved grace. I am so proud of the disciples here who have tolerated me “robbing” my attention away from them to give to other churches in our fellowship. I’m all yours now!

Love,

Tim

Matthew 28: 18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”"

They were commanded to go to all nations in their generation… Jewish fishermen, tax collectors and a killer of tax collectors (Simon the zealot) were to go to every nation. I can’t imagine the feeling these guys had in the pit of their stomach when Jesus was lifted up into heaven after those words. I believe the reason they didn’t go straight back to fishing and hiding behind closed doors is right in the passage. Firstly they realized that their problem was a lack of obedience. Secondly that they didn’t need to worry about tomorrow, Jesus was with them every step of the way. Obedience to the mission without worrying about tomorrow… that’s how amazing things get done. Since the age isn’t over, the promise still stands and that is so encouraging.

Romans 8: 35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered…”

Paul didn’t write this because he was a fat cat minister “preaching the word” from a nice safe pulpit on Sunday and driving a Cadillac. In fact we know from Acts that Paul faced everything he writes about here. That is not to say he was somehow superhuman and did not bleed when he was cut or tremble with apprehension every time he faced the horrors Satan was throwing at him. As he writes above, its just means he didn’t think these things would take him away from Jesus. To him being close to Jesus and being sure of his eternal destination was of greater importance than the terrible consequences of his present. As Christians we love to think about the first century church and we love to try to imitate it. Well here are is a sobering fact about the first century church: Almost everyone God used powerfully died violently.

We as Christians believe we have a commission to take personal responsibility and go to all nations in our generation. We believe that because we are the disciples who were made and taught to obey everything Jesus commanded. As we consider this our hearts fill with excitement as we think of planting churches as the base of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower. However then our hearts sink when we think about some of the other places that are also part of the “all nations” commission. According to Forbes Magazine 7 of the most dangerous 11 countries in the world are in Africa. Also, 11 countries out of the 54 countries in Africa are considered “too dangerous to visit”. The third most dangerous country in the world is Congo with more civilians killed than Darfur, Rwanda and Iraq put together. If all goes as planned thats where I will be in two weeks. Jesus’ promise that he will be with me is not far from my mind… I won’t be going alone.

This is a picture of me trying to look like a tough diamond dealer so I don’t make myself a target on my last trip!

So I won’t be going alone, but why am I going? Well, the plan in Congo is simple and direct. Make disciples and feed disciples. We want to be able to feed every member of our church who is homeless, jobless or otherwise unable to feed themselves. We also want to be able to send all the children of disciples to school so that they can have a chance at a better future. We need to raise 12400$ to hit those simple goals. We have right now hit the 6600$ mark for the year.  With your prayers, commitment and help to raise awareness we will raise the final 5800$!

The one thing I am pretty sure of is that there will be some kind of serious trouble on my journey. I’m normally a short crier but as far as I can remember I have never cried so much in my life as when I had to leave the disciples behind after my last trip there. I’ve missed them so much and any danger is obscured in my mind by the excitement of our joy when we see one another again. I have weekly skype meetings with my blood brother Lola but its just not the same… I can’t wait to see him and pray together on our knees. He is a genuine warrior of the faith and a man who absolutely loves prayer. The church in Kinshasa has grown from a little under 10 at services to over 100!

I have to admit I am nervous about the trip, I’ve woken up in a cold sweat a few times in the last few weeks as my mind prepares psychologically for the danger that lies ahead. I know these things are not cowardice but normal biological functions. That being said what excites me is that I know I will be followed by many more disciples. As a movement time is short and the 11 “most dangerous” countries of the world must be evangelized. My prayer is that we do not fail to make disciples of these nations and that we begin a trickle and then a steady flow of disciples to these countries. Here is a mp3 of sermon I preached in London when I returned from my last trip.

Not only do we need zealous and passionate “do or die front liners”, we also need the financiers and the logistics people who will make this battle possible. I would like to lift up the mighty Eugene Church for their incredible sacrifice of thousands of dollars to make the African mission possible. Also I would like to lift up the great hearts of the London Church, Phoenix Church and Syracuse Church for their very generous support and their prayers for the mission in Africa. Jeremy, Matt and Andrew are dangerous men. They plan, they crunch the numbers, they rally the maniacs and they make things happen. Your hero’s in heaven already.

I would like to encourage all the disciples around the world to help us as we engage this battle once again. There are so many remnant disciples in Africa and so many millions of lost who need to know the word of God. Please help us in our projects as we bring food to the hungry and hope to a place where there is no solution but Christ. As we advance forcefully we must always remember that we must obey and we can leave tommorrow until tommorrow because Jesus is with us, “to the very end of the age”.

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Jesus is Lord,

Tim Kernan