Revival in the Congo!

From the modern Jesus Army’s History Makers site.

Helen

Some years ago we interviewed veteran missionary, Helen Roseveare about the 1950′s revival in what was then the Belgian Congo. Here are some extracts from her remarkable account.

What was your background before you went out to Africa?
I was saved when I was a medical student – I wasn’t very bright, so medicine was a real slog! I did no reading apart from my Bible and the next thing I knew I was out on the mission field! I was a good solid Anglican type, totally unprepared for the revival that came.

What led up to the Congo revival?
Basically, years of committed prayer that became increasingly desperate. Both senior local pastors and missionaries had been praying regularly with a real burden.

What can you remember of the first experiences you had of revival power?
The first day revival came to Ibambi, the actual building shook. We were sitting in the Bible School hall. It was seven o’clock on a Friday night. Jack Scholes, our field leader, had just come back from a trip in the south and he had seen revival down there. He stood up to speak about the revival and started to read from scriptures. Suddenly we heard a hurricane storm. It was frightening!

“Crackdown in Kinshasa”

What an awful timing. The same day that Jean Kabuidibuidi have been deported to Kinshasa I recieve this newsletter from the human rights organization Enough, which is active in the Congo, Uganda and Sudan:

Crackdown in Kinshasa: Congo Government Bans Peaceful March, Cuts Broadcast Stations

Tensions in Congo’s capital are rising as the Congolese government took swift action this week to suppress opposition voices.

The government banned a peaceful march organized by Catholic religious leaders yesterday to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of what is known as the “Christians Massacre” and to protest the recent botched presidential and legislation elections. The anniversary marks the day in 1992 when several Christians were killed during a pro-democracy rally against the closure of a national conference to debate the Mobutu Sese Seko regime. Yesterday, soldiers met peaceful demonstrators with tear-gas and arrests. Congo’s Voice of the Voiceless rights group reports that three priests and two nuns have been imprisoned, and soldiers and police fired tear gas into church compounds to prevent people from participating.

Press Release: Death Threatened Dissident Expelled from Sweden During Great Secrecy

This picture was taken on the repository in Flen December 2011. Jean Kabuidibuidi spent 130 days in the repository in Flen before he finally was expelled yesterday, 23 February 2012. Photographer: #PastorJean team. Media may use the image freely.

A government critic from Congo Kinshasa was expelled during great secrecy last night from Skavsta airport, despite loud protests from Christian groups and human rights activists. The man, named Jean Kabuidibuidi, is the pastor of a Congolese church in Stockholm and has become known for openly criticizing the regime in his homeland. The police conducted the deportation despite the fact that Kabuidibuidi’s representative Claes Strömvall did not receive this confirmation until this morning, a procedure that the lawyer perceives as strange.

– The police did not give me any details yesterday, and when I asked why they said “security reasons”. We wanted to get information about when Jean Kabuidibuidi’s plane will land in Congo Kinshasa for friends to meet up at the airport, says Claes Strömvall.