June 2000 Newsletter

In a letter which I recently received, Phanuel M., a young Rwandese man studying theology in Kenya, tells about the ordeal he and his family went through during the inter-ethnic conflict which devastated Rwanda in 1994. Of the eleven children in this family, only two survived: himself and a young brother aged 6. Phanuel concludes his moving letter by plainly stating: “ In all of this, I thank the Lord for he never abandoned His people. Even though only the two of us survived, it is neither coincidence nor in vain, but He has a plan for us.” Reading this letter, I could not but be struck by the contrast between this amazing faith in God’s Providence, and the disillusioned attitude of many well-off theologians or pastors in the Western world: “God is silent”, they repeatedly say, “Is God in control?”, they mournfully ask. Those whose stomach is filled every day with rich food, and do not miss one single calory necessary for the well being of their body, do not see any more God’s Providence and care in their lives; in the meantime, those who had to flee for their lives, who walked hundreds of miles through thick forests and saw their own family brutally murdered, joyfully acknowledge that the hand of the Lord always guided them even in the middle of the harshest circumstances. They want to serve Him and Him alone. Isn’t this contrast of attitude part of what Paul means when he speaks of the foolishness of the Cross, which is God’s wisdom, through which He decided to save the world?

Another thought of the same kind came to me. What motivates Christians to set money aside for the mission and so deprive themselves from what they could have used as part of their private enjoyment? Why should people send money to support “Foi et Vie Réformées” when nothing or nobody forces them to do so, when they will not gain any material benefit from such a joyfully consented gift? This too is foolishness in the eyes of men; but certainly this is the way the Holy Spirit works in the heart of God’s children…

Thanks to your contributions, “Foi et Vie Réformées” is currently extending the sphere of its broadcasts: I my January newsletter I had mentioned two projects, among others: broadcasting on the national radio of the Democratic Republic of Congo, both of Short Waves and on the local FM channel. This broadcast is now operational, in collaboration with the Confessing Reformed Church in the Congo, as well as a Netherland based Christian organization called “De Verre Naasten”. The other project dealt with our programmes being aired from Kinshasa, the densely populated capital of the same DRC. We also hope to finalize this project within weeks. Communicating with our African partners is not always an easy thing: mail (even air-mail) takes ages before reaching its destination. Bank transactions are difficult and costly. Fax and telephone lines are not always reliable. We sometimes feel chained to all kinds of impediments of logistic or financial nature. But the apostle Paul, himself literally chained because of the Gospel, once wrote to his young friend Timothy (2 Tim. 2:10): “But the Word of God is not chained”. Think of how far the Word of God has been spread, since Paul wrote this from a jail in Rome… How exciting to be part of this process, two thousand years later, knowing that the Lord Himself provides new means and channels for this proclamation!

One of the modern tools of communication is, of course, the Internet. Just as Paul used the Greek language of his time to communicate the Gospel and so could have access to the whole Mediterranean world (Greek was understood by most people in this region, something like English today), the Internet gives us access to what people commonly refer to as the “global village”. We are glad to report to you that our website is now operational, and through it we will be able to reach French speaking Internet users throughout the world, bringing them the Good News of the Lord Jesus-Christ. Beside information about our activities, all our radio messages will be stored in this website: anyone browsing through the site will be able to retrieve them. In time, some of them will also be translated into English, so as to allow you to become familiar with their content and style. But you can already look at our website address:
www.foi-vie.org.za

Of course technological tools are only tools, and must not become the lords of our lives. We are also called to exercise dominion over them, and submit them to the authority of the Lord. We praise Him alone for His abundant Grace!

In His service

Eric Kayayan