Ed Salas

The greatest and most lasting impact on my life, without exception will be my memories of leaders that I met in Rwanda, DR Congo and Malawi.  Upon making their acquaintance I quickly saw something uniquely different in these African leaders (my brother and sisters in Christ).  I first noticed in these men and women a quiet humility; a quality so wonderfully appealing and one which (surprisingly) required no words to communicate. 

But there was more than genuine humility going on, a quality so unique from any other leaders that I have met in any of my travels.  For lack of a better word to describe this quality I will call it depth; a kind of depth that cannot be manufactured by will or by force; it is a depth of character that can only be borne in pain.

Eighty pastors and intercessors from many churches in Goma, DRC during a training session.  Photo by Katie Garner www.katiegarner.co.uk

While in Rwanda we heard the story about the inception of the African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (http://alarm-inc.org/) and learned that its founder recognized the urgent need for grass roots training of leaders for the local church.  The need for such training was particularly urgent because most of the church leaders were massacred during the Rwandan Genocide in which nearly one million people were brutally killed, nearly 20% of the country’s total population not so many years ago.  

I’ll share briefly about my new friend, Benjamin, a survivor of the genocide.  I learned about how he and his wife with two babies in their arms narrowly escaped certain death if not for a missionary pilot who met them while they were on the run for their lives offered to fly them to Kenya at his own peril.  

While exiled in Kenya, Benjamin was given the opportunity to pursue theological training which he gratefully accepted.  I found that Benjamin to be a brilliant and gentle man, a true pastor and teacher of God’s Word (he teaches from the Bible’s original languages) and himself able to speak in four additional languages fluently.  But beyond his credentials and impressive accomplishments it took almost no time to discover what the best thing about him is – he is a man compelling depth of character.  Benjamin possesses the undeniable, unconcealable beauty borne in pain and that has been refined in the flames of suffering.      

Because of my experiences in Africa and the people that I met, I now have a new definition and understanding about what it looks like to be a deep person.   It is only with great care and sobriety that I will ever ask of the Lord to work in me the depth of character that I saw in many of the leaders in the African Church.

Affectionately yours,

Ed

My favorite collegiate football team has a tradition which sets it apart from a vast majority of other college football teams – the names of the players are not printed on the back of their jerseys; instead the players are identified only by a number.  The reason for this tradition is simple to determine – each jersey is a resounding reminder that the game of football was never meant to be understood as an individual sport, it is by its very nature a team sport.

When traveling overseas, no matter how well one prepares for every eventuality, things are likely to get dicey.  It is not surprising that some will be blind-sided by the fatigue of drastic time zone changes, long airplane flights, eating unfamiliar foods and the ever dreaded traveler’s diarrhea.  Our team was not exempt from such challenges.  When met with these challenges our team rose to the occasion. I could not be more grateful for my opportunity to serve in the DRC, Malawi and Rwanda with five teammates who willingly surrendered jerseys without names and who set aside reputations and personal agendas so that they could do what they believed God had called them to do.  I loved/love each one (Amy, Chris, David, Meehae and Tina) but my respect for each one has increased even more along with gratitude and respect.

Some precious interaction with young leaders in the DRC

As I read I Corinthians 12 I observe that the dominant theme of this chapter is abundantly clear – each individual member of the Body of Christ is crucially interdependent with every other team member; each fully functioning team member makes all of the other members better!  David Nusz (our only non-Newsong attendee) just sent out a note with his reflections about our team to his prayer partners; I found it apropos and so I will share it with you in conclusion:

Every member of the team was amazing and in a very unique way gave me so much in terms of inspiration, education and entertainment. There were moments when the team members were exhausted, sick, discouraged or frightened but I cannot remember a single time when anybody did not look out for their team and those we were ministering to.  Under fire, the group was always focused on the mission and it would be an honor and a pleasure any time to work with any or all of them again, God willing.

Affectionately yours,
Ed

For those that have been following Team DRC/Malawi I thank you and especially those of you who were interceding for us in prayer.  As soon as we left Rwanda (where we stayed on Monday night, September 10^th with our ALARM hosts before moving on to Malawi) we lost all [internet] connection with the world outside our immediate area of African travels.  For me it was tough knowing that we could not send out words of update or especially some much needed prayer S.O.S.’s.  From the onset of our planning to go to Africa our team was certain that prayer coverage for each of us and those we went to serve would be the most essential aspect for ensuring our continued safety and effectiveness for our ministry efforts.

Gratefully, even without the benefit of Wi-Fi communication many of those committed to praying for us continued to faithfully do so.  Several even reported that they were awakened from their sleep to pray for us.  One member of my personal prayer shield (someone who goes on record to be committed to praying for me, my ministry, etc.) wrote me that she had night terrors during the first two nights we were in Malawi which were indeed the most challenging of days during the entire trip.  

For those who may not be familiar with the term, night terror is the term used to describe spiritual attack from the dark side.  Unlike a really bad dream or a nightmare, night terrors have their source in the demonic realm and can be extremely frightening if one does not know how to contend with the enemy and who is firmly grounded in their true identity in Christ.

Back to Malawi – our first two evenings were extremely difficult for each of us on the team.  To get to Malawi we traveled all through the night from Kigali, Rwanda with a long, four-hour layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; it was a grueling fifteen hour trip from beginning to end.  By the time we arrived in Malawi to begin the second leg of our ministry trip we were physically and emotionally exhausted.  I am confident that at the conclusion of our time in the DRC that each of us would have been very content to return the U.S. and would have done so with a genuine satisfaction for a job (already) well done.  But that was not to be because from the beginning we were also called to serve some choice leaders in Malawi – some very real battles were awaiting us there. 

Our experience reminds me of a reoccurring theme and spiritual principle: It’s yours – now go fight for it!  [This principle is illustrated in the narratives of the Book of Joshua.]  Are you able to identify this theme in your own experience?  Have you also discovered that partnership with God often requires a fight to possess what He has already given to you?  This was true at the time at the writing of the sacred Scriptures and remains just as true for us today.  Take a moment to consider: what are you contending for that the Lord has already given to you?     

I’ll write more about our ministry travels and some of our learning in future posts.  Thank you for reading and thank you for praying. 

Affectionately yours,

Ed

Ed meets Memory in Malawi for the first time, his World Vision sponsor child

We said goodbye to the Congo this morning and it is a bitter sweet day.  Sweet only because we are now heading to Malawi, which is where my love affair with Africa began; I am looking forward to seeing old friends.  As we concluded the conference yesterday, those in attendance, 80 brothers and sisters, which included leaders from different areas of the Congo, different tribes and different areas of ministry, thanked God for the opportunity to sing and dance our way through four days of fellowship and teaching.  They offered their sincere gratitude for the teaching and most especially for our courage in coming to the Congo and reminding them that they are not alone in this world.  They humbly requested that we not forget them and that when we go home we share their plight with our families, communities and churches.  There were hugs and tears in abundance as we said our goodbyes.

Lessons learned from the Congo are many and will be processed with time.  For now, if I had to pick a place to start, it would be that God can move mountains and the enemy loves to use fear to make us forget that.  If I had been the trip leader, I would have chickened out when the rebels started marching towards Goma in July.  My pride kept me from backing out, but pride is not a motive that God is interested in.  He wants faith to keep us engaged and my faith has been increased and hopefully my pride is continuing to shrink with the love and grace of God.  I will never refer to the Congo as the “Heart of Darkness in Africa” again.

David

Mathew 8: 23-26

Davis Nusz has been a delight to travel with and an asset to the team.  David regularly attends Coast Hills Church in South OC. 

Friday, Sept. 7 – I sure got my dates all turned around at the beginning of the week but I’m pretty confident that today really is Thursday, September 7^th.

We completed our second full day of training sessions and prayer sessions.  The schedule has been rigorous as expected but the team has been working together and functioning like a well-oiled machine. Our teammates from London are terrific (Annie Kirke, Karen, Sue and Katie) and we have melded together as one team with relative ease.  Additionally, we have some time to tell a few stories, occasional teasing has occurred and we have done a fair share of laughing together too.

Saturday, Sept. 8

This was our third day of the healing prayer conference.  Annie and I have done most of the teaching but others on the team are making beautiful contributions.  This morning Meehae led the conference attendees in the morning devotion; she was powerful indeed.   

The prayer instruction has been very well received and much appreciated and I think that we are making a lasting deposit in the lives of the Congolese leaders we are serving.  We have started to get feedback of some significant physical healings as a result of some prayer sessions.  Tomorrow we’ll end our final session.

———————–

Ed hasn’t really given you the full story.  Friday while good was heavy.  You could feel the pain and suffering of these people.    It weighed heavy on all of us as we interceding for Ed and Annie; however, God is good and broke off strongholds during the Forgiveness portion of the teaching. 

Today was even more anointed as the Holy Spirit moved from the beginning with Meehae’s devotional and right into the teaching of Revelations and Intercessory Prayer.  The Lord anointed Ed’s words and Annie’s discernment to speak truth and call the different pastors and leaders of the church to unity and harmony.  Eyes and ears were opened to hear the truth that only through unity could they break the generations of violence in their country.  Pastor Theo of ALARM spoke after Ed and while we could not understand a word of Swahili, we knew that an impact was made.  One of our team members stated, that the baton has been passed to Pastor Theo to pick up the cause.  Something broke in the spiritual realm. 

by Tina and Ed

Our DRC Border Ordeal

Wednesday, September 8^th in the DRC, 11:27 PM.  We arrived this afternoon after spending our first evening in Kigali, Rwanda hosted by the leaders of the African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministry (ALARM).   Our hosts had housed us and fed us; Rwandan hospitality could not have been kinder or more gracious.  By 9:30 AM we began a 3 ½ hour drive through the city of Goma and into the lush forest and mountain topography to the DRC border. 

At the border crossing we were detained by immigration, our four teammates from London (Annie, Katie, Karen and Sue) had their visas called into question.  So, the remaining members of the team watched and we prayed; each of us realizing that the anticipated battle wasted no time coming to us and the time to engage had begun.  The enemy had wasted no time – our London friends were the designated target (as if the heartburn of several grueling visits by Annie Kirke at the DRC Embassy in London wasn’t enough already).   After 45 minutes of warfare intercession the four apprehended passports were released back to their owners and we were finally given release to enter the Congo.

A short time ago I asked Annie to reflect on how she had experienced the whole ordeal at the border earlier today.  She quickly recalled the portion of the movie Lord of the Rings where Gandalf had already defeated the dragon in battle but still had enough life to flick his tail sending the wizard headlong to the ground.  Indeed an appropriate metaphor I might say.

Tomorrow morning the conference and prayer appointments for 80 leaders (or as many as we can possibly do) will begin.  The task before us is truly immense no matter how one looks at it from a human perspective; our Lord is greater in us as we move in the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are privileged to be here to serve our family members in the DRC.  So as you consider the team here will you pray as the Spirit leads you for us?

Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads.  Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth… The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Revelation 12:3-9)

Affectionately,

Ed