The Church in the Forest

“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” — from Romans 10

Charlie made his home at a place called Ibambi, in the great Ituri forest, among the Budu people. The mission’s first buildings were put up by Congolese builders, with poles, mud and grass roofs, and Charlie lived in a simple house built in the same local way. He ate local food and worked from early morning until late at night. He loved to preach, and people walked a long way through the forest to hear him.

Now comes the most important part of the story. Most of the people who came to know Jesus did not hear about him from Charlie or the other missionaries. They heard from Congolese Christians. These evangelists walked narrow paths through the forest to villages where nobody knew about Jesus. They lived with the people, taught them to read, explained the Bible and gathered little churches.

Charlie believed that the Congolese churches should send out their own evangelists and look after them themselves, just as the first churches in the Bible did. And they did! Christians who had very little gave what they could, so that their own messengers could carry the good news to people further away. Most of their names were never written down, but they were the real heroes of the church in the forest.

Congolese believers also helped to put the Bible into their own languages. Missionaries could not do it alone. Congolese men and women explained their words and corrected mistakes. Charlie and two other missionaries worked on a translation into Kingwana, a kind of Swahili that many people understood, and in 1930 the books of Luke and Acts were printed in it.

His daughters Edith and Pauline came to help too, with their husbands.

The Bible says that the feet of people who bring good news are beautiful. The Congolese evangelists had tired, dusty feet, but to God they were beautiful. Your feet can be beautiful too, whenever you go to share God’s love.

Dear God, thank you for the Congolese Christians who carried the good news through the forest. Make my feet beautiful too, ready to go and share your love. Amen.