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Rick, we're thinking about that visit many years ago to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa. That was quite a trip.

It was! It was my first time visiting that country and it was eye-opening.

In Kinshasa, there are 17 million people and it’s growing rapidly. It seemed like every one of them was out on the street when we drove in from the airport. An active, vibrant, happening city, and there we have had Global Mission pioneers through the years who have planted churches.

Yes, I remember going into the city and seeing lorries, or trucks, filled with people in the back. That was their transportation into the city. So it was a huge challenge—you got a small number of Global Mission pioneers trying to reach a large number of people.

We were there for the Global Mission pioneer training and I'll never forget the person who really stands out to me—of course, it was Pastor Jeremiah, former Global Mission pioneer, who led the singing for the event. He was so vibrant, so enthusiastic, and had such a wonderful story. You suggested we take him out on the street so that we could film him in action.

Yeah, so we went out right in front of the church and set up right there. He started playing music and immediately he had a crowd. And of course his personality is so infectious. He's just so vibrant and has this life about him that people are just drawn to even without the music.

He had his two little kids with him, Benji and Josie. Josie had been really sick. She’d had malaria. She had ulcers on her leg, so she doesn't look overly happy in the video, but she sang! They had walked two hours to come to the event and that evening they were walking another two hours back home.

I'd forgotten that they had walked two hours, but I think that's often the case in many of those areas of the world. What I do remember though is all the children that gathered around when he started singing and playing. We had a crowd.

I remember several years later walking down the corridor at the General Conference and I heard the same song that we had recorded Pastor Jeremiah playing and singing. I poked my head into Ricky Oliveras’ office—he's our video producer—and he was editing. Sure enough, there was Pastor Jeremiah. Ricky knew him as Pastor Lobo. Maybe it's Pastor Jeremiah Lobo, but there he was with his family. We knew him with two kids and a one-month-old baby at home, but now the family had grown and he was still ministering like he has through the years. It was just wonderful to see it.

What was great about that one was that they had little homemade trumpets.

That's right. Beautiful. Well, Global Mission pioneers such as Pastor Jeremiah are working all around the world. Thanks for your prayers, for your financial support. They’re planting churches in places we didn't know we could plant churches. In very difficult circumstances and whenever I meet a Global Mission pioneer living on a basic living stipend, I'm humbled because I say, ‘Lord, I don't know what sacrifice is.’

Please continue to pray for Global Mission pioneers pioneering the gospel around the world.

Like Jesus, I have to continue because we have the mission to go to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.