SPEAKER_01 0:00

Here comes the sun do. Here comes the thing. It's all right.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Hello, fortitude audience. My name is Heather Kittelson, and I am your host. And I am sitting next to my fantastic husband, Amos, who is my co-host. Hi. And today in our studio, we have two wonderful, wonderful people who are not from the United States. They have flown over the sea and are with us today. And we have Bentu and we have a Luke. So hello and thank you for being here. Yes. I love it. And that is not a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Turns out they lived just hours away from my where I used to live in Germany. It's just so fun having them here for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

I didn't even tell you.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

No, I didn't know. He didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

I knew he was going to, yeah. We we don't share a lot before people come onto the podcast. I get the guests, and then he gets the pleasure of learning about the guests usually the day of. And I knew you two from living over in Germany that he would be really excited once he heard the accents. So surprise. Thanks. For our audience, uh Amos lived in Germany for five years, and we went on vacation there two years ago. And it was the most magnificent thing I'd ever experienced. I just had no idea what he had always been talking about. You all know how to do leisure really well. That's something that I I just I didn't realize was a thing because I had never experienced it before. And being in Germany, people really do know how to relax. Yeah. Are you able to relax?

SPEAKER_05 1:56

We try.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Je le suis.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yes. Okay. Look very relaxed. You relax right now.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Both of them. So, Bentu, you are originally from the Congo. Yes. And we were just talking that there are two Congo's.

SPEAKER_05 2:14

Can you please explain that? Yeah, we have one Congo who's big, which is big and at the center of Africa.

unknown 2:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 2:22

And that's Congo, Kinshasa. Kinshasa is the capital. And it was colonized by the Belgian the Belgians. Okay. And we have another Congo that is in the in the north. It's smaller.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 2:36

And uh its capital is Brazzaville. And it was colonized by the French. And uh I think it's better that I don't go back to this history of it because it's a long time. It's long, it's history. Yeah, it's a long time.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

So is French your native your native language?

SPEAKER_05 2:56

Well, not my native language, but the official language.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:00

We inherited it from the colonials.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

And you grew up with it?

SPEAKER_05 3:04

Yes. So it's like when you you when you you at home we would talk, we would speak Swahili, but when we went to school at six uh years of age, we would start with French. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Completely different languages, Swahili and French. Nothing similar about those at all.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Wow. And just also so the audience knows, Luke does speak English and has English dialect, but however, you will be translating periodically with some of the questions that we ask. Yes. So yes. So if the audience hears a little bit of chatter, they're they're they're doing a little bit of translating. So um, but okay, if you can explain to our audience, because you have such a beautiful life and living in the Congo and then living over in in Europe, and you are running a nonprofit, and there's so you have a very complex, beautiful life. Um, the way that Bentu and I met was through a mutual friend Steph. And Bentu joined one of my classes, which was so fun because you joined via Zoom. Yes, and it was so fun just to get to to know you and and learn from you. You brought so much to our class of 18 people that we had together over Zoom. And so getting to know you has it's just been like I wanted to know more and more, and we've been able to connect multiple times, and I yeah got to meet your board for your nonprofit. So tell us about your upbringing, and then I want to get into your nonprofit so people are aware of the needs and what is actually happening over in Africa and what you are serving. Okay, so let's go to your childhood. Tell us about Bentu as a little girl.

SPEAKER_05 4:56

So I was born in uh Bukavu, and um we had a president called Mobutu back then, because our country was called Zaire. And uh and Mobutu was a president for 32 years. So he was a president for a long time. I only knew him until I was I was uh adult. And uh and so and it was a peaceful life, even if it was tough, because uh there was no security, I like social security services or anything like that. And and it's still like that today. But back then um it it was difficult, but at least it was peaceful. And uh and because it was peaceful, people could do businesses and and things like that. So I grew up in a family where my pastor, my father was a pastor. So, and uh he was a pastor for more than 50 years. Wow, and um but I grew up with my sister and her husband, my older sister. In our culture, when you get married, if you are the older uh sibling, you it's like you have the responsibility of your younger siblings. And so my sister took me with her and considered me like her daughter. So I grew up uh with my nephews as if they were my siblings. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

And what was the age difference between you and your sister?

SPEAKER_05 6:39

Oh, she was uh more than 20 years older than me.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Oh, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

So So what is in in your culture, because that's not what we do here, right? So that's a unique that's a unique way to to be raised. And that is that is not the normal. That is normal over in Africa.

SPEAKER_05 6:59

Well, it I thought it was the norm at that time. I really thought so. And I think it's still you still carry some responsibility for your siblings, for your younger siblings until today. But it's uh of course it's evolving, it's changed, it's changing.

SPEAKER_04 7:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:17

But it it used to be really, really strong.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Okay. Yeah. And was that how how was that on you? Huh?

SPEAKER_05 7:24

Well, it was so natural. Okay. Uh my parents gave me away like that, and uh and I started calling my sister Mama. Okay. And I considered her like my second mom. But uh because uh our where we lived wasn't very far from my parents, we were visiting and it was just, I mean, I it's just like I was I had uh two sets of parents. Okay. So it was it was cool.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Right?

SPEAKER_03 7:57

I think yeah, it's just it's so hard. Cultures can be so different, you know, and I think it's hard for us as Americans to grasp that, calling your sister mother. But that's a very loving thing to do, isn't it? Yeah and what a what a loving thing for her to do. Here we kind of go, we're married, so see ya.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Right?

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Now we would start setting up boundaries, but that's uh another beautiful way of looking at it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Because I guess the reason if a younger sibling goes with another sibling is usually because the parents are unfit in America. So it's a totally different way of living, but it it's beautiful. So thank you for sharing that. And you so you went to university, so you went to school and you were raised. What what did that look like before you went to Europe, your time over?

SPEAKER_05 8:49

We we grew up uh in a very peaceful place, like I said. But when I was getting, when I was I was going to be 20, and it was on my birthday actually when it started, and it was the first time that we started hearing gunshots. And we knew what was coming because it was in 96 and in 94 the genocide in Rwanda brought in Rwanda, brought refugees into our country. A lot of people came in, I mean millions. And uh because we only share a border, like it's a it's just uh a bridge, and people would just come in like I mean, many, many people. And so that was two years before it started in our country. And so when we started hearing the gunshots, we we knew something bad was happening. So my sister and my brother-in-law, who were responsible for me, they went and told our parents that yeah, we need to leave because it's not good. And my father said, I cannot leave my sheep. I uh I'm a pastor, and uh, those who are not going to be able to go anywhere, they need to to help me. So my father stayed, and my mother and one of our siblings, or a couple of them, and uh the other part of the family just started marching. Walking. Yes, marching because yeah, we we marched for 28 days, literally. Every day we woke up and marched and walked some more on uh 30, 50 kilometers, and uh we just had to walk as much as we could until we got to in the next village at sunset to find a place to sleep. And we did that for 28 days until we got to a place where we could fly, because at least, and I thank God for that, we had money to pay for a ticket to go to another place. Some people didn't have that, yeah. So that's how we left our country and went to live in Kenya for a year in refuge. And after Kenya, we went back to Bukavu when things seemed to be better. But uh so that was 96, 97, 98, it started again, and we had to find a way to leave again. But that time it didn't get to Kinshasa, the capital. So we were able to fly to Kinshasa and stay there.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 11:54

And it's from Kinshasa that I was now able, with the help of my sister and my my my brother-in-law, to go to Belgium, not as refugees, but as uh as uh students. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

Where's Kinshasa?

SPEAKER_05 12:13

Kinshasa is uh the capital of my country, Congo.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

I see, okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

So you were you not only had you had to flee once, and then you had you didn't have to necessarily flee again, you chose to go to college to get away.

SPEAKER_05 12:30

Yeah, no, it wasn't to go away, to get away really, because my my my sister and my brother-in-law, they were businessmen. Okay. So they they started doing their business in Kinshasa. So they settled in Kinshasa.

unknown 12:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 12:48

And so we we found some kind of uh normal life in Kinshasa. And it wasn't as if we were fleeing again.

unknown 12:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

It was just like, okay, now you need to do your university studies, and uh, here's an opportunity to go to Europe. And so my brother-in-law, who knew a lot of people, he he has he has he had been to Europe several times before that. Okay. Um, and uh he even um took me once and my my nephews. So we we we found another life in in Kinshasa, and and so yeah, do you want do you want to go to continue studies in Belgium? Oh yes. Sure.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

When do we go? When do we leave?

SPEAKER_05 13:42

So is your family all safe? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 13:46

Yes, nobody, nobody was uh was hurt during that time. Uh my father was attacked because, and I don't know if you know much about the conflicts between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, but uh my father welcomed Tutsis and Hutus and everybody else who wanted to stay. To the church? No, to our home. Okay. And so our like our sitting room was full of people on the ground living there, doing everything there because there were gunshots uh outside and people didn't want to go outside. So and these people who were taking over came in and they say, Oh, so you're the one who's keeping enemies. And he said, Oh no, I'm not keeping enemies, I'm keeping children of God. And they say, Oh, children of God, you are keeping hutus here. And he said, I I don't care. Hutus, tutus, if they're children of God, then they're my children.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Dad sounds like a wonderful man.

SPEAKER_05 15:00

And they hit him badly with the back of a weapon. And somebody who saw that told us, I mean, I don't know how we got the the message, the news. Oh, they killed your father. So we did the rest of the walking grieving our father, thinking he died, and he didn't. They only hit him, but they didn't kill him. But he did he ended up dying, you know, um naturally in 2015.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

And 15. Yeah. What a wonderful man. Sounds like he led a lot of people to the Lord. Yes. And so you were raised in that. Yes. You had a earthly father that shined God's light. Yes. So you you have been around it and have always known the Lord in an intimate level in an intimate setting. Did you on your walk ever have a moment of crying out to God? Why?

SPEAKER_05 16:07

Yeah. Yes, because it was completely confusing. We felt like we were good people and we didn't deserve that. We welcomed the hootus, we welcomed the Tootsis, and now we are fleeing because we were hospitable. So every night we when we got to a place where we could sit and uh pray together, we prayed to God with the sorrow like David. Sometimes we said, You have abandoned us.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

It was difficult. The phrase of um what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And there's been we've had a few other guests on our podcast that you said you had listened to, who also was a part of the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Africa. And we have a speaker here in the Sioux Falls Empire area who is one of the lost girls. And her story is just beautiful. The the terror that they went through and different things. And so, Bentu, it's just it's an it's an honor to have you here and you continue to serve the Lord on such a beautiful in so many beautiful ways. Um, and so Cher, you and Steph met when once you went over to Belgium and you were in Germany, and um that whole story it that's beautiful all in itself, how you guys have met and you met at a church over there. Yeah um, but while you were there, because you how how many years did you live there? And then what what's the story of everything you experienced? Because now you're doing full-time ministry for your for for your home country. So just lead us through that a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 18:14

So in Belgium, I wanted to do interpretation. So when I got there, I was 25 years old, and I started at an interpretation university. I know it was going to be very difficult, but that's what I wanted to do. And so somebody led me to a church, an American church, that was uh located near the the NATO uh base. So that's where I met all my American friends that have become family today. Um so uh and I didn't I didn't get a degree in interpretation. I ended up uh going to do French education because my heart was really to go back home, and I wanted to do something that would allow me to do things when I go back home.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 19:11

So but it was a divine appointment at the International Baptist Church in Derby because I met during my four years that I attended that church, I met the people who have become family who are making me travel today with my husband without paying a hotel room or without paying for food or anything. And I think my husband is really enjoying my friends, my family in America. And so I think it it's it was a moment, difficult moment, even in Belgium, but God had so much to give me at that place. And he was also preparing for a husband for me in that place. Yes, he was.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

So let's uh Luke had a desire. Let's say the Holy Spirit gave you a desire and kept bringing things up you said about Africa.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Oh, said it's a long story.

SPEAKER_05 20:37

Uh to simplement it started with uh with uh just an African map on a on a wall. And then every day it's an African map somewhere. And and I started praying, oh God, it's weird today. I didn't get an African map. And every time I finish my prayer, I would see one. Sur the canyons, on tracks, on walls, everywhere. And one day I started asking, Why are you sending me this map? The first that happened, it was when I was brushing my teeth. My my toothpaste made it an African map. This is just to tell you that God is really has a sense of humor. Yes, he does. I talked to our niece Bintu, and then he she led me to Bintu. And then we we started talking. And then I understood why I was seeing Africa. We talked, and then I went to Africa. And my I my goal was reached. I found my spouse.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

So good.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

It's so I have a kind of an opposite opposite story where I tried to, I was living in Europe, I was trying to try to stay in Europe and trying to find a relationship in Europe. And I had to come back all the way to South Dakota to meet my Heather.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Again, sense of humor.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Very much.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

And how long have you been married now?

SPEAKER_05 23:00

Four years. In next May.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

So, Luke, what do you do for work? He worked in uh the pharmaceutical sector.

SPEAKER_05 23:13

Okay. And still? Now I feel like God is directing me to another direction. Again, he used humour to show me that he was uh he wanted me to change past. He started uh with the word when I was reading the word. He invited me to the king's uh table and uh dressed in a nice clothes and just enjoy the food. And I knew that I was going to quit my job in a way or another, not to enjoy uh uh partying. But to to serve him.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Is it in Africa?

SPEAKER_05 24:18

But for now I'm in the US.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

So see Setunista.

SPEAKER_05 24:24

That is also another very, very uh story, very uh full of humor.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Being here in the US, I was like, Yes, it also started with uh a map.

SPEAKER_05 24:41

When I was walking because I like, I I love walking, uh nearby my house. I was seeing all these uh this uh um towns, and I was feeling like I was in America.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

But I was in Belgium, and I understood that I was going to come here and now I'm here.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

And you never have been to America. This is your first time.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

I happen to know that Belgium looks nothing like America. I don't know how you saw that.

SPEAKER_05 25:18

Yeah, he would tell me sometimes we were writing, uh he would say, I'm feeling like this looks like America, and I'll say, okay.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Is it like the Bronx to York or is it an upscale?

SPEAKER_05 25:32

Yeah, I think God was preparing him. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

He's always preparing us, always preparing us. I just had a conversation with someone else today about that. Uh and been to, had you been to America before?

SPEAKER_05 25:44

Yes, several times, um more than more than ten times, really, uh before COVID.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Okay. Yeah. So raised as a Christian, or you said nine years ago, eight years ago, Luke you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Do you mind sharing a little bit of that story? How did that come about? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

I was atheist. Say that again. I was atheist. Atheist, you did not believe at all. Okay. My family also is still.

SPEAKER_05 26:29

Everything started uh a little bit longer than seven years now. I was sick. And because of this, my situation was going worse. And uh God proposed me to turn back. The first relationship that I had with God, the first encounter I was seven years old, evident without knowing. The seed, the very first seed was planted.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

I was home, with my parents, and we were watching TV.

SPEAKER_05 27:21

And it was the first TV that we had. And that day, a movie was uh was uh it's it was a movie, a four-hour movie. The ten commandments.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

I was gonna there's only one four-hour movie.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Was your family watching it?

SPEAKER_05 27:49

It was the first time that it was streaming, so we were all watching. Yeah, and it was this actor.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

With the big hair, yes.

SPEAKER_05 28:01

What impressed me? It was the column of fire that was before or after the Israelites. And seeing Moses um uh on his knees. Uh hear God speak. At that age, I already just started thinking. So this is God. But never I I never really thought about learn but uh in the opposite, every time I I had an opportunity depart la recherche de religion when I was looking, seeking for religion, I was uh going further and farther from God until the day he came and drew me closer. Seven years ago. That's when I I realized the importance of the relationship that we have with him. I lived almost a month, and thinking and wondering and crying.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Like David, I was uh feeling like I think everyone goes through that repentance, I I call it uh deliverance because we have the grace to know our father.

SPEAKER_05 29:54

And I teach his words and I tell to my sisters and brothers that the first thing is that stone Jesus Christ the cornerstone called Jesus when we sit on it for the first time and when we look in the in the heaven, and we can say thank you, Lord. And since then my days are with him, and I feel like it's so short, seven years. So when I meet with young people, I tell them you have the grace of knowing him. Younger.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

Thank you. I could sit and listen to that fifty times over. Oh, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. So that seed that was planted. Years later.

SPEAKER_05 31:32

I hope that that seed will give fruits.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

Oh, for sure. You are today. Today's possible amen. So how beautiful is that that he was preparing your heart because Bentu needed a man of God. And I don't and I don't know that you would have settled for any less.

SPEAKER_05 31:58

Oh no. I was praying for a man of God. I was praying for a man after the heart of God.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:07

And I I knew that I was going to that I was going to marry a servant of God, but I just didn't know where he would come from. And I would have never thought he would come from Belgium.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Where did you think he was gonna come from? Congo. From the Congo.

SPEAKER_05 32:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Okay, you thought you would marry a native man of yours.

SPEAKER_05 32:33

Yes, when I finished my studies, I wanted to go back. And I I had friends in Belgium, but I wanted to go back because I knew that's where I belonged and that's why God wanted me. Because I knew that what I learned in Belgium was needed more in Congo.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Mm-hmm. You know, when God continues to show you something over and over, like Africa, even in your toothpaste, how you explain that, it is something to pay attention to. I our audience, I think you've heard that multiple times in talking with our guests. They always will say that God continued to show something and repeat in different ways, right?

SPEAKER_03 33:21

I love the toothpaste thing. I'm gonna look at my toothpaste face. A little bit differently that said that. Was it the fresh toothpaste or was it the spit-out toothpaste? So I did some I did some math. And you said you walked about 40 kilometers a day for 28 days. And that turns out to be 1120 kilometers over the 28 days. Which turns out to be about 1,855 miles, which is about a 26-hour drive. I'm not sure I did my math right.

SPEAKER_05 33:58

I I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 33:59

I don't have my calculator on me, so I'll do it the old fashioned way. It has been a while.

SPEAKER_05 34:03

Yeah, there are days when we don't, we didn't, when we reached a place where we couldn't walk because there was a reason or another. Because you know, there were rebels in this, in this, um, in this um place. And so because we were going through, we had to go through a forest, a deep rain forest. And uh, and so some days were shorter than others because the work was too bad. Oh yeah. Uh some days were big were longer than others, and then we we found um a truck. And this was a miracle because my brother-in-law was uh he was a businessman, like I said, and he had uh he had a bakery. And uh he had some trucks that were d delivering uh bread in different places. And so before when the war started, the rumors started, one uh one of our drivers, one of his drivers, came to ask him, can you please let me take the truck that I use so that I can uh I can I can take my my family to a to a safer place. And uh and my my brother-in-law said, Oh yeah, who knows what is going to happen. If you can save that one, then yeah, go ahead and save your family. So we were struggling because nobody could have taken their car, because the cars were targeted. Um our soldiers who were actually running, they were fleeing. They started, uh, because they had weapons, they started uh asking privates to give the the cars so that they could escape the the enemy. So the the these people were coming in knowing that all the cars were now owned by the military. So they were just bombarding the without question. We had some friends, some close friends that died like that because they tried to escape with their car and they were just killed.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

So a long, dangerous journey. If we if we went with that average, just for context, that's like driving to Florida from here, Sioux Falls. Yeah. It's a 26-hour drive. So the very long, very dangerous road. And here, Luke is there's a seed planted early in his life. You go through and he's then an atheist for a long time, right? Surrounded by that. And then you go through this very long journey. And but somehow God orchestrated this where you guys come together and I clearly see you guys are happy together. I think it's just it's just obvious, it's so fun to look at.

SPEAKER_02 36:56

There's this like round aura around the two of them that just bleeds love. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 37:04

Told me it has been difficult the beginning. Yeah, because both of us are adults, uh grown-ups, and uh with a very, very tough character. So, but God has uh has been working on us.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

We know. We know. We know it's wrapping. We get that.

unknown 37:27

It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

It is a work in progress every day.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Every day. Every day.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

And I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful to to work hard and have the conversations that make us better and want to continue to seek what else is there. Because we we we're all new. We're new, we're new every day, right? So explain your ministry now, Bento, because you do still have a huge heart for Africa and you still serve Africa, even though you still live in Belgium. Yes. Yes. Can you explain a little bit about your ministry?

SPEAKER_05 38:02

Yes, absolutely. So when I in 2005, because I was already living in Belgium, I went back to see my family. Having lived in Europe for so long, when I went back home, it I felt like my home was trashy because it was right after that first uh period of war, and uh some of the buildings were down, um, the roads, and I I just looked at that and I felt like oh my goodness, my home city is uh destroyed physically, but also when I started talking to people, I found out that everyone was just thinking about going. I mean, almost not everyone, uh but almost every young person I talked to told me, yeah, I want to go abroad. And that just broke my heart because I was living abroad, and my heart was to come back home. So I felt like who's going to be here when I come back? Everybody is trying to go. So um my uh vision became it became to how do I how do I bring back hope in a place where so many young people are in despair and they're just desperate and they don't see anything. It's like everything is blurry. That's how I started thinking about this ministry. And at that point, I just finished my French education three-year, and I had my I was going to have my my degree, so I started thinking about okay, what kind of projects can I start to help bring hope home. When I went back to Belgium, and everybody started asking, oh, I've been to how's home? How's home? I I just started crying, weeping, and home is bad. So my friends, these people that God has really appointed at IBC, they would tell me, oh, what can we do? And that's how it started. And uh when I finished my master's, they said, Bintu, how can we how can we support you so that you can start your ministry in Congo without wanting, without seeking for a job, for a paying job. And that's how I started.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

And what do you what is the hope that you bring? What are the tools, the vehicle behind that?

SPEAKER_05 41:02

Oh, uh it started with a program, uh, library program. Just yeah, reading. Okay. Um, I went when I went the first time I saw that schools were crowded. I mean, in one classroom, you would find like 70 students in a 20 by 20 meters classroom. 70, and and today it's worse in some places. But you would find 70, they only have one teacher, and that's it. Uh, no material, nothing. No printed books, nothing. Just a teacher that's passionate about teaching. A chalk and a blackboard.

unknown 41:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 41:44

So that was my first. How can I bring a solution for some of these kids who will never get a one-to-one with their teacher because there are plenty. I mean, you have to have it to be a generous to pass a class where a teacher is teaching such a big number of students. So that's how we we started with the library, a couple tables, chairs, and when the students would uh when the students were finished uh school, school finished at uh around 12, I would start teaching them. Okay, come come with your material. We need to we need to work on your what you learned. That's how it started. And today we have more than 10 programs around education.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

Wonderful. And so you supply the materials. Do you have uh staff that are over there? So you have hired staff that are there doing the one-on-one education? Yes. And helping these students. Um do you employ local nat local NATOs or do you send over people?

SPEAKER_05 43:05

Oh no. I've learned I've learned the asset-based community development. We do with what we have. And so that's how it started with what we had. What can we do? We have we can have chairs, we can have tables, we don't need funds for that. And now we also have we also have um focus business school as an entrepreneurial class for uh based on biblical principles for adults. Okay. We also have other programs in in that same mindset.

SPEAKER_01 43:45

So for those who what it what is the name of your ministry?

SPEAKER_02 43:49

Future Hope Africa. Future Hope Africa. Yes. And do you have your own school over there or do you work with the schools that are already in operation?

SPEAKER_05 43:58

We actually work with. Worked with uh schools that are already in operation, and ours was just a center where we welcome people and do different programs. Okay. But for the first time three years ago, we started a school. And that came from uh my my collaborators. They said, you know what? We've gained so much reputation. If we started a school, people will send their kids. And so we've started a kindergarten, and uh this will be the third year that we we are actually operating.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

In operation. How many students do you have?

SPEAKER_05 44:38

Ten. Ten this year. It went down because we had to change locations. And uh yeah, so we we have uh been blessed with a a a building that was bigger than what we had before.

unknown 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:53

But because of many circumstances, we we couldn't we couldn't market uh the way we wanted. And so this year was a bit uh down. But we are hoping that next next year we're gonna have maybe 30, and then we'll grow from there.

SPEAKER_02 45:13

Wow. Yeah. 30 little lives, right? Like just 10 or just 20. And it's like, no, even one matters. Yes, absolutely. One little soul who's gonna change the world just because of your program. So thank you for what for what you're doing for your for your home. Um is your mom still over there? Yes. Your mom's still there, and your brothers and sisters and your family are all still over there. So are they a part of this?

SPEAKER_05 45:40

Well, some of them. Okay, okay. We we are we are born from the same family, but we don't always have the same calling. So but they all support what we do. They love it.

SPEAKER_02 45:52

Wonderful, wonderful. So, what was the um as we close up here? I would love to hear what the dynamic of with Luke and you being part of his family now. So you have two strong believers in Jesus Christ. Yes, and Luke's family are still atheist. So, what is the dynamic like?

SPEAKER_05 46:27

We just it starts with Christ. Like in uh every family family, we we keep that relationship. But as a Christian couple, we have the grace of showing who is Christ, and that's when you see the difference when there's a problem, the way we react as children of God, and that's the message that we need to show in our families, or with our colleagues or people in the streets, and to it's just to show the hand of Jesus, show a love, even if it's difficult for us. That's when they see that we have a message, and especially in atheist uh families. Because it's not our family that we are fighting, the things behind that are keeping it for from becoming Christian.

SPEAKER_04 47:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 47:53

So what advice for those the audience that is out there listening to our podcast? What advice do you have for the atheist or the person who is curious?

SPEAKER_05 48:12

The advice that I give to those who know Christ is to keep their uh trust in Jesus. Because we're in we are in a non-Christian family. It's it's like we are uh we are near a uh a ledge. Yeah, a ledge, yes.

SPEAKER_02 48:43

Wow, check you out. I've been on a ledge before, so I know where you're at.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Oh the consequencal don't sit for the scope for the person who so christian ke some on relation with uh the person non Christian.

SPEAKER_05 49:03

Yeah, that's the the advice that we give to people who are Christian and who are in rel in relationship with uh people who are not Christian.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 49:20

When uh you uh the sentiment de qui d'amour. Oh yeah. You have to keep that uh that love uh feeling to your family strong. Yeah. The fire.

SPEAKER_00 49:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 49:33

Fire. The most important is not to lose hope. Continue to have faith in the messages that God has given us.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

The word of God, the word of God is for all of us, and when we have that relationship with God.

SPEAKER_05 50:03

We have uh messages, particular messages like what I had with an African map. According to what we have in our heart and through the the image that we show from God, Christian qui soon proche de nous. To attract people in our family and others, other people around us. We need to give them uh hunger, the hunger of God. Because of the light that we are. He says that he's uh he's the the the bread and the wine. We should give them we should give them the the uh we should give them envy uh language and to eat Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 51:12

Yes. The why the body and the blood, yes.

SPEAKER_05 51:16

Yeah, the thirst and the hunger of God.

SPEAKER_02 51:21

And just by seeing how we love and how we act. It makes people curious.

SPEAKER_03 51:27

Yeah, what's different?

SPEAKER_02 51:28

You're different.

SPEAKER_06 51:29

There's something different about it. Something different about you.

SPEAKER_02 51:35

Well, praise Jesus that He brought the two of you together, and you are now a force that is unstoppable. And it's neat to see you both here and being in America and shining your light here and being here to just love on our guests too and share your story is really special. So thank you both for being here. Thank you for I guess educating also, because you've been sharing a lot about some stuff that our audience may not be familiar with. So thank you for educating them on the life that you live in Africa. And um, if people want to support you, we will make sure that there is a link in our in the bio of of this. And if they want to reach out to you, is that okay to learn more? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

Because it's feeding hope after futurehopeafrica.com.org.org. Okay. Very good.

unknown 52:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 52:33

Thanks so much for being here.

SPEAKER_01 52:34

Thanks so much for having us.

SPEAKER_03 52:36

Thank you both very much. Thank you so much for listening. We want to change lives through this podcast. And if you want to support this podcast or our guests, please see the links below for our Patreon and giving links.

SPEAKER_02 52:46

And like and subscribe and also share our podcast as much as possible. Thank you.