June 21, 2010 issue
Congo welcomes a lost son
Finding conditions worse than a decade ago, a former MCC Pax worker leads Nebraska church to a new relationship
By Laurie Oswald Robinson Mennonite Weekly ReviewAs the plane descended in 2006 during an inland flight in Congo, Ron Goertzen of Henderson, Neb., felt sorry he had not returned sooner.
During a visit to Congo in February, Ron Goertzen of Henderson, Neb., receives a rabbit and a bunch of plantains in appreciation for Dayspring’s assistance with the roof for a village church. At left is Pastor Athanasse Mesende; at right, and unidentified village leader. — Photo by Ron Goertzen
For the first time since he had served with Mennonite Central Committee’s Pax program from 1969 to 1972, he was returning to Kamalaya, a remote community where he had lived among the Chokwe-Lunda people as an agricultural extension worker.
During the long flight, Goertzen had reflected on his guilt over having let his connections to Congo lapse.
Since coming home in 1972 to work the family farm, he had felt drawn to go back. But the decades marched on as he raised a family of four children with his wife, Linda.
Eventually, he feared he’d waited too long. He feared his ability to speak the local language was lost and that the friendships had disintegrated.
But a conversation with a former missionary’s daughter, who had made the trip a year earlier, inspired him to think about risking a return. And here he was, already on an inland flight but suddenly insecure in his decision.
In the middle of Goertzen’s turmoil, God’s reassurance brought peace.
The words of a song in the Chokwe language “broke into my consciousness in a flood of tears,” Goertzen said. “I realized then I still had some very serious work to do with the Lord before I’d be ready to land.
“I repented of a life that had grown soft, complacent and comfortable and for not staying in closer contact with my Kamayala friends. I grieved over their suffering, and I was well into my second hanky before I felt I had received the Lord’s forgiveness and peace.”
This is the song Goertzen remembered:
Hiluka, hiluka
(Return, return)
Kandanushimbula
(Don’t you wait)
Nzambi matambula
(God will receive you)
Yena Chimwuangi
(You, the prodigal son)
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