THRIVE Spring Summer 2023

EMPOW
12 / thrive Spring/Summer 2023
NATIONAL W
still remember the moment: Gord
I Chambers and I were standing by
the side door of the house where he
had spent much of his time as a young
boy. We were 800 kilometres from
Kinshasa in the remote but beautiful
village of Tonu in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. He shared how
on that night in 1960, as his parents
and other Canadian missionaries were
praying for God’s direction, he heard scratches on the screen
door by the kitchen. He was 16 years old at the time and knew
that with the Congo’s recent independence from Belgium, many
Congolese were out for blood, and that white Westerners had
become targets. That year was a tense time to be a missionary
in the Congo! In spite of the risk, Gord’s parents and the other
Canadian missionaries were seeking confirmation from the
Lord as to when they should leave. Gord relived the moment as
he imitated with his hand on the same kitchen door the scratching
motion he heard that night. He then told me how when he
got to the door, he saw a villager who immediately asked, “Is Mr.
Dolby here? I need to speak to him now!”
Upon arriving in Kinshasa, one is struck by the all-encompassing
presence of the Christian faith. There are churches on every
corner, worship music in every store, verses written on taxis,
and church names printed on people’s clothes. The first time I