To Africa and Back: Journals of a Missionary

By Lorraine Stirneman

I was scared to death. I had just told God I would do WHATEVER HE ASKED. Now I waited to hear what He wanted me to do, and where He wanted me to go. Would I be able to do what He asked? Would I like it? Would I hate it? Would it be too hard? Where would He send me? What if I failed?

All these questions were running through my head, but I knew that once I made a commitment, I would keep it. Eventually God did unveil His plan. I was supposed to go to Bible School, then get a degree in Elementary Education, and go to Africa to teach the children of missionaries.

This involved language study in Switzerland. WOW! That sounded like fun! Join me as I describe what it was like to live in a Swiss Pension, to study French, and to visit Dr. Francis Schaeffer. While in Europe, I had to go to Paris to get a visa. I was scared of traveling alone, but read how God provided a traveling companion at the very last minute and gave us a great weekend in Paris.

I was originally scheduled to teach in the Congo, but due to a serious rebellion there, I was sent to the Central African Republic where I taught five students in a little thatched roof schoolhouse. Between the bats in the attic, the army ants, the red ants, the flying termites, and the huge flying roaches, I slowly began to adjust to African life and actually enjoyed it.

A year later I was sent to the Congo. The rebellion was over (or so we thought) but during our five day trip to my mission station, we were met by rebels with machine guns demanding our truck. As I slept on the floor in a bullet-ridden room with no food or water, I thought to myself that I should be afraid. But I was calm and peaceful, for in spite of the circumstances, I knew that I was in the center of Gods will, the safest place in the world.

The rest of the book describes the joy of teaching at Rethy Academy, the frustration of learning Swahili, the excitement of village evangelism, the seasons of loneliness, the experience of visiting a Pygmy village, the trials and joys of starting youth camps, and the MANY, MANY lessons that I learned about God and how you can trust Him completely, for what He has planned for your life will be good, acceptable, and perfect, and you cant improve on that!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483606996

Lorraine Stirneman

Lorraine Stirneman lives in Philadelphia, PA. where she currently works with BCM International, Inc. She teaches Home Bible Clubs in the inner-city, directs the Summer Ministry, and has conducted Teacher Training Seminars in over twenty countries. She lives with her long-time friend and co-worker, Christine Wigden, (on the right) and their cat “Rafiki”.

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Copyright © 2013 by Lorraine Stirneman.

ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4836-0698-9

Ebook 978-1-4836-0699-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/13/2013

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CONTENTS

Part One

The Early Years

Part Two

Switzerland

Part Three

Central African Republic

Part Four

Democratic Republic Of The Congo

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him my life would be empty and without purpose. With Him I have found joy and satisfaction. He is my All in all.

PART ONE

THE EARLY YEARS

Becoming a child of God

I really came to know the Lord at age 7. Mom had taken me to visit a big church, and as we sat up front, I was listening to the pastor preach about Hell. It scared me to death, and when the invitation was given, I raised my hand to show that I was ready to get saved.

Put your hand down, my mother said. You have already prayed to get saved. She was probably right, but that day I REALLY understood that I was a sinner and in need of a Savior, and nobody could stop me from getting my sins forgiven. A counselor came to pray with me, and from that day on, I knew that Jesus had come into my heart and forgiven my sin and given me the gift of eternal life. How wonderful it was to be a child of God!

Teenage rebellion

As a teenager, I attended church and Sunday School and began to have daily devotions. (Joining a youth group called HiBA helped me to know how to have devotions)

I really loved the Lord, but I was very stubborn, and had an anger problem. Often when I got angry and upset with someone, I would feel convicted and go to my room and cry and ask God to forgive me and make me a nice person. One time I got so mad at my mom that I took my brother’s car, and picked up my girlfriend, and we ran away from home. I was under age, had no driver’s license, and very little experience driving a car, but God was gracious, and we did not have an accident.

We drove to Atlantic City and slept in the car. The next day we were hungry and started looking for a job. That didn’t go very well, so I finally called home and said we needed help. My parents had called the police, so the cops came and put us in jail! That was kind of scary and we didn’t know what to expect next. Finally our pastor came down to get us out of jail, buy us a good meal, and take us home. I was so embarrassed when we got home. My mom didn’t say a word, but my dad hugged me and said he loved me and I should never do that again. It was the first time my dad said he loved me. That was very special, but I learned that it is never good to run away from your problems!

Struggling with commitment

After graduating from high school, I spent a week at Word of Life Island (a camp for teenagers) I’ll never forget Jack Wyrtzen’s message on commitment and the campfire where we were challenged to give ourselves wholly to the Lord. I had been praying about my future and did not have a clue what God wanted me to do with my life. That night by the campfire I began to talk to God.

"Lord, you know I love you. I’ll do anything you want me to do, but PLEASE DON’T ASK ME TO BE A MISSIONARY. "(I was sure that would be a very miserable life, and I didn’t want it) Well, God was silent. As I prayed, I realized God was not going to bargain with me. If I was serious about giving my life to God, it was all or nothing. Yielding myself to Him meant I was willing to let Him call the shots, and I would obey.

But I also knew myself, and I was afraid to go to a foreign country, scared to travel alone, live alone, eat strange foods, scared of lions, snakes and insects, etc. Then I began to talk to myself. Lorraine, who is smarter, you or God? God And who knows the future, you or God? God. And who knows what is best for you? God. So what are you afraid of?? God. But after this conversation, my fear seemed foolish, so I told God I was willing to commit my life to Him with no strings attached, but I added, "if you ask me to be a missionary, I’ll do it, but I’m going to hate it." I think God just laughed at me, because He knew what I didn’t know. He knew I was made to be a missionary, and I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. How foolish we are not to trust our wise and loving creator!

Finally I gave up. Okay, Lord, I yield myself to you completely. I will do whatever you ask, and go wherever you send me. I’m trusting that You know what is BEST for me. That was the BEST decision I have ever made in my life, and I would encourage you to do the same, for God is the wisest and most loving Father in the entire world, and He will always choose what is right for us.

Preparing to serve God

I would not say that God was calling me to be a missionary at that point. He was simply testing my commitment. I decided that whatever He wanted me to do with my life, I should get Bible training. My parents did not have money to send me to college, so I got a factory job for a year and saved up for Bible School.

My four years at Philadelphia College of Bible were the best years of my life up to that point. I made many wonderful friends, learned so much about the Lord, and prayer, and missions, and trusting Him for finances, etc. I attended many mission prayer groups and was very happy to learn that India was not accepting new missionaries. Why was I happy? Because I heard things about India that scared me, and I was sure that’s where God would send me. I had so much to learn about My Father’s love!

During my sophomore year I dated a young man who was planning to serve God in Africa. As a result, we attended prayer groups and conferences and everything connected with Africa. After about a year we stopped dating, but the Lord continued to stir my heart about Africa. (by the way, my friend never went to the mission field: I guess he was just used by God to get my attention)

God began to put a desire in my heart to become a teacher for missionaries’ children, so after graduating from PCB, I applied to the Africa Inland Mission. They challenged me to continue my education and get my teaching credentials. So off I went to Greenville College, Illinois. That was quite an experience.

Learning to pray

As I took classes in elementary education, I also attended a prayer group started by George Verwer of Send the Light, Inc. We began praying for some unsaved students on campus, and during the next year, every one of them got saved! It was amazing! This group was serious about prayer, and we met every single day, and twice a month we prayed all night!

My roommate, Faye and I were praying for a guy named Wes Smith. He was very arrogant, immoral, and very critical of Christianity. We prayed, and the group prayed, and one day in the cafeteria, Wes stood up on a table and yelled, Everyone please be quiet! I have an announcement to make. Last night my friend and I went to the professor’s house, woke him up and told him we were ready to get saved. I am now a Christian!

Faye and I were ecstatic, for we saw it as an answer to prayer. But many of our classmates were dubious and would not believe that this was the real thing. He was probably just making a joke. They didn’t recognize the power of God. Wes married a sweet Haitian girl from school, and together they became missionaries.

We prayed for a big burly football player who seemed to have no interest in the Lord. Our prayer group leader, Dave, was especially concerned for this guy’s salvation, but shared with us that he didn’t know how to approach him. We prayed, and God worked it out. One day this football player walked into Dave’s room, sat down by his desk, and asked, Dave, what do I have to do to get saved? WOW! What an answer to prayer!

I had a burden for Sandy, a senior from Greece. She was very intelligent, and I was intimidated by her, and afraid to share the Gospel. Then one day I saw her talking with Howdy Doody. That wasn’t his real name, but we all called him that because he had a square head and sat straight as a board, and it reminded us of the puppet. Anyway, there was Howdy Doody sitting in the lounge, sharing the Gospel with Sandy, and she got saved! WOW! That was so exciting, but also a lesson for me to realize that God can use anyone, and I was wrong to poke fun of this young man because of his appearance. "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" I Samuel 16:7

George Verwer visited our campus one day, and encouraged our prayer group to consider going to Mexico on a short term mission’s trip. Well, we promised to pray for Mexico, but none of us were interested in spending our Christmas vacation selling literature in Mexico, and we were all poor students trying to pay our college fees, so how could we afford this trip?

This was another test of faith, and soon God began to show many of us that we should trust Him, for He was more than able to supply all our needs. I was doing student teaching at the time, and when I mentioned the trip to my teacher, she gave me a check for the entire amount! I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say. Is this how God works when we step out in faith??

Our trip to Mexico was quite an experience. We were told to take one pillow case full of clothes and personal effects. We turned over all money to the group leader. We traveled by car for several days, taking turns driving or sleeping. When we got to Mexico we were taken to the home of a Christian family who spoke no English. There were a few beds, but most of us had to sleep on the floor. Every day we had devotions and prayer and then set out to go door-to-door selling Christian literature. Before the trip, we had memorized about 10 sentences in Spanish which we rattled off at each house: I am a student from the United States. I have brought some books and literature to sell. These books are very good and will help you to know God. Surprisingly, the people received us gladly, and many bought the material and we had opportunity to witness to those who knew some English. I learned that if you use what little you have, God will bless it.

After graduation, I again contacted AIM, and was told that I needed to get some teaching experience. I taught for one year in a public school in NJ and paid off all my debts. Then I taught for a year at Delaware County Christian School. This was such a BLESSING! I loved my fourth grade students, I learned so much from our principal, and made some wonderful friends. Dawn was the kindergarten teacher, and soon we became good friends. She later married my brother, so we are family! During this time I lived with Jean Linder who became my best friend and helped send out my prayer letters for many years.

As I was still preparing to go to Africa, I resigned from DCCS, and before I left, the school adopted me as their missionary. This meant that for many, many years there were approximately three hundred children praying for ‘Miss Lorraine.’ What a blessing! God is so good.

Disappointed with God

I had been praying for my support. I refused to beg for money. I would share my burden, tell people the need, and ask for prayer. I figured that if God wanted me to go to the Congo, He would provide. I claimed Philippians 4:19 my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus However, as time went on, I