THE LION'S

See the Lion of the tribe of Judah .. . has triumphed"

BOB & DAWN BAIRD

Elizabeth, Rachel & Joshua

IN
ZAIRE
AFRICA

September 1985

MAN...BODY and SOUL

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we
see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you
something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and

invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit
you?'"

The king will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Mat
thew 25:37-40)

In America, in the areas where we lived, in the churches

where we attended, there were very few strangers or poor or

sick or prisoners to minister to in the way Jesus ministered to

those people. Our ministry was primarily in the spiritual
sense, the feeding of the hungry spirit, direction for the lost,
care of the discouraged, the release of those spiritually
imprisoned. Sometimes, In looking back, Ithink we were not

particularly aware of those needs of the other part of man,

the physical part.
Man is earth made flesh and the breath of God; he is a living

being. In Africa, in Zaire, it is so different from America.

Poverty, disease, injustice, and refugeeism are ways of life.
Our eyes are open. We seek the perfect balance of God in
giving to the whole man. And there is a balance, not to ignore
one for the other, but to meet the "now" need as Jesus healed
and fed and released and visited. Maybe the problem is that
we have made a separation between body and Spirit that God
never intended. Can we feed the hungry and have it be a

spiritual feast? Can we visit the prisoners and provide

spiritual release? Can we heal the sickness of the body and
the spirit together?

The King will reply, "Whatever you did for one of the least
of these . . . you did for mel"

HOSPITAL
(This newsletter is a long time arriving due to
mailing delays from Zaire. The news contained
herein, however, is still pertinent to the work
now being done.)

ACM has received a wonderful opportunity

here in Zaire. The government has turned over
to us two hospitals, one in the south in a town
called Mwinga and another right here in
Bafwasende. These hospitals were built when
the Belgians were in authority and have never
been used to their capacity. We were chosen
out of all the Missions in Zaire to be asked to
take over these facilities and to use them to their

capacities.

The hospital here In Bafwasende was con

structed very well those many years ago. There

Doctor's home

are two doctors' homes, six ward buildings,

surgery, maternity, gynecology, pharmacy,

storage, nurses' quarters, morgue, classrooms,
laundry, cafeteria, generator facilities, water
tank, and water pumping station. Isaid this was
constructed well, but it was constructed in the

50's, independence and war came in the 60's,

and then throughout the 70's it was used only
minimally. The water pump was stolen, the
generator and electrical supplies were
scavenged, the water tower was shot full of
holes. Over the years water pipes rusted,
electrical

lines

corroded,

windows

were

broken, door locks ripped out, refuse piled up

and the overall conditions worsened. Today we

have a shell to fill and use again for the good of

the people of Zaire; for their good and His
Glory.

On January 30th Ed Nichols and Ed Hegler

Maternity ward

flew into Bafwasende. One week later Howard

Growl, Pete Seal and Wayne McGee arrived by

truck from Bukavu carrying a portable welder
and supplies for working on the Hospital. How
can I describe to you what this work has been
like? First of all there are no construction
materials available here ~ no hardware,

electrical supplies, generator parts, pumps or

piping. The closest point of supplies is 168

miles away in Kisingani. But even there not
everything is available that we need. Can you
imagine not being able to buy glass for a broken
window? What about for 100 broken windows?

Ed Nichols had to fly to the capital city of

Kinshasa for glass for the windows. We found a
water pump in Kisingani for the water system.

We brought It out and after four days of very

hard work replacing everything between the
water source and the pump, we found out that
the pump was not big enough for the job. We

got the only pump that was available in

Kisingani. The generator runs, but all the
electrical system is not there to generate with.
Maybe Ed Nichols will be able to find that in
Kinshasa??? We are cleaning and fixing a lot of
little things, and making storage areas secure,
but we have stopped at the two most important
areas of water and electricity. That is how
things like this go in Zaire.
The month of February has been very busy

WHEN WE'RE GONE...

What happens to the Bible Institute and the
Theological Education program? When Larry
Doggett went home on furlough Itook over the
work in Bomili and Bafwasende. Now that I am

going home i have to find someone to continue

the work or it will all come to a stop. Well, God

has provided two people. Mike Nichols and

Babunga, a preacher from Bukavu, will take
over for me during furlough. When the flight
comes in once a month, one will get off here and

one will go on to Bomili. This will be an added

expense for Mike to fly up and to provide
materials needed. Please pray for him in this
Laundry, storage, classroom, and cafeteria

commitment that he has made on our behalf.

What will happen to our home? While we are

on furlough we will continue to rent the
house/store here in Bafwasende. We will pack

up all our personal items, except books, into

barrels and store them alt inone ijedroom. This

will leave quite a lot of space for other people to
stay here if the need arises. We are leaving out
supplies for those who might be staying here.
Our books will be left out on the shelves

because they tend to mold confined in barrels.

Because we are maintaining a house with our

things we have to also leave our workers on the

job for the year we are gone. They will be
guarding and caring for everything. We will
have two people on during the day and two on at
night. The day people will be cleaning,

checking for bugs and rats and taking care of

our dog, Thoren Oakenshietd. The night
Water pumping station

for us. We have had up to six extra people in our

home at one time. I have been to Kisingani
twice for supplies for the hospital and for all of
us living here. We have worked from morning to
dark. We have been stopped and we have gone
on. This project, when completed, can show
God's love for these people and bring great
glory to His name. We need your prayers so
much now and throughout this whole program.
Help us to keep our priorities right in tune with
His priorities. The hospital is not the end. but it
is a part of the whole picture of winning people
to the Lord. Pray that through our labors the
people of Zaire will see Him.

workers will be for security, but on that job

Thoren is by far the best worker.
What happens to the support work? Because

the hospital work requires regular supplies and

because a large vehicle has been purchased for
that job, the bringing in of supplies to
Bafwasende, for here and Bomili, can be
covered under the hospital work. All the other
local work, carpenters, airstrip, lumber

purchases, etc., etc., will be left in the hands of

Bemu Gwokolibo Adriano, my very capable

right hand. We will be paying half of his salary

while we are on furlough.

What happens to the Myers while we are

gone?

Basically they get a lot of additional

responsibilities. All the work here falls under

their responsiblity. While we are gone, please
keep the Myers in your prayers.

FORWARDING AGENTS:

Roger & Bev Vickroy

P.O. Box 506

Sherrard, IL 61281

FIELD ADDRESS:
The Bairds

Box 53435 (ACM-Bukavu)

Nairobi, Kenya
FURLOUGH ADDRESS:
Box 215

Rapids City, IL 61278

Before you move, please send the mailing label below, along with a copy of yournew address to:
MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, P.O. Box 2427, Knoxvllle, IN 37901-2427.
Mission Services
PO Box 2427

Knoxvllle. TN

37901-2427

Non Pfolil O'g

U S. Postage
PAID

Knoxvllle, TN

Aooaess coukction fHQuesTEo

37901-2427
Pernut 1(374