Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/418074
do we move old people out and bring in our young people?" "How do you deal with people who are less faithful or less competent?" I think, these are much the same issues that we have at home! I rehearse with the band that, in a few short days, will be commissioned as the Kinshasa Staff Band. I spend time work- ing on style, precision, and pitch. We enjoy supper on our own at a beautiful, quiet restaurant. Lt. Colonel Lucien Lamartiniere, chief secretary, takes Captain Diakanwa and myself to what seems to me to be an oasis in the midst of dry and dusty streets. Thursday, September 4: I want to sleep in. However, once I have a little breakfast pizza and some strong coffee, I'm ready. Daniel and I catch a ride to the city to visit a corps and a Salvation Army school. This corps has started a new building that will have a seating capacity of 1,000 people. They have a corps band of 25 and are next to a Salvation Army school that has 800 students. That morning, 65 principals from Salvation Army schools show up for a conference. The corps offi cer is a lieutenant who also holds a degree in law. We talk about the corps' potential as well as the diffi culty he fi nds in making things happen. How- ever, I think he will have a great future! We return to THQ, visit Trade, and then go back to the hotel for lunch and a bit of regrouping. Back at that beautiful room at the University, we rehearse with the National Songsters. They sing with a strong chest voice rath- er than a head voice, typical of western choirs. When the songsters sing gospel and incorporate "gospel steps," there's no doubt that they invented them. "Total Praise," translated by Daniel and sung in Lingala, is beautiful. I'm reminded that God started something special with The Salvation Army. Captain Diakanwa seems to know people everywhere. His father, Commis- sioner Mbakanu Diakanwa, was the fi rst African territorial commander. Tonight, supper is at the home of Major and Mrs. Philippe Mabwidi, the territorial music & arts secretary. They have a modest home within the walls of the William Booth University. We enjoy a tasty meal of fi sh, chicken, beef, pota- toes, rice, and salad. Friday, September 5: We travel 50 miles to the Army's Kansangulu School & Clinic. Dirt roads, dusty beyond belief, are driven on by Jaguars and Porsches. The boarding school comprises 800 students, elementary through high school. Purchased many years ago and built by Salvation Army missionaries from Belgium and Sweden, I sense a joy and pride in the administrators as they tell me, "Yes, the students test well!" Songster rehearsal is great fun as, once again, I speak in English and they respond in French or in Lingala. I think, Bill Rollins would enjoy hearing in Lingala his "I Feel Like Praising Him." Sunday, September 7: We go to the Kintambo Corps. After pushing the van to get it started, we cruise along the beauti- ful, 8–lane Boulevard of Independence. The Chinese have invested in this bou- levard as well as other infrastructures in Kinshasa. The hotel where I'm staying was built and is owned by people from India. The corps facility is similar to other Army properties—a vast but dusty land holding. Nonetheless, about 200–250 soldiers (actually a comparatively smaller corps) gathers for what will become a three–hour worship service. Junior Band, Senior Band, Singing Company, Con- temporary Group, Senior Songsters, and Timbrels all take part. It is my privilege to give the Bible mes- sage. I speak on Joshua 5 and the Walls of Jericho. It is as if God is testing the walls of the corps as the band plays and the people shout "hallelujah!" The joy of the Lord fi lls the room. After a lovely meal at the corps of- fi cer's quarters, we head back to the university for a festival to inaugurate the Kinshasa Staff Band. Today, we celebrate 75 years of banding in this territory. The 75 th Anniversary Band plays clas- sics, including "The Star Lake March" by Eric Ball. The 75 th Anniversary Songsters also sing. The Kinshasa Staff Band then enters. Wearing new red festival tunics and gleaming white trousers, they march to a video showing the New York Staff Band performing "Come Join Our Army." Jean Marc Minubu, bandmaster, leads the band in Kevin Larsson's "They Shall Come from the East." Commissioner Ngwanga, territorial commander, offers a powerful inaugural speech, receives the new staff band fl ag presented by Daniel Diakanwa on behalf of Congolese Salva- tionists in the U.S., installs the band, and prays as the members kneel. Among items played by the KSB are Martin Cordner's "The Adventurers," which features Tom Mack's "He Leadeth Me," and "Star Lake 70" by Stephen Bulla, "Troops Salute" by Paul Sharman, and the ever–popular "Vitae Aeternum" by Paul Lovett Cooper. The band's unique approach is much appreciated by the 500 people in the university's concert hall. After the concert, cameras fl ash until Major Mabwidi fi nally says, "We must get ready to have supper with the Territo- rial Commander!" All around Kinshasa, there are walls. Some are dirty, run down, and fright- ening. But behind them are beautiful homes and elegant restaurants. We fi nd a lovely, modern one where we enjoy a delicious meal. Speaking in Lingala, Commissioner Ngwanga exudes strength, charm, and warmth. Daniel translates every word. But more than that, I'm happy to have him with me because he so thoroughly understands both the American and the Congolese cultures. 19 www.saconnects.org