By Alice M. Trost, Northeastern Jurisdiction Field Representative.
From
Mission News newsletter.
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In my last newsletter, I wrote about my trip to the Congo--Kinshasa and south. Since then, I have visited places in the northern part of the country. I want to share a wonderful evening in Kindu. After dinner, the four of us that were traveling together took our chairs out to sit in front of the guest house where we were staying. It had been a very hot day but the sun was going down and it was cooling off. Others from the church began bringing chairs over to sit with us. The sun goes down quickly in northern Congo because it is close to the equator and soon it was dark. There was no electricity in Kindu, at least where we were staying, and there was no moon that night. There were stars in the sky but it was dark. A group of young people came to sing for us. I was never sure how large the group was because of the darkness. For about an hour or so they sang--one hymn after another. Sometimes our pilot, who was also our interpreter, would tell us the words of the hymns. The music was wonderful--incredible harmony, the typical solo lead in with the group following, great rhythms accentuated with hand instruments. We were truly enthralled. It was one of those special moments in time that you are reluctant to have end and yet, even as it ends, you are not too sad because you know that it will forever remain a very wonderful memory. It was not just the beauty of the evening or the marvelous music, but it was the joy of feeling at one with sisters and brothers of the faith half way around the world. We were part of the same family and we all felt it. When the music ended, those present told us about the Advance Specials in their conference. They told us about what the projects and ministries are doing and what they would do if they had more funding. There are so many needs and so little with which to meet those needs. At the end, as if sensing that perhaps we were feeling a bit overwhelmed one of the conference leaders said in effect--we need your help. There is so much more we could and should and will do if you are able to help us. But, if you cannot help us, we are determined to continue to work at all these ministries and to do everything that we can possibly do. We can be in partnership with this exciting and dedicated part of the United Methodist family in the Congo that will do everything in its power to share the good news of Christ Jesus in every way available to it. The same kinds of projects that we saw in the south are also in the north--schools for every age group, dispensaries, feeding programs for children who were orphaned or abandoned during the war, and an aviation program which is essential because many places would be totally isolated without air transportation. One ministry I failed to mention in the last newsletter is women's work which every conference in the Congo has. There is usually a women's center with programs of literacy, nutrition, crafts, sewing, job skills and in some places demonstration gardening. The women who attend are expected to go back to the Congo. Any education or training for women helps the whole society. Some women's programs in the Advance that you might support:
The only missionaries serving in the north are Gail (#007995-7HZ) and Stephen (#007994-6HZ) Quigg, who are with the Wings of Caring program #008595-8RA. This program is based in Kananga and had two person-in-mission pilots assigned to it--Akasa (Jaque) Umembudi and Djamba Mundeke. African pilots are essential to the aviation programs in the Congo. July/Aug 1998 |