Transformsing Communities

I just finished teaching a course on "The Church and Development" at the bible school. I had 36 students - all adults, most were pastors, the rest were lay leaders or hoping to be pastors. The focus of the course is to teach sound developmental strategy (the right and wrong way to do things) yet in a way that brings it down to the level of the local church. Development and public health initiatives do not have to be huge, complicated programs. There are many things that local churches can do to promote and support health, but it can be a challenge to get pastors to think on a lower, more realistic level.
Towards the end of the course I had the students break into groups and discuss a problem, or a vulnerable people group, that they often see in their neighborhoods. They then had to come up with some realistic activities that their church, with its own resources, could do to have an effect on the issue. It was exciting to see what they choose:

• Educate their church and the surrounding community about tuberculosis and where to go for treatment.
• Reading classes for women in the community.
• A community educational program on malaria with a push for mosquito net distribution and a community clean up program (to clear away water reservoirs and grasses that attract mosquitoes)
• A program that would target teen-age mothers and teach them to read and how to sew.
• A program that targets Angolan refugees, who are mostly widows from the war. They would teach them "market Lingala", so that the women would be more self-sufficient in the marketplace.
  

Each program was integrated to touch not only the physical/social problem but to evangelize and disciple as well. I was so encouraged to see how the students had finally grasped the essence of the course - they could do something to address problems within their communities. And their efforts would not only help in the daily lives of the people, but would also serve as a means to show very tangibly the love of Christ.

Movement!

Our life here can be so interesting. Daily I see things that amaze me. Sometimes I shake my head and wonder how a farm girl from Iowa ended up doing what I do and living where I live.

Kinshasa is a huge city with a population estimated from anywhere between 8 -13 million. It was originally built to hold just a few million people, with that number jumping dramatically within the last decade because of people fleeing from the fighting. Imagine a city holding several times the population that it was built for; crowding, wall to wall people, constant movement.

Kinshasa is a city that MOVES. At all hours of the day and night you can find some sort of movement; people fighting for transportation, navigating crowded walkways, fighting to get ahead in a traffic jam, bartering for local foods, etc. But there are two, one minute periods of the day when you can find absolute stillness.......the raising and lowering of the Congolese flag. There's a military camp by the kid's school. Around the time that we take the girls to school every morning, we often run into the flag raising ceremony. It's really not much of a ceremony; usually a couple of military men march out and one stands at attention while the other raises the flag. But what is amazing is what happens on the street. Everyone FREEZES; cars, taxis, pedestrians, vendors......there is absolutely NO movement. If someone is in the process of paying a cab fare both parties stop. It's freeze tag, where once you're tagged you're supposed to freeze in that exact position. If the flag ceremony is happening on a stretch of road where you can see for a good distance, people will freeze for a good 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile on each side of the flag.

Here's to a moment of stillness among the millions..........

The Grotesque Vocabulary in Congo

This columnist for the New York Times is based in Eastern Congo for the moment. I find his blog entries extremely raw, real, and insightful. The reality of what is actually happening here is heartbreaking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/opinion/11kristof.html

Getting Started

As I look at my blog, I see that my last post was titled "Finishing Well" and that I posted it 4 months ago........I realize that to truly "finish well" one must START....which I am not doing very well with this blog. Truth be told, I'm not a real computer oriented person and I'd rather be out and about, with people, than on this machine. But I have new inspiration.....I watched the movie "Julie and Julia". I was motivated to do two things - blog and cook! I realize that every entry does not have to be a serious scripture oriented sermon, so I'll work more on blogging about life in Congo - whether it's ministry, frustrations, fun, or daily stuff. I also realized that I have several cookbooks I'd love to cook my way through......we'll see how I do - on both counts!!