Grateful

We are celebrating two big answers to prayer this month. So many individuals and churches came together in different ways to meet these needs, and we are amazed and encouraged. We want you to celebrate with us, and hopefully there will be more updates in the future when we return to Congo.

…Drumroll, please! The first answer to prayer is the completion of the needed funding to purchase a new Land Cruiser. The Department of Evangelism’s current Land Cruiser, affectionately called “Tshikunda” (older woman), has a strong engine but is not so reliable these days. Bob has spent countless hours sitting at the mechanics shop while it was worked on to prepare for rural travel. We have numerous stories about breakdowns – like driving without breaks, using soapy water to sub for clutch fluid, and being delayed 3 days for a rural presbytery meeting because we could not get parts. We realized that when we were spending more time and money repairing the vehicle than we were actually traveling in it, it was time to get a new one.

This year, as we visited churches and described the work of the CPC in Congo, one need that we emphasized was the need for a new vehicle. Churches and individuals from all over – Myrtle Beach, SC to Menlo Park, CA contributed generously to this need, including two people who encouraged others by offering a significant matching gift. The First Presbyterian Church of Wellsboro, PA rallied together to finish off the final third of this need just last month. Praise the Lord! We are now in process of getting the quotes and logistics for purchasing the Land Cruiser and getting it to Congo.

The second reason to celebrate is that we received word a few weeks ago that Presbyterian Women has awarded a grant to Ditekemena (Project Hope), a ministry of restoring children on the streets into families. Churches in the Kananga area will be trained and equipped to care for children who have been on the streets, and the children will be fed, loved, and given a new chance at life. Bob wrote about this project and its visionary leader, Pastor Manyayi, in our February Newsletter. The CPC leadership hopes that this project will get started in January of next year.

We praise God for his provision, and express our gratitude to the many people who participated in these events in various ways. We celebrate this good news, and look forward to seeing the work of the church in Congo grow in new ways as a result of each of these initiatives!

The Stranger Among Us

"Don't abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt” (Exodus 22: 21, Message)

The last weekend of August found Kristi and I worshipping with recent Congolese immigrants and political refugees.  It was a highlight of our time in the United States.  Our worship together was powerful and full of God’s Spirit. The desperation, hope, faith, and confidence-in-God of these recent arrivals was palpable.  We were blessed and encouraged to visit First Presbyterian Church (FPC) of Champaign, Illinois, a church which has created a home for these Congolese families.  Members of FPC Champaign have gone to great lengths to help these “strangers,” these Congolese foreigners find their footing in a new country.  Members have extended their love by teaching them English, driving them to and from church, finding them furniture, helping them learn to drive, amongst manifold other services and acts of love and hospitality.  Bob and Claudia Kirby, two recent retirees, spend countless hours each week helping these families.  Kristi and I found ourselves inspired by the Kirbys and other members of FPC Champaign who are welcoming the ‘stranger’ in their midst.  The Congolese families are now joining the church and are changing the ethos of the congregation in a very positive way.  We praise God for this tangible example of welcoming the ‘stranger’ and caring for his/her needs. 

The following week we visited college friends of Kristi’s who live in West Chicago.  Matthew serves as Director of Puente de Pueblo, “Bridge of  the People,” a ministry to Hispanic families and Iraqi refugees sponsored by Wheaton Bible Church.  This ministry provides case management for families struggling as they adjust to living in a new place.  It also provides after-school programs for children, along with English and Spanish language learning opportunities for adults.  Matthew and his wife Catherine shared with us the multitudinous challenges the Hispanic families face.  Matthew plainly shared how many families he works with are headed by undocumented workers.  He shared the unfathomable injustices these men and women regularly confront.  While the United States may be sending the message that we want their presence in our country because we value their economic contribution, at the same time our country does not provide a clear path towards citizenship and does not protect their rights.  For instance, if a worker is hurt on a job, he/she will not receive any form of disability.  Also, these workers pay into Social Security but will never see that money.  The system seems altogether murky and polluted with political and economic self-interest.  What I took away from this conversation isn’t altogether surprising, but nonetheless heartbreaking.  Our nation is taking advantage of the ‘stranger’ in our midst, undocumented workers who are often publicly and privately maligned, but economically welcomed and exploited.       

While questions of immigration reverberating in our coffee shops and halls of Congress often focus on politics and economics and can at times feel entirely xenophobic, I suppose Christians may want to inquire regarding what God says about these issues.  First and foremost, there is the biblical injunction to not abuse or take advantage of the strangers among you (Ex 22: 21).  This message was for the people of Israel, and indeed can be extrapolated for today.  The psalmist writes how God watches over the alien (Psalm 146).  Jesus talks about being a stranger and being invited in (Matthew 25).  As Christians, we are called to be the salt and light of our culture.  This would include advocating for the stranger in our midst, especially as they are being mistreated.  I realize that this is a very touchy issue, but I am incredibly thankful for the example set by the Kirbys, FPC Champaign, and for Matthew and Catherine.  May we, God’s people, find tangible ways to  advocate and care for refugees, immigrants, and even undocumented workers.                  

Summer travel update

We have chalked up a few more states to our list since Bob last gave a travel update in May. We traveled the length of California, popped briefly into OR, WY, and MT, enjoyed some vacation with family in WA, then flew to PA for the New Wilmington Conference, KY for the Big Tent Conference, and now back to IL for a couple weeks of catching up before we launch out again on more traveling. Here are a few pictures of highlights from the summer.

Sunday morning at Christ Pres. in Los Angeles – “Hawaii style”

In Yellowstone Park near the Grand Prismatic Spring – amazing!

The “Pennsylvania Grand Canyon” near Wellsboro, PA

Bob talks with someone about Congo at the New Wilmington
Mission Conference Mission Fair

We are feeling very grateful for all the people that we have been privileged to meet, stay with, and talk about God’s work with. We are grateful for safe travel, good health, and so much encouragement in all of these encounters! God’s peace and being part of God’s family have turned what could have been a laborious and exhausting few months into a joyful experience that we will treasure. We are gearing up now for another 2 months of traveling in the fall, and would appreciate your prayers. Then, we look forward soon to returning home to Congo!

New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC)

After the third worship song on Wednesday evening, we joined the chorus of missionaries throng towards the platform.  Couple by couple, family by family, person by person, our names were announced along with our countries of mission service and the total amount of years we had served.  A woman dressed in all black with a veil sat next to us.  Her name and location were not mentioned due to security reasons.  Don Dawson, the indefatigable director of the conference, gave the final total of years served amongst missionaries gathered – 1,072 years.  Wow!  What a legacy.   

This last week marked the 108th annual New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC).  It is perhaps the longest standing mission conference in the United States, dating from the days of the Student Volunteer Movement when thousands of young people were signing up to go serve as missionaries to all parts of the world.  One of the early participants of NWMC was Robert McQuilken, founder of Columbia International University which has trained thousands of pastors, church leaders, and missionaries, serving all over the world.  Thomas Alexander Lambie, also an alumnus of NWMC, would become a dedicated missionary doctor serving in Sudan.  He would later become the first American missionary to serve in Ethiopia, where he launched the Abyssinian Frontiers Mission which would merge with the Sudan Inland Mission (SIM).  He would later serve in Nigeria and Palestine.  Within the last couple of decades, Harold Kurtz became a much loved participant of NWMC.  He was the first director of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF), an agency which seeks to make the Gospel known to unreached peoples.

Some of the flags from different countries
represented at NWMC

 

This year nearly 900 people descended upon the small town of New Wilmington (PA) to spend a week together at Westminster College – worshipping, fellowshipping, praying and playing together.  Families have been coming to this conference for generations.  At the golf fundraiser on Thursday, I sat across from Larry Ruby who has been coming to this conference for 51 years.  He met his wife Linda here.  Others have also been coming every year for decades.  NWMC is geared towards the next generation.  The highest proportion of participants are high school and college age.  The music is loud, the spirit is fun-loving yet serious, and everyone is made to feel at home.  Every evening after the benediction in the large outdoor Anderson auditorium, we would all sing “Surely the Presence of God is in this Place” while embracing those around us and swaying gently from side to side.  For us it felt like a homecoming, though this was our first year to attend.

 

A spirit of youthfulness pervades NWMC! 

As part of the missionary staff of NWMC, we were charged with speaking to high schoolers every day for about forty minutes.  We were admonished to engage with them, telling them about ourselves and our mission work.  I found this part of the conference most rewarding.  They had great questions and stayed awake despite a packed-out week of activity.  Kristi and I also spoke to young adults, children, and we shared during the vespers-hour one evening.  This conference felt like the crossroads of the Presbyterian mission world, and it was great to connect with old friends and make new ones as well.

These high school girls were so attentive and had great questions
even on the last day of the conference

Some may ask, “What good can come from the Presbyterian Church (USA) these days?”  An easy answer is this – The New Wilmington Mission Conference.  Presbyterians are serious about God’s mission and having fun.  Please consider being a part of NWMC next year.           

 

Govinda and his family are missionaries to the US
from Nepal, serving in Lynchburg (VA)       

Toxic Charity

I just finished reading this thought provoking book by Robert Lupton. I must admit that sometimes I had to read it in small chunks – just one chapter at a time – because it felt like so much to think about. I have studied international development and missions, worked with several different organizations in different contexts, and experienced situations where I struggled with questions of dependency and long-term impact. Yet, I felt like in this book Lupton articulated in a fresh and poignant way the harmful long-term effects that we too often have with our charitable efforts. For example, the unintentional battering of parents’ dignity when their children receive presents from strangers rather than from them. Or a church that makes an annual mission trip which over time weakens their partner rather than empowering them. It felt a little jarring and hard-hitting at times, but definitely a message that could be the wake-up call that we need.

Lupton writes from forty years of experience in urban community development, and involvement with churches in that process. He tells poignant stories that include insightful perspectives from people who have received help in building houses, tutoring children, or cleaning up neighborhoods in poor communities. I want you to read the book, so I don’t want to give away too much. But these are common situations…we know that the world is in crisis in so many places, and people are suffering. We want to help, and doing a food drive sounds like a great way to meet one need. Or sending a team to Mexico to build houses. Most of us have participated in some effort like that, or in some way supported those who did. It is these common actions and strategies that Lupton challenges us to reconsider. “Wherever there was sustained one-way giving, unwholesome dynamics and pathologies festered under the cover of kind-heartedness.” (pg 35) The action itself is not wrong, of course, but it is good to be challenged to evaluate our strategies and priorities in the process of trying to help.

While his focus in this book is rightly on charitable efforts within America, Lupton does discuss charitable efforts outside the U.S. as well, and cites the book Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo for statistics and examples. I have read Dead Aid, and recommend it as a book that also sheds light on efforts in international development. But in Dead Aid, Moyo bases her statistics and findings exclusively on government to government aid (e.g. the U.S. government giving a loan or grant to Congo). So – my one reservation in Toxic Charity is that sometimes he is using statistics from Dead Aid that might not be the proper fit for the context.

Lupton lays out some good principles to guide our efforts to help, including his Oath for Compassionate Service. One message stands out clearly in his book that we heartily endorse – relationship, or partnership is key. We (as westerners, or anyone trying to help someone else), need to make sure that we are not disempowering those we are trying to help, or imposing our own goals or strategies for how the problem should be resolved. This is hard. I am a person that loves to help, and likes to be efficient. Sometimes, I go overboard, in doing something “helpful” for Bob, and he has to remind me that he would have preferred to do it himself. Even more so in a cross-cultural or partnership situation do we need to exercise restraint and respect the decisions and priorities of our partner.

We encourage you to read this significant book – and you can join us to hear Robert Lupton speak and discuss more about healthy engagement in missions at the Big Tent World Missions conference in Louisville, August 1-3.