CONGO REPORT

An update on news from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and CECCA 16,
the WEC related church.
August 2009

New Bible School Building Dedicated

On July 19, the new Ibambi Bible School building was dedicated, at a ceremony led by the CECCA Vice President, Pastor Manzimba.

Bible School director, Pastor Kokyakake writes: “We thank the Lord for the accomplishment of this construction project of this new building made of durable material at the Ibambi Bible School. It includes two classrooms and an administrative office. This was made possible by the financial support of Hilfe für Brüder (HfB) and the local contribution of the students (stones, sand, gravel etc).

“This new building will permit an improvement in both teaching conditions and the study of the students at the Bible School. Until now they have been studying in the two old classrooms, which are in a dilapidated state and are even in danger of collapse.

“As well, with the support of WEC International, a solar energy system has been purchased in Kampala and will soon be installed. This will help the teachers prepare their lessons, and the students to do study, homework and prepare their reports on Christian Service activities, in the evenings.

“This great ceremony of dedication was immediately followed by the graduation of 35 students who will have the status of ‘evangelist’ in the different church districts of CECCA 16. This school year there were 107 students with 201 children.

“Nonetheless the finishing work (painting, varnishing and installing a ceiling etc) as well as the fitting out of the office (chairs, tables, shelves, files for archiving, computer and accessories …) remains a matter of prayer.

“We ask for your prayer support for:

The financing of the medical costs of student families
That the Lord would guide the church districts to make a good choice of candidates for the new first year class, those who will be useful for the church and society in the future.
The project of opening a women’s section, aimed the wives of students who have a very low educational level, so that they can benefit from training and hence be able to contribute effectively to different ministries in the church by their literacy, Bible study and the learning of various skills (eg sewing, knitting, housework, teaching Sunday school teachers and about the Christian home). We would like to start this from October this year.

“Twenty houses with 3 bedrooms and a sitting room, made from local materials have been constructed. There is a toilet and wash area per family. This has been done to resolve the problem of overcrowding of the families of the students, to improve the hygiene and reinforce Christian morals. Previously three families have lived in one small house of 3 small rooms and a sitting room. This area is called “Camp Chad” in memory of the missionary career of Pastor Kokyakake in Chad.

“To fight malnutrition and contribute to food self sufficiency for the student families, we have begun an agricultural project. We have 89 chickens and one pig. We have harvested 53 fields of cassava and sweet potato; we have planted 350 fruit trees (170 pineapples plants, 250 banana trees, and 57 palm trees). We believe that this project will contribute to the improvement in the conditions of life of student in the future.

“For next school year we envisage building more houses.”

New Bible School Buildings

Ibambi Bible School director, Pastor Kokyakake, asks prayer for the graduation of third year students and the dedication of two new classrooms and an office that will take place on June 19. The agricultural projects are advancing. They have now planted 170 pineapples, 250 banana trees, 350 fruit trees and 100 palm trees. They have 150 chickens and 3 pigs.
Sadly sickness continues to be a problem and medical debts are rising again. Bible School children have been sent home again for lack of money and clothes.

Ndutua Death

Maman Misayo Ndutua, wife of long time church treasurer Pastor Ndutua passed away on August 8, following a short illness.

Pastor Ndutua himself is reported to be seriously ill.

Pastor Ikabu: Mystery Paralysis

Pastor Ikabu, the immediate past Vice President of CECCA, was hospitalized on August 9. He suffered a light paralysis of the tongue, making speaking difficult; heaviness in a leg making walking difficult; and hypersensitivity in the upper body.

Dr Mola has diagnosed the problem as either temporary cerebral ischemia (shortage of blood supply to the brain); a cerebrovascular accident; or Guillain-Barré Syndrome (where the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system). He did not have one sided paralysis.

After initial treatment by Dr Mola, he began to eat and speak, although the sense of heaviness in the tongue remained. Dr Mola says he would need a scan to tell exactly what the problem is, but such equipment is not available in the region.

Wycliffe Families Returning to Congo

Bruce Smith CEO of Wycliffe associates reports that, with increasing stability in the DRC, Wycliffe workers are again living and working in the country. He writes:

“For nearly 10 years now, Bible translation teams of the East Congo Group have had to work on their projects remotely from Nairobi, Kenya, due to political instability in the areas of their language communities. However, that situation is changing and there is now the sense of a new beginning within teams, with the possibility of once again living and working among the Congolese. This year two more families have moved back into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bringing the total number of staff once again living there to eight adults and seven children.

“Wycliffe Associates volunteers are being asked to provide administrative support for these translators by working in one of four administrative roles that are currently unstaffed. These positions are currently located in Nairobi, Kenya (which is an English speaking country), but the possibility of locating these services in the DRC is being considered.”

The positions are: Assistant to the Director, Associate Director for Resources, Language Programs Executive Assistant, and Language Program Intern.

WEC Field Conference in UK

A Congo Field Conference was held at the UK WEC headquarters of Bulstrode on August 20. 10 people were in attendance including current and former missionaries, Africa Regional Director and the UK Deputy Director.
Among the decisions made were the following:

$2000 Given to Church

Conference agreed to give $US2000 to the CECCA budget for 2009 - 2010. This was a request of the General Assembly of the church and represents 5% of the total church budget. Half of this sum will come from undesignated gifts held by the WEC treasurer. The other half is hoped to come from voluntary contributions from those associated with the Congo field. The minutes read; “Anyone wishing to contribute to this year’s budget are requested to send their contributions to their nearest [WEC] Sending Base by the end of October 2009, marked ‘Congo Church Budget 2009’.
The church is being asked for a fully audited accounting of how this year’s money has been used.

Centenary Project

The Conference decided, as the Centenary Project for 2013, to purchase 100 bicycles for pastors and evangelists.

Ibambi Church

The large Ibambi Church building is falling into serious disrepair. Conference noted “the concern for the state of the Ibambi Church building as a matter for prayer.”

In other news Stephen and Catherine McGoldrick, who are planning to work in DR Congo, plan an exploratory trip in early 2010.

Those present for the meetings were Philip & Nancy Woods, Margaret White, Pauline Wager (Regional Director), David Whitehorn (Deputy UK Director), Beryl Shannon, Maud Kells, Stephen & Catherine McGoldrick, and Douglas Craig.

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