Free to Live

Some thoughts...
I continue to think of the people in the DRC everyday. I pray for them, go over their stories in my head and simply wish I was there with them. Life operates very differently here in the USA. Life is so convenient - I can have a hot bath any time I want without having to think I have to heat up the water. In Congo if you want hot water you have to make arrangements to have a small bucket of water heated up on a log fire in the yard. So you get used to cold water. You can't watch TV any time you want because their is no electricity. The houses use generators in the evenings for a few hours. But these are just personal inconveniences which are quickly put to one side when you experience the hospitality and love of the people in Congo. I love being with the people - they welcome me and others with open arms, they are gracious hosts and seek to fill our every need. The Congolese understand community in a way we Americans don't. We seek to go into our rooms at night and be by ourselves. They seek to come over, hang out and spend time with you. It isn't even a question of time, how long they are with you but that they spend the time with you and each other. Hence church services last 3-4 hours. It always strikes me when I come back to America and go to church - we get so stressed out that our services will go a few minutes over the hour. Yes, God gets upset if our services are longer than an hour - we can only sing our few songs lest we upset the people in the congregation and it would just simply be awful if we had to listen to the preacher for an hour instead of our prescribed 30 minutes. Yes, I know - I'm being cynical but somehow I think we Americans have got it wrong. We have lost the true meaning of community and then of worship. It's so hard to come back to the US and see this and try so hard not to be judgmental about it.

The photo on the left is just an example of hanging out at the house after a day of ministering. Jeff is playing and singing along with some of our local friends. We would go outside, just enjoy the company, sing the songs and hang. The Congolese love music and love to spend time with you.

Free to Live Conference

This was the conference for prostituted women. It was an amazing conference. Some 77 prostituted women attended. The first day it took some time for them to show up. Turns out they were afraid they were being rounded up for the police. One of the students at the university was connected to the police somehow - either by working for them or had a relative working for them. So the women thought they were being rounded up, taken to the police station and/or tested for HIV. They were pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not true. However, the local brothel owner (lady in orange dress in photo) had put five of her girls into hiding. These poor girls were in hiding all day but at least at the end of the day the owner was able to take them some food and get them out of hiding.

This photo of myself with the brothel owner and some of her girls was taken on the first day of the conference. The conference was designed not only to provide spiritual guidance and support but also to help these women come out of prostitution by helping them learn how to get new skills and develop their own businesses. Some 56 women signed up for professional skill training (sewing, soap making, basket making, etc) and for micro-business set up. As a team we were able to provide sponsorship money and seed money for micro-business set up for all these women. It was done through Dorcus - a woman who works with Scripture Union and who has a ministry that helps train women in new skills and how to support themselves. Since our return to the US these women have been meeting three times a week for discipleship and skills training. During the conference over 50 of the prostituted women became Christians. So the spiritual discipleship component is just as important as the skills training.

For me, this conference was one of the highlights of the trip. The crowning part was when one of the former prostitutes - a teenage girl who had been a muslim who became a Christian at this conference - cam up to me, showed me a picture she had drawn and on which she had written "I love Christine". I have to admit, I just teared up, I was so touched. And that's what it was like. One woman after another, coming up to us - telling us they loved us. We were able to create a safe place for these women and they trusted us. They know they can come back to UCBC and be safe in the future. UCBC is a great place - it's a place that not only teaches students but is also a place where the broken and wounded can come and be safe. God is so good to have given David and Kassie Kasali the vision of Congo Initiative and to set up this place in Beni. The photo on the left is the UCBC building. There is still a lot of work to be done there. The floors are still dirt floors for the most part and some rooms have not been finished. But it is a welcoming place - a place where much healing happens and which embraces the broken and wounded. It is a refuge in the midst of a struggling land and a place of hope. To find out more about Congo Initiative go to their website www.congoinitiative.org