"What we have seen in the last two days shows that there is still hope for our country."
Greetings from Kinshasa!
A couple of weeks ago I described in this newsletter a project that Passing the Baton is doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo to equip 77,000 teachers from 12,000 schools to mentor, coach and disciple the next generation of Congolese leaders.
I wanted to send you a brief update about our work here.
Monday and Tuesday my translator David Masiongezi and I delivered a contextualized version of the Passing the Baton workshop, translated into French, to 60 of Congo's educational leaders. It was very difficult for the national leaders to narrow the group down to 60 (they originally had a group of 350) but we asked that they keep it small and focus on leaders who could help develop the Passing the Baton training in significant ways throughout the nation.
"This shows that there is still hope for our country."
What is designed as a six-hour workshop quickly turned into 15 hours with working groups, testimonies and remarks from national leaders about the desperate need for this kind of training.
At the workshop's conclusion, Bishop Nyamuke, the bishop of the Kinshasa district of the Churches of Christ of Congo, a man with several million parishioners, closed the session by saying: "What we have seen in the last two days shows that there is still hope for our country."
Tuesday evening our team enjoyed a delightful evening with Major Joshua Reitz and his wife Tanya and their children. Joshua is a Summit Ministries graduate who is now a military attache to the U.S. Ambassador in Congo--talk about someone placed for such a time as this!
"We cannot separate spirituality from education"
Wednesday our team engaged in private meetings with several national leaders, all of whom emphasized to us that training teachers to disciple students is the key that unlocks effective education for the nation's future.
Bishop Lala, the national coordinator of the DRC's 12,000 Christian schools, told us, "I lack the words to express my joy. This is a hard time for our country. We have felt alone." He praised Dr. Samson Makhado, Africa director of the Association of Christian Schools International, for bringing ACSI's strategies and encouragement to Congo.
The Inspector General of Education for Congo, Mr. Gay, told us, "We cannot separate spirituality from education. Science without morality is death. What you are doing must go beyond the Christian schools." Can you imagine hearing one of the top educational leaders in the U.S.--or any other Western nation--saying such things?
The Director General of Education--Daniel Lukubama (pictured in the light blue suit and blue tie with some of our team)--is the administrative official over all of the schools in the nation--Protestant, Catholic and government. He reiterated that we must bring the Passing the Baton program into the public schools as well.
Now is the time
When asked about the biggest challenges facing the education system in Congo, he replied, "Access. There are five million children in our nation who have no access to schools at all. Many children live in rural areas and must walk for hours to and from school, in the bush. They are at great danger of being attacked or abducted and forced to serve as child soldiers. They need to have a chance."
Dr. Makhado replied, "I can testify that it is worth it. Five of my primary school years were under a tree in my village." Now he coordinates Christian schools in 52 African nations. Isn't it amazing how God works?
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the heart of Africa. What happens hear could quickly spread throughout the 26 French speaking countries in Africa. The The harvest is ripe right now. Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement!
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