"Words cannot express the joy I feel. We no longer feel alone."
That's how Bishop Lala, the national coordinator of DRC's 12,000 Christian schools, described his delight at the coalition of organizations that are helping prepare teachers to impart biblical morality through life-on-life discipleship.
These 60 leaders are working intensively with Passing the Baton International to develop a culturally-appropriate, biblically-accurate version of the Passing the Baton workshop that will ultimately train 77,000 Christian school teachers and tens of thousands of parents, pastors and even government school teachers.
If you've got a moment please check out the three videos on YouTube describing the project. The interview with Bishop Nyamuke, bishop of all of the protestant churches in the Kinshasa district, is especially revealing.
We were thrilled that our project has support at the highest levels of the ministry of education in the DRC. Here's a picture of our team in a meeting with Daniel Lukubama (in the light blue suit), the Director Generation of Education for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Videos and pictures
You can also see pictures and comments if you're my Facebook friend (if you're not, you can send a request here).
What we're doing to meet the need
Right now we're gathering feedback from leaders and preparing a Congolese version of the Passing the Baton training. In January we plan to return to train leaders who:
- demonstrate through their actions that they are serious about discipling the next generation,
- have a teachable spirit, and
- have the gift of teaching.
These individuals will walk alongside our team as we train all of the Christian school teachers in the Kinshasa district--508 schools in all. By the end of 2010 we plan to have a strong team of trainers in place who will be able to travel throughout the nation, and even into other French-speaking countries in Africa.
Interested in walking with us?
Lots of our faithful subscribers have asked how they can help. Here are some ways:
1. Long-term training. We have told the Congolese, "We will not abandon you. We plan to come back until you are successful in developing an excellent training program to equip Congolese Christians to disciple the next generation." This is an expensive undertaking--travel, translation, printing, etc. We need help for long-term success. If you're interested in joining our team financially, or even traveling with us on a future trip, contact me here.
2. Partnerships. We are looking for partnerships with organizations that can teach Bible-based moral principles to children, and who have an organizational structure to support the distribution of their materials, and a scalable training model so that hundreds of people can be "trainers of the trainers" and spread throughout the country. Let me know of organizations that might be interested, as well as the key contacts and your relationship with them. Contact me here.
3. Sponsorships. Many children in the DRC don't have access to education. Of those who do, many are hungry and malnourished. Our translator David Masongezi, a Congolese man who has lived in South Africa for 14 years, has begun a sponsorship program to provide for the food, clothing and Christian school education of Congolese children. For $100 a month you can change the life of a Congolese child. Contact me here for more information and I'll pass your note along to David.
4. Guest house. David Masongezi and his wife have inherited a spacious home in Kinshasa and are remodeling it to be a guest house for those working in Kinshasa. This will be a God-send--the presence of the United Nations has so inflated the prices foreigners pay for housing and meals that work in Kinshasa is terribly expensive. This guest house will make it possible for our teams to save thousands of dollars on each trip. If you'd like to help pay for furnishings for the guest house, contact me here and I'll pass your information along to David.
5. Access to education. Five million Congolese children have no access to education. Dr. Samson Makhado's team has prepared a "school in a box" that volunteers can use to give a basic education to street children. If this program were to be translated into French, it could meet the needs of thousands of children. Contact me here and I'll pass your information along to Samson.
6. Engineering, architecture and construction. Building teams aren't needed at this point because there are plenty of hard-working Congolese who desperately need employment. However, the Churches of Christ of Congo is planning to build a training center for pastors and teachers, and they will need engineering, architectural and construction expertise. Contact me here and I'll forward your information to the proper people in the DRC.
It is an honor to stand with you in this great cause!
|
