It has now been 2 months since our return to the USA, and we have spent this time reflecting on the trip and how it has changed us. Many of you prayed for us before and during our trip - thank you! We ask that you would continue to keep the DRC, Christ's Hope, and all of the kids and volunteers who are impacted by this ministry in your prayers.
If you were able to join us at Sojourn Church on August 22, you heard the overview of our trip. We know that many people were not able to make that meeting, and so we wanted to share with you all a little bit about our trip, broken up into some of the most important aspects of our time in the Congo. Any one of us on the team would love to follow up with something in this overview, so reach out to one of us with questions or to find out ways you can continue praying for the children we met!
Overview of the Trip - Becky Kase
It wasn’t easy getting ready to take a team to the DRC. They were many hurdles to overcome. First of all most people seem to be afraid of Africa in general. This is accentuated by the fact that the DRC is a legitimately scary place. The Congo has a long history of political instability and violence. While we were in country there was a situation where riots and roadblocks were expected, but they did not happen. The Congo is where both the Ebola virus and the HIV virus originated, and as we prepared to go, there was an Ebola outbreak. God called nine people to the team and none of them backed out when they heard about the Ebola outbreak. The language barrier was another hurdle. French is the language of the Congo and very few people here at Sojourn speak French. Originally the team consisted of four non-French speakers. But the day it was announced at church that we needed a few more team members, Rachel Eastman came forward with Molly and Miles informing me that they wanted to be on the team and they spoke French! Lastly, the cost for this trip was going to be much higher than other Christ’s Hope ministry nations, because transportation and in-country costs are all much higher there. This hurdle was made because of the incredible generosity and missional focus of Sojourn! Because so many people gave so generously we were honored to go and represent the body of Christ to 200 children and 36 staff. We told them we came because God loved them and He sent us to tell them so. We told them that the Lord had provided so we could be there. So thank you for helping us get there!
Devotionals - Nate Bailey
I was asked to lead the devotions for our team. Soon after we arrived I learned that our devotions were not just our group, we would have combined devotions with the Christ Hope staff. The staff consisted of mostly Congolese.
My thoughts were split between excitement and anxiety. A combined devotional meant that this would be the largest group that I ever lead in discussion, our team was out-numbered by people that I had did not know or had not even met yet, most of which didn’t speak English and to top it all off I didn’t know the local culture at all so I was completely ignorant of their expectations or cultural taboos or hot-button issues. Yet I could not deny that I really wanted to do it.
What felt really challenging is that I had no time to study. Normally if I am going to lead a discussion I spend some time studying the text and taking some notes. Not having that time really put me on edge in a situation that already felt daunting. I was consumed with the terrifying thought that when it came time for me to speak, everyone would turn to me and I would have nothing to say…silence. I was afraid.
There was nothing I could do to add time to our day, I couldn’t stop the sun from moving. My preparation consisted of reading the scripture before bed, pray for understanding and then fall asleep while meditating on the scripture. Then I would wake up in the morning, freak out through breakfast.
I know I am biased, but I really felt that God came through for me…for us. He allowed me to open and close with a few remarks, but He also sparked others to dare to cross language, cultural and racial barriers to share their thoughts.
I remember being in awe of what I was witnessing. A group of people so different, all sharing their thoughts together, all because of our lowest common denominator, Jesus Christ. It reminded me of the first century church. I thought it was fitting that at Sojourn we were currently in a series that was going through the book of Acts. I couldn’t help but feel that this experience and wonderment was similar to the experience and wonderment that the first century church must have felt 2000 years ago when the new covenant was just getting started and God was banding together such an eclectic group of strangers. So often it is hard to relate to the church in the first century, the stories seem to be distant and far more powerful, but now I felt connected to them as I scanned our group. Only God could do this.
We were so busy while on the mission that it was only once I got home that I was able to process a lot of what had taken place. Something that occurred to me as I considered how the devotionals went is that God took studying out of my hands and still delivered understanding. I realized that He just as easily gave me understanding of His word for these devotionals when I and no time to study as when I am at home slowly wrestling through His word and taking notes. I don’t say this to imply that spending time studying His word, wrestling through it and writing down thoughts is a waste of time. On the contrary I think He will honor that time spent by rewarding His children with understanding, but what this did show me was that any understanding I receive is all Him, not me. He can do it slowly through hard focused study time or he can do it in a few minutes of tired, fearful, near panicked pleading. It was all God regardless of how it is done. He left me with no choice but to acknowledge His sovereignty.
Day Camps - Sarah Sheridan
A huge part of our mission, which we planned together as a team in our months leading up to the trip, was the Day Camp experience for each Ministry Care Point. Our goal through this day was to present the good news of the Gospel to the kids at the care point, while getting to know them and sharing with them something of American Culture. We decide to focus our efforts around Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Each time we shared this verse, and Doctor David shared a lesson with kids, I realized that the children we were meeting were struggling through some hard things - some things very similar to kids I know, and some things I can't even begin to imagine. Each day, we made crafts (like our very successful paper airplanes), played games, made s'mores and ate hotdogs, and - best of all - ended with a slip n' slide! While kids were playing games and working on crafts, I was amazed at their focus and their gratefulness. No matter what they were given, there was a sense of acceptance and joy in their work and in their play that was a beautiful lesson to me. These children realized, and helped me to realize through our day camps, that there can be a richness of spirit and true joy, no matter our circumstances!
Like many parts of our trip, the language barrier was often in our way. We made good use of our friends who acted as interpreters on the trip, including Miles, some caregivers, and our wonderful Glenn and Elodie. Even when left to our own devices, those of us who had no French to help were able to communicate basic things to kids in a way that was possible because of God's grace and the childrens' adaptability. I felt this most during our very first day camp, when a young boy named Jordan beat me over and over at Tic Tac Toe. Neither of us knew the language of the other, and yet he became my buddy. Throughout the day, he and I teased back and forth, and I found I was getting to know Jesus through this young boy who I never spoke to.
The Impact of Letters - Molly Eastman
First, it is so important to us that we say thank you to all of you who are child sponsors through Christ's Hope! The support you give kids and the letters you send them are making the difference in their lives. While others can come around and support in many ways, your care for them in this simple way is changing lives. The stories you've heard are true - kids are impacted by the letters, knowing that there is someone who cares about them and is thinking of them!
One day, between day camps, we spent the afternoon with some of the high school age kids. One of the young women was named Emily, and her story reminded us how very important the letters are. Emily told us some of the hardships she has endured - her father and mother have died, and she lives with her grandfather and many other family members. She deals on a regular basis with feelings of anger and bitterness because of the hand she has been dealt. When she was sponsored, she began to write letters of thanks to her sponsor... but never heard anything. While she was faithfully sponsored financially, she never had a letter supporting her emotionally, and eventually she gave up writing letters. She felt as if one more person didn't want to deal with her, and that bitterness grew because another adult in her life who was letting her down.
Kids love to know they are known and loved, and writing to them about your life and to know about theirs is more important than we could have guessed. Thank you for what you already do, and know that it is making an impact!
Painting Miracle - Natalie Bailey
One of the tasks that we were given leading up to the trip was refreshing the Maman Mobutu care point building walls. It was in serious need of repainting. The first major task was headed up by John Morris. He, Glenn, Esther and a group of the teens from the care point spent hours sanding, patching, and priming to get the walls ready for our day of painting. And for this project, Christ Hope DRC was blessed with an incredible deal on supplies. The paint ended up being sold to Glenn for 1/5th the original cost.
With this project, the thing that really stuck with me was on the Wednesday morning before we started Glenn talked about the mountain of tasks we needed to complete. We had to do multiple coats of paint on the interior of the building, the entire exterior needed to be painted, the window frames and doors needed a coat of paint, and the entire roof needed to be painted. Glenn’s statement to us that morning, I believe to prepare the group for the reality of the project not being completed was, “It would take a miracle, an army of angels to get this building painted.” I think we all entered the tasks with the mindset of working until our time was up and whatever didn’t get done will have to be contracted out.
When I imagine a miracle, I picture levitating and self-propelled paint brushes, magically completing the work. And none of those things happened … but we did have an army. It was God’s people coming together to work towards His plan for goodness in this world. The caregivers who already sacrifice so much for this ministry, gave up their day off to volunteer their time. The teens that came were pouring love back into a place that had poured out love to them. The nine of us from abroad worked hard, especially John who gave up a day and a half with the kids to head up the painting prep and Miles who spent 4-5 hours on a hot precarious roof. Glenn, Esther, and Elodie all pitched in countless hours of labor. This group of 25 or so people came together who could barely communicate due to language barriers, but what we did have in common was a dedication to God’s vision. We worked hard, with very little breaks from morning through lunch. It wasn’t until 3PM when all major painting was completed that we finally sat down to eat lunch. The painting had been completed, we had accomplished as a team more than anticipated and the building looked so much better.
In my short Christian walk, I am seeing how much we are invited into being part of God’s work. We are invited to be His army for positive change. Our all-powerful God could have levitated those brushes, but perhaps an even more beautiful display of His power and love is when His work is carried out by His servants in glad obedience and submission to His will.
Home Visits - John Morris
One of the privileges we had on the DRC Mission trip was to visit some of the children at there homes. Each of us visited a different home. If we had a sponsored child we were able to visit them at their home.
We parked at the Susan Wright Care point and went on foot through town to the neighborhoods. There is not any garbage pick up so the people are left to take care of it themselves. We would often see them raking the garbage into a pile and burning it. So walking through the streets you could see and smell the garbage. The homes in the neighborhood where we went were made of block and stucco, small, maybe 2 rooms, with a court yard defined by a very short wall around it.
They experience a lot of death mostly due to Aids but also malaria and yellow fever so most of the homes had many people living in them, multiple generations. One of the mothers in sharing how much having her children go to the Care Point meant to her said there are 27 people in her home due to deaths in the family leaving the children behind. The families were very welcoming, setting out chairs (the inexpensive plastic chairs we typically use for deck chairs) for us to sit in while we visited.
I also had the privilege of doing a second home visit from the Mananza Care Point. We walked down a very long hill, very steep in parts. Their homes in this neighborhood were metal shacks made from corrugated steel covering the valley. It was clean not being in the city. There was a stream at the bottom of the hill with clear running water. When we got to Blessings home I got to meet her mom and two brothers. We sat down and I was able to talk with her mother through an interpreter. She earns $10 a month cleaning homes for people. From her earnings she was able to save up and purchase this home earlier in the spring. Before this she had been living with her mother. Her situation is pretty unique having only the four in the household. They call their seasons the rainy season and dry season. After the rainy season many of the metal homes being on the hill side get washed out and have to be rebuilt. Blessing’s mother was confident her home would hold up. The care takers who came with me from the Care Point explained how Blessing did her daily activities, sponge bath, brush her teeth etc. It’s basically like rustic camping 24/7 365 days a year. The water they use they haul from a clean water source which thankfully was not far for them. All their clothes are kept in a duffel bag in their tin home which is about 16 feet by maybe 8 feet by about 7 feet high. I had to crouch to get through the 5 foot door and inside it was divided into two rooms by a blanket. On one side there was a thin foam cushion on the dirt floor they used to slept on. The other side was pretty open with their duffel bags of clothes. Back outside which was basically dirt with patches of grass you could see where they built little fires to do their cooking. After the visit I was able carry little 6 yr old Blessing (with the help of the care takers, it is a long steep hill) back to the bottom of the valley, jump the stream and all the way back up the hill to the Care Point as the other children were arriving.
Spiritual Life in the DRC - Miles Eastman
Something that really hit me hard was the incredible faith of the Christians in the Congo.
A scripture verse that comes to mind as I reflect upon this is the beatitudes found in Matthew 5: 3-11.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Here we see this theme of the lowly being raised up. In the US, we have the huge blessing of wealth. We have all the earthly comforts and luxuries that we could ever need or want. In contrast, the people in the congo have close to nothing. They have little food, housing, and many have lost even their families. Yet, the both the staff and the kids they minister to, have a joy about them.
One woman who was head over 2 of the CarePoints, Rosemary, told us her story of how she lost her father, mother, a brother and sister, her husband and finally her son. She spent a long while after that in anger towards God, until God spoke to her and said, “It’s time for you to have joy.”
This woman was one of the most joyful people I met in the Congo, continually smiling and loving these children. Many of the children and staff there have similar stories and still have that same joy and contentedness in Christ. I believe that it is actually because they are poor.
In America, the devil is working in very crafty ways. We have created a society built upon comfort and entertainment. And we have misplaced our trust in the things of this world to give us satisfaction in joy.
Teenage Friends - Emily Wright
While on the Congo trip I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with the teens at the Manzanza CarePoint. We played a game called “Spoons” and they had a blast! After we had played a few rounds we had a question time where they could ask me as many questions as they wanted. Most of them asked if I knew their sponsors and some of them asked questions about America. One of the teens stood out to me though. She was a girl who in the nine years she has been at the CarePoint had never once received a letter. I would like to ask you all to write letters to your kids. You don't have to write often and you don't even have to write much. What matters most to the kids is knowing that you care about them, not just financially.
Medical Report - David Wright
As the physician on the team, I had the opportunity to conduct vision screenings and exams. Initially there was some concern that I would miss out on many of the interactions with the children. As it turned out, I taught the Bible Lesson from Romans 8 early in the day and the I had the opportunity to meet each of the children one on one for their vision screening. I also got to spend more time with children who had previously been identified by the public health nurse as having more significant medical needs requiring follow-up. It was truly a blessing to minister to the children in this way.
Staff Day Camp - Becky Kase
One day we held a retreat for all of the staff. In order to really bless the children it seemed natural that we should bless and help equip the staff who care for our kiddos. Our team and the staff joined forces to create three teams, we named each team and kept track of points scored during events. We had different activities during the day like a water balloon toss, cup stacking competition, and a three leg race. It was a lot of fun to cheer each other on and compete in team-building activities. In spite of the language barrier we felt a lot of camaraderie. Everyone got a polo shirt with the Christ’s Hope logo embroidered. The shirts were something the staff have been asking for so they were very happy to get them. They also received instruction in nutrition as well as an in-service on establishing grief support groups with the children.
We provided a special meal for them that day, and we got to hear some of their stories. We were amazed at the hardships many of the staff had endured, and how joyful they are. One caregiver, Grace, shared how she has experienced emotional healing for her own childhood trauma by helping the CarePoint children deal with theirs.
Again, thank you all for your prayers as we went on our trip! We know that each of our own lives were changed by this trip, and we each had a chance to see God's work around the world.
"Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul!"