Toured the general secretariat, offices for this church of 700,000-800,000, in the morning. Listened to President Eliki Bonanga's carefully thought out vision for the church.

But the day's focus is on the partners getting acquainted. Today we tour eight city parishes. Big parishes. Small parishes. All with a big welcome. All with gifts of fabric, carved wooden sculptures, eggs, fresh fruit, live chickens – yes, live chickens. Most of the parishes with schools. All the parishes at least 50 percent children and youth. All with a youth director or minister on staff. Every single congregation in the Mbandaka district has a priority on youth ministry. Each one – no matter what size – has a pastor – and a youth director.

Later we would talk about demographics with the church leadership. There are more children in this country than in the US and Canada. People have larger families; that partly explains the numbers. But not completely. It's partly that there is a church-wide strategy to bring in the kids. Start choirs, they told us. That brings the young people. And spreads the message.

It's partly a philosophy of evangelism. Years ago, a great Congolese leader, Jean Bokeleale, told me, "We used to be preoccupied with the salvation of the soul alone. But the soul resides in a body. Africans know that we need to be preoccupied not just with the soul of a person, but with the whole of a person – soul, mind, and body. A hungry person can't hear the gospel message."

During our trip we've been amazed at the bodily care we've been given.  None of us has been sick. No water comes to us that isn't purified. All food is carefully prepared. Mosquito nets on the beds. Rooms scrubbed.

We've been blessed by nature as well. Rain only at arrival and departure. Cloud cover several days, keeping the tropical temperature down to bearable.

There's air conditioning from time to time - especially in Kinshasa. But mostly, it's hot. They run the generator for us in Mbandaka for several hours a day. Some light at night as we end the day, some running water. Although for showers it ends up being just as convenient to use the bucket and pitcher of cistern water set in the shower stall. Nothing really to do about the frizzed hair and bug bites and heavy perspiration. At least wrinkles hang out of garments in the humidity.

Friday, May 23, 2008 »

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