The book that we are reading as a part of our training is called "Serving with Eyes Wide Open" Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence. It has been so great to read and discuss it with our team. Some of our discussions this week touched on expectations we have of the trip, what we will accomplish, and what fruit we will see. Expectations largely influence the experience that you have. We concluded that we wanted to expect to be used by God is whatever shape that may be. The author writes "Honesty about what does and doesn't occur through short-term missions allows us to see our trips as an integral part of our lifelong journey of following Jesus, rather than just a two-week project."
Another topic from the book is that many times we have a tendency to generalize about the culture we're working in. We need to resist this temptation and instead have an open mind about each person and situation. A desire to understand our surroundings will enhace our ability to learn and serve. We cannot bust into another culture and insist that we as Americans have the best way to do ministry, better techniques, better whatever....we must strive to be servants.
I am really excited to encourage those working in DR Congo for World Relief. They are the ones in the trenches each day of the year, and the ones who will hopefully see the fruits of their labor. Yes, we are planning to construct 3 homes for widows among other things, but our most valuable task may be the support we give to the national staff.
I could type so much more, but will leave it at that for now. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare spiritually and physically.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Garage sale!
July 11-12 we're having a garage sale to raise funds for our trip. It will be at Clint's grandparent's house in Berne (1246 Mill Pond Rd Berne, IN 46711). If you would like to contribute any items to sell, just let me know. Or you can bake cookies, bars, bread, etc to sell. And of course, please come and buy lots of stuff!!! =) If you have any other questions, just call or email us.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Brief History of DR Congo
We had our second training meeting last night. I am more excited than before about the trip after spending time with our team, discussing the book we're reading (more to come on that), and talk about other issues. Gwen gave us a brief history of DR Congo and other info about where we're going....and I wanted to share that with you all...
The Great Lakes region of Africa includes the Congo countries, Rwanda, Burundi, etc. (Check out a map...I should put one on here!). DR Congo is formerly known as Zaire and changed only in 1997. The area was subject to colonialism many years ago by the Belgians. They pitted African against African. If you are familiar with the Rwandan genocide...you know the two tribes involved in that conflict (Tutsi and Hutu). When the Belgians pulled out, it left a power struggle and the genocide insued. Both tribes at one point fled across the border into Congo and then back to Rwanda. The town we are staying in is called Goma, and is close to the border where much of this happened. All this is directly related to the recent wars in DR Congo between an assortment of the Congolese army, Tutsi rebels, Hutu rebels, and whoever else decides to join in. There has been a cease fire for a little while, so hopefully that holds for us!
The town of Goma is next to a volcano that erupted at some point recently. The town basically was destroyed and then rebuilt on top of the hardened lava. So that will be interesting.
The Great Lakes region of Africa includes the Congo countries, Rwanda, Burundi, etc. (Check out a map...I should put one on here!). DR Congo is formerly known as Zaire and changed only in 1997. The area was subject to colonialism many years ago by the Belgians. They pitted African against African. If you are familiar with the Rwandan genocide...you know the two tribes involved in that conflict (Tutsi and Hutu). When the Belgians pulled out, it left a power struggle and the genocide insued. Both tribes at one point fled across the border into Congo and then back to Rwanda. The town we are staying in is called Goma, and is close to the border where much of this happened. All this is directly related to the recent wars in DR Congo between an assortment of the Congolese army, Tutsi rebels, Hutu rebels, and whoever else decides to join in. There has been a cease fire for a little while, so hopefully that holds for us!
The town of Goma is next to a volcano that erupted at some point recently. The town basically was destroyed and then rebuilt on top of the hardened lava. So that will be interesting.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Recent news from DR Congo
DR Congo to attack Ugandan rebels
The Congolese army has agreed to take military action against Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
The decision comes after the LRA leader Joseph Kony failed to sign a peace agreement with the Ugandan government.
He has been hiding in eastern DR Congo throughout recent peace talks, fearing he would be arrested for war crimes.
A final peace deal was reached in March after almost two years of talks, but Mr Kony failed to turn up on several occasions to sign it.
The chiefs of defence forces in Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as the UN Mission in Congo, Monuc, have been meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala this week to find a military solution to the problem of the LRA.
The BBC's Sarah Grainger in Kampala says their decision to allow the Congolese army to pursue the rebels on their territory, signals the end to a long period of negotiation between the LRA and the Ugandan government.
Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda said there was "still room for peace talks if some people can convince the world that it can work out".
"But in our view, there is room also for taking military action on this group, which has up to now persistently shown that they are not ready to sign the peace agreement," he added.
Throughout the peace talks, in the South Sudan capital Juba, Mr Kony remained in eastern DR Congo, while he and his top commanders were the subjects of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
He is accused of numerous war crimes, including mutilating and abducting civilians and forcing thousands of children into combat.
During the peace talks, the threat of attack by the LRA rebels receded from northern Uganda and security there has improved over the last two years.
But our correspondent says there have been reports of the rebels attacking and abducting civilians in both eastern DR Congo and the Central African Republic, suggesting that the problem has been displaced, not removed.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7436254.stmPublished: 2008/06/04 16:40:14 GMT© BBC MMVIII
You can get lots of great info on DR Congo from the BBC News website....I encourage you to check it out or even make it your homepage to keep up to date on recent news.
The Congolese army has agreed to take military action against Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
The decision comes after the LRA leader Joseph Kony failed to sign a peace agreement with the Ugandan government.
He has been hiding in eastern DR Congo throughout recent peace talks, fearing he would be arrested for war crimes.
A final peace deal was reached in March after almost two years of talks, but Mr Kony failed to turn up on several occasions to sign it.
The chiefs of defence forces in Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as the UN Mission in Congo, Monuc, have been meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala this week to find a military solution to the problem of the LRA.
The BBC's Sarah Grainger in Kampala says their decision to allow the Congolese army to pursue the rebels on their territory, signals the end to a long period of negotiation between the LRA and the Ugandan government.
Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda said there was "still room for peace talks if some people can convince the world that it can work out".
"But in our view, there is room also for taking military action on this group, which has up to now persistently shown that they are not ready to sign the peace agreement," he added.
Throughout the peace talks, in the South Sudan capital Juba, Mr Kony remained in eastern DR Congo, while he and his top commanders were the subjects of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
He is accused of numerous war crimes, including mutilating and abducting civilians and forcing thousands of children into combat.
During the peace talks, the threat of attack by the LRA rebels receded from northern Uganda and security there has improved over the last two years.
But our correspondent says there have been reports of the rebels attacking and abducting civilians in both eastern DR Congo and the Central African Republic, suggesting that the problem has been displaced, not removed.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7436254.stmPublished: 2008/06/04 16:40:14 GMT© BBC MMVIII
You can get lots of great info on DR Congo from the BBC News website....I encourage you to check it out or even make it your homepage to keep up to date on recent news.
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