Wednesday 20th March 2013

Tuesday, 12^th February 2103 Cont:-

After our visit to the Church Schools there was just time for a brief rest before we walked to the home of CECCA 16 Church President Modibale and his wife Bettina. Bettina is German and has been a missionary in DR Congo for 25 years with S.I.L. International doing major translation work.

 Before enjoying the evening meal together, 

we spent a couple of hours in the garden discussing church issues and looking at the ways forward for their very widespread  communities is in this very large country. 

Apart from the common needs and concerns as previously mentioned, there were some which had saddened and shocked us all.  There are no pension schemes (government or private) or retirement structures for Pastors; (or anyone else for that matter) so when they retire they have to leave their church house and find other accommodation. Sometimes this might be with family, but.............? 

The government has no interest in their future or well-being (or anyone apart from themselves it sometimes seems!)  and pastors do not receive any income other than  via the church community, mission donations and other ways of supporting themselves.

And in all these large districts these pastors and their senior church staff seem to carry out very similar work to our UK local councils in looking after the welfare of their community, providing and supporting most of the clinics, schools and teachers. A very small number of teachers have government pay and if four out of ten get government pay in one school, we believe that they share it among themselves along with any money from the church. Yet these teachers and pastors are dedicated to their work in providing the children with a good education.

Wednesday, 13^th of February 2013

 At 9.30am we set off for a day visit to Nala. That’s 1 ½ hours in the usual two vehicles over even worse roads and hazards than we had traveled before. 

 Crowds cheered us into the village including many schoolchildren in their blue and white uniforms lining the road.  

  We were welcomed and seated under a purpose built canopy of bamboo and palm leaves. 

 The Gamba band folk had come with us on the back of the pickup truck so they soon joined in with Nala’s music and singing groups! 

 Introductions and welcomes from the pastors before the speakers on various subjects. 

 We toured the schools and health center before having a typical Congolese meal!

Suddenly it was obvious that there could be a rainstorm within the next hour or so, which meant a hurried departure amid excitement and crowds waving us goodbye and safe journey! 

  We watched the black clouds during the 1 ½ hour ride back to Gamba, Isiro, because a storm while driving through the forest would be pretty awful!!  Our prayers were answered for a dry drive, and as we were clambering out of the vehicles the heavens suddenly opened, and the ground was soon like mud rivers! 

  It was cooler with the rain and we sat on the veranda and relaxed before we had a meal and wondered what we would be doing tomorrow!

Tuesday 12th March 2013

Monday 11^th February 2013 Leaving Ibambi.

                Can we possibly top the experiences we have had in Ibambi?  Our journey today takes us to the Gamba district of Isiro, a distance of 65 kilometres or 40 miles.   The red Land Rover and dark green Pickup truck arrive after breakfast and the loading of luggage and passengers begins!  

  As seems customary, there are always more people traveling with us than anticipated when contemplating where we should sit!  All legitimately getting a lift; may be a Doctor or Doctor’s wife and children.  We watch our cases being loaded and see extra people appearing and wonder how on earth we are all going to get in or on!  

 As well as a crowd of onlookers, many people arrive to say farewell to us, and to pray for a safe journey and soon after 9am we set off, “packed like sardines”, on what was to be 4 ½ hours of travelling through forests and small settlements on a very bad “road” which was nothing more than a dirt track full of what looked like bomb craters and huge ditches filled with water. The “road” is definitely not suitable for anything other than a 4x4 “off roader”!  

 Sometimes we would stop at a small village community and off load or pick up someone; once it was the driver’s twin babies who may be needed to be taken back home from Grandma’s!  In the picture below you can see one of them being handed up to a passenger on the top of the Pickup!! Notice also the 3 live chickens hanging from the back of the Pickup – meal gifts for Isiro??

 

The drivers are amazing (the leading driver knowing the “road” very well!).  One wonders how these old 4 wheel drive vehicles stay in one piece and don’t break down – well they do sometimes, but we were blessed with an incident free journey despite, at times, having only three wheels on the ground!

  Any repairs would be done on the spot by the mechanical skills of the drivers and/or passengers and/or Congolese men emerging from the forest!!  Actually we had to have a whip round to pay for repairs for the Land Rover before we could use it at all!  And you will recall the picture of Minibus we were about to travel in at Shalom which was without a wheel!

Arrival at the Gamba district of Isiro (HQ of CECCA 16 Church)

                The usual welcoming crowd greeted us and paraded us in our vehicles to the centre of the church’s complex.  As we got out of the vehicles we found our path was covered in lengths of highly decorated material leading us to the meeting area.  This was directly in front of the house which was to be our home for the next week. There followed the customary introductions and celebrations with speeches, prayers, chorales and brass band!   

Tuesday 12^th February 2013

                We were awoken at 5.30am by the sound of a large gong or bell being struck 6 times somewhere in distance.  This was the daily “wake up call” for the village to say “dawn is approaching”!   (I must admit that I used earplugs at night from then on and preferred to wait for our alarm clock to go off at 6am.)

                Every morning, before breakfast, there was a meeting in the church from 7 to 8am and members of our team took turns to give a short talk.  One morning we had some testimonies in place of the talk and we gave a brief testimony and the surprised them by singing a duet!  Throughout the tour and the 100 year Celebration Services we had often heard it said – “and what will the next 100 years bring for the Church and for DR Congo?!  So we chose to make that question a personal one for individuals by singing one of the Male Voice songs – “Where in the world are you going?”  Giving a spiritual challenge to think about their personal lives and the paths they are taking.

                The small church building is old and needing repair, but there is the shell of a partly built new church which was started many years ago but lack of funds have meant that only the walls stand.  After breakfast we met within these walls to hear of the plans for the church. They continue to hope and pray that it can be finished to provide multipurpose facility for the church which would be in use every day of the week!

                Later in the day we visited the church schools where we found that the situation was the same as in Ibambi, dilapidated buildings, underpaid staff, lack of teaching materials etc.  Once again discussions ensued as to how to generate funds through small businesses.