Brass For Africa
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November -- Spring 2004 newsletter
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Masimango |
SPRINGWOOD TEAM VISITS CONGO, ISE-SOMO SENDS THANKS
SPRINGWOOD TEAM VISITS CONGO
In
July 2004, members of SWAC (Springwood- Winmalee Anglican Churches) -
Graham and Wendy Toulmin & Gordon and Sally Andison visited the Congo
to set up a new dental Clinic in Aru and to visit friends and BFA projects
in Beni, Butembo and Lubero. The setting up of the new clinic went
extremely well (see back page), the only sad thing was that we had so
little time with the medical/dental team there. However, internal flights
in Congo are irregular and we had to go when the plane went. Flying south,
we stopped briefly at Bunia to pick up passengers and saw the evidence of
the ongoing war - the UN presence, the blue plastic refugee camp, the
razor wire ...
We arrived at Beni to a joyous welcome from Pastor Ise-Somo (our old friend who has visited Australia twice), Baliesema (the head of the Anglican Medical work across Congo), Bishop Munzenda and many others.
From there we travelled by road to Butembo where we arrived after dark and were stopped in the middle of the town by a large crowd, singing and dancing. We were led to the electricity-deficient cathedral for an official reception ... in the dark. The only light coming from a car parked with its headlights pointing into the church and a kerosene lamp. But it was great to be back and to introduce Gordon and Sally.
Each day was jam-packed with saddening visits to struggling schools, struggling churches, the struggling church medical/ dental/maternity facilities (the government provides nothing in the way of education or health care) but the most poignant visit was to a BFA project feeding and housing orphans in a dirt-floored school room. The carer said the children would like to put on a little play for the visitors. ‘How cute!’ we thought until we saw it. They re-enacted how they became orphans, how their parents were killed, how they screamed and wailed being unable to move the bodies or do anything. It was horrible and we were all crying profusely by the end.
But BFA is helping and making a difference, especially the ‘Support a Pastor’ Project ... you can’t imagine how grateful they and their families are that Australians are helping them survive and get on with their job of spreading the gospel.
The last day we visited Lubero and saw a church that has just been planted and needs some help.
But everyone we met had needs and since returning we are trying to work our way through them to assist the most needy.
The highlight of our visit was the Welcome Feast at Ise-somo’s home and introducing Gordon and Sally to his delightful wife and 5 of his 6 grown children. There was much singing and dancing, the food and the all the 7 dioceses in the DRC, we hope that friendship was great and we were sorry to say good bye at the end of the night.
It was an impossibly short visit but even so it was a huge encouragement to them and to us; and despite being warned by the British High Commission in Uganda not to go into the Congo ‘war zone’, we were glad we did. The people there have to live in it and their resilience and faith in God is remarkable to see.
If you are able to help them with a donation for one of the projects on the response form, we will see that it gets there and is used as effectively as possible. Ise-Somo and Masimango are doing a wonderful job in administering your donations.
Graham and Wendy Toulmin for the BFA Committee (pictured below).
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| Ross Hall, Graham, Gordon, Warwick Coghlan, Wendy, John Stirling | We are very grateful to Grant Robinson for his untiring work updating the website. |
Go to the News page and subscribe to the Congo Support Network for regular email updates!
TO THE SUPPORTERS OF BRASS FOR AFRICABrothers and sisters Greetings from the DR Congo We are very grateful to you because of the work of the gospel you are doing in our country by supporting us in different ways; We want to thank you particularly for having allowed our brothers and sisters Graham, Wendy, Gordon, Sally, Malcolm and Elizabeth to come and visit us last July. Their visit and presence among us has been a big comfort and encouragement to all Congolese Christians. Through this visit, Congolese people understood how much Australian people love them because it is not often easy for many people to agree to risk their lives to come into Congo during this hard period of war. But they did and we praise God for that. I think that those six people who came from Australia and visited the DR Congo will be our interpreters among Australian brothers and sisters in Christ. Even if they did not have enough time to visit what they saw in Boga, Butembo, Kindu and Bukavu dioceses will give them the image of the situation and the needs of our very poor people and church in particular. Thank you once again and God bless you all in your good works. Archdeacon Muhindo Ise-Somo, Provincial Co-ordinator of Evangelism in the D R Congo |
On behalf of the youth department in the Diocese of Kinshasa I would like you to pass on our sincere thanks to all who take part in "Brass for Africa" and through whom this gift of $2,500 has been made possible for Evangelist Jean-Mari Ntumba to buy a professional camera. In this way he will now be able to continue making Christian videos in Kinshasa using the young people. Not only is this an educational experience for them but through the sale of the videos the Christian message will be proclaimed and funds will be brought into the youth department to buy appropriate material to develop this project further. Having seen the quality of the first two videos produced I am sure that Jean-Mari Ntumba will have a major impact on the youth in the Congo through this important media. We love you and thank you for joining with us in this project. May the Lord continue to bless and use you through your music to touch the hearts of many and to bring further assistance to the Congo.
With love in Jesus’ Name,
Judy Acheson, Provincial Youth Worker for the Anglican Church of the
Congo.
CONGO CONFERENCE UPLIFTS DISCOURAGED CLERGY
MALCOLM & ELIZABETH RICHARDS write
"We are sitting in an outdoor construction of bamboo and palm leaves in the middle of Africa a stones throw from the Congo River. Pastors and their wives from all over the Diocese of Kindu have travelled days on foot to get to the two week conference- some up to 400km.
This is the first time all the clergy and their wives have been together since the creation of the diocese in 1997.
If it rains we have to run for cover and that will be the end of the teaching for the day. Humidity has dropped considerably since it rained yesterday and it is quite pleasant in the low 30’s. In general, pastors and their wives are sitting together. Many of the wives arrived feeling ill—especially those who have walked a long way. In the first days of the conference Bishop Masimango had a nurse come to see all the sick. One lady cut her foot badly on the way to the conference and it has become badly infected and swollen. One pastor’s wife has had an operation since she has arrived. Who would have thought that a major cost of the seminar would be medical costs for ailments they already had!
 Malcolm is the Rector of the Parish of Gungahlin in the ACT. Elizabeth is a Senior Social Worker in the Public Service. They were CMS missionaries in Congo (then Zaire) from 1988 till 1994. They hope to return to work in DRC in the future. |
There is no electricity on this side of the river. The seminar is being held at the Peter Dawson Pastoral Centre, a large block of land near the town of Kindu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is accommodation for approximately 25 people in mud huts with roofs made of leaves. Cooking for the seminar is done on outdoor fires using the traditional 3 stones and firewood. Teams of people, mainly women from nearby parishes, take turns in cooking. The food is served in huge cooking pots and brought from the kitchen in wheelbarrows."
The clergy themselves come from town and bush. Some have mobile phones and TV/ Video. Others have never seen either. Some have university education, others didn’t finish secondary or even primary school.
Malcolm is the Rector of the Parish of Gungahlin in the ACT. Elizabeth is a Senior Social Worker in the Public Service. They were CMS missionaries in Congo (then Zaire) from 1988 till 1994. They hope to return to work in DRC in the future.
Almost everyone has a problem with their eyes and desperately need glasses for reading. Some have other medical conditions affecting their eyes that glasses won’t fix. Malcolm once was an Optometrist, so we spent about 5 hours this week working out a rough reading prescription for each of the 170 people at the seminar.
At the beginning of each teaching session we sing with drums and dancing. In the seminar we are encouraging people to think and to make connections between their work as pastors and their own family lives. The education system in the Congo is based on theory and rote learning. Students are not encouraged to use their initiative.
Our teaching has gone down well and we have remembered the language enough to be able to teach in Swahili. Malcolm is helping the pastors to plan their parish programs in different ministry areas such as bridge building with non-Christians, how to share the good news of Christ and how to teach new Christians the foundations of their faith and to help Christians grow to maturity. The idea of building bridges with non-Christians is controversial. Many comment that if clergy were seen talking to non-Christians then people would start to gossip.
Bishop Masimango is speaking on Pastoral issues. Today he taught on time management in parish work. How does a pastor who is a subsistence farmer with no salary feed his family and still find time for ministry? Yesterday he made all the clergy and wives stand up couple by couple and introduce themselves. This was a hit as many of the wives had never met each other.
Elizabeth’s teaching aimed to address couple a machete to assist them in growing the needs of people as their lives return to normal after years of war. Topics covered include stress, anger, caring for children, love languages and counselling skills. The pastors and their wives were greatly There are no Swahili words for much of this teaching.
‘Stress’ has now become a new word in the church’s vocabulary. They said how helpful it is to know about stress and to be able to recognize it in themselves and their parishioners. Some pastors stood up and asked their families for forgiveness for neglecting them.
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There will be an ordination on Saturday and Malcolm will preach in Swahili. 11 Deacons, many already in charge of parishes, will be ordained as priests. This is the first ordination possible for 4 years because of the war."
We would like to thank so many people who supported us while we were in Congo through prayers and by donations for the conference. We kept healthy and safe throughout the whole trip."
We would like to thank so many people who supported us while we were in Congo through prayers and by donations for the conference. We kept healthy and safe throughout the whole trip."
BISHOP MASIMANGO WRITES… 26th JULY 2004To BRASS FOR AFRICA: I would like to thank you for your thoughtfulness in sending money to assist with the work of this diocese. As you have heard, the people have been badly affected by the war in recent years. Some of our Pastors were beaten and threatened by the rebels. Some spent many months living in the forest. While the situation is now peaceful and people are gradually returning to their normal live, the legacy of war remains. It was a great blessing from God to be able to hold a seminar for pastors and their wives here in Kindu for the last few weeks. It was held at our diocesan centre, which during the war was taken over by rebels and partially destroyed. We are slowly rebuilding and refurbishing the centre. As well as providing exercise books and pens to all the pastors, we were able to give each couple a machete to assist them in growing their own food. Most people lost any tools they owned during the war. The pastors and their wives were greatly encouraged by the seminar. The teaching, the fact of being together, and the fellowship were very important and we pray that they will return feeling refreshed spiritually, emotionally and physically. As I write some are preparing to walk between 15km and 400km home. Another project that some of the money will go towards, is the 6 mth deacon’s course being run at the pastoral centre. The arrival of the money was an answer to prayer as we only had half the money required to pay for the food costs to run the course. Thank you again for your part in the ministry of the gospel here in the diocese of Kindu. Yours in Christ, Rt. Rev. Masimango Katanda |
DENTAL
In August 2003, William Alimani sent an email from the Democratic Republic
of Congo asking Dr Graham Toulmin if there was any possibility of
supplying dental equipment to begin a dental clinic in the medical centre
in his home town of Aru. He had been trained by Graham 14 yrs earlier and
had been working in the town of Butembo 600 km to the south of Aru. Due to
ethnic violence in the course of the 5 year civil war, he had been forced
to return to his own tribal area and an African Dental Clinic had seen the
huge dental needs in the Aru area where there is no form of dental
assistance apart from antibiotics. Graham put to the BFA Committee the
idea of another fundraising CD and so ‘DENTAL AS ANYTHING’ was begun?
