The first chapter of the ACDI truck saga ended this morning. On March 7th MIVA Suisse, a Catholic Christian mission devoted to solving transportation and communication problems for church projects around the world, approved ACDI's proposal to purchase a small transport truck. An unlikely coalition of American Baptist churches and individuals joined in the projet. emptytomb, a Champaign, IL-based foundation promoting increased commitment to God's global mission, added another $8.000 to the gifts of local congregations. And this morning, nearly eight months later, Timothée Kabila pulled up to the Lusekele depot, riding shotgun at the end the truck's maiden voyage, Kinshasa to Lusekele, carrying a load of supplies for the Vanga Evangelical Hospital.For the past two weeks Timothée has been working feverishly to secure the final documents for the truck. Bureaucracy grinds slowly in the best of times. "Come back tomorrow" is the mantra of the licensing bureau clerk. A firm tone and persistant spirit win out in the end, but the trial tests one's patience.
So the Lusekele staff start off a new week with one tangible sign of God's accompanying presence. A new chapter, one of promise and challenge, opens. The truck is nothing more than an instrument. It's immediate purpose is three-fold: provide a reliable and reasonably priced transport for hospital and health zone supplies; give farmers a better profit margin by offering regular farm-to-processor transportation for manioc and oil palm fruit; provide ACDI Lusekele with a steady supply of agricultural raw materials for processing. The wholeness and well-being of people is the real objective though. If in four years hundreds of local families can say they are better off because of this truck we will be satisfied. It is simply a fruit of God's deep and abiding love for people.
