All systems up and running (almost)

Living with a foot in two worlds makes its own special demands, especially when one of the worlds is a fully wired, 24/7 rush hour and the other is an off-the-grid, DIY (do-it-yourself), self-reliant world where the nearest hardware store is 300 miles away. Miriam and I returned to the Baptist Agricultural Center at Lusekele three weeks ago. Imagine what nomads have to go through, packing up the household every few days and moving to a new place. That's what we have been doing as we move from room to room cleaning, repairing, painting and unpacking.

The termites have been separated from the game cabinet and other less important things. The grime is washed away. Four rooms sport a new coat of paint, and only four more to go. The office has power.

Day after tomorrow the solar panels should be back on the roof producing clean and quiet energy for the Lusekele internet connection and our house – no more generator banging away out in the garage. Next week we should be able to say, "All systems up and running."

One of the real joys of having a foot in two worlds is experiencing firsthand the fruits of Congolese hospitality. Realizing that we would have a hard time right at the beginning unpacking the household, our Congolese co-workers gave us another sign of God’s caring presence. Timothee Kabila fed me for the first three days, allowing me to get the kitchen basics set up for Miriam’s arrival on day 4. Lusekele kids have pitched in to carry household water, earning a bit for school expenses or spending money. And Brother Kurt arranged for our yard to be cleaned up a little before our arrival.

Remember that in Bandundu people are right in the middle of dry season. It’s a time for preparing new fields for peanuts, corn, cassava and mantete (seed squash). In fact, as I write this afternoon, the Lusekele people have just set fire to the collective fields to burn the debris and release the nutrient-rich ash for the new crops. One big challenge people face is finding good peanut seed. Erratic rains last year caused a near-failure of the peanut crop, leaving seed supplies for this year seriously depleted.

Dry season is also time for church retreats – a time for spiritual renewal and learning. The Milundu retreat begins on Friday and runs through the weekend. We’re praying that God will touch people in a special way as they take out a few days before the intense time of planting begins toward the end of the month.

One big opportunity for agricultural development should open up late this year. The US government has committed over $30 million to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen local producers’ groups and increase the efficiencies of agricultural processing and marketing over the next five years. The project focuses on Bandundu and Bas-Congo provinces, the regions where the Baptist church has the strongest presence. We are praying that the investments will establish an effective agricultural extension program similar to what we have done at Lusekele over the last nine years and then work with common farmers to make further efficiency gains by working together. You can pray along with us that local church agriculture programs, like our own and the Mennonite program in Kikwit, will play a key role in making sure that investments are made where they will do the greatest good for common people.

While setting up house has consumed most of our time, opportunities for ministry have come our way. Miriam has met with the area literacy supervisors to brainstorm how the program might continue and expand. Mama Mbaba, one of the supervisors, turned up again today for a Sunday school seminar which Miriam attended as well. They spent another hour thinking about how to improve monitoring of local literacy classes. I have participated in two oil palm growers’ meetings organized by ACDI Lusekele. Many of the cooperating growers have no real living relationship with Christ – a significant drag on building healthy, more productive and sustainable rural communities.


Next week focus shifts from preparing a working base to deciding just how Miriam and I are to be involved in the Baptist church’s witness over the next few months. Pray for us and the staff at Lusekele as we begin to review what has been done in the past year and think about what priorities God seems to be setting for the work this coming year. Pray too for the Baptist Convention of Congo (CBCo) as more than a dozen candidates are campaigning for the post of General Secretary. The association of Baptist churches badly needs a person of deep personal faith, a clear vision rooted in God’s leading, demonstrated administrative ability, and unshakable integrity. We can’t dictate to the Spirit of God, but we certainly can pray that the Spirit will sweep through the elective assembly to bring a renewing change to the Church.