Welcome to Gemena

View Gemena, DRC in a larger map

See this map for a better look at where we will be living and the surrounding area. Key places and buildings at the Elikya Center and in town are tagged with brief descriptions and photos. The center is located approximately 3 miles to the southwest of Gemena.

Mission Network News

Sam was interviewed for a recent news story highlighting the work of the Elikya Center. Check out the article here: Mission Network News

April 2010 Update

This past month we finally made it down to New Orleans. The purpose of our trip to the Big Easy was twofold. Firstly, we wanted to connect with the EFCA Crisis Response Team that is working there to see how we might use them to help assess potential 3-month team members hoping to serve at the Elikya Center. Crisis Response is constantly overseeing week-long construction crews from churches across the country as they help the residents of New Orleans move back into their homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It really will be a win-win situation since Crisis Response will get a few extra pairs of helping hands and we will have an opportunity to evaluate applicants’ readiness for a full season of ministry in a place they are not used to. Secondly, after 8 straight weeks of hosting and coordinating teams, the Crisis Response staff appreciated the extra help! We were able to serve as job site supervisors for a couple different projects over the course of the two weeks we were there.

With the Snyders at the Yellow House (Urban Impact HQ)

Since it would be a shame to drive right past all the great country in-between Pennsylvania and New Orleans we decided to camp out for a few days in the Smokies en route. We hiked a waterfall and then up one of the taller peaks in the region, Mount Le Conte. It was incredibly beautiful...

I guess this is why they're called the Smokies

The trail to the top of Mount LeConte

Snow and ice toward the peak

Michelle and I worked with a team from Iowa during the first week. We were doing drywall sanding, texturing, priming and painting primarily. There was also a carpenter and a plumber on the crew. We were helping the homeowner, Miss Jayne, move back into her house after five years living in a FEMA trailer in the front yard.

Miss Jayne's house and FEMA trailer

One evening, after we had left for the day, she returned from work and walked through the house just turning the lights on in every room. She said there hadn’t been lights on in her house since Katrina and the sight of it moved her to tears. The following week we finished painting at Miss Jayne’s house, helped a local ministry move locations in the lower 9th Ward and spent an afternoon working on some exterior window trim at another site.

Michelle and Miss Jayne

Our time in New Orleans was a good experience for us. It is easy to forget that the city is still struggling to emerge from the shadows of Katrina. It is no longer in the news but no less real. People like Miss Jayne are still living in cramped “temporary” trailers, neighborhoods are still half-empty, many houses are still abandoned.

Abandoned house at the corner of Flood and Rocheblave

Lower Ninth Ward

It was a privilege to work with TouchGlobal and another ministry in the city, Urban Impact, that is committed to rebuilding communities in the city. The operation of their ministry partnership revolves around this belief: “Real change is about more than just fixing up a home. It involves getting to know people, sharing Christ, reaching out.” As such, we participated in prayer walks around the neighborhood, helped out with a youth after-school program and hosted a block party at one of the construction sites.

Urban Impact's after-school Challenge Circle activity

This past week we had the opportunity to host President Bosokpale of CECU (the Congolese Free Church) as he was visiting the East Coast. We accompanied him to the Lebanon Area EFC where he spoke to a room full of people interested in ministry in the Congo. I got to translate for him and was glad that my Lingala was mostly sufficient for the task.

With Pastor Steve and Bosokpale at LAEFC

The real test, however, was the next couple days as Michelle and I drove him down to Washington DC for some sightseeing. We visited the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum on Thursday followed by a tour of the monuments and memorials on Friday. Translating the specifics of the Apollo program and the Gettysburg Address into Lingala proved to be a bit too difficult. But we had a really good time with him and were reminded again of all that we have to be thankful for in this country.

The President in front of the Capitol

The day after we returned from DC we were moving out of our residence for the past 6 months (the LEFC Mission House apartment) and moving in with some friends in Manheim, PA. This is a season of transition for us and we are looking forward to finally returning to the Congo. This current month we will be buying necessary supplies and saying farewell to friends and family. We still don’t have a date set for our departure but are anticipating either late May or (more likely) early June.

The Congo Excercise Plan

For a fascinating video clip of a woman’s work in Congo, check out the following:

100%

God has provided! We have reached 100% of our needed monthly financial support! This means we will be able to return to the Congo and the Elikya Center. We do not currently have a departure date as our teammates, the Snyders, continue their support raising efforts. They are at about 80% of their support needs right now so we are all hoping to return to Gemena by the end of May. If you would like more information on how to support the Snyders, e-mail them at sam.snyder@efca.org or sarah.snyder@efca.org. Also, check out their blog at snydersincongo.blogspot.com. Any additional support that we receive will go towards future projects at Elikya connected to our ministry. More on that to come.

Thanks to all of you who have given so freely to our ministry! We have been so blessed and God has shown himself faithful through your generosity. This has been a big faith-builder for us and we are grateful that you have chosen to join us in His work in the Congo.

Tropical Ag Training in Florida

One of the benefits that has come about as a result of our return to the Elikya Center being delayed was the opportunity for me to study for a week at Educational Concern for Hunger Organization in Fort Myers, FL. ECHO is a non-profit organization whose vision is "to bring glory to God and a blessing to mankind by using science and technology to help the poor." See http://www.echonet.org/ for more information.

During the week of February 22nd I attended a new class called "Introduction to Tropical Agricultural Development". This was a crash course on a variety of different topics including principles of community development, appropriate technologies, nursery management, cross-cultural communication, dryland farming and more. The heart of ECHO is their 50 acre Global Farm, divided into six separate "climate zones" where techniques and plants native to each are demonstrated. It was a lot of fun to wander the campus reading about the different methods and crops showcased in each plot.

A kitchen garden plot in the Semi-Arid Tropics zone

Demonstration of Tropical Highlands climate zone

I left with many ideas to consider for incorporation into the training program at the Elikya Center. The ability to sustainably grow more food and better food in their subsistence gardens is a big step towards self-sufficiency for widows and orphans in the Congo. Since every household has a garden from which they get the vast majority of their food, this is not only a big step but a necessary one. There are several challenges to be overcome, including depletion of soil nutrients and minimal inputs. But the opportunity for improvement is enormous and I am excited to see how God would use me and the training I received at ECHO.

Yep...a goat

Taro, a root crop grown in much of Africa

"and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday" (Is 58:10).

Missions Sunday at Lebanon Area EFC

Michelle and I had the privilege to speak at Lebanon Area Evangelical Free Church in Jonestown, PA on Sunday, March 7th. They devoted both morning services to missions, focusing on ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Click here to listen. Our segment begins at 20:35. The service ends with my Dad praying for us and our ministry.