Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you for your many encouraging emails about the house for Josephine and Julienne. The property is large enough that at least two more houses for the Ndengerea workers can be built on this same property.
With cash I had on hand and about $500 that Simon kicked in from the Ndengera Foundation, Simon, Caritas, and Josephine went to sign the contract and pay one half of the $3400 early this morning (the second half is due on or before August 1). Simon Pierre doesn’t mess around. When he has an idea he gets it done now. Part of his motivation for moving so quickly is that when he and Caritas travel to Kigali with the boys and I and the Hawaii work and witness team, they won’t be coming back to Gisenyi until they return from the U.S. after the Church of the Nazarene’s General Assembly in Orlando (General Assembly occurs every four years and brings together delegates from all over the world for praise, encouragement, and various business meetings).
I was going to ask Simon if Josephine knew about the house this morning when Jimmie came into my room and told me that Josephine was at Simon’s house and that she was thrilled beyond words at the news of the house. Josephine was so happy–praising God, raising her hands, dancing, and crying. Julienne doesn’t know yet, but she will soon. The house is exactly what they both need-tangible hope. The house represents to them a more hopeful future and reminds them of God’s faithfulness even in the midst of struggle and heartache.
Simon is as overjoyed at the prospects of Josephine, Julienne, Baraka and the rest of the children having this house (three rooms on one side and four on the other-which is one more room than I originally said) as I am. And it’s just not Simon and I-but the entire church is thrilled for them. It really is a beautiful house and is in excellent shape. It will be a much better situation for Baraka as well. Speaking of Baraka, I don’t have an update on him this morning. I will know more by the time I am able to write more from Kigali. He did seem somewhat more perky after visiting the clinic the other day, but he is still one very sick boy.
Here are some thoughts I wrote about the boys and my experiences with Celestin at the Betsaida Church in Bukavu on June 5, 2009:
One of the projects that I was most looking forward to seeing before traveling to Bukavu was the Betsaida project. Betsaida is a small church that managed to raise enough resources to start a feeding program for malnourished children in their community less than a year ago.
For Christmas the Golden Church raised $5,000 to buy a cassava grinder to provide the church a steady income to feed 200-300 children (they had to put a limit on 300 children because feeding more than this overextends their capabilities to the point that it compromises their ability to feed any of the children) who now come to their twice weekly feeding program. In addition to a cassava grinder we raised the funds for a new church to contain all the children who come to their Child Development Center. Their old church was 14′ X 20′ at the very most. The new church is 3-4 times as large and also doubles as the pastor’s home. Thanks to God and your generosity we were able to start a business, buy a church and pastor’s house, and transform a community with the hope of Jesus for less than $5,000!
The feeding program at Betsaida is part of their Child Development Center, which is a holistic program for at-risk children that Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is encouraging each local church in Africa to participate in. Unbelievably, the Bethsaida church has only had its child development center in place less than a year. Pastor Maombi says, “We realized that there were many children facing malnutrition and weak bodies in our area. Some of the children have lost parents due to HIV/AIDS and some parents are so poor that they cannot afford to feed their children. We had to do what we could with God’s help.” Pastor Maombi and his wife experienced a deeply personal tragedy when their two-year old son died of what sounded like dysentery while we were in Bukavu. I hugged and held Maombi to express how deeply sorry I was for his loss. Because of your generosity I was able to give him $100 to help pay for the funeral and serve as a sign to him and his wife that they are loved and prayed for in their time of heartache and loss.
As part of each CDC, there is Bible study, prayer, healthcare (de-worming and small health issues), and literacy programs for the children who are not able to go to school. Every CDC includes an “International Health Clinic,” as Celestin half-jokingly calls it, that treats for diarrhea, worms and viruses. CDCs also offer counseling for children who have been traumatized by the harsh conditions here-war, death of parents due to HIV/AIDS, disease, malnutrition, etc. CDCs seek to address the entire spectrum of needs of children: spiritual, social, physical, emotional, and mental.
In addition to the CDC, Betsaida also is developing a ministry for the handicapped and a sewing project that will help women and men help themselves and train others. Betsaida also wants to start a school for nursery age children (4-5 years-old) as very few children in their area attend school. We hope and pray that the Lord will help them to continue these and other programs with God’s help and our support.
One of the biggest blessings of our all too brief visit to Betsaida was feeding the children porridge. It was unforgettable being so close to these children-many of them orphans who never receive a well-balanced meal. Celestin told us later that the church people were very surprised that the boys and I fed all the children by spooning porridge into their cups. They thought we might feed a few of the children and then quit, but we fed as many children as we had porridge.
Looking back at the pictures from Betsaida, I’m struck by the personal contact we had with the children, giving them porridge and receiving their gratitude in return. We literally got our hands dirty with porridge. In a few of the pictures our Co-Aid T-shirts are visible with the words of scripture printed on them: “Speak out on behalf of the poor.”
One of the many precious children we met at Betsaida was Rosile. Rosile is eight years old and a little person. Anyone who has seen “Little People Big World” on The Learning Channel will know what I’m talking about. Rosile is very quiet and so sweet. Celestin loves her dearly and refers to her as “My beloved Rosile.” Rosile gave us a dozen eggs from the Betsaida Church as a way of expressing their gratitude. As I was putting my arm around Rosile for a picture, I noticed that she has a significant bony hump on her back (there is another girl at the Betsaida Church, Tumaini ["Too-ma-ee-nee" = "Hope"] who has an extremely large hump on her back, but she also is very happy and apparently not in pain). At this time Rosile walks okay. She is very well loved by the church people and seems to have a loving family. Please join Celestin and me in praying for our “beloved Rosile.”
As I think back on our experience of feeding the children at Betsaida, I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 25: “Whatever you have done for one of the least of my brothers, sisters, and children you have done it to me.” When Mother Teresa cared for the poor in Calcutta, she treated every sick, neglected, and “untouchable” person as if they were Jesus himself. She often said, “I can’t love the entire world, but I can love this man, woman, boy, or girl.”
Love and prayers,
Joe, Jimmie, and Chuck