Mbandaka Micro Credit Program

It seems to me that there is more than one way of building and strengthening one’s faith. One person’s faith story can be very different than another; it all depends on the person’s personal experience with the LORD and other Christians.  Personal experiences are forms of theology that transform a person’s life and enlighten your interpersonal relationship with the Divine.  For some, it’s initiated directly through intense supernatural means. Other times, it’s been realized through natural and physical disasters and causes such as a person’s social economic misfortune for example. Yet other times it might come through shared experience among groups of different intense religious context. As much as the expressions can vary, the end results always brings one closer to God and expand one’s personal relation with the Divine must likely through faith building. The personal experiences from my June 2014 trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo implied many faith building encounters inclusively the Micro-Credit Program of the women from the Mbandaka Region.

Leaders of the Micro-Credit Project

The Micro-Credit Program is about 10 years old; it started in 2003 when political turmoil throughout the country stripped the communities from their resources as a response of the women of Disciple Communities to take care of their families. It did not take long for the entire region of Mbandaka to get involve to make the Micro-Credit Program one of the most dynamic social economic program in the life of the Congolese Church.  How does the program work? I am glad you asked; let’s talk about the women’s Micro-Credit Program for a moment.

The Micro-Credit Program is a community cooperative program; it functions like a community bank. It started with the seed money provided by Global Ministries, and the women took charge and develop the program to what it has become today. Not all the churches in the region have been involved yet, but in the churches where the program is rooted, the women bring their own little personal funds raised from their own personal effort and sacrifices and surrender that small fund under the authority of a small group of women joined together under the leadership of a committee elected by the group. The committee is composed of a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer. Once each person submitted her portion, the committee counts and records everyone’s personal fund, and loan the total amount to one member of the group to start a personal lucrative activity. Depend on the cost of the activity chosen, they may have enough money to loan to more than one member. The group would establish a cycle for that total amount allowed to come back with a 10% interest, and then another person will get the total amount and do the same thing till each member of the group has a turn; and they would start over again and again if necessary.

You may ask where is the benefits stood in all this. I am glad you ask; let’s work with a figure to see if I can explain it clearer; for example, let’s say one group in a particular church has 10 persons, keep in mind one local church usually has more than one group; each member of the group would contribute $100 as an example. After each person brings her portion, the total amount counted and recorded by the committee of that particular group would be $1000.00. One member borrows the $1,000 and uses it for a productive activity. One of the activities they get involved in for example is dress making. Let’s say one member of the group borrows $1000 and buys fabric to make dresses and sells them for a total amount of $3000; at the end of the cycle, she will bring back to the group $1000 + 10% = $1100 would come back to the group, and she has $1900 left to continue the activity she started. The group will loan the $1000 to a different member, and the remaining $100 is used for materials needed to administer the group and will be dispersed as interest to the women periodically.

Do you get it? Oh, Okay! You have another question, what is it? What else the $1900 benefit can be used for? That is a great question, let’s try to answer it.

School girls in Mbandaka

First of all, there was a time in the Democratic Republic of Congo women were not allowed to go to school; that explains why most of the older women are not highly educated and professionally trained for the work force; even if they are, there are no jobs for them anyway; therefore they are in many cases involved in little activities of selling stuffs to make a living and support their families. Since they are poor and don’t have money to do much, the Micro-Credit Program was developed to offer them an opportunity to help themselves by grouping all their hands together. Once a person get the fund from the group and worked with it, after the person return the total amount borrowed from the hands of the whole group, whatever she has left is her’s to do whatever she wants to do with it. However, they usually keep working with the benefit acquired to make more money to pay tuition for their children, provide foods and other needs of their families, and support their local church. About ¾ of money collected from a local congregation in the district of Mbandaka come from those women. Some of them also return to school to get an education on their own, and try to prepare themselves for other opportunities in the future just in case something becomes available. The Micro-Credit Program really helps the women to get their independence and become really valuable to the communities where they were considered previously as nothing. In very rare cases men might be involved in the Micro-Credit as well, but in most cases the activity is composed of women.

If you have more questions about the Micro-Credit Program in the region of Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of Congo, I can try to answer them for you or with you; However, the question you didn’t ask is can you be a part of the Micro-Credit Program? The answer is “yes you can”; in fact, I personally consider the Micro-Credit Program one of the best activities to support. Once you contribute to it, many other programs in the life of the Congolese Church will be supported by the women from different activities they developed by the Micro-Credit fund you provide to their small groups. Do you remember that saying: “Don’t give a fish, instead teach me to fish”; that is so true about the Micro-Credit Program of the Mbandaka region.

I am hopping some of your questions about the Micro-Credit Program have been answered; if you have more questions, the last pilgrims the Indiana Region to the Congo can even come to you for a conversation about the partnership between the Indiana Region and the Mbandaka District and different activities going on within that partnership including the Micro-Credit Program.

Reflection by Chimiste Doriscar on the Micro-Credit Project.

Pioneers

Women Pastors in Mbandaka

Sunday afternoons and evenings are sacred for many pastors, this one included.  After a busy morning leading worship and “tending the flock,” rest is much needed and much deserved.  The Sunday we were in Mbandaka, a group of pastors were kind enough to take their own Sabbath time to meet with us.  Later in the week we would meet with a large group of the pastors of the Mbandaka Post, but this evening we were meeting with just 4 pastors.  They were 4 of the 5 women pastoring churches in Mbandaka.  As a woman in ministry in the United States, I was particularly interested in this group of extraordinary women.

We sat and talked with these women and cooed at Noella, the baby one of the women brought with her, I felt as though I was in the midst of sisters.  Our conversation quickly turned to ministry. What was most remarkable about these women was how much their experiences mirrored the experiences of women in ministry outside of Congo.

Each woman talked about the challenge of being appointed to a church that was not altogether welcoming. They talked about struggling to claim their authority within a church not used to women in leadership. They live in a culture that is just beginning to accept women in careers outside of the home, a culture that is just beginning to allow women to get an education. As I pondered their strength, I thought about the women who came before me in ministry. I gave thanks for their faithfulness to their call and willingness to be pioneers. I am grateful that I do not have to endure many of these struggles because so many women before me paved the way. In my formative years, the associate minister at my church was a woman. I watched her lead worship, preside at the table, teach the Bible, and preach from the pulpit. I never for a moment doubted that I could be a pastor.  Yet I am also grateful for the strong women I call colleagues today.  Women with whom I can share my frustrations and my successes in ministry.  As I listened to these women of the Mbandaka district talk about the support they draw from one another, the ones who truly understand what they are up against, I felt even more gratitude for the witness of mentors and colleagues in my life. 

Welcome at Besenge Parish in Mbandaka

Together we shared our experiences of joy and struggle in ministry. Maybe it should not have surprised me to hear them speak about many of my own joys and struggles in ministry. We talked about balance between career and our home and family. We talked about long, strange hours spent with parishioners and preparing for worship.

But we also shared stories of the honor of a calling to serve God.  The delight of building relationships rooted in Christ, of building God’s kingdom on earth.

Cheryl preaches at Mbandaka III

I was humbled by these women. But more than anything I walked away knowing that while we live on different continents and we function in different cultures, we are all serving the same God, we are spreading the same gospel of grace and unity.  As we sat in the waning light of a busy Sabbath day, I realized that we are living the unity of Jesus Christ. What we have in common in Christ is far more powerful that the worldly experiences that divide us. Each time I put on my robe and stole, each time I step into the pulpit or into a classroom, I will draw strength from these women and I will pray for my sisters in Christ in robes, pulpits and classrooms in Mbandaka and at home.

Reflection by Cheryl Russell on the June 8 conversation with women pastors in Mbandaka.

Reflections on arriving and just being present...

Night had already fallen when we descended the stairs from the jet onto the tarmac in Kinshasa.  It was not particularly late, but darkness comes at 6:00 p.m. every day along the equator and our flight from Brussels had taken us across into the southern hemisphere, a first for most of us. It was a long day and a half of travel after over a year of planning but we had arrived!

Cheryl is our "co-pilot"

Christina points out the equator

Well, mostly…. We’d made it as far as the international airport on the outskirts of Kinshasa but it would be almost two more days until we would arrive with our partners in Mbandaka, about 400 miles northeast, and just a few degrees back into the northern hemisphere. Mbandaka is the capital of the Équateur Province and the home to the General Office of the Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo. It was also our destination for eight days

Our plane from Kinshasa to Mbandaka

spent with our partners in the Mbandaka District of the Disciples in Congo. Our group traveled the last leg to Mbandaka via a small plane flown by Mission Aviation Fellowship. Other options to reach Mbandaka include a two week boat trip up the Congo River or a somewhat sporadic commercial flight. Traveling by car, bus or van is not possible – there are no roads reaching even that modest difference. Though it is a sizable city, one must be very intentional about getting there. Mbandaka isn’t somewhere you are likely to happen through on your way to somewhere else. 

Disciples lining the road to the first church we visited

We had been very intentional about getting there. Besides the hours spent in transit and in transit lounges, we’d raised money and renewed passports, gotten immunizations and lots of information. We had planned and prayed and the time had come. And it was worth every minute. We were greeted as long lost relatives, come home at last. Of course, we carried gifts with us… many of them, items that are not readily available in Congo, especially in Mbandaka. But after traveling all that way and finally arriving in Mbandaka three days after we left Indianapolis, it occurs to me, this is definitely a place where just being present means more than anything.

Holding On

Microcredit group accounting

Our time in Mbandaka included a visit to the nutrition center run by one of our wonderful hosts, Mama Rosette.  The mission of the nutrition center is to feed malnourished children, educate mothers about nutrition, and provide micro-credit opportunities for families to earn money.  The nutrition center is already an impressive place and they have plans to make it even better.  However, I don’t want to dwell on the particularities of the nutrition center.  I want to tell you about a little boy I met there. 

As you might imagine, there were lots of children there who were excited to welcome guests.  As we were touring the facility and learning about the problem of malnutrition they are facing, I noticed a little boy eyeing me.  I waved and smiled at him.  He broke out into a huge smile, walked right up to me, looked me in the eye and grabbed my hand.  We continued on the tour this way, he and I.  Once in a while he would swing our arms in wide arcs, smiling with glee.  I giggled along.  At one point during our tour he turned to face me, still holding my left hand.  He grabbed my right hand creating a circle as if he expected us to play Ring Around the Rosie.  It was not until he had a firm grip on one hand that he let the other go.  I realized that he simply want to stand on the other side of me, but was not willing to let go of one hand before he had a firm grasp on the other.  I soon realized that I knew nothing about this child so eager to be attached to me.  After a little guidance from Mama Rosette, I learned the Lingala phrase, Kombo nayo nani, what is your name?  He smiled widely and told me his name, Dieu (he pronounced it Dee-ay).  Dieu did not let go of me until we left the nutrition center and even then he did not let go willingly.  He sat on my lap and played with my camera, I sang “If You’re Happy and You Know It” while he clapped, stomped and shouted along.  When I took my camera away from him, he pouted, but refused to leave my side.  And even after we left, he met outside the house where we had lunch, to grab my hand once again and give me that grin I had come to know so well. 

Cheryl and Dieu

A visit to the nutrition center could have been a discouraging day in sharp contrast to the songs of joy we had experienced while visiting churches.  Instead of sadness, this little boy brought a smile to my face and made my heart well with love.  As I considered the impact of this visit, I realized that I did not have time to feel despair for the circumstances of these children.  Instead I felt the unmistakable presence of God.  What could be a better expression of the love of God than a warm smile and constant companionship?  What could be a better expression of our relationship with God than a gentle hand that refuses to let go, even when our actions fall short, especially as our relationship grows?  What could be a better expression of the love of God that fills us up when we are running on empty? 

I learned later that his name, Dieu, means God in French.  What could I do?  Laugh?  Cry?  Both?  I found God in so many places that day, in Mama Rosette’s passion for her work, in the women cooking nutritious meals for the children, in the doctor doing what he could with the little resources he had.  Just in case I got so caught up in gleaning technical information that I missed it, God was standing right next to me, smiling that missing-tooth grin, holding on to me, unwilling to let me go.  My cup runneth over.   

Reflection by Cheryl Russell on the June 10 visit to the Nutritional Center.

Back online in Kinshasa...

Headed home tomorrow... Filled but exhausted; Blessed but burdened; Missing our Mbandaka family but longing for home....

Just a few photos from our days in Mbandaka....

Musings from beneath the mosquito net

The alarm is set for 5:30 so without a doubt, I should be sleeping. However, like the old Disney commercial, I'm too excited to sleep.... So much running through my head from the past 24-hours.... So much I'd like to share but I haven't fully processed yet. 

Kinshasa is an astounding city. So many people going so many directions....  Cars, carts, children, commerce... People etching out a living amidst constant challenge. 

And brothers and sisters who stop whatever else is going on to greet us, meet with us, translate and answer questions, cook for us... all before we even reach the Mbandaka district where we have our partnership....

We also spoke with Reverend Ilumbe and Rosette by phone a couple of times today. We are excited to go to see them tomorrow, and from the sound of their voices on the phone, they are excited to greet us as well. 

There is so much more to say but I cannot keep my eyes open to type it, or my mind clear enough to form thoughts. 

With a grateful heart, goodnight.

Reflections from the Scenic Route

If I'm being honest with myself, this journey started years ago for me. I've never been one to take the reasonable route, I tend to take the long way around and this trip is no different. I was not living in Indiana when the partnership was forged, but I sure knew about it. In 2012 I took my annual pilgrimage to northern Indiana to counsel camp and heard the remarkable stories of one of the 2012 pilgrims. I was awed, I was inspired, I wanted to go. He recommended I apply for the next trip and I vowed that I would (I'm looking at you, VJ Stover!) Yet as time passed and the due date for applications for the 2014 trip loomed, I started talking myself out of it. In the spring of 2013 I was focused on graduating from Vanderbilt Divinity School with my M.Div., I was spending my time trying to figure out where this M.Div. would take me once I had it in my hands, and I was dreaming about my ordination. How quickly I had forgotten the remarkable stories from the 2012 pilgrimage, how quickly I had brushed off my dream of traveling to Mbandaka to visit my brothers and sisters in Christ in Congo. Next time, I promised myself. Between the spring of 2013 and the spring of 2014 I moved back to Indiana, started a new job in full time ministry at Geist Christian Church, I was ordained, and I wished I had applied for the Congo pilgrimage. The Holy Spirit works in some remarkable ways. Sometimes it comes as a rush of wind, a pillar of fire or an e-mail from Sarah Riester. On March 31, 2014 (yes, I looked it up), an e-mail landed in my inbox telling me that some of the pilgrims had to drop out and would I be interested in going? I swear I stopped breathing. In less than two months I have renewed my expired passport, gotten 2 vaccinations and (the most remarkable) raised $4500+ for the trip. It has been a humbling experience to talk to people around the region about the trip and have them support me not only through prayer but monetarily. I have gotten at least one donation from someone I did not even know. Here's the thing. I have been committed to this trip for less than 60 days and that time has been full of trip preparation. But as I prepare physically, I realize that I have not had a moment to prepare mentally and spiritually. In the next 5 days I need to pack my bags, but I also need to reflect on the enormity of what has happened in 58 days. I need to process the kindness and generosity of those around me, some I have known my entire life and some I have never met. I need to spend some time in prayer for and with those I will meet in Congo and those with whom I will travel. It is fitting that we will be worshiping in Congo on Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit breathed life into the Body of Christ. It amazed the body gathered in Acts 2. It amazes us still. And I, for one, cannot wait to see the work of the Holy Spirit throughout our 13 days in Congo. God of Grace, who sends the Spirit like a rushing wind into our lives when we least expect it. Open our hearts to your work and your word. Give us a new understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ not just in our comfort zone, but wherever we are called. Amen.