A Letter from José LaMont Jones, mission co-worker serving in Congo
Summer 2024
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Dear friends,
This year’s Congo Mission Network (CMN) conference was a complete success! I have been participating in the CMN conferences for four years; remotely, but this year was the first conference that I have physically attended. Not only did I finally meet the friends and colleagues who have been occupying my Zoom screen ‘squares’ all these years but made some new friends too!
José LaMont Jones presents at the 2024 Congo Mission Network Conference (photo credit: Rev Cheryl Barnes)
Hosted by the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery, the meeting was in Charleston, SC. Charlotte White (of Hilton Head Presbyterian Church) and Katherine Nelson (of Myers Park Presbyterian Church) lead the local host committee. Roberta Spalding and Rev. Bill Reinhold co-chaired the meeting planning and session moderations. Rev. Zacharie Mboyamba (from the Congo Presbyterian Community (CPC)) was our special guest who brought greetings from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and shared his expertise in the meeting theme: Education in the DRC.
In September 2019, the Congolese government began to implement a program of free primary education for all, which affected education, both positively and negatively, in the DRC. Presentations on the programs of the Congo Presbyterian Church (CPC) and the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (CPK), our partner denominations, updated the participants on the challenges and opportunities they face. One recurring theme is the need for resources to educate youth in a nation where nearly half of the population is of school age!
The “Basic Education for All” program has reached about half of the eight million school-aged children who had previously not enrolled in school. This is quite an accomplishment but not without hiccups. The additional students have burdened an outdated infrastructure of school buildings and an aging teacher population. Five years and a pandemic later, schools are barely making do with what they have. Yet, they continue their yeoman’s effort!
Participants in the 2024 Congo Mission Network Conference viewing from Kinshasa, DRC (photo credit: Jean Barnabas Basisa)
Among the many good programs with which we mission co-workers, collaborate to help the Presbyterian denominations educate youth, the presentation on “Localization” stood out as a new paradigm of collaboration and fundraising. Mission colleague Larry Sthreshley, former Country Director, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Corus World Heath, has stepped into a new role as Senior Advisor for Innovation, Localization and Partnerships with Corus World Health. He outlined the new model of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for supporting international development through local Indigenous, non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Larry explained the expectations and requirements which could not only take our collaborations to the next level but also provide much needed funding to see them expand to help many more families and communities. Several recordings of the presentations from the conference are located on our Congo Mission Network YouTube channel. Larry’s presentation on “Localization” is one of them and I recommend you watch it (youtube.com/watch?v=rfK1KsfRlck&t=8s).
Prior to the conference, the Congo Mission Network worked hard to gather data requested by the Build Congo Schools (BCS) group of churches so that they could publish a pamphlet on their work in the DRC. BCS has built about 10 schools and is “passionate about transforming primary and secondary DR Congo schools” to well-equipped, quality centers of education of durable construction. Their request for current data on the number of well-built schools, class sizes, and total numbers of students proved to be a challenge. Our partners have several distant coordination centers, and no computers. In addition, communication within Congo can be difficult. The communication challenge exacerbated the difficulty of collating data from hard-copy records.
Participants in the 2024 Congo Mission Network Conference viewing from Kinshasa, DRC (photo credit: Jean Barnabas Basisa)
Many thanks to our partners in the CPK Kinshasa coordination office for their help and extra effort in satisfying this request. Yet up-to-date information is power! We in the CPK are evaluating the level of technology and services at the six current coordination offices within the CPK with hopes of facilitating communication and data sharing among the coordination offices and schools. Our evaluation includes updating the contact information and technological “know-how” of the coordination staff. This information will guide our training efforts and the implementation of the technology training featured in my Fall 2023 Mission Connections letter.
Because of conversations at the CMN Conference 2024, churches are looking into the possibility of purchasing a computer for each of the coordination offices. The CPK Schools Coordinator in Kinshasa hopes to visit the coordination offices sometime this year. I hope that his visit will coincide with the arrival of the new computers and that relationships will be rekindled as a result of the technology evaluation. A visit will demonstrate how the CPK central office is working to better the system and all schools in the provinces as well as in the capital Kinshasa. If you or your church are interested in supporting technology enhancements and training among the CPK schools, please let me know. May God help you in your discernment.
Group photo of in-person participants of the 2024 Congo Mission Network Conference (photo credit: Kelly Norrell)
Another thing that gives me hope is the fact that my active support is needed less in one of the projects on which I collaborate. The EcoGarden collaborative project between the Institut Scientifique de KasaVubu and the CPK KasaVubu parish continues to flourish. The school and parish have met to decide upon a management plan and have instituted a Board composed of school, church and community members. They are working on elaborating protocols for fiscal transparency, day-to-day management, teacher training, community workshops, evaluation rubrics and data collection to evaluate the project. Consistent with many of the expectations of Larry Sthresthley’s presentation, this project is working toward becoming more independent and will eventually seek external (non-church) partners. The scope is far-reaching and important to the imminent nature of a worldwide ecological/climate consciousness.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not [yet] seen (Hebrews 11:1)! There are many budding activities I have seen in DRC that have not yet had time to flower…but the hope they bring is evidence of the great human and intellectual resources that are yet undeveloped. This is a rich country! The Democratic Republic of Congo has great potential. As we work together and collaborate with our partners and aid in their transformative ministry let us all pray that God’s favor will be with us in this journey and will enable those hopes for a better life for our sisters and brothers in DR Congo to come into being!
José
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