{"id":7639,"date":"2006-06-27T15:40:11","date_gmt":"2006-06-27T20:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=7639"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:33:20","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:33:20","slug":"4994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/06\/27\/4994\/","title":{"rendered":"Kent (WA) Church Building Funds to Aid Congo Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

KENT, WA (June 27, 2006) – Kent Covenant Church seeks to raise $2 million to fund improvements to its facilities, but some of the money will be diverted – $100,000 to be exact – to build roofs on a number of schools located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. <\/p>\n

The south Seattle suburban church is attempting to raise funds to construct additional classrooms and offices and remove dry rot in the church\u2019s 33-year-old building. Early in the planning process, church leaders decided to set aside $100,000 to put durable metal roofs on at least 20 schools in Congo, so that children in that country can get the kind of education that will enable them to break free from their third-world cycle of poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we wanted to have a significant mission project as part of this building program,\u201d says pastor Keith Carpenter.<\/p>\n

The idea for the roofs arose in a conversation with associate pastor John Hamblen when Carpenter mentioned having read about the need through the Paul Carlson Partnership, a Covenant-affiliated organization dedicated to rebuilding in Congo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were talking about the possibilities when John said, \u2018Why don\u2019t we take care of the need those schools in Congo have for roofs, since it was years of problems with our roof that pushed us into our building program.\u2019 \u201d Carpenter recalls. They took their idea to the building committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not prepared for the response we got,\u201d Carpenter says. \u201cWe thought we might have some uphill convincing to do, but they put aside all of the architect\u2019s drawings of what we were going to build here, and for 45 minutes the only thing they wanted to talk about was putting roofs on schools in Congo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal was eventually presented to the congregation, which responded with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, endured one of the bloodiest civil wars in history from 1997-2002. An estimated 3 to 4 million people died as a direct result of the war and because of related disease and starvation.<\/p>\n

Since the war, efforts have focused on rebuilding the infrastructure – hospitals, schools, roads, and bridges.<\/p>\n

The Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM) has a contract with the government of Congo to provide K-12 education to all 49,000 school-age children living in the northwest section of the country – the government has not provided any funding since before the civil war. Teachers continue to teach, however, and where there is a school building, students are showing up for classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have almost nothing, but they\u2019re so eager for an education that they still show up,\u201d Carpenter says. \u201cImagine a second grade class of 90 students with one teacher, no textbooks, not enough pencils or paper to go around, and a teacher who hasn\u2019t been paid for several years. It\u2019s an incredibly heart-warming story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids show up and work on repairing their school in the morning, then sit down and receive instruction in the afternoon,\u201d Carpenter continues. \u201cRight now, they\u2019re using poles and thatch for the roofs because it\u2019s quick and available, but it leaks in the rainy season, blows off during high winds, and is highly combustible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The permanent roofs that will be built are made of corrugated metal placed on mahogany beams. The mahogany is available in Congo and there is plenty of volunteer labor, so the roofs can be built inexpensively. Carpenter expects the $100,000 to cover the cost of more than 20 roofs.<\/p>\n

Kent Covenant also set aside additional funds so it can send a team of engineers and workers to address other infrastructure needs, like repairing damaged roads and bridges and restoring hydroelectric power.<\/p>\n

Carpenter plans to travel to Congo in September to identify projects for church members to work on and to encourage the church there, which suffered large losses in the civil war.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the needs in Congo, please visit Needs in Congo.<\/a><\/p>\n

(Editor\u2019s note: Our thanks to Rick Lund whose original article appeared in the North Pacific Conference newsletter.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KENT, WA (June 27, 2006) – Kent Covenant Church seeks to raise $2 million to fund improvements to its facilities, but some of the money will be diverted – $100,000 to be exact – to build roofs on a number of schools located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Report This Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKent (WA) Church Building Funds to Aid Congo Schools - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/06\/27\/4994\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kent (WA) Church Building Funds to Aid Congo Schools - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"KENT, WA (June 27, 2006) – Kent Covenant Church seeks to raise $2 million to fund improvements to its facilities, but some of the money will be diverted – $100,000 to be exact – to build roofs on a number of schools located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 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