CHICAGO, IL (March 10, 2006) – President Mossai Sanguma unveiled a project Thursday night that he believes will help the Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM) become more financially self-sufficient.
Sanguma spoke during a reception in his honor held at Swedish Covenant Hospital and sponsored by the Paul Carlson Partnership (PCP). Several members of the family of martyred Covenant medical missionary Dr. Paul Carlson attended the event. The accompanying shows Sanguma chatting later with Pete and Lynn Pearson, members of North Park Covenant Church in Chicago.
Sanguma told the gathering of more than 60 people that the church is constructing a small mall just outside Gemena in northwestern Congo. Sanguma also shared other visions and advancements designed to strengthen the CEUM’s leadership, the education and status of women, and the church’s ability to financially support itself.
The Bokonzo Mall project, located about four miles from the center of Gemena, will provide an ongoing source of revenue from rent payments as well as provide markets so that residents of Gemena do not have to travel as far to obtain basic goods.
The mall will include a bookstore to distribute Bibles, with revenues used to purchase additional Bibles for resale. The project also will include guest quarters for visitors to the country, Sanguma said.
Construction already has begun using cinder blocks rather than the traditional adobe. The method will better deter theft, Sanguma said.
Attendees were asked to contribute to the project to help with the purchase of furniture and other supplies. Others desiring to support the project can contribute by sending checks made payable to the Paul Carlson Partnership and designated for the mall project to 5101 N. Francisco Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625.
If the economy is to be rebuilt following the devastating six-year civil war that destroyed much of the country, leadership will need to be developed, Sanguma said. Three CEUM leaders have been in California taking intensive English, computer and business classes.
The CEUM also has established a leadership training school in a building that had been looted during the war. “If we train capable leaders, anything is possible,” Sanguma said. He spoke of the church’s commitment to progress. At the CEUM annual meeting, he said, “they are always ready to say let’s do it. Let’s make a difference.”
“That’s what’s always impressed me about the Congolese,” says former missionary Roger Thorpe who attended the reception. “They are visionaries.”
The church also is committed to improving the role and conditions of women, Sanguma said. A new project sponsored by Women Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church in the United States will provide education beyond elementary school for girls.
Social norms have prevented most girls from progressing past elementary school, which leads to a life of dependency, Sanguma said. “Imagine what can happen” as women are educated, he added.
As the Covenant in the United States celebrates 30 years of ordaining women, Sanguma noted that the CEUM will ordain its first two women pastors in April. In addition to developing people, improving infrastructure also is a priority, Sanguma said. Work continues toward developing water and electrical resources. Women often have to carry heavy barrels of water on their heads for miles each day. “Development will relieve such suffering.”
Without the support of PCP, the hospitals would have to close, which would hurt people socially as well as medically, he said. He related the story of a woman who had surgeries at three hospitals for a condition that left her shunned by many Congolese. At the Karawa hospital, surgeons from Northwest Medical Teams performed surgery that healed her and enabled her to resume a normal life.
Computers donated by Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City are being used to train local residents. As many as 2,000 workers for upcoming elections were trained on the computers, Sanguma said. “When you do something for the church, you don’t only do it for the church, you do it for the nation as a whole,” Sanguma said.
Many of the people at the gathering are former missionaries to the Congo. Sanguma, who has an M.Div. from North Park Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary, noted that one of the attendees, Carl Edstrom, had been his school principal in Congo. Afterwards, Edstrom said, “It’s just so gratifying to see something that is growing.”
Seeing his former principal and other missionaries proved moving for Sanguma as well. “The people have been so helpful to me,” he said. “I am like a kid being around his mother and father. I feel very secure.”
Also attending the meeting was Sarah Thontwa, a North Park University freshman studying politics and economics, and who grew up in Congo. Afterward, Thontwa said she is grateful that she and her country have new opportunities because of the Covenant in the United States.
“I am more than moved,” Thontwa said. “It’s beyond my wildest understanding.”
To learn more about the Paul Carlson Partnership, please see PCP.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
