CHAD We thank God for the opportunity for two of our teachers in Chad to travel to Worcester, South Africa, to participate in a special Red Star training program. The training has been particularly effective with younger pupils, helping them to quickly grasp language concepts.
In addition to the new Red Star program, three of our teachers have completed their university education, thanks to scholarships that have been made available to them. We are hopeful that the additional training will yield fruit for many years to come.
Teacher training in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO In the DR Congo, our regional director, Pililo Amani, just completed an intensive week-long training program for our faculty and staff in Bukavu. Several people from our local partner church expressed an interest in joining the classes, and were befitted by the training. Pray with us that their interest will encourage them to also be involved with educating the deaf and assisting us with our evangelism efforts.
Construction in N’Djamena (Chad) and Baraka (DR Congo) is moving along at a brisk pace. While the administrative buildings are completed in Chad, the two-story multi-function building still has a ways to go.
First floor structure is mostly complete in Chad
Basic construction of flooring and walls for the first floor is mostly complete, and the second floor is now underway. If we’re able to keep up this pace, I think we should have the building completed in three more months.
Director Shukuru Hertier with two prospective kindergarten students
In Baraka, we’ve got the main foundation in place and are ready to lay bricks for the walls. Shindano, the assistant to our regional director, will be making a trip there next week to inspect the progress. Pray for a safe journey (the roads between their cities are so bad that the trip has to be made by boat).
Thank you so much for your support on these construction projects. They help us educate the deaf, and in so doing, reach more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Pray for us regarding a kindergarten option in Baraka. We have several parents who don’t know what to do with their deaf preschoolers. At this time, we don’t have the budget to have a kindergarten class, but we hate to see these children languish socially and academically. Pray for wisdom to handle this situation.
Director Yves Beosso reports excellence attendance at their 5th National Deaf Church Leaders’ conference in Chad. The
Deacons in training in Chad
topic of the week was Biblical church leadership, with a focus on the qualifications and duties of deacons. We thank God for an excellent turnout and participation from several cities across the southern region of Chad. We look forward to next year’s conference where we hope to build on the same theme and use the training to strengthen the deaf churches.
Construction for the new school in Baraka (DR Congo) is definitely picking up. The bricks have been fired, and the preliminary foundation work has been completed. Next stage is to pour concrete, and then start the brick work for the walls. In the meantime, we have had to find another school to rent because our landlord has decided to sell the building we were renting. The cost to rent the new school is a bit higher, but we’re able to make it work.
We have great news to report about our construction progress in Ibadan, Nigeria. Mission Projects Fellowship
Continued construction in Nigeria
(www.missionprojects.org) had informed us earlier this year that we were the recipients of a $9,800 construction grant, and those funds were delivered this month. Praise God! Progress over the past few years has been stop-and-go as funds allow, so we’re excited to see this project take a huge leap forward. When completed, the 39-acre campus will be feature K-12 classes for 400 students, a chapel, auditorium, boarding rooms and a small parcel of farming as well. Pray with us that God will continue to bless our progress.
A few weeks ago, Director Shukuru Heriter and his wife Mpasa welcomed their first child into the world.
Mpasa and their new daughter
The delivery ran into some complications resulting in a week-long hospital stay, but we thank God that both mother and baby are now back home and recuperating. Shukuru and Mpasa, grew up as students in our deaf schools in Uvira and Bukavu and were married last year. Mpasa moved from Goma to Baraka to help her new husband at our school in Baraka. Pray with us that they will raise their new daughter in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
God’s blessings come in various shapes and sizes. In the remote city of Baraka (DR Congo), Director Shukuru has not had much by way of transportation, as walking is the primary means of transportation between home and school. This month, they were able to purchase a new bicycle. To western sensibilities, this might not seem like much, but it’s actually going to be a great help now that Shukuru has to travel out to the new school construction site every afternoon to check on progress.
In Chad, we’ve completed a series of administrative buildings for our center in N’Djamena, the country’s capital. Our two-story multi-purpose building is still under construction. We’re thankful that it’s moving at a brisk pace, and we’re praying it will be completed before school starts in a couple months.
Indeed, your prayers are greatly coveted!
Dedication of a completed administrative building in Chad
After many months of planning and revising plans, we’ve finally broken ground on building a new school for the deaf in Baraka (DR Congo). The process begins by making mud bricks and drying them in the sun. Then the bricks are stack like an oven, and kept over a smoldering flame for about 5 days. The end result is a durable, low-cost brick, suitable for a construction project that will last 20-30 years. It’s significantly cheaper than concrete, and due to the low cost of labor, is the preferred choice for single-story construction projects in this part of Africa. In the photos on the right, director Shukuru Ramizani’s staff has prepared about 1,800 bricks. They estimate they’ll need about 40,000 to complete the classrooms, administrative offices, staff buildings and perimeter wall. We expect to start construction at our Uvira school in a few weeks.
In Bukavu (DR Congo), we could use your prayers for our efforts with devising a good training program for our new teachers. Things are moving a little slowly these days since Luimbo Nanza, our director, was in a motorcycle accident and injured his leg. His Meshake and Fabien are filling the gap for now, but things will be better when Nanza is back in full swing.
Director Nanza recuperating from a motorcycle accident in Bukavu, DR Congo
Since Covid-based travel restrictions are still cumbersome in the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda, we’ve decided that holding a Congo Bible Camp in 2021 will not be feasible. Pray for the ~20 deaf churches in the region that will miss another opportunity for Biblical and pastoral training.
Students and teachers from one of our old schools in Goma (DR Congo) had quite the scare last month. A nearby volcano in the Virunga National Park erupted on May 26th, causing 30,000 residents of Goma to flee their homes. At last count, 31 people died in the disaster. A number of our deaf friends in the city also had to leave the city until the lava cooled and the earthquakes ceased. One of them, a young evangelist named Temo, sent me several photos of the volcano and ensuing damage done by the volcano. Pray that their lives will be quickly restored.
We’re happy to report that Director Yves Beosso is nearing completion of the new administration buildings on their property in N’Djamena (Chad). We have about another $500 worth of construction to go and the buildings will be complete. Meanwhile, the 2-story multi-purpose building is moving at a much slower pace, so pray with us that both sets of buildings will be completed soon.
Administrative buildings nearing completion in N’Djamena, Chad
In Nigeria, construction of our new school continues to move forward. Praise God with us that Mission Projects Fellowship has awarded our Nigeria center a $9,800 grant! This is a huge blessing, and I’m excited to see how the project leaps forward.
We’re pleased to report that we have completed the purchase of two parcels of land in the Kivu province of the DR Congo. One is near our Uvira school, and the other is near our Baraka school, and we’re excited to begin construction. Pray that the designs will be satisfactory for our needs, and that funds will be prepared so we can begin construction soon.
In order to address some of the challenges at our school in Bukavu (DR Congo), Pililo Amani, our regional director, was able to have a lengthy meeting with our Bukavu director and missionaries Kathy Lindquist and Renee Lindquist. The main challenges facing our Bukavu school frequently stems from a lack of training. Pray with us that we’ll be able to arrange the training needed so that the school can flourish.
By the grace of God, Covid fatalities are not a major challenge in the DR Congo, and fewer than 100 Congolese have succumbed to the pandemic. The fear of Covid, however, has made a large impact on the country. Schools were the first to close, and students are now foregoing their summer vacation to make up for lost school time. As a result, it’s looking like we won’t be able to have our usual Congo Bible Camp this year. I’m hoping we might be able to have a small training event in Goma (DR Congo), but it remains to be seen how many people will be able to participate. If the numbers are sufficient, we’ll plan to go forward and meet.
We’re excited to see so much progress with the construction of new buildings at our N’Djamena (Chad) school. The sizable gifts we’ve received over the past few months have been depleted, and construction is now slowing down. The rain season will be here soon, and if the work is not completed by then, we’ll have to move at a much slower pace. Pray with us that we’ll be able to continue construction and complete the new multi-purpose building soon.
In Bukavu (DR Congo), we’ve added new staff members for our growing school, but we also need to get them trained ASAP. Their lack of strong sign language skills is a hindrance that needs quick resolution. Pray that we’ll be able to get them trained quickly.
To the northwest of Bukavu, in the city of Kavumu, a school for the deaf has been struggling for several years. It was founded by a group of local parents concerned for their deaf children, and they’ve had a tumultuous time with less-than-honest people vying for leadership. Despite this, the school has grown to over 70 deaf students. They have asked us for financial and academic assistance, but at this time, we’re not able to commit resources to their effort. Fabien, one of our deaf teachers from Bukavu, has been spending a lot of evening hours working to help them stabilize and get competent leadership in place. He’s brought in a former classmate from his high school in Goma, and both men are working there at their own expense. Pray that God will give us wisdom about whether and how we might assist the Kavumu school.
In these uncertain Covid times, we’re exploring an opportunity to go to Goma in July and host a Bible camp. Pray for wisdom about making these arrangements.
January has been a busy month for us in the Congo. We’ve completed the purchase of two parcels of land. One is in the city of Baraka, and the other is in the city of Uvira. After all the legal paperwork is completed, we’ll need to finish the plans for construction and then proceed with building the classrooms. Finalizing the blueprints for construction has proved to be a bit of a challenge in Baraka. We have limited access to construction expertise, and the people willing to do the work are very keen to try and make a tremendous profit off our project. Pray that we can get these buildings underway and completed within the next few months.
We have recently promoted Pililo Amani from director of our Uvira school to regional director for the Eastern Congo. In this position, he will have oversight over our Bukavu and Baraka schools. We are confident that his years of faithfulness in developing the Uvira school will be invaluable as we also try to grow the Bukavu and Baraka schools over the next few years. Pray that his transition into that role will be smooth. Also pray for him as he will travel quite a bit more than he has in the past. The roads in his part of the Congo are not always safe, and the road to Baraka is almost useless. The two-hour boat ride across Lake Tanganyika is almost three times faster than a bus or motorcycle ride on the dysfunctional roads.
In Chad, we’re excited to announce the purchase of a good used truck! Thanks to Mission Project Fellowship, we’ve received a grant for the purchase of a much-needed vehicle. https://missionprojects.org/project/679 Director Yves and his staff have been praying for this for quite some time, so we’re excited and looking forward to what God will do through this special blessing.,
John Foster 1963 – 2021
We have some very sad news here at the home office in Texas. John Foster, my 2nd oldest brother, suffered a heart attack on January 19th and is now with the Lord. He worked in the CMD office from 1988 till July 2019 and was a consistent and faithful servant with his various duties, even while his health was in decline the past few years. After many years of bouts with diabetes, pneumonia, bronchitis, high blood pressure, kidney failure, dialysis and Covid, his body succumbed to a heart attack. He had no spouse or children. We will miss him dearly.
