July 2008

Dear Friends,

Presbyterian mission has been founded on the understanding of a holistic approach to service and solutions. A typical mission station here in Congo has a church, a hospital, and schools. Health, education, and spiritual welfare are all essential components of assisting our brothers and sisters in lifting themselves out of poverty. Throughout Congo there are similar stations, most of them here in central Congo where we serve and whence we continue to venture out to the outlying bush, where hospitals and mission stations are only a memory from the past.

Pharmacies in the outlying hospitals have extremely limited supplies.

From the early part of the twentieth century, recognizing that the health of the people was essential for their development, the American Congo Presbyterian Mission built hospitals and health clinics, originally staffing them with mission personnel. They also built schools and trained health-care personnel. Good Shepherd Hospital, IMCK, where we live and serve, remains the hub of this great network of facilities. We’d like to share some observations from today about the lofty goals of yesterday and looking toward tomorrow.

Traveling to these facilities presents quite a challenge, given the state of the “roads.” Travel is only possible during half of the year since during the rainy seasons the erosion and deep water on the roads makes travel quite dangerous. A friend who recently tried spent three days traveling the 200 miles from Tshikaji to Luebo, a journey we did last January in 17 hours. The best method of travel is by airplane, such as we were blessed to enjoy recently when a staff member from the PC(USA) and Medical Benevolence Foundation visited and we flew to five mission stations. The Cessna Caravan can make it to Luebo in an hour landing on the dirt strips that are still part of each mission station from the “glory” days when small airplanes were a regular part of the mission effort.

When we landed in Bibanga, it was the first time an airplane had landed there in 20 years. A couple of weeks later, our team traveled again to Bibanga in the Toyota Landcruiser you all helped purchase for our healthy mothers/healthy children initiative. It took us 12 hours, and we only got stuck one time. It is the dry season, and getting stuck in deep sand is much more agreeable than muddy water.

Later, we traveled to Mutoto, where we were so pleased to see a rejuvenated hospital. Mutoto is only 60 kilometers from Tshikaji and in good weather takes only two and a half hours to reach. We have visited it numerous times on day trips, but this time we spent two nights there. Mutoto has no electricity or running water, and on our first visit, in 2002, there was only one patient, a women post partum. On this visit, the hospital was nearly full, with an occupancy rate of over 70 percent for the year, the highest of all of the mission hospitals. What made the difference?  For two years they have had an operating subsidy. This year they received $18,000 as well as medicines and equipment. The formula was to provide much primary care free and hospitalized care at a sharply reduced price. Major surgery, which normally costs about $100 is charged at $30, for example. The number of patients hospitalized has increased from about 800 in 2005 to over 4000 in 2007. When you divide that number into the subsidy it comes to $6 per patient, which often means per life saved.

X-ray machines from the World War II era still function in the rural hospitals, though the quality of the film is poor.

Mutoto, like all of the mission stations, needs extensive repair. Most of the mission stations were nearly “state of the art” when they were first conceived, and were truly advanced for Africa. Today, they are using the same equipment if it still works. X-ray machines from the World War II era still function, sort of! The quality of film produced is poor. The people deserve better, but they cannot afford better. They really cannot afford anything. People die because they are poor. Children starve to death because they are poor. Mothers die in labor or survive with obstetric fistulas and other handicaps because they are poor. Parents cannot educate their children because they are poor. No matter how hard these brothers and sisters work, they will remain poor. The reasons are myriad and there is plenty of blame to cast around if we want to spend our time casting blame. On the other hand, if we want to respect God’s commandments to us and live with the love that He asked of us, we can do more than blame, we can help. We can feed the hungry, help the lame walk, provide comfort for the widow and education for the orphan. We do not need to limit our imagination to just restoring lost health but can help provide lives in which people flourish, being able to use the talents that God gives each of us to do glory to His name.

Our love,

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 17