29March2024

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Since the year 2000 our annual reports provide an overview over the progress of our projects. Apart from summaries concerning the current project this section also covers completed projects. Thereby we trace the history of “Active Direct Help”. Additionally we regularly publish the recent developments to our current project in detail.

Annual Reports
May 2007

Finally Back in Congo Again

Imagine you are flying to Congo and don't know where your home, office etc will be, and your future landlord is sitting in the same plane as you! Coincidence? Not in the Lord's work! Well, that's exactly what happened to us:

As we met Meir who was just yesterday with us on the plane the next day "by chance" again in the middle of Kinshasa, we introduced ourselves and explained to him that we were looking for a house for our mission station here. He responded with a smile, saying that he did have an empty house but it was not usable since it was looted in 1991. That means all toilets, sinks, tabs, light switches, plugs, even the wires are all gone! No more window glass, mosquito nets, inside doors etc!
    
Maybe some of you still remember, when we arrived the first time in Kinshasa in 2003 we got a similar answer from the Czech Embassy about a similar house of theirs. At that time we fixed up everything and moved in - for a tenth of what is was normally worth. So remembering that, we went to see this house, as well as many others, compared prices, pros and cons and prayed for God's wisdom. After going back and forth a lot we finally decided to take this house and with the help of our friends here we are setting things up. It means a lot of work, but in exchange we won't have to pay rent for two years. This helps our budget a lot and allows us to help others more. Our thanks goes to everybody who is helping us to get the house ready and to those who took us into their houses in the meantime - in the last three months we moved six times!

The situation with the orphans has improved drastically thanks to your help: instead of two meager meals per week, the 50 orphans in Kisenso are now getting every day a simple breakfast and a good hot meal for lunch! The 50 orphans in Kikimi are getting their share in food packages which we prepare for them since we don't have any cooking facilities there yet. Here we would like to give special thanks to Pastor Theophile and his wife Florence for their untiring sacrificial labors involved in this project. We are also very thankful for each one of you who accepted to support a child, and we thank God that now every orphan has a caretaker.

Unfortunately it turned out that 10 Euros per month per child is not enough, not even for the food, as the prices went up quite a bit since last year. Besides that they need clothing, shoes, a minimum of medicine for malaria etc. Also we would like to provide for them all basic schooling, and the best would be if we could find sponsors for a building for them on our plot of land in Kikimi. So besides the daily food supplies we have plenty of new and big challenges. But we - and the children - are very thankful, that at least their most basic need is supplied, their daily food, thanks to the additional help of local sponsors.

The field project in Kikimi progresses slowly too: along the little brook we started to build three fish-ponds, but need to invest more time, planning and finances before we can start breeding fish. We planted new cassava (African potato), but will have to see how to get the field to produce the most, because the ground is very sandy in this area. Vegetables grow well in the valley near the brook where we can water them well. Between the cassava plants up on the hillside we planted pineapples and they are growing very well. Across the whole field we started to plant different fruit trees, and there is room for lots more. Our thanks goes to everyone who supports us in this endeavor and we would like to ask for further support as it will take quite an investment to get this project producing to its full capacity.

The Bible studies every Sunday continue to go well and every week we also have visitors coming over to our home for further studies. We are planning now to start with some "hands on" practical training for the most  potential students so that they can actively help us with the enormous need here and get better prepared for their future.

As soon as we moved into our new house we would like to also spend more time to make new contacts to get out the beautiful Gospel-materials we have available and find more sponsors for the different aid projects. If you would be able to help us find more supporters in your area we would appreciate it very much, as the orphans still need a lot more help to get a better chance in their future lives.

Image Gallery
Granny Fatu still works on the field....mmh, what Florence is cooking smells good!Our sewing machines in good use at the Kisenso Centre.Theophile & Madlen prepare food-bags for the orphan children in Kikimi. UN-Captain Oscar (l) and team, helping us with the transport of the food. Some of our Bible students - Thierry, Malu, Amade, Alain L. with Lenka and Naomi.Mylene bringing joy & food to one of the sweet orphans in Kikimi.In Kisenso: William helps unload the food etc.Hut for granny Fatu + baby + 2 other orphans.Distribution here with Captain Oscar & team.Cassava-hill, vegetable field & fish-ponds at the brook.Back: Pastor Theophile, visitor, John, Florence, Claire - one of our new sponsors from here. Front: The orphan children with Naomi and Madlen in Kisenso.The orphan kids are so happy & thankful for your help!Two of the three future fish ponds at our field.inside kitchen.jpgReading together from a devotional book - Madlen, John, Pastor Theophile, Alain L., Florence and Lenka....but first let’s wash hands before we eat!John, Madlen, William, Naomi, Mylene, Meir (landlord) and Lenka.Getting stuck in the sandy road to Kikimi.... with the fingers or the spoon - it tastes great either way!

Our Annual reports

 ... changing things locally.

De-urbanization - Help for the villages

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