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Large Crowd Greets Delegation in Gemena
By Don Meyer
GEMENA, CONGO (November 13, 2003) - More than 200 people greeted the five-member
Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) delegation upon its arrival at the Gemena
airport today following a four-hour flight from Kinshasa, the capital of
Congo.
The delegation, led by ECC President Glenn Palmberg, also includes Curt
Peterson, executive minister of the Department of World Mission; Jim
Sundholm, director of Covenant World Relief; Jerome Nelson, a Central
Conference coordinator; and Bob Thornbloom, a Covenant missionary who
coordinates technical support in Congo. Traveling with the delegation are
Pete Ekstrand, World Mission regional coordinator for Africa; Keith
Gustafson, country coordinator for the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM) President Gbuda Luyada.
Purpose of the trip is to visit CEUM ministries and confer with CEUM
leaders on the ministry partnership of CEUM and the ECC. The delegation
left Chicago Monday evening and is scheduled to return November 22.
Those greeting the delegation included Rev. Langba Duale, who serves as the
Bokonzo (Gemena) region Responsible Pastor and conference superintendent.
"There was a group of young girls that did a special dance to welcome us,
followed by a greeting and presentation of a bouquet of flowers to
President Palmberg," reported Ekstrand, who also is serving as a special
correspondent for Covenant News Service. "Following this we drove to the
Bokonzo church where we were greeted by about 1,500 people."
The delegation was officially welcomed to Congo and Gemena during a special
worship service at Bokonzo, said Ekstrand in an email report via satellite
telephone (there is a seven-hour time difference between Kinshasa and
Chicago). "The service included choirs, offerings, greetings, preaching by
Glenn, Curt and Jim and the presentation of a gift from the CEUM to Glenn.
Over 1,100 people were at the service."
An even larger crowd - estimated at more than 5,000 individuals - greeted
the delegation at its next stop in Karawa following a brief 18-minute
flight. Ekstrand described the crowd as huge - "all singing and waving
their arms in greeting. There was a beautiful
welcome including dancers, a speech of welcome and the presentation of
flowers," Ekstrand continued. "The welcoming crowd had waited much of the
afternoon for the
delegation to arrive . . . and included the Responsible Pastors from the
neighboring regions, representatives of the medical services, the many
schools at Karawa and government authorities." Following the airport
welcome, the group moved to the church for a brief welcoming ceremony.
"We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of hospitality," said Sundholm. "The
sense of companionship and connectedness is extremely evident." Sundholm's
reaction was echoed by others in the group: "the welcome was simply
overwhelming;" "really we have nothing in our white American culture to
compare this to;" "the Congolese have a spirit of honoring and welcoming
guests which touches each of us deeply."
To read earlier news coverage of this historic trip, visit the links below:
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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