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CEUM Leaders Encouraged by Support for Congo

CHICAGO, IL (June 7, 2005) - Church leaders in the Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM) are encouraged by the many contributions and donations coming out of efforts by the Paul Carlson Partnership, but much still needs to be done, notes missionary Keith Gustafson, who has served in Congo since 1984.

Gustafson is in the United States for several weeks prior to transferring to Cameroon for a year. He and his wife, Florence, will serve as interim regional coordinators for Africa on behalf of the Department of World Mission of the Evangelical Covenant Church. They will fill in for Peter and Cynthia Ekstrand, who are taking a year-long leave of absence.

Gustafson still will be personally involved in the Congo and will lead at least four trips, including three involving medical teams. He also will continue to work closely with Nancy Jo Hoover, the Covenant's missionary in Congo. She is training new leaders as well as helping them to evaluate and prioritize new development projects.

With so many needs, evaluating and prioritizing is a crucial exercise for the leadership, Gustafson says. The Paul Carlson Partnership has infused new money into the country, helping to pay for improvements to hospitals, clinics, schools and infrastructure. Still much work needs to be done, Gustafson says. (To learn more about the partnership's efforts, see an earlier story, Charitable Dollars in Congo.

Computer technicians from Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City, California, traveled in April to install and network 200 computers the church had sent. The truck trailer carrying the computers also was stuffed with clothing. Getting the computers to Congo proved to be a Herculean task, says Sid Newcomb, the church's mission pastor. The trailer arrived the same day as the technicians, although it was scheduled to arrive a month earlier. The computers were installed in sites throughout CEUM offices, hospitals and other sites. Gustafson is excited about the new additions. He says he hopes more people will consider becoming missionaries to the country. Medical missionaries are especially needed.

Despite the struggles, a spirit of hope pervades church leaders. Gustafson noted that 1,800 people attended the CEUM annual meeting in April. Some rode as far as 200 miles on the back of bicycles over the rugged terrain. Others walked for a week to get to the meeting.

The conference was a major undertaking, Gustafson says. When all the workers and others were included, as many as 3,000 needed to be fed with freshly killed livestock cooked over open fires. The livestock had to be brought in as much as a month prior to the meeting.

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