Last year was a difficult year for student pastor Muntu-Ndombe. Economically, things went from bad to worse. As a student at the Pastor's Institute of Kikongo, he was already finding it difficult to provide for his family. Even with the fields that the school provides it was hard for him to find enough food to keep everyone going. But, he is an energetic worker and was able to find ways to make ends meet. Then his wife gave birth to twins. Because of complications she was ill for sometime and a large part of the family burden fell on him. A few months later, his father passed away leaving Muntu-Ndombe with no one to support his studies. After the funeral he returned to the school with the weight of the world on his shoulders. His wife confided with Jill that Muntu-Ndombe was ready to throw in the towel and call it quits. She asked for prayer for her husband.

When Jill and I talked this over, we were saddened by the thought of losing such a promising student pastor. Both of us were impressed by Muntu-Ndombe's leadership skills, enthusiasm and strong work ethic. We were also very impressed by his talented wife. (She really blessed us when a chicken that we bought from her continually ran back to her house. She faithfully brought the chicken back saying, "Beto lenda dia ve madia ya masumu." - or 'At our house we can't eat food earned by sinning.' Even though she and her family were very hungry she refused to eat a chicken that wasn't theirs. This was a real testimony of faith.) We were convinced that God was calling this couple into the ministry.

Thanks to gifts that we have received through churches back home, we were able to provide work for Muntu-Ndombe so that he could finance his own studies. As we enter his final semester at the Pastor's Institute, Muntu-Ndombe is all smiles. He still has a very hard road ahead. However, the gifts from churches abroad have given him the courage to continue and to finish his studies. What a great gift and such a small price to pay to help one of the future leaders of the church here in the Congo. Please keep Muntu-Ndombe and his family in your prayers as well as our other students who struggle here.