God, what is your vision of the future for ISP Milundu?
For two years the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique Milundu has claimed a part of my time and my heart. I have taught general and comparative agriculture, silviculture and soil conservation.I have encouraged and counseled the administrative staff on management / financial issues.Together we have developed funding projects and dreamed about the future that God might what to bring about through the college.Still the relationship remains cautious, hesitant, searching for a sign of confirmation that God is already at work in this and truly calling Congolese believers to this work.This is a plea to our Christian partners to pray, to seek for our Congolese colleagues God's will concerning the future of the Milundu teachers' college.
The story starts nearly a decade ago.In 1994, with enthusiasm and perhaps unrealistic optimism, members of the Western Congo Baptist Convention founded an ambitious three-year college program.Its mission : train competent, dedicated Christian teachers for church-based high school programs in agricultural and veterinary science, business arts, French, English, geography, math and physical sciences.The founders assumed rightly that high school education is a key to building a peaceful society and prosperous economy for Congo.And high-quality high school education depends on having competent and motivated teachers.There is a tremendous opportunity here for Christians to shape people and Congolese society!
For the first five or six years, enthusiasm was enough to carry the school. Instructors accepted token pay or taught free.Students flocked to an affordable, barebones college program close to home.Idealism tempered the frustrations of insufficient library resources, irregular schedules, and dark, crowded classrooms.The school administration struggled through on shoestring budgets hoping that a permanent solution to recruiting quality professors and financing the institution would fall from the hand of God.
What Milundu's organizers failed to understand was that God may well have inspired the creation of ISP, but He also called people to be active partners in that creation.While enthusiasm and deep commitment can overcome many obstacles, they cannot substitute forever for intentional, detailed planning, efficient organization, professional excellence, and broad community support.God does not air-drop organization into a situation.Rather motivated leaders sensitive to God's leading envision the future and work systematically, unrelentingly to bring that future into being.If it is to succeed, an institution like ISP Milundu needs to move from the domain of a promising idea and first experiment to that of efficient and effective enterprise that reliably churns out a quality product -- high quality students and greater understanding of our region.
Moving from inspired idea to effective institution has been harder than any of the founders imagined.While official government recognition has been obtained, government support for professors is still only a dream.The educational entrepreneurs who founded ISP Milundu are tied to livelihoods in Kinshasa, unable to participate actively in the college's day-to-day program.Highly competent professors are understandably reluctant to leave urban posts to teach in a rural college with an uncertain reputation.And ISP is still trying to find a truly inspired administrator.
The dilemma all Christians face in determining God's will is this: do difficulties encountered in the course of our pursuit of ministry arise because we stubbornly pursue goals outside of God's priorities; or are they simple indications of need to rely more closely on the direction and power of God as we achieve what God intends.In the case of Milundu, is the teachers' college truly a priority ministry that God has inspired?Or is it simply a painfully human folly of overly ambitious but impractical believers?
Looking at the desperate need for better education (particularly in rural areas), any objective analysis must recognize the need for accessible, quality training for teachers.God in His mercy certainly desires for Congolese young people to receive the education that prepares them for solving the massive problems of Congo.But the more concrete and pertinent question is, is He calling people to the task in this place right now in 2003?Or is this an aspect of God's plan that must wait for a different time and perhaps a different place?
If this is God's plan for this time and place, I am convinced that He will confirm it.The first sign will be the identification of believers who have a vision for the ministry and competence to pursue it, people who are willing to take a chance in order to pursue God's call.The second sign will be the first provision of resources (probably meager to begin with) that allow ISP to take steps ahead according to God's call.Third, there will be people who feel a burden to intercede for instructors, staff, and board of ISP -- pleading for wisdom, perseverance, organizational ability, and inspiration.If the creation of the Milundu teachers' college is not part of God's priority plan, the church here needs to have the courage to leave it for a more favorable time, choosing to focus on God's revealed priorities without remorse.
So that's the plea -- can you pray with us for God's direction?Which way should our Congolese colleagues go?Which way should we throw our weight? After all, our ultimate goal together is to build the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, shining with new life from within.
Ed Noyes
Lusekele, Democratic Republic of Congo