Kimpese Bible Institute:

We are in the midst of final exams at the Bible Institute, but unfortunately only 10 of our 24 students are allowed to take them! The rest have outstanding debts for their school fees, some of them dating back 3 years! Our graduation ceremony, scheduled for June 27, has been cancelled, because none of the 6 seniors have paid their fees. Three of them belong to our sister church, the Congo Baptist Community, and the others are from a Baptist church related to the British Baptist Missionary Society.

The current situation is the result of several years of "excessive compassion" on the part of the leadership of the Bible Institute, who allowed students to study and even go through graduation without paying the $90 per year required of a single student, and $118 for a married couple. There is a whole shelf in the office, with diplomas and report cards dating back more than 5 years, waiting for students to come and claim them upon payment of their debts.

I agree with Pastor Ruben Mumpasi, director of the Bible Institute, that it is time for the local churches and denominations who send students for pastoral training recognize their responsibilities, and support them in their studies with at least partial scholarships. Gifts received from the U.S. and Britain for the Bible Institute are designed to supplement the funds generated locally, not replace them. There is no institute of higher learning in the world, as far as I know, that can exist without support from the outside (from alumni, corporations, and other donors), and we are grateful for everything that is received. But by the same token there is no institution that functions without any contribution at all from its students!

Unfortunately, it's not only the pastoral students at the Bible Institute who suffers from lack of support from the church. Even students at the two seminaries in Kinshasa are left on their own.

Thanks for your prayers! I feel that pastoral and theological education is a very important part of the present and future life of the church!

Wendy