Dear praying friends,

The fall season is approaching in North America, and with it the annual American Baptist World Mission Offering blitz. My thanks to all of you who have supported International Ministries in the past, and especially my work in the D.R. Congo. I encourage you to rise to the challenge of increasing your giving by at least 20% this year!

What we call the "summer holidays" in the Congo is a misnomer. First of all, it's not "summer" here, but the cool (and sometimes cold) dry season; and secondly, it hasn't been a holiday for me at all, but a time full of activities with young people and adults.

How cold is it? I don't really know, because I don't have a thermometer, but it's cold enough that I sometimes close the windows at night, and use a light blanket to sleep! Often, I wear a sweatshirt in the early morning and evening. One day, when I was feeling chilly even in the afternoon, I found a thermometer at a friend's house, and it read 72 F, with 74% humidity. I don't think it ever gets below 60, even at night, but it feels colder, probably because of the humidity! (I have a theory, with no particular scientific basis, that humidity makes the temperature feel colder or hotter than it really is. Since I grew up in the desert of Las Vegas, I know that 100 F is easier to bear than 90 with high humidity; and conversely, 72 degrees here seems colder than 60 in a dry climate.)

The dry season in Kimpese is the time when the most skilled farmers can earn more money from nurturing 500 grams of onion seeds than a teacher earns in a whole year! It's an arduous task, spread over about 4 months: planting, watering (hauling water from a river with a watering can), applying fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, sleeping in a make-shift shelter in the garden to ward off thieves, harvesting, making bundles or loading the onions in sacks to ship to market, and often accompanying the produce to Kinshasa, where the price is better. Many families count on their onion crop to pay school fees and buy supplies for the coming year.

Since school let out the end of June, I've made four trips of three to five days each to villages, showing films and holding seminars. The most popular films are the Jesus film (one edition features testimonies from professional soccer players, very well received this year with the World Cup), and Monzeli, a film about a high school girl who gets pregnant, then is forced into a marriage with an HIV positive drunk (not the father of her child). The film has a happy ending, and encourages young people to think about their actions and be ready to accept the consequences.

Other movies that people like are classic Charlie Chaplin films, Superman cartoons, Peter Pan, the Sound of Music, and Annie. "The Hiding Place" has challenged adults to live for Christ in difficult circumstances.

In August, we had a two-day youth rally here in Kimpese, with over 100 young people. The first day, we showed the film "Monzeli," then discussed it in small groups. The second day we presented the program "True Love Waits." Over 40 young people accepted Christ, and also signed True Love waits commitment cards. We will be following up those decisions in the coming weeks.

One popular feature of the youth rally was a "raffle," for which we charged 100 francs (about 28 cents) for a ticket. Local business people donated prizes: school notebooks, pens, soap, lotion, toothbrushes, toothpaste, packets of cookies, etc. The luckiest ones, like Rebecca in the picture, won a piece of intimate apparel, presented by youth leader Michael Kuzy. The spirit of the day was joyous, and everybody won something!

During the holidays, a student pastor and an elementary school principal have been busy coaching a boys' soccer team. Their first match was the closing activity of the youth rally, against the team from Radio Bangu (the local FM station where I still have a program twice a week). Our team won, 3-1! A project for this year will be trying to get uniforms for the team, and enlarging the project to include basketball and volleyball, for boys and girls! Several members of the team are not church members, and they have begun attending youth group meetings.

My "summer holiday" activities have convinced me that the door to the hearts of young people in the Congo these days is through good films and sports. I plan to continue encouraging both activities, along with teaching responsibilities, during the coming school year.

Once again, thanks for your support of my ministry, and of American Baptist International Ministries in general. May God bless you richly!

Wendy