International Ministries is pleased to announce that the Equipping Pastor’s Wives mission project in Congo is fully funded!  Thanks to generous donations from American Baptist women’s mission circles, individuals and churches, this vital program not only met its goal for 2010, it is already fully funded for 2011 as well.

 

The Women’s School of Kikongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a unique program that prepares the wives of student pastors for the demands they’ll face in their rural ministries.   The women learn how to be a positive Christian role model for other women, and they become development leaders in their communities.  The women leave the school knowing how to read, lead a Bible study or worship, and provide wise counsel to their husbands.    

 

In August 2010, International Ministries gave new visibility to dozens of mission projects by making them accessible online.  Rita Chapman, missionary in Congo proposed the Equipping Pastor’s Wives project to provide scholarships of $66 each for 30 pastor’s wives.  Total cost for this project is $2,000 annually. 

 

Every $66 scholarship makes it possible for a woman to receive several weeks of classroom instruction in the Bible, literacy training, lessons in health and nutrition, plus Christian education.  Each woman is given her own Bible, notebooks and pens, sewing lessons and supplies, plus ingredients for meals and training.  While she’s in class, the scholarship also covers the cost of kindergarten training for her older children and nursery care for her younger children who receive a daily glass of milk – a valuable commodity in Congo. 

 

Rita Chapman recently posted an update on the Women’s School of Kikongo.  She writes:

Having just finished exams at the Women's School, out of necessity many of them oral, my thoughts were touched by the response one bright young pastor's wife gave to a question on her test. In reference to an Old Testament story, she was asked if God had ever rescued her from slavery, and if so when? What followed was a wonderful story of her life:

 

It seems that until the age of 8, she lived and went to school in the big city of Kinshasa. After relocating to their interior village at about that time, Mama Mayoyo's mother died, leaving the family in disarray. Years passed without Mama Mayoyo being able to continue in school. Trying to describe her life, she said, I used to sit in church not being able understand what was being said. I was like a blind person. I grew up hoping that I would marry a smart man, and that perhaps in that way I could learn more. . God was good to me, and I was able to marry a teacher. When we had our first child, I was sick with tuberculosis. Not being able to nurse the baby well, he died. I nearly died, but I got better. After a few years, a pastor told my husband that he was smart and should become a pastor. He applied to the Pastoral School and it wasn't long before we came Kikongo. Now I can read and understand. I have learned about so many things here. God has rescued me from slavery.  He's been very good to me.

 

To read the rest of Rita’s journal with other tales from the Women’s School of Kikongo, go to http://www.internationalministries.org/read/32761

New mission projects are added to our website weekly, with the most recent ones appearing at the top.  To see all the mission projects go to: http://www.internationalministries.org/projects

You can look up mission projects by

COUNTRY: look at WHERE WE SERVE, click on a country, then scroll down to see the list of all projects happening in that country.

MISSIONARY: look at PEOPLE WHO SERVCE, click on a missionary to see the projects they or their local Baptist partners have submitted.

MINISTRY FOCUS AREA: look at WHERE WE SERVE to see the seven Ministry Focus Areas (on the left), click on one topic, then scroll down to see