October 2003

Dear Family, Friends and Mission Companions,

As our Kentucky days turn cooler and the night time’s chill reminds us that another summer in our lives has ended Sue and I wish you all an enjoyable fall season.

In April we completed our four-year mission assignment at IMCK, the Good Shepherd Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On arriving home in Ashland, Oregon, and after having a reunion with our friends and family we began an 8,000-mile church itineration around the Midwest, East, and Southeast, visiting 25 churches to report on our mutual mission undertaking in Africa. We met many wonderful and supportive friends. We did not see anything resembling a weak and dying church! We are very encouraged and pleased that everywhere we went we found the people in our local Presbyterian churches to be very alive, vibrant, and creatively contributing to the needs of their local and world communities.

During our tour Sue and I were asked to extend our mission activities in Louisville, Kentucky, to help the International Health Ministries Office of our church coordinate a new stewardship campaign. This “0.7% Initiative” is a program mandate of our General Assembly (governing body), which asks every Presbyterian church member and every Church to do three things.

• Study, ponder, and pray about how we may help the needs of 50 percent of our world’s people that live on less than $2.00 a day.
• Give 0.7% of our yearly income to international self-development programs, which promise release from the disease(s)of poverty. (This is 7 cents of every 10 dollars.)
• Become advocates for the poor by committing time, talents, and personal attention to political action on local, national, and international issues.

We are hoping that the Peace and Justice Committee of Presbyterian Women will help us launch a serious churchwide campaign this fall and winter. Negotiations are underway.

Our group was convinced that God’s grace and guidance was sufficient. Believing in the miracle of the loaves and fishes, we began to plan a five-year youth program for the entire Kasai Province. The Congolese pastors independently took an oath of discipleship and pledged to do the work without personal remuneration. Our first year’s program goals succeeded on less than $3000. Our second year’s program managed well on $7000. None of these monies came from national Presbyterian program support, but from you, our correspondents as individuals and local church donations.

We expanded the program by printing quarterly flyers in Tshiluba and French, the soccer ball incentive, parish-school programs, women’s gatherings, young married couples programs, support for parish orphan care and one-hour weekly radio broadcasts. The Congolese Presbyterian Community officially endorsed our program, and we began programs for pastors at presbytery meetings. We hope to make study of HIV/AIDS ethics and moral decisions a part of the Congolese Presbyterian Communities Christian education program.

As the time for ending our term of mission service in Tshikaji neared I was concerned about the future of the program’s support. Providentially, we learned several weeks before we were leaving that Presbyterian missionaries, Gerald and Bonnie Stephens from Birmingham, Alabama, were being assigned to work in Christian Education in Kananga.

Gerald was delighted to find our program in operation and felt he had a special calling to help us with it within the context of our new official recognition by the Congolese Presbyterian Church. We then enlarged our management committee to five members. I was given the continuing responsibility of being international liaison for the program.

Medical Benevolence Foundation gave our program $15,000 for this year’s operation in April. I have just received a report of our programs activities for the summer. I would like to share this report with you in our Thanksgiving newsletter.

There is much good news to report to you from the Congo that is pleasing and joyful.

Bill, and Sue Sager

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 31