June 27, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

It has now been a month since I returned from three and a half weeks in Congo. Many of you have asked me if I’m afraid to go to there, but the truth is I look forward to it. I look forward to being in a place where people struggle to live—and yet live with vigor, faith, and hope. I look forward to spending time with friends. I look forward to the response I get just from the fact of my visit. My friends wouldn’t want me to visit if I would be in danger, and I trust them to make those decisions for me. And God is very present with me there also—as He is wherever I go. You never know. One day you might want to go with me.

I spent nearly two weeks with the Presbyterian Church of Kinshasa (CPK), but I’ll write about that later. Check on my home page for more. The CPK is alive and having an impact on HIV/AIDS through various activities such as the production of AIDS-related Bible studies that will be published this year; small group training done in conjunction with Sally Ivaska of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, so that the Bible studies will have impact in the local church; income-generation groups that prevent women from turning to prostitution; a program in maternity centers that identifies pregnant HIV positive women, makes preventive drugs available to them, and supports them with pastoral care and nutrition. The youth of the church are active too, and they are doing income-generation and skills-training activities, too. This church is passionate about caring for people with HIV/AIDS and making known God’s love toward them no matter what the circumstances. I am very proud to be partners with them!

I want to dedicate most of this letter to my time in Kananga with the Presbyterian Church of Congo (CPC), and Presbyterian Action Against AIDS (APCS). APCS is the CPC’s primary response to AIDS. It was founded by Pastor Albert Kabwe to prevent the spread of AIDS among youth and within families. The programs now exists throughout the Congo. Through discussions in schools, communities, churches, and the radio the APCS gets the message across that AIDS can be avoided. They lift up the family as a unit blessed by God and worth protecting at all costs. They make sure people know that God grieves over AIDS and that the church needs to respond with love and compassion and concrete action.

At one APCS meeting I attended, teenagers from a school gathered in the offices of the Synod of the West Kasai. The Rev. Paul Kabasubabo started the discussion by asking the kids how many teenagers they thought were sexually active? He threw out numbers such as 89 percent for girls and 92 percent for boys. Without hesitation the kids responded that 100 percent of teenagers were sexually active. Paul talked with them about sexuality as a gift from God and about beliefs and myths such as if one doesn’t “know another” before marriage, they won’t have children in their marriage. And myths such as everyone has sex before marriage. They discussed peer pressure, particularly on young girls, and strategies to resist. They discussed strategies to deal with professors who put pressure on girls to sleep with them. And they discussed AIDS, how it is transmitted and how to avoid it. A film was shown about people with AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Kids were visibly shocked. In the end, Paul asked these kids if they were willing to abstain from sex before marriage, or if they wanted to change their behavior. Many said yes. After prayer, the meeting was closed with the presentation of a soccer ball to a delighted group.

In Mbondi, a village about an hour and a half from Kananga, we were greeted a group of children and the village chief singing, “I’m singing for Jesus, dancing for Jesus, marching for Jesus my savior.” As in the other discussion group I’d seen, the leader posed more questions than he gave answers because the people know the answers. Though dominated by the men, the discussion engaged everyone in the circle. Everyone knew someone that had AIDS. Everyone was afraid of getting AIDS. Most knew means of transmission but were honest in saying that it didn’t change their behavior. It was almost as if people thought, fatalistically, “AIDS can’t be avoided.” But as people started answering each other and being honest about their marriages, their poverty, their faith in God, the spirit of hope showed itself and they said, “we can avoid AIDS, we can do something.” The group was later divided into groups of adults, youth, and children. At the end, Rev. Mukendi commissioned the chief, and the local presbytery chair, giving them AIDS pins and telling them to keep the discussions going. They too were given soccer balls, much to the delight of everyone.

One day I traveled around the Kananga area with the Rev. Christine Ngalula and members of APCS to visit families with AIDS, and families with AIDS orphans. They looked like average families: middle-aged parents, several children under 15 years old, looking if they were in the prime of their lives. But in each family, one or both parents were HIV positive.

“J” had been diagnosed with AIDS in 1996, and though he had been very sick at times, he was able to get antiretroviral medicine from South Africa and was feeling well when we met him. His wife had been tested for HIV, but she had opted not to see the results, so only her husband officially knew. It was clear from the way her gaze stayed on the floor that she knew she had tested positive. Their four children huddled around her as she sat on the floor. Another baby is on the way. The oldest son was of primary school age, but had stopped school because they couldn’t afford the three dollars per trimester, and 50 cents per month in school fees. The other children still weren’t old enough for school. What will happen to them when their parents die? What will happen when the parents can’t work, have no ability to produce income?

In another home we met two young girls with their grandmother. She had four sons, two of whom and had died of AIDSalong with her two daughters-in-law. Now she had these granddaughters, cousins about 10 years old, to care for. Her other sons had moved away to try to earn some money, but they weren’t able to send her any money. She sells sugar by the side of the road. They eat—usually every day—but the girls don’t attend school. The money just isn’t enough.

We spent the whole day visiting one family after another, with one story just as tragic as the next. APCS and the Department of Women and Families are trying to see how to help them. One plan is to begin small income-generation projects to help people that are physically able. We prayed with each family and left small packages of beans and flour and rice, but I couldn’t help but think of the passage in James that exhorts us to be doers and not just hearers. It ’s not enough to say “go in peace and be filled—or be warm” when you leave people in the cold and without food.

Friends, I don’t usually ask you for money, but I believe that now is the time for us to give our resources to these people who are barely surviving in the midst of terrible suffering and to those who are trying to make a difference amongst them. We say that the chain is as good as the weakest link, but in the body of Christ, that is not true. We are to support the weak and help the suffering. We love to talk of sustainability—and that is always a good goal—but sometimes that means that others come up with a plan and we provide the resources to sustain them. I wonder. Please pray with me for the APCS and those in Congo who are trying to make a difference. Pray for these families, these young people, these orphans and grandparents who are trying to stay alive and provide for each other in unimaginable circumstances. Pray that together we’ll have the wisdom and the open hearts to plan and do those things that are wise and helpful and loving.

Go today—not in peace—but in the restlessness that leads to action whatever God would lead you to do.

Much love and thanks to you all.

In Christ,

Caryl

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 317