Saturday, February 24, 2007

The Latest Report From TouchGlobal

There are many partners within the Evangelical Free Church of the Congo. For instance, we have a women's ministry which is involved in the AIDS program and helping GlobalFingerprints.

This ministry is led by Kossa Ahundambi, and has its own board which meets quarterly. Every two years, they have a general assembly.

Mrs. Kossa visits all 27 regions regularly to see how the ministry is progressing. Some regions are making good progress. In their annual activity, each region plans some days to visit people in hospitals and prisons. The women also plan a special day to pray for widows. They collect money and other gifts, like food, to give to the widows. The ministry also trains women in different work skills. The ministry board has a guest house and the women in the different regions farm and raise pigs, goats, and cows.

The most important thing the women involved in this ministry do is make clothes. Mrs. Kossa and Pastor Selenga's wife went to Kinshasa to be trained how to dye fabrics to make beautiful patterns and colors. When American visitors come here, they like to buy these clothes which are typically African to take back to the US. [EDITOR'S NOTE: If you might be interested in pre-ordering some of these fabrics or clothes, talk with one of the team members!]

The women's ministry also helps the AIDS program by sewing school uniforms for the 250 orphans in the GlobalFingerprints program. During the uniform distribution ceremony, visitors from the U.S. were invited. It was a great meeting between orphans and visitors. The women have also made backpacks for the orphans from kits sent by Christian women in the U.S.

Most of the time, women come two days a week from local churches to knit clothes and to learn how to sew. There are not enough sewing machines for everyone, but they are doing their best so that each one can learn.

As we care for orphans and those suffering from HIV/AIDS, we are happy to work together with this women's ministry. And they are happy to be a part of caring for these children.

Contributed by Mandaba Kosse, February 2007


Program Update

We are in our fourth month of sponsoring 250 children! Some of you have received a letter, inviting you to participate in our test group of sponsors. Thank you so much if you have responded and are now part of GlobalFingerprints!

If you are still waiting to sponsor, and have not yet received a letter of invitation, we ask for your prayers and patience. We are slowly adding to our program, so as not to overwhelm the Congolese staff. We continue to work with them in establishing an adequate financial system. It is a huge job to follow these children and care for them, and we desire that everything be in place before adding more children to the program.

We have wonderful Congolese staff! Continue to pray for the coordinator, Pastor Deolo, as he directs the HIV/AIDS programs in the Congolese Evangelical Free Church. We need special funding for translation of AIDS materials into French and Lingala, as well as further training for Pastor Deolo in World Relief's program for mobilizing the Church to care for those affected by HIV/AIDS.

If you would like to make a special donation for these efforts, please mark your donation for "translation or AIDS training" and send it to:
EFCA TouchGlobal
402 Kishwaukee
Rockford, IL 61104

Update on Mohamat

Remember Mohamat from our last letter, the young boy who had broken his leg? He is healing well, and should be released soon from Tandala Hospital. In our recent visit to the Congo, we were able to visit him. Praise God for his healing, and pray now for his heart and mind to understand the love of Jesus!

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GlobalFingerprints is a ministry of EFCA TouchGlobal. Visit TouchGlobal at http://www.touchglobal.org/ for information on how lives are touched and hope is found, across the country, around the world, every day.


To SUBSCRIBE to the GlobalFingerprints newsletter, please send an e-mail with the word "Subscribe" in the body to GlobalFingerprints-request@moodle.efca.org.

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