News July 2009

Greetings from Pastor Jean and Deborah Senga and family!

This month started with the great results from the high school student that were among us. All of the students passed their state exam. One of the high school seniors started the school year with the poorest grades in the class after being discouraged by her father concerning the concentration she had chosen since the eighth grade, but was able to graduate with the second highest grade in her school. She came back and testified in church of God’s goodness.

We are ending the month with the beginning of our ministering to the abandoned children of the streets. For our first event, we chose to do it close to home. Our church is 45 to 60 minutes away from our home. We spend close to $10 on gas every time we go to church, to spend $30 -$40 just to prepare and be at the event did not make sense at this level in the ministry, so we chose a place closer to home.

On Saturday July 25th, we launched our first outreach to the street children. We raised $60 through our local Church members here at Source d’Eaux Vive. We cooked for 50 kids, brought them tooth brushes and took care of 2 kids that had infected wounds. We had rice and beans, a meal that everyone eats here in Kinshasa. Some meals are accepted by some ethnic or tribal groups while others do not like them, but rice and beans is accepted by all. We talked to them about hygiene, gave them a chance to wash their hands before eating and offered them tooth brushes. At the beginning of the event, we took two kids that had bad wounds on their legs, wounds that otherwise were going to stay neglected, we took them to a local medical center. One of the best things we experienced was the smiles on those children faces toward the end of the time with them.

By the grace of God we will have two events like this in the month of August. We already have one scheduled for Monday, August 4th. There are some challenges to overcome. At the end of the event, five children came to me to ask help to go back to school. You might be able to help to make a difference in the lives of these kids; tuition for a year is $50, we estimate that $30 a month will feed them. Other expenses are difficult to compute; clothing can start at $40 for the year, health care averages $60 a year. You do not have to pay everything by yourself. You can commit for one specific thing, or choose to sponsor a child as a group (church, with coworkers, or as a family). Please help us make a difference. As soon as we find committed sponsors, we will commit to the kids, take them off of the streets, and put them in a family that will nurture them. Together we can do great exploits!