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Mennonite Churches of Congo Celebrate 100 Years of Mennonite Presence

The Mennonite Church of Congo and its sister church, the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Congo, are preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Mennonite communities in Congo.

Dates set aside for this celebration are July 16-26, 2012.

Congregations and individuals in North America are encouraged to consider sending delegates, or traveling themselves, to Congo to take part in the celebrations. Please spread the word to all who might be interested in this upcoming event.

More details will be posted here as they become known.

Mennonite Church of Congo has been constructing a Centennial Welcome Center at its church headquarters in Tshikapa, DRC. The Center is meant to be a visible symbol of a century of evangelism, according to President Adolphe Komuesa. The Congolese church has provided locally available building materials and labor for the project. AIMM has provided funds to purchase needed manufactured building supplies, and also helped to send a 12 person building team to Tshikapa for two weeks in January 2011. In mid-March 2011 we received this photo from Pastor Komuesa, showing progress made on the Center's Assembly Hall. 

A 25 ton truck loaded with cement, iron reinforcing rod, ceiling plywood, nails and other building supplies left Kinshasa on a 700 kilometer drive to Tshikapa, Dec. 4, 2010. The materials were purchased through the generosity of a number of AIMM supporters- THANK-YOU! By Dec.14 an email from Mennonite Church of Congo President Komuesa Kalunga reported that the truck had crossed the newly completed bridge over the Loange River. On December 20 the AIMM office received confirmation of the truck's Tshikapa arrival. Immediately, Congolese head mason Senghor Mbuya and other crew members began work on the Assembly Hall foundation (10 x 20 meters).

That foundation was nearly finished by the time the AIMM North American Building Team arrived on the scene on January 16.

Left to right: Fred Suter, Westerville, OH; David Rocke, Gilbert, IA; Alfred Neufeldt, Rosthern, SK, Canada; Greg Zimmerman, Flanagan, IL; Cathie Rocke, Gilbert, IA; Grace and Arnold Harder, Mountain Lake, MN Team Leaders; Joe Shetler, Milford, IN; Carmen Good, Valparaiso, IN; Dale Epp, Henderson, NE; Dennis Miller, Goshen, IN; Tom Nickel, Mountain Lake, MN.

The North Americans joined together with a 17 member Congolese Building Team already hard at work. Good progress was made over the next couple of weeks. Arnold Harder has reported that the combined crews laid double-thick brick walls for the Assembly Hall, to lintel level; installed electrical wiring and ceilings for the first seven room dormitory; laid out, dug and poured footers for the dining hall/kitchen (9.5 x 20 meters); and laid out footers for a second dormitory unit. While the rest of the North American crew returned to Kinshasa on Thursday Jan.27, Fred Suter remained in Tshikapa through mid February and indicated that steady progress continued on the construction site, including the pouring of the lintel for the Assembly Hall. Rafter-raising was planned for the first week in March. Pastor Komuesa projects using this completed facility for an upcoming CMCO Administrative Council meeting scheduled for March 29-31, 2011                                                                                         

Grace Harder, assisted by Cathie Rocke, worked to provide meals for the North Americans. She reports: "I had NO IDEA what to expect at Tshikapa or how to adequately prepare for the "adventure" of cooking for 12 people in the bush. To make a long story short, I'm thankful for the experience. I was stretched out of my comfort zone... I look back and see how the Lord prepared me step by step and did not open everything up for me at once. I learned that I had to trust Him through each experience and hopefully I also grew through those experiences.

I had a young girl in to help wash dishes and sweep the floors... I'm also glad that Cathie was there to help... The team of guys was wonderful. They were fun to have around... We grew close as a group and they will always have a very special part in my memory bank. Not to mention the singing! What a choir of men singers!" 

AIMM continues to raise funds for this project, in order to keep the agreement which has us supplying most of the manufactured goods needed for construction.

2. New Urban Church Plant in Burkina Faso

The Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso (EEMBF) is launching another urban church planting effort, this time in a new area of Bobo Dioulasso known as Colma.

The church has sent a young evangelist, Samuel Sanou, to live in this area. He is renting a small house which is situated right beside the fairly large, triangular shaped plot of land on which the future place of worship will be built. Samuel has begun making contacts with families living in the area, inviting people to study the Bible and pray with him. EEMBF leaders are dreaming about how best to use the land. Many thoughts revolve around serving this majority Muslim community through a Christian school, in addition to a church

3.The Bupola congregation's church building

"The Evangelical Mennonite Church Bupola congregation's meeting house, located in the city of Mbuji Mayi, was hit by a violent storm in early 2010, and the tin roof was largely torn off. The congregation, with assistance from the national committee of the church, and from AIMM, has been able to completely repair the damage and now has   a beautiful new roof on its building, as of early 2011."