The Humble Servant - A Minute for the Congo Mission, October 6, 2019
10/06/2019
Summer is over, and officially fall season started last week. Also, all elementary school students are getting into the school routine of going to bed early, and all parents are getting into monitoring their children's homework, because before you can say, "One, two, three," the first grading period will be ending. As parents, we want to see our children do their best, and we do our best to provide them with everything, and whatever will make them successful. We work in our own ways, just as hard as our children in school, and we buy all of the necessary, and sometimes the not necessary things, that we can afford, all for our children. In Congo, I see parents making the same efforts we do in the States, but it is not the same, especially in the Central Kasai Province. Until this year, children's education was not a right, or free to all children. Congolese parents had to pay school fees of about $10 a month per child. That does not sound like much, until you realize that a parent may make only $50 a month from a job, that is, if they can find a job. Also, this is the first year, since the violence in the Kasai has ended. But listen, according to Luke chapter 17, verses nine and 10. Jesus talks about the servant duties, and relates it to the master/slave relationship. He said, "Do you thank the slave "for doing what was commanded? "So you also, when you have done "what you have been ordered to do, "say, 'we are worthless slaves, "'we have done only what we ought to have done.'" I think this applies to the parent/child relationship too. But what happens when we can't provide for our children, as necessary? Someone or some entity has to fill the shoes of the parent, in support of that child. This year, Congo Helping Hands have stepped up to support those children in need. We are providing some essential school notebooks and pens, to elementary school students, working with our local partners in Kwango, we have identified 12 schools in the poorest areas to support. When I saw the video of the children saying, "Thank you Mr. Jeff, thank you Mr. Woody, "and thank you Mr. Jim," I remembered Jesus' words personally to me in this way. The children thanked me for doing what Jesus had commanded me, and when I have done all that Jesus have ordered me to do, then I will say, "Jesus, I am Your humble servant, "I have done only what I ought to have done in Your name." School fees may have been eliminated, but school supplies are still a parent's responsibility. Those parent needs your help. Please consider making a donation to support these children in need of school supplies.