"Will you to come to the Democratic Republic of Congo and prepare our teachers to train our nation's future leaders?"

I thought it was a problem with the translation, but I was wrong.

"How many schools?" I asked. The translator turned to the well-dressed officials and repeated the question in French. They conferred with one another and then gave a number.
 
"Eleven thousand, nine hundred and ninety five schools."
 
Surely that can't be right, I thought. That's more than 20 times as many schools as we've worked with in the whole history of this ministry.
 
I asked for clarification. After a few minutes of banter, the translator turned to me. "Yes, 11,995 schools. That's 77,000 teachers they want you to train, and they reach 2.4 million children every year. Will you help them?"
 
What would you say if you were presented with an opportunity to influence the entire next generation of the fourth most populous nation in Africa, and the 19th most populous nation in the world? I said, "Yes, we'll do whatever we can."
 
This is an amazing story. I beg you to fasten your seat belt and keep reading because our team desperately needs your prayer.
 

Africa: The Next Christian Continent?

 
Christianity is thriving in the "Global South," primarily Africa and Latin America. Philip Jenkins, author of The Next Christendom, says that if present trends continue there could be more than 600 million Christians in Africa by 2025. By that time Africa and Latin America-not North America or Europe-would be competing for the title of "most Christian continent."
 
The Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC for short, is at the eye of the storm. A French-speaking Central African country with an estimated population of 66 million people, the DRC has recently emerged from more than a decade of war in which over 5.4 million people died from war-related causes.
 
The hardship of war, disease and devastation has led to an unprecedented unity among Christians in the DRC. All 65 protestant denominations have united together into the Église du Christ au Congo, or Church of Christ in Congo (CCC). It is this organization that the government is hoping will take responsibility for 11,995 of the nation's schools.
 
In brief, we'll be working with the CCC to train Christian teachers to prepare godly leaders for the future of the DRC. This is a stunning opportunity to bring transformation to this war-torn nation that could ultimately ripple throughout the 26 countries that make up French-speaking Africa.
 
In calling for American help, Dr. Samson Makhado, the Africa director of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), said: "Education is like a tree. In North America it has deep roots but it is growing old and the leaves are starting to wither. In Africa it is growing very fast, but the roots are not deep. We need each other."
 

What Happens if We Don't Do This?

 
No one understands better than Islamic militants that education is the future of a nation. Funded by massive reserves of oil money, Islamic schools in Africa offer free schooling to entice parents, and then they turn the children into radical Muslims. It's the same strategy the Ottoman Turks used to conquer Constantinople in the 1400s.
 
African Christian leaders believe that a strong system of Christian education is the only way to keep the Islamization of Africa at bay. That's why Christian educators have struggled against all odds to start schools and keep them running. But they need help, and have appealed to ACSI for three reasons:

1. its strong reputation as a Christ-centered organization,
2. its proven metric of effectiveness, and
3. its "rapid deployment" curriculum called Children at Risk.

ACSI, in turn, has asked Passing the Baton International to partner with them because of our track record in training teachers to identify and prepare future leaders.
 
Leader development is a crucial piece in the puzzle. When Congo was owned by the king of Belgium, colonizers secured their power by schooling people to be subservient followers. An emerging democratic republic needs honest, wise leaders, Our key contact with the CCC, Bishop Idore Nyamuke Asial'ubul, believes that Christian schools raise them up.
 

How We Hope to Meet the Need

 
On July 31 Tim Krupa and I will travel to Africa and meet up with our translator David Masiongetti, Dr. Dr. Samson Makhado and Dr. Janet Nason (Asia director for ACSI). On August 2 we will travel into the DRC for five days of meetings and training with government leaders, church leaders, and education leaders.
 
Our goal is to get a full understanding of the need, contextualize the Passing the Baton training into the Congolese context, conduct the initial Passing the Baton training with key leaders and identify those who could form a training team to travel throughout the country.
 
The ultimate plan is to send out a team of 300 trained leader developers who would, in turn, train 77,000 teachers to be leader developers.
 

What I Need from You: Prayer!

 
This project is strategic, not only for the future of the DRC, but for the growth of Christianity in Africa. Nothing about it is easy. We've been told that the DRC is one of the hardest places on earth to work. We believe this may be because it is the center of a spiritual storm and success here could have profound consequences for the future of the continent.
 
Please pray for the following:

• -Foresight as we finish preparations for the trip
• -Successful travel into the DRC for our team members
• -Physical safety in a country wracked with crime and corruption
• -Accurate translation in meetings and of our written materials
• -A spiritual connection with our hosts that enables us all to communicate clearly
• -A clear sense of direction as we move forward

 

This particular trip has been paid for by a generous donor; however, over the next two years the project is going to grow substantially. If you'd like to play a part in this exciting work, you can make a tax-deductible donation on-line here or by using the link in the lower left hand corner of our website.

If you'd like to send a note of prayer or encouragement, my e-mail address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I'll forward it on to our strategic partners.

Thanks,
Jeff