Heavy hearts, but thankful too

Dear Friends, First on our hearts and minds is the news of the untimely death of Dr. Samuel Munene on November 5th. We were all devastated. He had just finished conferring the diplomas to late graduates of the Katanga Methodist University at Mulungwishi when he collapsed. He never regained consciousness. The funeral service was held in Likasi (where he had served as a pastor and professor for the Pastor's School) and he was buried at Mulungwishi. Munene was a great friend, wonderful pastor, professor of New Testament studies and the Academic Dean of the University. In short, he was a man of God. We will all miss his great smile and Christian spirit. Be praying for his family and the Mulungwishi community. Results of the long Congolese election have been announced. Joseph Kabila has been declared the winner. Join with us in prayer that all the parties will accept the results and join together to begin to rebuild the country. This message finds us in Atlanta getting part of our physicals. It is good to stop for a few days after itinerating in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and part of Tennessee. We still have Louisiana, East Texas, and Oklahoma ahead of us before we get back to Denver in the middle of December. All along the way, it has been a blessing to see old friends and meet new ones. We are humbled by the way these churches have partnered with us and the Congolese Church to spread God's Kingdom. We were blessed to have Dr. Kongolo with us for two weeks of the itineration. He had come to the US to participate as one of the Board of Directors of the General Board of Global Ministries meeting in Stamford, CT. His strong witness of Christ in his life and being a product of mission made a strong impression in the churches he shared in. Continue to pray for us as we travel and share the story of Mulungwishi. We also wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving with your families.

Persons' photos at Cornerstone UMC

When David and Lori visited Cornerstone (UM) Church in Bear, Delaware recently, member and digital photographer Larry Wilder took some photos and posted them to his Picasa Web Albums account on the Web. Then he emailed us. Thanks for the tip about your photos, Larry! Larry reports, "During their seven day October visit to Delaware and Maryland, David, Lori and Dr. Kongolo spoke, collectively, to the Wilmington (DE) District Pastors at Asbury UMC in New Castle, DE and then made personal appearances at Cornerstone and Red Lion UMC of Bear DE, Marshallton UMC of Wilmington DE and St. Marks UMC of Easton MD." The photo album includes:

• Group shots of David, Lori, the two local ministers, and Dr. Kongolo.
• David ("Buddy Rich") with a drum set.
• The Persons presenting Cornerstone with a colorful Congo-made banner.

Cornerstone uses a team of digital photographers, but Larry is the one with the photog@cornerstonedelaware.com email address.

• Larry's slideshow of the Persons at Cornerstone UMC

New: Weather links

We have added under "other links" in the left navigation column a couple of cool web sites to visit for weather in the D.R. Congo ... "Southern Africa - satellite" and "Weather at Likasi". We think you'll find these interesting and help you get a better feel for where the Persons live and carry out their mission. These weather links are, surprisingly, from MSN, not the Weather Channel, my first thought. I find the maps to be easier to look at for us people that are not in the weather business. Also, on the Likasi weather page, you can scroll down and select one of many maps. Several are animated. Other weather links

• Yahoo! weather page for Likasi
• Likasi - AccuWeather
• Africa satellite - Weather Channel
• Likasi - weather for you (features day and night forecasts)

Missionary Minute from former student

The General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) dedicates part of their web site to "Here I am Lord: Missionary Minutes." You may be interested to read a Missionary Minutes from The Rev. Nkemba Ndjungu, a former student at the seminary in Mulungwishi.

Online interactive maps of the area

You can find a lot of maps available on the web, but most are static images.  A fun way to explore the area around us is to use an interactive map.  You can zoom in or out, and move the map around. Many even offer a satellite view, which looks tremendous. The big players are, of course, Google Maps and Microsoft Live Local.  Here are  a few links to get tou started on your geographical exploration:

• Likasi - Microsoft Live Local
• Mulungwishi - Google Maps
  Google's regular map view of the area is not as good as Microsoft's, but the sattelite view has great colors.
• Mulungwishi - Microsoft Live Local
• Likasi and Mulungwishi road map - Microsoft Live Local
• Lubumbashi - Microsoft Live Local

Lastly, you may want to check out Google Earth -- if you meet the system requirements to install and use it. Search for Mulungwishi, Democratic Republic Congo. The initial image zooms in too close and is fuzzy, so you'll want to zoom out a bit.  You can add the roads and see the trip from Likasi to Mulungwishi. Or maybe you prefer to start at the province capital, Lubumbashi.

 

DR Congo in the news

Below are a few recent online articles about the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

• Refugees International concerned about humantiarian crisis
• Rebels had access to arms despite embargo (BBC)
• Human Rights Watch claims DRC soldiers abducting people (UPI)
• WHO reports plague in northern DR Congo (BBC)
• Catholic Bishops appeal for peace
• New Jersey teen helps fight river blindness in Congo

Stay informed

If you would like to get email updates of news related to the DR Congo, sign up for Google Alerts.

CNN covers Congo conflict

Each night this week on CNN, Anderson Cooper reported on his visit to the conflict-ridden countries of Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read the journal entries and watch videos at the Anderson Cooper 360° blog archive for this week.