|
|
|
Bukavu is a crowded city. No space is wasted. The beauty of Congo is not in its cities but in the rural areas – a place where lush vegetation grows on steep hills.The kids are different in the rural areas as well. The reddish tent of their tattered clothes reflects the wonderful red color of the dirt. The kids are shy yet curious. Usually I can coax them into letting me take their picture using my Texas Swahili. Once they agree to one picture  and see themselves in the picture there is no stopping — more pictures and lots of giggling.In this picture, our wise man, interpreter and friend, Solomon, is teaching these two families how to use the solar powered MP3 player with the Bible in French and Swahili. May they listen, enjoy and respond!This particular family will serve as “host” of the pigs that one of our Congolese volunteer YoungLife students, Jerome, wants to raise and sell as a business. Improving the food supply in Congo is very important. It is a very fertile place yet much of their food is imported. You might pray for Jerome and several others who are working on food related business plans. Starting a business anywhere is difficult, but Congo takes difficult to a new level. The World Bank ranks it the seventh hardest place to do business in the world and calculates the effective tax rate at 340%. (You make $100 before taxes and pay $340 in taxes.). I have been praying that God would bless their efforts and that their faith and perseverance would be great. I cannot imagine confronting those realities even with my experience. They are confronting those realities with no experience.
Thanks for praying!
For the team,
Greg |
|
