Dear Friends,
In Chad, Director Yves Beosso reports that they had a good turnout at their 27th Easter Camp. Since this is a new city to host the camp, a number of new attendees were able to come. Praise God with us that we were able to bring new Bible study lessons to wider audiences.
In Nigeria, the CMD Easter Camps are much larger in scope and participation. Whereas we normally have six different camps that meet across the country, this year, because of increased costs and lower financial support from the Nigerian churches, we’ve had to scale back and have only five camps.
Thank you for your continued prayers for the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kivu province is still under the control of the rebel group, M23. Things have settled down somewhat, but life is not back to normal. Because the local law enforcement has fled, there is a lot of unrest in the streets, fueled by uncertainty for the near future. In the cities of Bukavu and Goma, many schools are operating on a day-by-day basis, and many parents are refusing to let their kids go to school since there is a lot more violence in the streets. I had received several reports from our directors, staff, and friends saying that they were eating porridge. I thought that was a good thing – they were getting food. But later, I found out that porridge is at the bottom of the list of acceptable foods, and if you have anything other than porridge, that’s a good thing. So their reference to porridge was actually a sign that they were doing very badly. Please keep them in your prayers.
M23 has not made it as far south as the city of Baraka, where our newest school is located, but the city is on edge, uncertain about what the next few months will hold. I had reported a couple months ago that the school had been broken into and electronic devices were stolen (solar panel, battery, printer, fans, etc). Those items have not been found, but in the meantime, the parents of the students have pooled their resources and agreed to help purchase replacements. The total cost is over $600, so we’re very pleased that they’re doing this. Many of them are rural farmers, and don’t have much money at all, so this is a very big commitment. For our part, we’ll be paying for the solar battery.
Truly, your prayers are coveted.
Tim Foster
Director
