Covenant News

Medical Team, Supplies Arrive in Congo

KINSHASA, CONGO (February 8, 2005) - Four containers filled with medical supplies, computers, technical and diagnostic equipment and well-drilling tools are in the process of being moved into northwestern Congo to support partnered ministries of the Congo Covenant Church (CEUM) and the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Shipment of the containers was facilitated by the Paul Carlson Partnership in cooperation with Covenant World Relief (CWR). Containers are designed to hold individual packages and crates suitable for transport up river by barge when water levels are high and the rivers are navigable. Plans call for the containers to be moved this week.

One of the four containers was prepared by Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City, California, and contains refurbished computers that will be used to upgrade offices for both the CEUM seminary at Goyongo and the CEUM's central offices at Bokonzo. "They put it together," said Jim Sundholm, CWR director. "They stepped out to help the CEUM president obtain the supplies so needed in ministry there. This is an excellent example of the kind of partnership with local churches that helps make ministry in Congo so effective."

A second container holds well-drilling equipment custom-built and donated by Tom Christy of Salina, Kansas, who with his son is in Wasolo to open wells as part of the Zulu hydropower system. They are working closely with Bob Thornbloom, Covenant mission technical director, who for the next six weeks is helping reconstruct roads, repair equipment and repair other infrastructure destroyed during six years of civil war. Thornbloom also is helping create a new hardware staging center in Karawa that will be used to house roofing materials, cement and other construction supplies that are being transported up river for use over the next several months. The accompanying photos show a truck fallen through one of the wooden bridges and a load of hospital beds bound for Congo last fall.)

The remaining two containers include medical equipment – a new sterilizer to replace an old charcoal-fired unit, stethoscopes, surgical gloves – as well as medicines of all kinds. A fifth container, packed and ready for shipment, remains in Rockford, Illinois. It contains additional medical supplies prepared by Compassion Ministries of the Evangelical Free Church. It is hoped the container can be shipped in the near future.

The medical supplies are much needed in support of visiting medical teams, such as the four-member Covenant team currently working in Congo, led by well-known retired medical missionary Dr. Roger Thorpe, who also serves as point person for the medical needs division of the Paul Carlson Partnership. The team arrived today in Gemena after traveling from Kinshasa and will continue on to Karawa, where they will work for the next two weeks.

"There are three key objectives for this team," Sundholm told members of the Paul Carlson Partnership board meeting this morning in Chicago. "They are teaching doctors and senior nurses in the proper use of new medications as well as sharing newly developed surgical techniques. They also are working with patients, including surgical procedures as needed. And, they are completing evaluations of ongoing medical needs that will help guide partnership activities for the future." Arrangements for the team were directed by Northwest Medical Teams International, a world-renowned medical organization that resources medical team efforts such as the one currently under way.

"Because of their expertise in organizing medical trips such as this, we have an agreement with them to facilitate our Covenant medical mission teams," Sundholm explained. Plans call for four teams, each with four members, to travel each of the next three years to serve in Congo. As part of the agreement, the Paul Carlson Partnership pays shipping costs for one 20-foot container provided by Northwest Medical that is filled with a variety of medical supplies, representing a value of some $180,000, Sundholm noted. "We work with them to determine the content of the container," he added.

The medical team currently at work in Congo was intentionally drawn from the Covenant corps of retired short-term and career medical missionaries who have language skills needed in Congo and who have a familiarity with the medical facilities in that region served by the Covenant, "especially the physical hardships they will face while there," Sundholm said. "They know the area. They know the language. They can hit the ground running," he noted.

Plans call for expanding the makeup of future medical teams to meet specific needs of the medical staff in Congo, including a trip tentatively planned for June.

Another major improvement comes in the form of three replacement trucks – the majority of trucks in Congo were stolen by invading military forces during the six years of civil war that began in 1996. One large truck, intended for use by CEUM, was purchased using funds from Friends of World Mission (FOWM). Two other trucks – the newly designed one-ton rated four-door model of the Ford Ranger pickup – were purchased by the Paul Carlson Partnership and will be used for the medical program. Engines in two existing trucks in Loko also were rebuilt using partnership funds.

In Bokonzo, work is under way to rebuild the large sawmill that also was destroyed during the war. The sawmill is owned by CEUM and provides much-needed income to support its ministries. Parts to repair the mill, along with parts to repair a tractor used in the operation, arrived in the last few days.

"It is so gratifying to see how God is working in all of these areas," Sundholm says, "and how the Covenant is responding in so many ways."

Those interested in supporting the ongoing work in Congo may send contributions, marked for the Congo Relief Fund, to the Paul Carlson Partnership, 5101 N. Francisco Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625. To learn more about Covenant World Relief and its work to aid tsunami victims and other areas of need, please see Sundholm.

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