General Background and Information
about Mulungwishi and the Work
We work in the southern province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, our mailing address is in Zambia because the mail service in the COngo is non-functioning. Mail is brought up to us by people who are traveling our direction. Our email is persons_muulungwishi@hotmail.com. We would like to have your help keeping us up to date with your email address changes.
In the Seminary, we continue to run between 40-45 students. They are for the most part married and have children. many have been teachers or working with the local churches. About 10% of the student body are women. The training is at two levels. The first is a three-year degree (equivalent of a Bachelor of Divinity Degree). The Congolese University system follows that of Belgian's where your first degree is for three years and you start in your chosen field. The students graduate, are ordained and are placed into the ministry on the two Episcopal Areas that we serve. After a minimum of two years (usually 6-8) certain ones are chosen by the Annual COnferences to return for a further two years for a Master's degree. When you count all the families and their children. we have between 250 and 300 people in the Seminary community. The Seminary students are all on a full scholarship. It costs about $2,500 a year. The scholarship includes tuition at the Seminary, education of the wife at the Women's School, housing, medical, food, monthly stipend, and children's education. All of this comes from the outside, wither from the United States or Europe. The government is not helping. The students need the scholarships because the per capita income for the country is $90 per year. There is no way that most of them could afford to come. We therefore have a very rigorous selection process through the Conferences and entrance exams to choose those who come. Because of the scholarships, the graduating students are under the Bishops for their appointments. The wives attend the Women's School and are trained to be in the ministry with their husbands. This is a three year curriculum and includes Bible, language, health, nutrition, child-care courses, church history, and hands on courses like sewing and knitting. We also train pastors for other denominations. We have also started a Masters Degree in Christian Leadership by extension with a University in the States. While completing this degree, students remain in their jobs while doing the course through seminars, reading, papers, and practical exercises.
We are very fortunate to have very qualified and excellent staff for the programs at Mulungwishi. We have five Congolese PhD's, who are past graduates of the Seminary. The completed further education in Europe, Canada, and South Africa. Their experiences in other learning environments and commitment really help the level of the Seminary. We also have six Professors with Masters degrees. Then we have many visiting Professors. From visits made by the Board of Higher Education and others from Europe we have been told that our program is one of the highest and strongest in Africa, even comparing with Africa University. It has been important to keep the University at Mulungwishi going because very few of the Congolese can go to the Africa University in Zimbabwe and the cost is much less and it is in their own country. It is important for the training of leadership for the future of the country. 50% of the population of Congo is under the age of 18!
The largest denomination on the Congo is the Roman Catholic Church. This is because of the colonization by the Belgians. During the beginning of the missionary movement, the Protestants divided the country up because it is so large (1/3 the size of the continental U.S.). Church groups operate as individual denominations under the umbrella of the Church of Christ in Congo. There is very good cooperation between the Protestant churches. Usually there is one dominant denomination in a region because they are the ones who started the Protestant work in the area. In our part of the Congo, the Methodists are the biggest presence. In the early days, the Catholics were antagonistic to the Protestants. However, now there is very good cooperation. The Muslims are very small (2-3%). They are growing slowly but most are from countries outside of Congo. Graduates from the Seminary have been recruited by GBGM to work as missionaries in other parts of Africa where there is a strong Muslim presence and can work as missionaries in other parts of Africa where there is a strong Muslim presence and can work in the French language. Currently we have Mulungwishi graduates serving as missionaries in Senegal, Tanzania, and Tunisia. Which is very exciting to see the work come full circle!!
Our big concern is for the Advance Special giving for the Seminary and University. It use to be that all the professors were missionaries so their salaries were paid by GBGM. Also, there was always someone in the States on furlough who was beating the bushes raising money for the Advance for the Seminary. Today, with almost all the professors being Congolese, their salaries now come out of the budget and they do not have the money with less people to do it. These past three years we have been able to work with three American Conference areas who have relationship with COngo through the Hope For the Children of Africa Program. This will help to have a conference wide interest and commitment. We have many churches, across the US, who give to the Advance for the Seminary and now the University, but it is a constant battle, as pastors or mission priorities change, to keep the interest going. The Board of Global Ministries will pay our way to speak to our Covenant Churches but not for projects like the Advance so we usually zigzag across the country trying to connect both our covenant churches and Advance givers. It is also up to us to produce nay pictures, brochures or publicity that we need for this purpose. We cannot accept as many students as before and the cost of training has gone up so we are constantly on the edge for finances. This year we had over 400 who took the entrance exam and we only had places for 12!!!
The UMC in our part of the Congo is growing in numbers and in outreach to their community. Under the leadership of the UMC there are social programs, hospitals. clinics and schools. In 1960, at independence. there were 20,000 UM in our region. Today we are at about 500,000! Four years ago, Bishops and representatives from the Katanga Province Annual Conferences asked the Seminary to create a University. Since the Seminary was already accredited by the national university system, we could add other schools so as to branch out and minister in other areas. Three years ago, we created the Katanga Methodist University by adding the School of Information Technology and the School of Education. We wanted to get the computer school going because the country needs to catch up with the rest of the world. We graduated our first class this past year. Interestingly enough, the government has asked our graduates to help with the computer registration of voters for the first vote in the country since independence. This registration is going on as we write and we pray for the country as it prepares for its first real elections in 40 years!!!
Mobuto Sese Seko, a military dictator, ruled the Congo for over 30 years. He was overthrown in 1997 and replaced by the military opposition with Kabila. A year later rebels in opposition to Kabila, with Rwanda and Uganda attacked the Eastern areas of Congo and we have been in a civil war since that time. Kabila (father) was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Kabila stepped in. This war, which has included 6 countries from the outside, has destroyed more than half the country (cities, towns, hospitals etc. and mission stations) and resulted in over 4 million deaths. mainly women and children. The horror has yet to be really fully revealed. It is estimated by the U.N. that over a thousand people are still dying daily because of lack of medical and food. Many are living and hiding in the bush, their gardens, lands ravaged by soldiers. In the past three years there has been a shaky peace brokered and with the help of western agencies and we are hoping to have the elections this next year. Our station, Mulungwishi, is in the very South and our area has not had the damage and destruction as in other parts of the country. Life is very difficult for the average person and the economy is in chaos but schools, etc. function and small commerce continues much to our amazement! Most people have been living hand to mouth. The government is not paying salaries regularly or sometimes not at all to teachers, soldiers, and other governmental agencies. Families have to pay a certain amount each month fore their children to go to school or university. Mist institutions or programs, that are running, are under various Church management or NGO's.
The reason for so much of the war and power struggle is Congo's vast mineral wealth, which is, at this time, not very controlled and therefore everyone had their hand in the black-market and in taking minerals out. There is an article in the newest BBC News that show young men digging gold out by hand and shovels. There are no safety regulations and many are killed by ave-ins and incorrect methods. The author of the article was let sown into a pitch and told to walk a kilometer in the black tunnel and then he would find the shaft off to the left! Tow men had died the week before because of lack of oxygen. The report states that in the year 2004, the nation of Uganda exported over $61 million worth of gold when they do not have functioning gold mines? Rwanda and Uganda have said they have pulled their troops out but they are still there and living off the Congo riches. The HRW quotes that the "Congolese citizens deserve to benefit from the country's rich resources not be cursed by them." The major problem is that the western mega businesses are racking in incredible benefits while the Congolese themselves are dying! It is the same story for the important cell phone metal colton, which chiefly comes from the Congo. Think of how much are cell phones cost and the service? The question is how we as Christians can speak to these issues?
The real crunch we are facing as an institution is two-fold. The first is in terms of faculty. The Seminary is in good shape with our staff. However, we need more faculty for the Schools of Computer and Education. The second is in terms of finances. We are running the University on what we use to get for the Seminary. We are also looking into ways to make the University more self-supporting. We have tried various agriculture programs but because of the chaotic situation in the country, it has not been profitable. We really need help in raising awareness of what great things are happening in Congo through the UMC and invite others to partner with us.
In His Love,
David and Lorene Persons
