What’s the latest in our progress in bringing the Gospel to children, first in Kituba and eventually in all the main languages of Congo? Join us in our goal of providing Bible teaching guides for Sunday school teachers in Congo.
April 2024–Why I Am No Longer Collecting Used Sunday School Materials
Many of you know that for many years I have collected used Sunday School materials, gleaning the pictures for use in ‘our’* Sunday schools in Africa.
* Of course, the Sunday schools don’t really belong to us. They belong to local churches, who have control over them, and most of the teachers were trained by our staff or other trainers whom we trained. We have always taken such a personal interest in them that we often speak of them as ‘ours,’ but we also recognize they are not ours. They are God’s.
How I loved collecting those pictures! So many beautiful and helpful visuals are available here in the U.S., used once and then dumped. I was thrilled with each one I could save from the dump and send on its way to Africa, where it was welcomed like a precious treasure. It took time and effort, but I enjoyed doing it. Every time I found a particularly good picture, in my mind I would see little African faces gazing at it in wonder, and I’d say to myself: “One more village.”
I’m a gleaner at heart. I admit it. Raised in a poor family, I learned early to find joy in turning discarded objects into treasures. It’s no longer a necessity for me, but ‘recycle, reuse’ got wedged deep down in my soul, and I still love it.
Despite the blessing these used materials have been over the years, several things have changed. Recently, I made the heart-wrenching decision to stop collecting used Sunday school materials for Africa. So many friends and churches have helped me collect these treasures that I feel I need to explain myself.
- The cost of shipping to Africa has greatly increased, and the weight of the pictures along with the necessary protective sleeves and bags is substantial. I won’t say the Mwinda Project can’t afford it. I will say I have decided it may no longer be the best use of funds available.
- The number of pictures collected exceeded the need of the Congo Sunday schools long ago. With all my best efforts, I do well to collect 100 copies of any one Bible story, and in many cases, far fewer. At the same time, for the past few years, the Mwinda Project has been printing 2,500 copies in each of the three major languages of the area we serve. 100 copies available, but 7500 needed. I’m not great at math, but I think that means we were only meeting a little over 1% of the need. Besides that, the disparity between those who get pictures and those who don’t, and the varying numbers and quality of pictures in each pack sometimes leads to problems between teachers and to feelings that perhaps we have favorites.
- Many resources are available now that did not exist when we started ministry 43 years ago. Chief among these are the internet, vast improvements in computers, and a website called www.freebibleimages.org. Few of our Congolese churches have the resources to just print their own pictures, but we can easily download the pictures and include them in our books. Of course, that does increase printing and transport costs to some extent. But for the cost of sending 100 beautiful, heavy paper pictures in packets for each lesson, we can add black-and-white pitures and visualized verses to our books for all 7500 teachers we currently serve.
- Every decision has an upside and a downside. The downside is that instead of beautiful glossy-colored pictures, we will need to print the pictures in black and white, or normal-size copy paper. The upside is that every teacher will receive a picture and a visualized Bible verse to go with each lesson, and they will all be the same. That’s the direction we’ve decided to go for now.
- Many pictures are already in Congo in our Teachers’ Resource Libraries and will continue to be used by the churches as long as possible. We thank you all who have participated in this project in the past. Your help has been immense. There will be new ways to help in the future. Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel.
July 2023–The Christian View of Sex, Marriage & Gender–
Now Available
A series of three videos on the Christian (Biblical) view of sex, marriage and gender is now available. Veteran missionary Lorella Rouster created the videos at the request of ECM’s International Director Mark Luckey. They will be used for as part of a continuing effort toward professional development of ECM staff and are available to other Christian ministries who desire to use them. Printed resources are available as well.
June 2023–Congo Kids will hear Sunday school songs on Bluetooth
Bluetooth speakers were recently provided to all ECM staff working in the Kituba-speaking regions. The trainer need only insert a USB flash drive containing Sunday School songs, and it immediately plays and amplifies the music. The speakers are rechargeable with a built-in solar panel. As music is developed for other language areas, they will be provided there as well.
February 2023 African Language Resources back on line! Moved to Mwinda Project website
In late January and February 2023, all our African Language Resources are being moved to the Mwinda Project website. A separate access page will soon be prepared in French to make them more easily accessible to French-speaking churches and teachers. The move was made after problems caused many of the resources to become inaccessible on ECM’s organizational site. Numerous unsuccessful attempts had been made to fix the problem before coming up with this alternative. We trust that this move will make our materials permanently accessible to those seeking to use them in African ministry. We encourage our friends to help us make this change known by telling their missionary friends and African friends. Thank you!
January 2023 Early Life of Christ Bible Lessons completed in Kituba language for Congo
On January 31, Lorella completed the first of our New Testament lessons in chronological order. The Early Life of Christ covers His life up to the beginning of His public ministry. This book was finished more quickly than some because it builds on lessons Lorella had done previously. We look forward to this teachers’ manual becoming available to churches throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo. Like all materials produced through ECM’s Mwinda Project, it will eventually be translated into Lingala, Tshiluba, and French in addition to Kituba.
December 2022 Old Testament Bible Lessons for Congo Kids, Done!
On December 29, 2022, our six-year goal was completed, and on schedule. Lorella’s goal is to write a series of Kituba-language Bible Lesson Guides for Children’s Teachers in Congo Sunday Schools. She envisions a series that takes children through all the major events of the Bible in chronological order. To do that, she is mainly presenting the historical narrative but at least touching on every book. The Old Testament series contains 14 books and 327 lessons. When printed in Congo, they will be distributed to Every Child Ministries’ growing network of Teachers’ Resource Libraries, which will loan them to evangelical churches throughout Congo. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue as Lorella begins writing chronological lessons on the New Testament.
October 2022 Bible Lessons for Children in Kituba–
“70 Years in Babylon” (Ezekiel & Daniel) Series completed
I love creating Bible lessons for children in Congo. However, sometimes the hardest part of writing these Teachers’ Guides is deciding what to include. I hate leaving anything out, but if I don’t, the children will never get through the whole Bible! Typically, I invest more time in passages that move the historical narrative forward, like the first nine chapters of Daniel. The last several chapters of Daniel and all of Ezekiel are basically visions and prophecies. I tend to summarize these or, in the case of Ezekiel, to choose a few representative parts that I feel are significant.
Sometimes it’s hard
However, that wasn’t easy with the book of Ezekiel. I do my best and pray continually that God will guide every decision along the way. So, if you want to know how to pray for me, one big request is this: That God guides me to know what I should put in and what I should leave for a later time. Thank you all for your prayers!
September 2022 44 Kituba Sunday school songs now on YouTube
Congolese love music, so I like to provide songs that reinforce the main teaching of each Bible lesson. I have compiled 150 songs for Sunday school. With the help of volunteer musicians, I have been able to record and visualize 44 of the songs so far. You can see and hear them on ECM Congo’s YouTube channel, Ecodim Congo. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUH8qF5WC1d1O_Nkg5WhDA)
A lot is involved
The goal is to do the same for all the songs, but there’s a lot involved:
> For translated songs, find information on author, composer, copyright owner
> Then, contact copyright owners for permission to use and pay any fees involved. It is very helpful that sometimes copyright owners give us permission to use their creative materials free of charge.
>Then, find an mp3 of the recorded music online or arrange for volunteer musicians to play and sing it. Recorded music may involve another copyright clearance. Mp3’s are often in too high a key for our volunteer singers, so I have to use a special program to change the key.
>After that, fine tune the recorded music. I use a free program called Audacity. Some volunteer musicians provide ready-to-go music.
>Then, find/create visuals to accompany the words of the songs and compile all credits.
>After that, create video combining visuals and music. Fine tune the timing so that the visuals appear at the appropriate time.
>Then, publish on YouTube.
>Finally, assemble songs on flash drives that our Congolese trainers can use in their cell phones to access and learn the music.
It’s a project that has involved lots of learning and is constantly stretching my knowledge/abilities. Pray for me, and for all the musicians involved.
August 2022 “Divided Kingdom” Lesson Guide Completed
Our goal of providing Sunday school lessons through the entire Bible is moving forward. Working in chronological order (which in some places is a bit different than Biblical order), this month we completed a long series on the “Divided Kingdom.” This takes us up to the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.) and the exile in Babylon. The lessons cover all the historical books through 2 Chronicles, all the poetic books, and several prophetic books.
Now we have started on the books of Daniel and Ezekiel, written in the time of the exile in Babylon. This means we are on target to complete the Old Testament by the end of the year, God willing. Thank you to all who are helping us in the Mwinda Project. Through your partnership, the light of God’s Word is shining more and more brightly on the children of Congo.
Lorella’s goal is to cover the main events of the entire Bible in 10 years of lessons. Lorella is writing them directly in the Kituba language, and we are working at having them translated into all the major languages of Congo.
The Congo Mwinda Project is sponsored by Every Child Ministries.
If you prefer to give by check, make it out to ECM and designate CONGO MWINDA PROJECT. Send checks to ECM, PO Box 810, Hebron, IN 46341.
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August 2022 New Radio Series for Kids Sent to Congo
A new radio series for kids in the Kikongo language has just been sent to Congo. The series “Building Good Character” draws from Bible lessons Lorella originally created for the public school ministry in Ghana. Illustrating positive character traits like compassion, respect, truthfulness, and cooperation from Bible stories and verses, the program points to the only One who perfectly fulfills each trait–Jesus the Savior.
We have recently heard that our last series, ‘Little-known people of the Bible’, was used by many village pastors as the basis for their sermons. That’s double reinforcement. Praise God. You can help in our radio ministry to children in Congo by praying with us that God cause many to dial in, and that He will open many hearts.
June 2022 ECM Congo opens YouTube channel for Kikongo Sunday school songs
Although not many of the churches in the Kikongo-speaking area of Congo have access to internet, some can access the internet from their phones. So, we at Mwinda Project have just opened our own YouTube channel to offer another way for Congo churches to learn our teaching songs. It’s called ECM Congo. Curious what Kikongo sounds like? Check us out!
May 2022 Congo teachers will soon be able to hear Sunday school songs on their phones.
They will have access to both audio and video versions
of the Kikongo Sunday school songs.
Lorella has added a new aspect to the Congo Mwinda Project. She is engaging groups and individuals to use their gifts of music to record Sunday school songs–in Kikongo! Lorella has always encouraged teachers to have the children sing songs that reinforce the lesson aim.
First came the songs and the songbook
Congolese love music! That’s why Lorella likes to suggest a song with each lesson that reinforces the lesson aim or the teaching for the day. For that reason, she has translated and composed 156 easy songs for children. She also published them in a Sunday school songbook. The problem is that since Lorella is no longer living in Congo to teach the songs, many of the teachers do not know the tunes.
Next, simple voice recordings
Lorella had tried recording just her voice singing the songs. She admits she is no solo singer but hoped teachers could at least learn the tunes.
Now, music recordings and visuals
On further evaluation, she realized that the tunes would be much more attractive if they were put to music and recorded. She was unable to do that but has been enlisting those who can do so to volunteer their efforts. A pastor’s family has done some recordings with all the children joining in on various instruments.
Many are participating
A home school group has participated. A former missionary has recorded songs she translated while serving with the Rousters at Mission Garizim in 1991-92. Lorella’s friend Margie Jackson has been meeting with her weekly to record songs with royalty-free music or inexpensive music Lorella has found on the internet. ‘Papa’ Jim Sawatsky, a retired CMA missionary living in Canada, has composed very authentic-sounding Congolese-style music and recorded several songs. Others are welcome. If you’d like to discuss the opportunity, e-mail Lorella at Lrouster@ecmafrica.org.
Destination: Kids’ radio & phones
The songs will be used on Lorella’ kids’ radio program, “Bible Kitoko” for broadcast in Congo. They will also be visualized and copied onto flash drives so that the songs can be played on phones that are widely available in Congo. Ultimately, they will help reinforce the Bible lessons Lorella is writing for the Mwinda Project.