Congo Part 3 - Last one

This is my final post about my Congo trip. After all the discouragement assessing the building, our last days were encouraging and gave us a glimpse of the work that is being done at UCBC. Enjoy.

On Saturday we attended the graduation ceremony for the university. It was a unique experience to see some of the fruit of what UCBC is doing and to get a glimpse of the transformation that is happening in Beni.
The graduation ceremony was long. It started at 9:30, only 1 hour late which isn’t too bad in Africa, and ended at 2:30, 5 hours. Even though it was long it was good. There were several speeches, by the rector, the mayor, the dean, the regional government representative, the chairman of the board, the student body president and several pastors. In Congolese culture the speaker must acknowledge the distinguished guests in attendance, including us. But it is not only the first speaker who must do this, but every speaker. So every time someone went up to talk, they began by addressing each of the distinguished guests. So you can begin to see why it took 5 hours. It was good to hear a common thread throughout the speeches. That theme was that UCBC is not only a place for education and technical training but it is also a place of transformation in the lives of the students and the community. This message was not only coming from the leadership of UCBC but also from the students and the mayor. It was encouraging to see the hope for a different future in a place where there has been little hope. There is a desire for change and people want to be part of it. They don’t want to wait for someone to come and change it for them. But they are going to be the change. UCBC is training up a generation of leaders who want to transform their community and their country. They want to put an end to the corruption and change the moral compass of the people. God is good, God is big and he is working in Congo.

The band leading the procession of graduates.

The graduates dancing as they go

Graduates and the community sitting under tents

The community gathered to watch

Eventually they began to hand out the degrees to the graduates. The first graduate set the atmosphere for the event. Once his name was called and he began to approach the stage, his family jumped up and cheered. Then they ran up to the stage started taking pictures as he shook hands with the 15 people on the stage. When he reached the other side of the stage and descended down the steps, he was greeted with flowers, wreaths, confetti, and hugs. It must have been a special experience for these graduates to see the love and support from their friends and family. Their community had come to celebrate with them.

Family members celebrating with a graduate

Community praying for the graduates

After the graduation ceremony was complete some of the UCBC leadership told us to come with them. There is an area on campus where individuals, ministries and partners of UCBC have planted trees as a remembrance that they have been there and have had an impact of the development of the university. They had a tree for David and I to plant complete with a sign to commemorate the visit of EMI, not just our trip but also the master planning trip that EMI did in early 2012.

There was a reception after the graduation where we talked with some of the students. We asked one of them, Jimmy, if he could summarize his experience at UCBC in one sentence. He said no but he would quickly tell us his story. He had been going to another university before attending UCBC. This was the best academic university in Congo. He said the difference between that university and UCBC was the focus. His previous focus was on getting an education so that he could get a job and make money to support himself. But after his experience at UCBC his goal is to do more than support himself but to support his community, to create jobs for others, and to be a light in the business community, standing against corruption. His life has been transformed and he wants to transform the lives of others. Sometimes working at EMI I don’t see the impact of what I am doing. I sometimes wonder how this is different than working back home. But this was a reminder of the impact. The ministries that we partner with are instruments of change where they have been called. I have been reminded lately that we are part of the body of Christ. Each member must do its own part. EMI’s part is to come alongside these ministries and provide technical advice and support so they can focus where God has called and gifted them to work.

At the end of the day we were invited to attend some celebration ceremonies for the graduates. The dean’s wife graduated and we went to their place for some speeches, a sermon, and a meal. It was a cool experience to see their community gather together to celebrate this event.

Dinner at the dean's to celebrate his wife's graduation

On Sunday we returned to Kampala. The trip was the reverse of our trip on Tuesday. The border going back into Uganda was much easier than going into DRC. The only eventful moment was as we were leaving Beni, there was a checkpoint at the edge of town. We were unsure who was in charge here, police or somebody ekse. But there was a rope across the road with some men guarding. We had to stop and they wanted to check our vehicle. We opened the trunk and they looked inside seeing a large plastic bin. They told us to take it out so they could check. All of this conversation was happening in French between the men and Kazito, our escort. In this bin we had some concrete cubes that were cast at the university. We were bringing them back to Kampala to test them to get some idea of the concrete strength. These guards were concerned that we had gold in the cubes and were trying to smuggle it out of the country. After five minutes of discussion, Kazito convinced them that it was only concrete and they let us on their way, a bit of excitement to start the day.

Overall it was a good trip. The building evaluation was challenging and discouraging at times, but it was encouraging to see the work that is being done at UCBC and capture some of the vision of that place. It was good to come away from Congo with a different perspective on what is happening in that country. There are many bad things happening there. There is still war going on. There is corruption and poverty. Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world. But even in that place there is hope. God is working and the gospel has power to change and transform that country. Thank you for your prayers while I was away.

I feel like I am settle here in Uganda. Returning from Congo I had a sense that I was coming home to something comfortable and familiar

Prayers:
Please pray for UCBC and Congo as there is much need there.

Pray for us as we process what we have seen and make recommendation about the safety of this building. We need wisdom to clearly communicate our concerns and advice in a way that the university will listen.

One of our recommendations will be that before construction continues someone with more experience is needed to supervise the construction. Pray that God would provide someone to do this.

Thank you and God bless,
Matt