2013 in Review
2013 has been an exciting year for Friendly Planet. We kicked-off the year with our first youth leadership bike tour. Our young missiologists-in-training did a fantastic job of engaging communities in conversations on difficult subjects--and had a blast in the process. With increasing Mai Mai militia activity along the Red Road, the youth took a shorter tour loop than originally planned. Afterwards, Joseph and Bob were sent up north on a mission given by Bishop Ntambo to report on conference projects in the Nord Baluba district.
After the Jan-March tour was over, Joseph worked at a frantic pace to prepare the El Dorado Nursing School in Mulongo for its grand opening ceremony. We welcomed Robin Thornton and her pastor Deanne Johnson as guests of honor at the celebration; Robin and her husband, Denver, have been the lead donors and state-side fundraisers for the nursing school construction and women's scholarship fund. The team trip was a great success and proved the feasibility of hosting foreign visitors in Mulongo. While there, the team witnessed the progress on several FPM-supported initiatives and gave our first matching business grant to a co-op of pastors. These pastors had spent all year pooling their salaries to purchase a motorized grain grinder. We also celebrated Taylor officially becoming an ordained elder of the North Katanga Conference.
Bob's book about lessons-learned in Congo is coming along nicely. Ever the perfectionist, he keeps revising and expanding it. We believe that once you read it, you'll want to share it with everyone you know.
We are very proud of our accomplishments and are excited about 2014 plans, including:
We deeply appreciate all our friends who contribute their time, talent, and money to make FPM's work successful. (A special shout-out to the folks at Fondo d'Congo; we're looking forward to the 4th annual ride in 2014!)
All our Love,
Team FPM
After the Jan-March tour was over, Joseph worked at a frantic pace to prepare the El Dorado Nursing School in Mulongo for its grand opening ceremony. We welcomed Robin Thornton and her pastor Deanne Johnson as guests of honor at the celebration; Robin and her husband, Denver, have been the lead donors and state-side fundraisers for the nursing school construction and women's scholarship fund. The team trip was a great success and proved the feasibility of hosting foreign visitors in Mulongo. While there, the team witnessed the progress on several FPM-supported initiatives and gave our first matching business grant to a co-op of pastors. These pastors had spent all year pooling their salaries to purchase a motorized grain grinder. We also celebrated Taylor officially becoming an ordained elder of the North Katanga Conference.
Bob's book about lessons-learned in Congo is coming along nicely. Ever the perfectionist, he keeps revising and expanding it. We believe that once you read it, you'll want to share it with everyone you know.
We are very proud of our accomplishments and are excited about 2014 plans, including:
- Assisting young adult scouts from Indiana and Katanga in attending a scouting jamboree in Tenke, DR Congo.
- Hosting a young adult Mission Discovery team from the USA traveling to Mulongo and communities along the river (via the FPM boat). Their primary mission will be to learn from church leaders serving on the frontlines. For sign-up details, contact Lorna Jost (NCJ VIM Coordinator) or click here
- The FPM truck! Thanks to generous donations from Tom Gilmore and the McDonald family farm, we were able to buy a supply transport truck. This truck should not only considerably reduce the time and expense of transporting construction materials and other supplies to the communities where we work, we plan for it to become an income-generating initiative. It is a bit of a gamble (prayers appreciated!), but it is our first step towards our dream of becoming a self-supporting organization.
We deeply appreciate all our friends who contribute their time, talent, and money to make FPM's work successful. (A special shout-out to the folks at Fondo d'Congo; we're looking forward to the 4th annual ride in 2014!)
All our Love,
Team FPM