2018 in review

Dear friends,
 
This year FPM began its process of metamorphosis. When we first started this adventure nearly ten years ago, we envisioned being part skunkworks and part advocacy-resource center for healthier mission models. In other words, we wanted to wanted to persuade folks to rethink their approaches to mission, and we wanted to walk our talk by putting our ideas into practice on a larger scale than we as individuals had done before. There was a problem in those early days, however. Our assertions challenged conventional wisdom about mission projects, and our work at the time looked like just some crazy people taking long risky bike rides. Who was going to financially support or even listen to us?
 
Thankfully, you believed in us. Over the years, those bike tours resulted in deep and lasting boundary-crossing friendships, which then resulted in fruitful collaborations on numerous locally-led projects and programs. Many lives have been changed and even saved by FPM-financed initiatives—especially since each year the El Dorado Nursing School produces another wave of nurses and midwives, and our graduated scholarship recipients are serving in rural communities all along the Congo River in the North Katanga and Tanganyika Conferences. In July, we celebrated the grand opening of another collaborative project: the new women’s vocational training center in Mulongo, which to Teri’s surprise was named in her honor.
 
Now that we’ve proven the effectiveness of our missiology, it is time to re-embrace our vision of being a mission education resource center. Taylor, who just submitted her ThD thesis, Decolonizing Mission Partnerships, has a number of speaking and teaching gigs lined up this spring. Her calendar already includes teaching the Course of Study section on mission at Wesley Seminary, guest-speaking at Boston University’s Intro to Mission course, leading a workshop at The UMC’s North East Jurisdiction’s Mission Academy, and serving as a panelist at Global Ministries’ Bicentennial Conference. The manuscript to Biking Bob’s second book is currently being edited by Dr. Kate Koppy, and we plan to offer it and eventually other books for purchase in the coming years. For those who desire an immersive learning experience, Rev. Glen Robyne (Purdue U.) and Rev. Joseph Mulongo will be leading an FPM trip in summer 2019. The itinerary includes a tour of Africa U. in Zimbabwe, a visit to Victoria Falls, and a bike ride in North Katanga up to Mulongo, DR Congo. Spots are still available.      
 
Ramping up our focus on mission education does not mean we are abandoning our collaborations and strategic fundraising assistance for FPM leaders in Congo. In fact, we are in the process of officially expanding FPM initiatives into the Tanganyika Conference, with Freddy Kitwa (based in Kalemie) as our newest official team leader. We are counting on our friends like you to help us finance this work.  
 
As always, much of what results from your contributions to FPM cannot be quantified, but plenty of things can. Below are some of the ways we used your gifts in 2018:

Providing Full-Tuition Scholarships:

• 4 scouts—given in the North Katanga and Tanganyika Conferences to male and female active scouts with the highest scores on the national exam.
• 4 youth—scholarships, laptops, and a shared wifi modem for the university-level youth of The UMC’s Children’s Home in Kamina. Supplementary scholarships also given to the 2 additional youth studying at Africa University.  
• 15 female students at the El Dorado Nursing School. 10 blood pressure cuffs given to graduating students.

 
Supporting Children and Youth:

• Sponsored two scout jamborees (Tanganyika and North Katanga), including assistance with uniforms. Note: The scouts at the jamboree in Mulongo served as pallbearers and protocol at Biking Bob’s funeral this past summer.
• Funded the creation of 45 “birth kits.” These kits are given to mothers at the hospital in Mulongo who lack the means to purchase essential items such as blankets for their newborn child.  

 
River Transport:

• Our boat continues to be used to transport cholera meds and other supplies to villages along the river in addition to providing transportation to delegates of the Tanganyika Conference. This year, it also became a means of transport for those wishing to attend Bob’s funeral in Mulongo.  

 
Construction Funds:

• Distributed 620 roofing sheets for church construction.
• Provided parsonage roofing materials in Kalemie.
• Provided funds for the construction of the church in Mpemba
• Financed the construction of a guest house in Kabongo (an income-generating project of the conference’s United Methodist Women)
• Began building the Bob Walters Memorial Church.

 
From our homes to yours, we wish you peace and joy this Christmas.

Your friends at FPM
 
(Taylor, Joseph, Lana, Freddy, Teri, Willy, Bishop Mande, and all the team) ​