We apologize that the details on this page are so dated - an up-to-date listing of specific current needs has not been made available. However, you are invited to visit the Paul Carlson Partnership web page for information about ongoing projects in Congo.

Listed below are a number of specific projects and how they align with the needs and goals of the Congo Covenant Church.

Needs:

• Continued formal training of pastors, preachers, evangelists and laypeople for leadership in over 1,000 local congregations. Close to half of the preachers leading local churches have not had formal, extended Bible training.
• Christian formation and training for young people along with a good foundational education.
• Evangelistic outreach to resistant areas, to towns particularly affected by the war and unrest of the past four years, and to places where the Gospel has not taken root.
• Oversight of the ministries of the church.

Objectives:
Maintain a functioning church structure on a local and regional level that allows us to have:

• a functioning school system
• a vision broader than our local needs
• a holistic ministry which includes medical and development projects and outreach in our area
• a credible structure which attracts other Christians and donors to work along side of us
• a leadership role in local decision-making and government

Means (steps and tactics):

• Continue supporting a basic office and department staff with salaries, working materials, and mobility
• Focus on ministries in local churches and regions
• Work closely with government education regulations and supervision
• Uphold high standards of training, ethics and ministry through service in all of our departments

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Existing pastoral and professional personnel
• Existing school districts, staff and facilities
• Remaining vehicles (trucks, motorcycles and bicycles)
• Giving of time and resources by our people to build and maintain schools, to plant gardens for food, to maintain roads, to pay local pastors, preachers and teachers, and to build up their own faith so that the witness of the church continues.

Project Details:
	High School Chaplaincy program	$3,000
	General aid for functioning of schools	$1,000
	Inspection and oversight of schools	$4,000
	Ordination and discipline, Theology of the church	$1,500
	Office supplies and books for main office	$1,080
	Materials for evangelistic outreach	$4,700
	Evangelism trips	$3,000
	Evangelism to unreached peoples (Fulani Moslems, Moslems in general, Pygmy people)	$16,000
	Office expenses	$1,480
	Salaries for departments	$21,460
	Office supplies and maintenance	$5,400
	Transportation for church leaders	$12,380
	TOTAL	$75,000

Needs:

• Training and continued education for leaders in all branches of the Church: Evangelism, Sunday Schools, Christian Education, Lay Bible and evangelism training, regional seminars for pastors, laymen, writing workshops.

Objectives:

• After a period of great disruption because of war, there is a great need for renewal, encouragement of Church leaders and Christians in general, and renewed training. By taking small groups of local leaders of various ministries to meet with Christians and hold seminars in regional seminars, the whole church can benefit in all areas of ministry.

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Seminars will be held in various parts of the CEUM throughout the year. They will involve a few leaders from the main offices, but will rely largely on Christian leaders located in the region of the seminar. Meeting places will be existing church buildings, with the members providing lodging and food for the participants.

Project Details:
	Sunday School and Christian Education Seminars	$5,100
	Office supplies, books and transportation	$5,600
	Portable Bible Schools for laypeople in 3-4 regions	$1,500
	Portable Bible School motorcycle, fuel and maintenance	$5,000
	Pastors' seminars and spiritual retreats -- 5 centralized locations	$3,700
	Visit to each of the 28 church regions to meet with Pastors and Preachers	$3,000
	Seminars for evangelists	$5,000
	Salaries for Departments	$10,000
	3 multi-regional seminars and an all church laymen's meeting	$6,700
	Office supplies	$400
	TOTAL	$46,000

Needs:

• Teaching women to read, then using Bible studies and material related to their daily living to increase reading skills and improve their lives.
• Providing Christian reading materials (Bible studies, discipleship, family issues, health issues) for people of all ages.
• Purchase, subsidy and / or printing of needed Bibles and books.
• Locally written and printed books.

Objectives:

• Hold women's reading classes in all regions of the Church.
• Write, print and distribute books in the Church.
• Purchase and subsidize sales of Bibles, booklets and tracts.

Means (steps and tactics):

• Reproduce existing reading booklets based on the amount used in 2000 - 2001.
• Use printing or copying facilities in Bangui, Central African Republic.
• Repair existing printing machinery at Karawa, Congo which will serve all the departments of the church.
• Purchase and resell Bibles which have not been widely available for 4 years because of the war.

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Purchase and distribution as funds are available.
• Hold 9 month long women's reading classes in all regions beginning in October 2001.
• Use already trained teachers to hold the classes.
• Use an already trained printing staff to reproduce booklets.
• Use sales receipts from subsidized sales to produce or purshases more books.

Project Details:
	Print shop operations	$9,500
	Tracts	$540
	Salaries for Department	$4,900
	Assistance to hold Biennial Meeting	$5,000
	Travel for regional seminars and training	$4,000
	Salaries (4 leaders plus 2 cattle herders)	$1,860
	Office supplies	$200
	Women's literacy training material and reading class material reprinting	$10,000
	TOTAL	$36,000

Needs:

• Revitalization of 115 elementary schools and 48 secondary schools.

Objectives:

• Replace some books and supplies lost or destroyed during the last 4 years of war and unrest.
• Encourage parents to contribute time for rebuilding school buildings with local materials and to contribute basic support to the teachers.
• Increase enrollment levels from 21,000 students to the pre-war levels of about 35,000 students.

Means (steps and tactics):

• Visit all the schools in order to meet with teachers, parents and students.
• Purchase basic school supplies.
• Make sure that education standards are raised through the direct supervision of teachers and the effective distribution and correction of standardized government tests.

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Use the central education staff, three regional education coordinators, and 12 sub-regional coordinators to meet with 1,238 teachers and the parents of 21,000 student during the 2001-2002 school year.

Project Details:
	Teaching materials	$5,000
	Office supplies	$900
	Supplemental support for staff	$4,200
	Motorcycle maintenance and gas for inspection trips	$1,900
	Salaries for Department	$5,000
	TOTAL	$17,000

Needs:

• Lighting in the libraries, one classroom and one office at each of three Bible Schools and one Bible Institute.
• There is no general system of power in most of the area where the CEUM is located.

Objectives:

• Continue to develop trained Christian leaders who can relate well to their people and culture, and who will also be leaders in the country during this period of recovering from war and transition to a unified country.

Means (steps and tactics):

• Three Bible Schools with a three year cycle of courses for men who have finished at least elementary schools.
• Wives are also taught to read and have separate Bible and leadership training.
• One Bible Institute -- four years of training for men who have competed at least tenth grade. Wives already know how to read and follow a complete schedule of biblical studies as well.
• One seminary in conjunction with the sister Free Church -- Post high school theological training lasting three years for men and women.
• Portable Bible Schools -- One month course of study of Scripture, theology, leadership and evangelism for laymen who lead in churches and who are interested in evangelism.

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Basic solar lighting systems for the Bible Schools and Institute -- for the library, office and classroom.

Project Details:
	Solar systems for 3 Bible Schools and 1 Bible Institute	$12,000
	TOTAL	$12,000

Needs:

• Aiding retired pastors and pastors' widows who have few resources after years of serving in the church.

Objectives:

• Provide a small quarterly amount to ??? people

Means (steps and tactics):

• The department of the Life of the Church will distribute funds equitably as they are available.

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Quarterly help throughout the year.
• Money distributed from the main Church offices through the head pastors in each region.
• Based on help of about $12.50 per quarter to 65 people.

Project Details:
	Help for retired pastors and pastors' widows (65 people)	$3,250
	TOTAL	$3,250

Needs:

• New student housing at the Bible Institute to house a growing student body.
• Repair of homes used by the departments of Christian Education and Communication, school teachers and other Church leaders.

Objectives:

• Maintain existing homes and provide new residences for the Bible Institute.

Means (steps and tactics):

• Repair and building done by local workmen using locally available materials as funds are available.

Resources (timeline, personnel, financial/budget, material):

• Bible Institute housing to be built in time for the 2002 - 2003 school year.
• Other needed repairs to homes as funds are available and according to the severity of the need for repair.
• Using local workmen and materials.

Project Details:
	Office and house repair and maintenance	$1,790
	Student housing at Gbado Gboketsa Bible Institute	$10,000
	Repair five houses	$2,500
	Maintenance of homes and guest houses	$5,210
	TOTAL	$19,500

The above list is available as an Adobe Acrobat file (file size 26KB), if you wish to download and print it for use in your church or other group; click here.

For clarification or more information about any of these projects contact either Keith Gustafson: KRGustaf@aol.com, or Peter Ekstrand: pete.ekstrand@covafrica.org.

If you would like to give a gift to support one of these projects, send your gift to:
Eric Carlson, Evangelical Covenant Church, 5101 N. Francisco Ave, Chicago, IL 60625; e-mail eric.carlson@covchurch.org
Please include a note stating what project you are giving to.

Covenant Medical Mission Fellowship (CMMF)
CMMF sends out 2 or 3 appeals a year for various medical projects in Congo. Past projects have included help for continuing education, instruments and supplies, bicycles, a group like Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship for hospitals, solar refrigerators, sleeping sickness and scholarships. Contact Covenant World Mission for further information.

Friends of Paul Carlson Medical Projects (PCMP)
PCMP sends out 2 appeals a year for projects such as health care, reconstruction after war, fish ponds, water projects, and community development. Contact Covenant World Mission for further information.

Covenant Educators' Fellowship International (CEFI)
CEFI supports education projects in Congo and Ecuador. CEFI sends out 2 project appeals. Two of every three appeals are for Congo. Past projects have provided school supplies, scholarships for leaders, seminars to train school principals and directors, re-roofed school buildings and more. Contact Covenant World Mission for further information.

Friends of World Mission (FOWM)
See the Covenant website for current FOWM projects. Go to Mission Contact Info and follow the FOWM link from there.

For more information about these special projects contact:
Eric Carlson, Evangelical Covenant Church, 5101 N. Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL 60625; e-mail eric.carlson@covchurch.org.