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     STRASBOURG, France — Mennonite churhes in the Democratic Republic of Congo warmly welcomed a pastoral visit by Mennonite World Conference leaders last fall. The delegation included MWC president Mesach Krisetya and his wife Miriam, from Indonesia, and Larry Miller, MWC executive secretary, and his wife Eleanor, from France.
     Congo, with the second largest Mennonite population in the world, has three Mennonite conferences: CEM (Evangelical Mennonite Community); CMCO (Mennonite Community of the Congo); and CEFMC (Community of Mennonite Brethren Churches of the Congo). Their headquarters are in Mbuji Mayi, Tshikapa, and Kikwit, respectively. The MWC team visited all three as well as numerous churches, schools, hospitals, and offices. Mesach and Larry spoke, often spontaneously, at large gatherings and also preached many times at worship services. The two couples were guests in people's homes, and they hosted visitors at a church guest house.
     Everywhere they were greeted with enthusiasm, beginning at the Kinshasa airport, where the three conference presidents plus the executive secretary of the Inter-Mennonite Committee met them. In the days that followed, these Congolese leaders traveled together for the first time and visited each other's headquarters with the MWC delegation.
     "Those who have never experienced a Congolese welcome don't know what they have missed!" says Eleanor. There were processions, bands, singing, dancing, waving palm branches, and screaming children. Women in flamboyant garb and suited officials greeted them with hand-shakes and hugs. Motorcades carried them from airports to churches.
     "The outpouring of hospitality, joy, and sharing — in spite of drastic economic and personal hardships — was humbling," reflects Eleanor.
     Mission workers in the past offered the people "future heaven," observes Mesach, "whereas the present heaven is still far from their reality." With an infrastructure in shambles, people experience isolation. Remote churches, schools, and hospitals are often without roofs and poorly equipped; university libraries have few books; pastors receive no salary; housing is inadequate; and incomes are meagre. In many families, adults eat one day and children the next.
     With their world crumbling around them, Congolese Mennonites find life and vitality in their church. Women, who are in the majority in churches, have incredible energy and creativity. They were the first to promote conferences working together. Increasing numbers of them have theological training. They teach and lead groups, but they have no place in church structures. This is one of their grave concerns.
     The MWC team was struck by the centrality of a peace stance among Congolese Mennonites, a conviction magnified by their experience of war and suffering. After September 11, they held night-long prayer meetings, expressing concern for Americans and praying that citizens of the U.S. would find the courage not to retaliate with war.
     It took the Millers and the Krisetyas two years to get documents to enter and cross this country torn apart by war. Problems didn't end when they arrived in Kinshasa. At times they waited for planes that failed to arrive, and at other times they flew in cargo planes with no seat belts, perched on benches among shifting baggage. A 180-km trip by landrover took 12 hours through 17 army checkpoints, over roads like rivers or mere tracks that only local drivers could see. There were hotels without electricity or running water at night and long waits in hot airports with no food. But there were also feasts and ceremony and encounters with incredible individuals.
     Meeting the mother of MWC staff person Pakisa Tshimika was "a holy moment." This tiny woman of deep faith and prayer had held her family together through many losses. She apologized for not having any food to serve but asked to pray with her MWC guests because they "were part of the family."
     Congolese Mennnonites no longer need evangelists to come to them; they have their own who are capable and more suitable within their culture, according to Mesach. They do need help in training leaders and in operating successful businesses. They also need to be acknowledged as equal partners in God's mission in the world. — Ferne Burkhardt