Refugee Wear and Prayer

One of things that came out of Chrisy's trip to South Africa in May is a friendship with a man named Luc. Luc is a political refugee from the Congo. Living in South Africa now, he can't go home. Luc's name is Kabongo. In order to raise money for him to live, NieuCommunities, the organization that made Chrisy's trip possible, developed T-shirts with Luc's picture on them. They are actually really hip shirts. The graphic above is what's on them. Should you want to purchase one on-line you can go here to Kabongo Refugee Wear. Proceeds support Luc.

The T-shirts are not why I am posting this though. Below is an e-mail that Luc sent yesterday. It is very interesting and I wanted to share this with you all . . .

Hello everyone,

I thought I could share with you something that has been preoccupying my heart and mind. The Democratic Republic of Congo, my country of origin, has been in the headlines lately because of a big event that is happening soon. This coming Sunday, the country will hold its first ever "democratic" elections since its independence from Belgium 46 years ago. There are close to 40 presidential candidates. Most of them do not have a strong support base in the country. They represent a tribe, an ethnic group or province. Looking at all these candidates, one has to wonder if a solution to the country's problem is about to be found. The country still has to find a gatherer, someone that at least half of the population feels he/she is patriotic and could lead the nation toward a better destiny.

I am personally looking forward to these elections because my hope is that the population of the Congo will finally become the priority for the elected leaders. The country still has to be a nation and my desire is that the next authorities will help the country move toward that.

Africa has a problem of leadership. As a continent, we are known to be community driven, but we still have to prove how well we can serve our communities of origin.

So please join me in prayer for the Congo, my beloved country.

Thankfully,

Luc

Finally, Luc is getting married to a South African woman named Petunia. If you want to read a really interesting post about how Luc had to give a dowry in order to marry Petuia, you should go here to Buying A Bride on Rob Yackley's site. It really is a very interesting and touching read.

Here is a picture of Luc (center) with Chrisy to his right as well as five of Chrisy's friends from Church. Luc and his Orange County women.

Please be praying for the Congo as well as Luc.