Thur. Feb. 25 Update

Congo Missions Team:

As of today, these are the Louisiana team members committed to going:
Amanda Murray
Marybeth Kaitlin Anderson
Amber Case
Lydia Gothrup
Lonnie Gothrup
Carly Hill
Sidney Curt Iles
(I need your name exactly as it appears on your passport. If above is not correct, let me know.)

If you are interested, but not on this list, contact me so we can talk.

Click on this link http://www.vimeo.com/1558913 to see video from Dennis and Lauren's (North Carolina team members) trip to Congo in 2008.c

Our plan is to buy tickets next Thursday, March 4. The tickets will be around $2100.00.
I'll be charging them to our missions MasterCard and would appreciate full payment by April 1.
(I'll send a ticket copy to each team member after tickets are ordered. )

I'm very excited about this trip and what God is doing in each of our lives and our waiting friends in both Congo and Rwanda.

Curt Iles

Letter from Dennis Souther in North Carolina

Congo team,
This is an informative e-mail from another member of our team, Dennis Souther.
I encourage you to communicate with his daughter Lauren.
Please share all of the information on this blog with your parents.

Bro. Curt


Hi again Curt and hello to everyone receiving this email.

I am Dennis Souther, one of the team members from NC. Curt called me last week and we talked at length about the upcoming Congo trip. As Curt states in this email, there are three people on our team and we are committed to making the mission trip and look forward to meeting and working with your team from LA.

I want to respond to this email for two reasons. One to give Curt and the other team members the email addresses of the other members and also to introduce our team members.

I am Dennis Souther from Albemarle, NC and our team members are from Pleasant Grove Baptist in Oakboro, a very small town about 30 or so miles northeast of Charlotte. The other members are my 22-year-old daughter Lauren Souther, who is in her last semester at Pfeiffer University, and Mike Hatley, a young man with a wife and two elementary school-aged daughters. Lauren and I were Congo in August 2008 and had a wonderful trip. Lauren also was able to make a mission trip to South Africa last summer. This will be Mike's first mission trip.

I'll use the blog to communicate but I did want to respond to everyone and to encourage you to listen to God's calling. Especially to any of the young women who are thinking about this trip, I'm sure it is fine for me share Lauren's email and to encourage you to contact her about Congo and her experiences. She is more than willing to share. Lauren's email is lauren_8717@yahoo.com. Mike's email is hatley4@ctc.net.

You'll hear more of us in the coming days and weeks. We are planning that our teams will meet in Washington and take the same flight to Congo.

We're praying for everyone.

Dennis

Sunday, Feb. 22, 2010

Reading about Congo and Africa

Here are several books I'd recommend:

Essential: Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper

1. Swahili Phrasebook. Lonely Planet. This pocketsize guide is excellent for learning phrases of greeting and politeness.

2. Congo Democratic Republic by Sean Rorison Bradt Guides

3. Talk Now "Swahili" interactive CD-Rom from EuroTalk.

4. Operation World a book for praying for the world daily.

Budget for Congo trip

A Sample budget for the Congo trip

Plane tickets $2300

Lodging/Meals in country $980 $70 per day x 14 days

Visa and transport $200

Immunizations* $600

Estimated trip cost $4080

*Each team member would be responsible for their own shots.
This is a high estimate. (Example: our tickets may be cheaper, if you're careful, you may be able to save money on shots, etc.)

A Possible Itinerary for the Congo trip

Listed below is the itinerary for the three North Carolina members of our team:
We would be flying out of Houston to Washington.


SOUTHER/LAUREN

SOUTHER/DONALD
HATLEY/MIKE

SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE


UNITED AIRLINES 28MAY CHARLOTTE NC WASHINGTON DC 615A 735A
UA 7302 FRIDAY DOUGLAS DULLES INTL
L ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 700
FLIGHT OPERATED BY UNITED EXPRESS/MESA AI
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES 28MAY WASHINGTON DC ADDIS ABABA 1005A 820A
ET 503 FRIDAY DULLES INTL BOLE 29MAY
H ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-200/300
RESERVATION WAITLISTED

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES 29MAY ADDIS ABABA KIGALI 1045A 115P
ET 811 SATURDAY BOLE KIGALI INT'L
H ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737 ALL SERIES PASSENGE
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES 10JUN KIGALI ADDIS ABABA 330P 800P
ET 810 THURSDAY KIGALI INT'L BOLE
K ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737 ALL SERIES PASSENGE
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES 10JUN ADDIS ABABA WASHINGTON DC 1015P 755A
ET 500 THURSDAY BOLE DULLES INTL 11JUN
K ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-200/300
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

US AIRWAYS 11JUN WASHINGTON DC CHARLOTTE NC 1009A 1133A
US 2999 FRIDAY DULLES INTL DOUGLAS
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 900
FLIGHT OPERATED BY US AIRWAYS EXPRESS-MES
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

The fare is $2045.00 per person. Cancellation and changes after ticketing will result in a penalty fee, plus any increase in fare at the time of re-ticketing.

Several websites to visit as we prepare for our trip.

How to pray for Democratic Republic of Congo-Kinshasa:

http://operationworld.24-7prayer.com/country.php?country_id=105

General information on the Congo at Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo

Center for Disease Control Link

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/democratic-republic-of-congo.aspx

Specific vaccinations for Congo: Yellow Fever/Hep A/Hep B/Polio/Rabies/Tetanus/typhoid fever + routine updates on "normal illnesses"

CALCASIEU PARISH HEALTH UNIT
3236 KIRKMAN ST
LAKE CHARLES, LA 70601-8613
Telephone: 337-478-6020
URL: www.oph.dhh.state.la.us

RAPIDES PARISH HEALTH UNIT
5604 A Colliseum BLVD
ALEXANDRIA, LA 71301-4837
Telephone: 318-487-5282 x 211

Hunter McGuire Clinic Travel Medicine provider in Lake Charles http://www.huntermcguire.com/

US State Department

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1104.html

Congo Missions trip

This is a letter I sent to friends and supporters before my 2009 Congo trip.

Open Hands Missions P.O. Box 332 Dry Creek, LA 70637

www.creekbank.net

Monday, March 16, 2009

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Dry Creek. DeDe and I want to share with you how God is leading us on two upcoming African trips.

From April 12-21, I (Curt) be traveling with two Glenmora friends, Reggie Burnaman and Bill Calloway, to the Democratic Republic of Congo. We’ll be working beside Southern Baptist missionary Rusty Pugh and Congolese pastors/churches. Click here to see a map of Eastern Africa

Our base will be the war-torn city of Goma. Goma sits astride the Rwandan/Congolese border, and has a refugee population of 250,000, most of whom have fled fighting between rebel forces and government troops.

Our priorities will be the following four areas:

Be men of prayer/Be encouragers in the Lord to our African brothers and sisters/Be open and flexible to however God wants to work in and through us/ Share the life-changing power of Jesus in homes, villages, and among soldiers.

We are asking for your personal prayer support as well as the prayers of your church. We feel confident going into this volatile area with Rusty and the pastors. However, we need to know of ongoing prayer from our friends back home. A prayer card of how to pray with us is included with this letter.

In July, we will be traveling to Liberia along with Gordy and Colleen Glaser. We’ll be working with schoolteachers and students. Liberia is emerging from a decade-long civil war that has destroyed the country’s infrastructure and the educational system. All four of us have teaching backgrounds and are excited about being part of this WMU*-sponsored trip at the Ricks Institute and School.

*Women’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention

We covet your prayers for both of these trips. Additionally, we want to give you and your church an opportunity to invest in both of these trips. Needless to say, these trips overseas are very expensive. (The Liberian trip is budgeted for $3500 per person.)

We’ve learned that mission-minded friends wish to know how they can be involved through prayer, giving, and encouragement. You can give directly to Open Hands Missions, or if you wish, direct your gift through our church, Dry Creek Baptist Church. Gifts will be used only for overseas missions.

As always, we are committed as advocates of God’s work overseas to share in our local churches and groups. Please consider having one of us share in your church after we return home.

I close with this: Why Africa, when there are so many places to minister at home and elsewhere? Africa has great needs as well great opportunities. There is something about this continent that breaks your heart, while at the same time pulls one back in love and compassion. That is why we feel compelled to go.

Blessings,

Curt and DeDe Iles

dede_iles@hotmail.com

curtiles@aol.com

A web-based page with missions’ links and pictures is available at http://ethiopiaafrica.blogspot.com