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