Congo

Email requests for support continue to flow in from eastern Congo.  There is Jason, the young man who is secretary for the community development organization we partner with in Butembo called CSCODI.  Jason had to drop out of University last year because he couldn’t pay his bills.  All CSCODI positions in Congo are volunteer and these committed people work tirelessly to help their fellow Congolese.  Healing Streams is helping Jason return to school by paying his school debt and next term’s school fees.  Esther is another dedicated worker who runs the clothing depot that supports the work of CSCODI and she also works with rape survivors and the literacy program. Many middle aged women in the literacy program struggle with more than literacy, they need glasses to be able to see the letters they are trying to read.  Dorcas desperately needs money to feed the 30 orphan children who have no one else to look after them.  A Baptist radio station needs a new antenna to further its reach into the bush and CSCODI needs money to build a central office building on the land it has purchased.  We could despair over all this desperate poverty and need but instead I invite you to dig deep and SMILE!

Research has proven the old biblical adage “tis better to give than receive”.  Giving increases the excretion of the chemical oxytocin in the brain.  Oxytocin is the feel good chemical that mother’s feel when they look at their babies or that people experience when they think of sex.  So when you feel overwhelmed by the needs of the world we share remember, “Tis better to give than receive”.  You can support projects like these through Healing Stream’s Congo Fund.   Hear more about giving and its effect on the brain on  the CBC Radio program,  The Current.