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The plane that will fly us into the bush.
Our goods will be flown to Nkara.
Women's Literacy Center.
Paster Kapem.
Graduates in front of the Bible school building.
Some of the 300 returning graduates who attended the annual reunion at Nkara.
LABAN MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Benefit Concert CelebrationThursday, October 23, 2008
Calvary Baptist Church, Canton, MIDue to the recent tragic deaths of Audrey Caroline Smith and Gregory Luke Sponberg, grandchildren of Jim and Nancy Smith, the fall banquet has been postponed. However, on the same night, October 23, 2008, Selah has agreed to perform a full-length concert, with Jack and Molly Smith opening, Shawn Lantz speaking and signing her newly released book (in Christian bookstores as of July 22, 2008), Congo Vignettes, and other family members participating.
So many of you have asked what you can do to help us in this sad, sad juncture of our lives. One way is to show your love and support by coming to fellowship with us on this night. We would love to see you face to face and know that you are still backing our family and the awesome work God has called us to do in Congo. We and the ministry will greatly benefit from your participation in this event. You can either buy tickets at $25 each or make a donation to commemorate 70 years of Dr. and Mrs. Laban and Marcella Smith arriving in Congo (1938) and 30 years of Jim and Nancy Smith working in Congo.
The benefit concert will be held at the Calvary Baptist Church of Canton, Michigan, 43067 Joy Road, Canton, Michigan 48187. We are in the process of gathering sponsorshps at this time to defray costs involved. Would you consider being a sponsor? When tickets are ready to go on sale, we will post that information on this page. Come, and let's REMEMBER God's faithfulness together. Psalm 77:11.
Newsletters
2008
Click to read May/June, 2008 newsletter (PDF)
Click to read April, 2008 newsletter (PDF)
Click to read March, 2008 newsletter (PDF)
Click to read February, 2008 newsletter (PDF)
Click to read January, 2008 newsletter (PDF)
2007
Click to read December, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read November, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read October, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read August, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read July, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read June, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read May, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read March, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read February, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read January, 2007 newsletter (25K PDF)
2006
Click to read January, 2006 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read February, 2006 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read March, 2006 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read April/May, 2006 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read the early June, 2006 newsletter (25K PDF)
Click to read the late June, 2006 newsletter (25K PDF)
Women's Literacy Center Graduates FIRST CLASS
Nine women completed their third year of literacy school in June, 2007. We still need more tin to cover the roof because the mud/brick building we have been meeting in is not adequate. Therefore, we will put up another facility three times the size of the first. One large assembly room will enable the women to gather comfortably in one place to pray and enjoy lectures. The second room will house the 25 sewing machines on large tables and hold cupboards to store thread, needles, yarn, material, etc. The third room will be the reading/teaching room with desks and chairs for the professors with blackboards and adequate ventilation to help tolerate the 100 plus temperatures in Congo. The old building will serve as a dormitory for visitors, especially during the annual reunion of graduates from Laban Bible Institute.
The women who come to enroll in the literacy center at Nkara are what we call in the trade language of Kituba, Mubisu, which means raw. These uncultured, unlearned, poverty-stricken human beings have been robbed of dignity and live in darkness, shame, and oppression. Darkness because they have not been empowered to read or write. Shame because others must read and write for them. Oppression because their lack of reading and writing skills keep them under lock and key in a prison of ignorance. They cannot visit new worlds through the written word. They cannot pen any expression of their hearts, minds, and emotions. More importantly, they cannot read and assimilate the Eternal.
Word of God for themselves. Nor can they read the life giving Scriptures to the precious children.
Congo is definitely a man's world. Boys are given the first opportunity to attend school, while girls remain home to become second mothers to their siblings, as their mothers tend far-away gardens. The criteria for choosing a wife in Congo is often the size of her calves. Her prenuptual agreement is contracting with her future in-laws to bear x number of children. Therefore, she is forced to settle for the position of family slave and is looked upon as a child-making machine.
The Literacy Center through the power of the Holy Spirit and capable, loving teachers, is changing their lives by breaking these chains of darkness. Each woman is individually coached in reading, writing her name, and opening the Bible for herself, only to realize for the first time that it is actually broken down into chapters and verses. They learn African culture, cooking, etiquette, hygiene, sewing, crocheting, knitting, needlepoint, 9 books of the Bible, and many other subjects that illuminate their dark minds and transform their personalities, bring self-worth, and raise them to a more dignified position as a child of God.
We celebrate with them their metamorphosis and praise God for the opportunity to make such a difference in their lives. $50 a month will provide one of these women a scholarship. Jesus is all about transformation. Help us transform a woman's life in Congo.
News Highlights from Spring, 2007, trip to CongoRadio Glory is once again operating 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, but not at the power we once had when we were using our 2500 watt transmitter. The transmitter was wonderfully repaired but damaged in Paris at the airport, where it was delayed for 3 weeks. It will take $1,600 to replace the sound boards needed to put it back into operation. Because of its sensitivity and Italian origin, we want to use it for a backup, but need to purchase a new 2000 watt American man transmitter to reach Kajiji, Kinshasa, Kahemba, into Angola and other places who are begging for its return. Praise the Lord the His provision!
Evangelism has 50 letters asking the team to come and minister. Gungu which is steeped in witchcraft and demonism recently saw 1200 men and women make professions of faith.Ê
Graduation took place this summer with 50 graduates from all three Bible institutes, 7 of whom were women. Four thousands people gathered in the church at Nkara, and another 4,000 waited outside during the 5-hour long ceremony.
Property disputes caused an uprising on the mission station of Nkara, but the Lord protected Jim from all evil. See June, 2007 newsletter. He returned home safely on July 6.
The first well was completed at Nkara by Jim Hulse and Bob Meier of Towers for Jesus, the team who erected the 300' tower for Radio Glory in 2004. On the horizon of Laban Ministries is the heartfelt desire and burden to provide clean drinking water for the people of Congo, who think nothing of walking a mile for a cup of water, often contaminated at that. Please pray that Jim Hulse and his family can return in October to put in more wells and tweak the radio station.
Three new vehicles were purchased. The village of Iwungu is now able to drive to evangelism sites instead of walking. Evangelism crusades from Nkara are now provided with transportation in a smaller vehicle. The third vehicle is used to transport workmen to and from the village of Long, a six-mile hike which they have walked 5 days a week for almost 30 years.
Our staff in Congo now totals 110 national men and women who run the Wood-Mizer saw mills, put up our buildings, manage the dispensary, maintain the radio station, cook for the Bible school students, take care of the orphans, head up the Women's Literacy Center, maintain the airstrip, administrate the Bible schools, reach out to tens of thousands through evangelism, teach hundreds of Sunday Schools, and keep the trucks running. Praise God for this awesome team.
Jim and Nancy Smith
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