Church group off to the Congo

Normandy United Methodist Church mission team members are Michael Biggs (from left) and Christina Heinrich, 2009 Centerville High School graduates; Washington Twp. resident Mike Ratcliff, the executive director of the Greater Dayton Mayors and Managers Association; and Pastor Elizabeth Brown, co-pastor at Normandy.

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By Pam Ferris-Olson, Contributing Writer Updated 8:16 AM Wednesday, June 24, 2009

WASHINGTON TWP., Montgomery County — Three days to get there. When they arrive the group can expect no Internet access, no television, a scarcity of electricity and cold showers taken by pouring water from a bucket over their heads.

It’s not the ideal summer vacation for everyone, but 2009 Centerville High graduates Michael Biggs and Christina Heinrich were eager to leave Wednesday, June 24, for Kamina, a town of about 100,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The two 18-year-olds, accompanied by Mike Ratcliff, the executive director of the Greater Dayton Mayors and Managers Association, and Elizabeth Brown, co-pastor at Normandy United Methodist Church, are on a mission to Kamina to bring supplies and hope to the impoverished African community.

The United Methodist Church operates an orphanage, a nutrition center and all the public schools in Kamina, a community difficult to reach. Train service is limited and the dirt roads are impassable during the rainy season. Ratcliff said most residents of Kamina have never been out of town. Most walk everywhere although a lucky few have bicycles.

Ratcliff said that the UMC operates a Cessna P210 to deliver supplies and take people from remote villages to medical facilities.

So the Centerville group are bringing difficult-to-obtain parts for the plane’s maintenance and repair.

“I can’t say exactly how the trip will change my view, but I can hope that I will be profoundly changed by the experience,” Heinrich said.

To prepare for the journey the group received injections for diseases ranging from yellow and typhoid fevers to meningitis and polio. They’re taking malaria pills and won’t drink any water that isn’t bottled or eat food that hasn’t been cooked in bottled water.

“I would like to bring away a sense of the struggles the kids survive through every day, so I can better appreciate my life,” Biggs said.

“I am looking forward to playing soccer with the orphans because soccer is a link between the lives of the kids in the Congo and my life here in America.”

Biggs, who will enter the University of Cincinnati this fall in chemical engineering, will leave some of his clothes behind with the children at the orphanage. He, however, plans to return with his shoes.

“Mike (Ratcliff) said his shoes become covered in dirt from walking on the roads because there are no paved roads. I would rather bring them back, so people can see all the dirt that are on my shoes. Pictures are nice, but kids can relate to really dirty shoes,” Biggs said.

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Gee... An African impoverished community. That's a fer piece off and expensive. There's lots of impoverished communities right here in Montgomery County. Closer and cheaper and the kids would remain to see the improvement. Good Luck in your travels!

Innercity
7:05 PM, 6/26/2009

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Curious as to how much of their own money is being used for this adventure. Assume a portion is being paid by the church and maybe the conference. Praying for a hedge of protection around them as they journey far from home.

Jesse
1:31 PM, 6/24/2009

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