Catonsville Presbyterian Church Has Impact in Congo

When members of donated funds for a generator to be purchased for a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they learned that the hospital needed gas to run the generator. So, they sent more funds.

Prior to that, doctors had to work by flashlight after the sun went down.

The church then sent money for the purchase of seven sewing machines for women to use to make items they could sell, such as choir robes. But members learned the women had no dye for the fabric. Church members, again, provided more resources.

"We knew the funds were getting to the people," said Glenda Johnson, a member of the church missions committee. She said members liked knowing where their funds were doing the most good.

"The faith and hope of the people of Africa is amazing," she said. "I think [connecting with them] has really helped deepen our faith and our spirit."

Those and other donations to communites in Congo came through the church's connections with IMA World Health, a small Maryland nonprofit based in New Windsor that is listed as one of the nation's 10 most efficient charities by Forbes magazine. Through a longtime member of the church Don Padgett, the congregation learned about the needs of the Congo and how IMA was helping.

Over the past 14 years, the church has grown to be a key supporter of the specific IMA programs, a role that IMA officials said is unusual for an individual church.

"Usually our support comes from the national denominations, so it is unique in that way," Rick Santos, president and CEO of IMA, wrote in an email.

"We would love to have more individual churches supporting our work and CPC could be a model for that type of support," he said.

No one in the church can expect to travel to Congo to see the work firsthand because of the risks involved in the unstable country. The church's pastor, the Rev. Kenneth Kovacs, went last summer with a team of IMA staff members and recounted some harrowing experiences in his blog.

Even though there will be no mission trips to Congo for adults or teens from the church, Kovacs said he tried to find ways to relate what he was seeing in Africa to his congregation back home.

"It's really important to raise awareness and consciousness around these issues," he said.

Also over the past few months, staff with IMA visited a missions fair at the church to reinforce the relationship with the church.

Santos said he was impressed with the members' curiosity about IMA.

"There were great questions about long-term sustainable health and development programs and about the global context we live in," he said.

Kovacs was one of two other pastors on the trip in August, Santos said. Having pastors on trips helps make connections back home, and longtime church member David Hutton said members were honored that Kovacs was chosen to go.

The next challenge for the church is to determine how it can continue to build partnerships and connect even more, Kovacs said.

Johnson said the missions team expects to continue financial support for multiple IMA projects. By the end of the year the church will donate $1,100 to go towards medical equipment for cervical cancer screening program in Tanzania. This program is also run through IMA.

As for the partnership with IMA, both Hutton and Johnson said the organization is efficient with its resources and compassionate in its programs.

"As a charity of choice, they're No. 1 on my list," Johnson said.