By Vicki Brown and Jeff Brumley
Growing up in an impoverished, patriarchal society provided excellent training for missionaries Nzunga and Kihomi Mabudiga.
The Congo natives have served in Haiti for 17 years with the American Baptist Churches USA’s International Ministries. Their ethnic and national background, and the insight that gives them, gives them an edge in preparation other missionaries can only dream of.
Both are able to understand the poverty and violence in Haitian society, but Kihomi is able to identify with the subjugated role of women in the Caribbean nation.
But it’s Kihomi’s ability to identify with women in a developing country that gives her a special talent in ministering to women in Haiti, she told the ABC of Nebraska annual convention Sept. 19-21.
‘Hard pill to swallow’
But it’s usually not such a natural transition for American-born missionaries when they first encounter patriarchal cultures, said Jim Smith, director of field ministries for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s global missions program.
“Especially young missionary women, it’s difficult for them,” Smith told ABPnews/Herald.
It’s not that they are surprised that a culture prefers men over women. Organizations like the CBF and ABC typically prepare their field personnel with extensive classroom instruction, sensitivity training, reading and one-on-one encounters with experienced missionaries.
“All of this is necessary — and sometimes it even works,” Smith said.
But there’s nothing like actually being there, he added.
“Reading about it is one thing, but when you actually encounter a whole society like that — and the churches are like that — it’s a hard pill to swallow,” he said.
But missionaries almost always overcome the initial shock and learn creative ways to empower the disadvantaged, whether it’s women or ethnic and religious minorities, Smith said.
“Sometimes you have to adjust and try to do as much good as you can, how and wherever you can,” Smith said.
Focus on health and finance
That’s what Kihomi has been doing in Haiti, where she focuses on women and girls in an impoverished culture that revolves around men.
She told the American Baptist gathering that women are most affected by poverty because their families look to mothers to provide for their needs.
Kihomi said she works to empower women and teaches them how to help their families through three primary areas — health, economics and mentoring.
More women died of cholera during the epidemic that followed a major earthquake in 2010 because they were the primary caregivers in their families.
She teaches women how to prevent disease, and how to care for and treat family members when they do become ill. She also teaches about nutrition, birth control and other health issues.
Because women need to make money to break the chain of poverty within their families, Kihomi has started several financial ministries, including a microloan system to provide start-up money for woman-run small businesses.
She mentors girls to help them stay in school and helps with funding to allow them to attend college. She and her husband often open their home to young women to live with them while they complete their education.
Providing goats and pigs
Nzunga believes Haiti has received “bad press” over poverty and voodoo, and his family in the Congo discouraged him and his wife from going to the Caribbean country.
The couple lives on the campus at the Christian University of Northern Haiti, where he teaches theology. He also developed the “Kids for Kids” ministry to provide a goat or pig to the poorest children in the church. After the goat or pig gives birth, the family can sell the offspring for enough money to pay school fees.
Nzunga also started a ministry to dig wells in the area because the nearby river is polluted. He trains assistant professors, administers a scholarship program, and visits and preaches in area churches.