{"id":13595,"date":"2016-07-15T14:05:53","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T21:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=13595"},"modified":"2016-07-20T15:42:34","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T22:42:34","slug":"claudines-story-being-a-blessing-to-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/claudines-story-being-a-blessing-to-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Claudine\u2019s Story: Being a Blessing to Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claudine Kasongo\u00a0is presented with Certificate of Achievement\u00a0from the Rev. Jon Short.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Claudine\u2019s Story:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Being a Blessing to Others<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

By Barbara Dadd Shaffer<\/strong> | Photos by Jesse N. Love<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Claudine Kasongo\u00a0shares her story at the South Congo & Zambia Dinner in Portland, Ore.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When both of her parents died, Claudine Nyota and her siblings were left to fend for themselves – away from their village and living in the big city of Lubumbashi.\u00a0 Her older brother begged door-to-door for money for chores to support them.\u00a0 School was important, but there was no money for bus fare to get there and she often fainted en route from hunger.\u00a0 A couple of years after the Jamaa Letu Orphanage for girls was founded, her pastor arranged for her to live there.\u00a0 She was twelve years old.<\/p>\n

Today, 14 years later, Claudine is the first university graduate from the orphanages with a degree in Nutrition.\u00a0 She is also the mentor and leader of the students who are following her path.\u00a0 There are 10 are currently studying at various universities with 12 more eligible in the next two years. One young woman will graduate next month with a degree in law.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Both the General Conference in mid-May and The PNW Annual Conference in late June were graced with Nyota\u2019s presence.\u00a0 She spoke at a rally for the environment during General Conference and she told her personal story on Saturday morning of Annual Conference.\u00a0 Several churches in the Conference were able to meet her and hear her story.\u00a0 We, the people of The PNW Conference, are proud of her accomplishments and how she represents the ministry of the Jamaa Letu Orphanages.<\/p>\n

Other members of the Bishop\u2019s Task Force on Hope for the Children of Africa shared the history of the orphanages and the financial needs today to support it.\u00a0 Many on the Conference floor are already supporters and others were challenged to start.<\/p>\n

Her full name is Claudine Nyota Kasongo.\u00a0 At home it would be Kasongo Nyota Claudine.<\/p>\n

Claudine\u2019s friends and supporters have begun to call her “Blessing” because she is one.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nickname that fits.<\/p>\n

The Jamaa Letu Orphanages for boys and for girls is a ministry of The United Methodist Church in the South Congo Conference (Africa) and The Pacific Northwest Conference. Donations may be made through your local church or directly to the Treasurer\u2019s Office of the PNW Conference.<\/i><\/p>\n

Visit\u00a0JamaaLetu.org<\/a>. On Facebook, search:\u00a0Hope for the Children of Africa<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"RMC_Banner\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"RESOURCES_Treasure\"<\/a>D1107: Treasure<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.\u00a0 Whether you are in plenty or in want, money has a direct connection to your values, your faith, and the health of your relationships.\u00a0 It\u2019s no wonder that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presented a radical message about our \u201ctreasure\u201d and our hearts.\u00a0 In this four-week study, Jacob Armstrong uses Matthew 6 to reexamine how we look at our finances and possessions, through the counter-cultural teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.<\/p>\n

Sessions include:<\/p>\n

Week 1: Where Is Your Treasure?\u00a0 (Matthew 6:19-23)<\/p>\n

Week 2: The Problem with Two Masters\u00a0 (Matthew 6:24)<\/p>\n

Week 3: How to Give\u00a0 (Matthew 6:1-6)<\/p>\n

Week 4: Don\u2019t Worry \u2018Bout a Thing (Matthew 6:25-35)<\/p>\n

Designed for use in a small group study or during an all-church stewardship program, features Jacob Armstrong helping participants examine their lives, their ways of giving, their finances, and their faith, then discuss and reflect on how generosity can affect our relationships with people and with God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claudine Kasongo\u00a0is presented with Certificate of Achievement\u00a0from the Rev. Jon Short. Claudine\u2019s Story:\u00a0Being a Blessing to Others By Barbara Dadd Shaffer | Photos by Jesse N. Love When both of her parents died, Claudine Nyota and her siblings were left to fend for themselves – away from their village and living in the big city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":13599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,6,246,449,409,444,441,115],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-conversation","9":"category-ethnic-ministries","10":"category-general-conference","11":"category-hope-for-the-children-of-africa","12":"category-jamaa-letu-orphanges","13":"category-regional-media-center","14":"category-resources"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IDEAS_SCongoZambiaBlessing_2.jpg?fit=741%2C486&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-3xh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13595"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13602,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13595\/revisions\/13602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}