n so strong, but many times, men like George Grenfell and Nathan Price were essentially eaten alive by the land they tried to convert.Today, mission work is done with a much more open mind and a kind heart. Focusing on the need for relationship between the missionaries and the Congolese, religious and lay ministers have a very different way of giving aide to the suffering country. Guided by experience, the present missionaries confer baptism only on those who have been well-instructed and well-tested. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the education of the young, much like Anatoles school in Kikongo. The Catholic religious, both men and women, have devoted themselves to this work. There are rural schools where the young Congolese are taught agriculture. Orphans and abandoned children, who are very numerous in the Congo, are also given help from the missions. Hospitals are among the best achievements of the missionaries from all faiths. Both Protestant and Catholic missions have established printing presses as well. To facilitate transportation, steamboats have been reconstructed and have greatly helped in carrying medicine to those who need it in a much more timely fashion. The situation is still not ideal. Missionaries still come to the Congo, now Zaire, to preach the Gospel without first listening to the words of the people. Although the efforts of the Baptist ministry have improved, certain ideas still do not take hold in the Congolese. Family planning is still a foreign idea to a people who have had multiple wives for centuries (International Ministries). Some efforts are in vain, while others, like education, medicine, and agricultural technology are among the ideas that have brought success. Missionaries might never have needed to go to the Congo if the first missions had never been established there. Today, Catholics, Protestants, and many other faith groups are desperately trying to undo what past generations h...
