Bringing God's Righteousness to Expression through the Gospel
Bringing God's Righteousness to
Expression through the Gospel
Bringing God's Righteousness to Expression through the Gospel
Bringing God's Righteousness to
Expression through the Gospel
Bringing God's Righteousness to
Expression through the Gospel
Urgent Prayer Need in Luvungi, East Congo
Greetings KRS Family,
On behalf of the believers in Luvungi, East Congo, we ask for your prayers. This is not a request for financial aid. We need something more critical than that; we need folks to take a moment and simply cry out on behalf of the people of God in Luvungi.
As you may know, the eastern region of Congo near the Rwanda border has continued to be a conflict zone since 1995. After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, many Huutus who had perpetrated the genocide fled across the border to eastern Congo. This is a region that has been populated by the same tribal groups of Huutu and Tutsi that exist in Rwanda, as well as Burundi, and were divided under Colonial rule in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Luvingi has been under Tutsi control but has been caught up in the ongoing war of that region over the decades.
On Saturday, May 9, the Huutu and Congolese army forces began an assault on this particular area, seeking to drive the Tutsi population back across the border to Rwanda (about a half day walk). The Christian community is caught up in all this, so all the believers who are part of the Beth Ammi Church we have connected with had to flee. Attached is a video of the community leaving for nearby Rwanda.
On Sunday, May 10, we were scheduled for the opening of the Luvungi Medical Clinic; the clinic you all helped build, provided solar energy for, and supplied with medical equipment, medicines and two nurses and one doctor to operate the clinic.
The hard news is that all these families had to abandon their land and homes and become refugees. Here is the good news of God's unstoppable love and care for his people.
So please take a minute, even now, and pray for these believers to be strengthened in their faith, and even pray for their enemies (in both tribal groups) to be delivered from their bondage to sin and the lies of the evil one. Pray that one day they may return to their homes.
Finally, please pray that the hostile forces will not burn down the clinic that we just built. Pastor Alfred was able to talk with one of the invading rebel commanders on Sunday, and told him how the people of God from the U.S. built the clinic, and provided the expensive solar equipment to bless the people. He then told him that if he protected the building, God would see it and bless him in some way; conversely, if he burned it down, God would see that as well and hold him accountable. The commander thanked him for the information and promised to try to save the building. God sees. And God is faithful and good.
I know these kinds of events are beyond the experience of many of us in the West, but these realities exist in multiple places in the world, and always have, and always will until Jesus returns. We have the privilege and responsibility of being deeply connected with the global church and walking together in the advancement of God's kingdom in this world until that final day. Thank you for being a part.
Thank you for your prayers,
Barry Henning
On behalf of the believers in Luvungi, East Congo, we ask for your prayers. This is not a request for financial aid. We need something more critical than that; we need folks to take a moment and simply cry out on behalf of the people of God in Luvungi.
As you may know, the eastern region of Congo near the Rwanda border has continued to be a conflict zone since 1995. After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, many Huutus who had perpetrated the genocide fled across the border to eastern Congo. This is a region that has been populated by the same tribal groups of Huutu and Tutsi that exist in Rwanda, as well as Burundi, and were divided under Colonial rule in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Luvingi has been under Tutsi control but has been caught up in the ongoing war of that region over the decades.
On Saturday, May 9, the Huutu and Congolese army forces began an assault on this particular area, seeking to drive the Tutsi population back across the border to Rwanda (about a half day walk). The Christian community is caught up in all this, so all the believers who are part of the Beth Ammi Church we have connected with had to flee. Attached is a video of the community leaving for nearby Rwanda.
On Sunday, May 10, we were scheduled for the opening of the Luvungi Medical Clinic; the clinic you all helped build, provided solar energy for, and supplied with medical equipment, medicines and two nurses and one doctor to operate the clinic.
The hard news is that all these families had to abandon their land and homes and become refugees. Here is the good news of God's unstoppable love and care for his people.
- 80% of the fleeing community safely evacuated to Kamanyola, the nearby border town in Rwanda
- On the very day the community fled (Saturday), Pastor Alfred Gatabazi and church members located a large transport vehicle, loaded all the medical equipment and drugs, and delivered them to Kamanyola in time.
- The nurses and doctors hired to operate the clinic also made it to Kamanyola
- By God's good providence, we located a rental home for the clinic, and the medical dispensary will open this week as planned- just in a different location. Praise the Lord for His kindness.
So please take a minute, even now, and pray for these believers to be strengthened in their faith, and even pray for their enemies (in both tribal groups) to be delivered from their bondage to sin and the lies of the evil one. Pray that one day they may return to their homes.
Finally, please pray that the hostile forces will not burn down the clinic that we just built. Pastor Alfred was able to talk with one of the invading rebel commanders on Sunday, and told him how the people of God from the U.S. built the clinic, and provided the expensive solar equipment to bless the people. He then told him that if he protected the building, God would see it and bless him in some way; conversely, if he burned it down, God would see that as well and hold him accountable. The commander thanked him for the information and promised to try to save the building. God sees. And God is faithful and good.
I know these kinds of events are beyond the experience of many of us in the West, but these realities exist in multiple places in the world, and always have, and always will until Jesus returns. We have the privilege and responsibility of being deeply connected with the global church and walking together in the advancement of God's kingdom in this world until that final day. Thank you for being a part.
Thank you for your prayers,
Barry Henning