Luvungi, East Democratic Republic of Congo
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:17
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
Greetings KRS Family of Supporters,
These are the words of God spoken through the Prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel as they had lost their way and strayed from God’s kingdom purposes for them, and repeated in the New Testament by James, the brother of our Lord.
I just returned from a trip to Rwanda to assess the work for constructing a small medical hospital in the Rwandan district of Nyaruguru. Our host pastor asked if we would be willing to drive to east Congo, DRC to visit one of their churches in a village of roughly 100,000 persons, called Luvungi (Lu-vun-gee). Luvungi is in the larger region of Goma and is surrounded by a persistent civil war that plagues the region. Luvungi is currently safe and at peace as is protected by the military, but they were recently under attack and still suffer from the fallout of the ongoing regional war.
What we found was a heavily populated town and a church full of hundreds of people who love, joyfully worship, and completely rely on the Lord for their daily needs. We also found hundreds of children, mostly malnourished, many cases of scabies and a reality of fatherless children and the poor who die from malaria and dysentery from contaminated water and a lack of access to basic medical supplies.
What does it mean to “bring justice to the fatherless”? To “visit orphans in their distress’? When Jesus showed up, he healed the sick and fed the hungry. And I know you, like me, want to be faithful disciples and imitators of Jesus. We want to be conformed to His image.
So, I can do no less than plead for their cause. I don’t know what else to do. There are two opportunities to show God’s love, if He puts it on your heart to help. First, we are opening a Dispensary. This is not a full-fledged clinic. But there is a certified Nurse who is a deacon at the church and under the DRC health policies is licensed to give antibiotics and other prescriptions for malaria and dysentery. We would like to start by building a small mud house (which the military has agreed to guard) where we can store and dispense meds and give a small stipend to the nursing staff. The members of the church have donated land, and a donor has already donated $8,600 for the building materials plus funds for the purchase of a microscope.
For $1,000/month we can supply hundreds of doses of permethrin cream for scabies and antibiotics for malaria and dysentery (a14 day supply of antibiotics is about 50 cents-US.) This would require only 40 people to provide $25/month to operate the low-cost clinic. In addition, we need a one-time gift of $600 to purchase a compound light microscope for blood analysis. This Dispensary will serve both the Beth Ammi Church in Luvungi and the larger community.
The other opportunity is to provide short-term food relief until the region stabilizes. In the first century church, the famine that affected Jerusalem believers lasted 3 years. I know that does not sound short-term to some of us, but this is often the reality for hard hit areas suffering from war-induced or natural disaster food shortages. For another $1,000/month we can supply substantial food relief for the neediest families and children who are part of the Beth Ammi Church. Our immediate relief focuses first on children who suffer from malnutrition. Again, this only requires 40 people providing an average of $25/month.
We are blessed to work with the Beth Ammi group of churches and Bishop Alfred Gatabazi, who provide leadership that has proven itself many times over the years to be completely trustworthy in the distribution of funds.
If you choose to help support this ministry you will not only hear “Well done- I was hungry and you fed me” from the Lord, but you also have this promise: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord Himself will repay him.” Thank you for considering this need.
On behalf of the children, widows and poor Luvungi,
Barry Henning
You can donate by clicking the link below and choosing the East Congo Dispensary or East Congo Food Relief.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
Greetings KRS Family of Supporters,
These are the words of God spoken through the Prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel as they had lost their way and strayed from God’s kingdom purposes for them, and repeated in the New Testament by James, the brother of our Lord.
I just returned from a trip to Rwanda to assess the work for constructing a small medical hospital in the Rwandan district of Nyaruguru. Our host pastor asked if we would be willing to drive to east Congo, DRC to visit one of their churches in a village of roughly 100,000 persons, called Luvungi (Lu-vun-gee). Luvungi is in the larger region of Goma and is surrounded by a persistent civil war that plagues the region. Luvungi is currently safe and at peace as is protected by the military, but they were recently under attack and still suffer from the fallout of the ongoing regional war.
What we found was a heavily populated town and a church full of hundreds of people who love, joyfully worship, and completely rely on the Lord for their daily needs. We also found hundreds of children, mostly malnourished, many cases of scabies and a reality of fatherless children and the poor who die from malaria and dysentery from contaminated water and a lack of access to basic medical supplies.
What does it mean to “bring justice to the fatherless”? To “visit orphans in their distress’? When Jesus showed up, he healed the sick and fed the hungry. And I know you, like me, want to be faithful disciples and imitators of Jesus. We want to be conformed to His image.
So, I can do no less than plead for their cause. I don’t know what else to do. There are two opportunities to show God’s love, if He puts it on your heart to help. First, we are opening a Dispensary. This is not a full-fledged clinic. But there is a certified Nurse who is a deacon at the church and under the DRC health policies is licensed to give antibiotics and other prescriptions for malaria and dysentery. We would like to start by building a small mud house (which the military has agreed to guard) where we can store and dispense meds and give a small stipend to the nursing staff. The members of the church have donated land, and a donor has already donated $8,600 for the building materials plus funds for the purchase of a microscope.
For $1,000/month we can supply hundreds of doses of permethrin cream for scabies and antibiotics for malaria and dysentery (a14 day supply of antibiotics is about 50 cents-US.) This would require only 40 people to provide $25/month to operate the low-cost clinic. In addition, we need a one-time gift of $600 to purchase a compound light microscope for blood analysis. This Dispensary will serve both the Beth Ammi Church in Luvungi and the larger community.
The other opportunity is to provide short-term food relief until the region stabilizes. In the first century church, the famine that affected Jerusalem believers lasted 3 years. I know that does not sound short-term to some of us, but this is often the reality for hard hit areas suffering from war-induced or natural disaster food shortages. For another $1,000/month we can supply substantial food relief for the neediest families and children who are part of the Beth Ammi Church. Our immediate relief focuses first on children who suffer from malnutrition. Again, this only requires 40 people providing an average of $25/month.
We are blessed to work with the Beth Ammi group of churches and Bishop Alfred Gatabazi, who provide leadership that has proven itself many times over the years to be completely trustworthy in the distribution of funds.
If you choose to help support this ministry you will not only hear “Well done- I was hungry and you fed me” from the Lord, but you also have this promise: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord Himself will repay him.” Thank you for considering this need.
On behalf of the children, widows and poor Luvungi,
Barry Henning
You can donate by clicking the link below and choosing the East Congo Dispensary or East Congo Food Relief.