To those in poverty, giving to the needy isn’t a casual, forgettable “random act of kindness.” It is hope.
The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 triggered a series of armed conflicts in Congo, including the First Congo War (1996-1998) and the Second Congo War (2001-2003) which involved nine countries at war within Congo. Many men lost their lives, leaving countless traumatized orphans and widows behind who fled into the jungle to escape the bombings. Invading Muslims brought Islam into Congo, and many of the widows and orphaned girls were raped by soldiers.
At the same time, the HIV/AIDS epidemic surged, with AIDS-related deaths rising to an estimated 93,000 in 1997 alone. According to a 1999 report from the U.S. Agency for International Development, about 410,000 children had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS at the time of the report’s writing.
In the wake of these tragedies, despair is everywhere.
But in 2006, GlobalFingerprints launched its first site in Congo in partnership with Community Evangelical of Christ in the Ubangi (CECU), a group of over 1,000 churches across the area. Nearly twenty years later, over 1,750 children are sponsored across thirty-two Congolese sites, including Promise Home, New Horizon School, and Elikya Centre.
While sponsorship supports the common needs of vulnerable children such as meals, school supplies, and basic medical care, these three programs—Promise Home, New Horizon School, and Elikya Centre—offer specialized care to those they serve.
At Promise Home, children with disabilities receive the appropriate health care, mobility aids, and accommodations all in a loving, Christian home environment. In a culture where those with disabilities are often unvalued, abused, or neglected, this ministry couldn’t be more critical.
New Horizon School offers a gospel-centered and academically rigorous alternative to secular schools. Schools in Congo often have 200 students in each classroom, making it so difficult to learn. In collaboration with Teach Beyond, the New Horizons school was launched to provide a transformational education to sponsored children as well as to other children in the community. At New Horizons, the children are receiving an excellent education, with a limit of 25 children per classroom, and they learning from a Biblical worldview. The children’s lives are being changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that change is impacting families, and the community, for Christ!
Elikya Centre (which means “hope”) ministers to young adults, teaching them literacy skills and training them in a trade of their choice. There are over 400 people above the age of nineteen enrolled in the program, and they can studysewing, carpentry, soap-making, hair-dressing, mechanics, masonry, or agriculture so they can become self-sufficient and able to support their families.
As the local church invests in these young lives alongside us, they benefit from the resulting transformations as well.
Through Elikya Centre, “Jacob” went from hanging out with the wrong crowd and living a concerning lifestyle to becoming a mechanic and baptized and active Christian serving in the church’s welcoming committee and prayer group.
“May,” a 2010 graduate of Elikya’s sewing program, shares this about her experience:
When I came to Elikya, I was an orphan, and life was very hard for me. While studying at Elikya, we were introduced to Bible studies which made me grow spiritually and helped me in being equipped to teach the Bible. I have now served in different roles as a Sunday school teacher, deacon, and also singing in the choir. Very important for me, I am now able to work at home in my sewing business.
A war widow with two young kids, May is able to support her family with dignity. The hope of God has transformed her not only her life, but her family’s as well.
Is God calling you to join in our ministries to Congo? You can sponsor a child or young adult in need by visiting our website online.