The Lord has placed a burden upon our hearts for the lost in the very remote and isolated central Africa regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

During a visit to and a time of ministry with APEVI Church in Kinshasa, the capital of the D.R.C. we were extremely impressed by their outstanding hospitality, their zeal to spread the gospel, but sadly their poverty which made an impact on our lives.  (Kinshasa is a large city of over six million people most of which live in very poor conditions.)  Our brothers and sisters there are very isolated.  They are isolated by location, by wars, and by language.   

A local group of churches in Kinshasa, the capital of the D.R.C, under the apostolic leadership of Pastor Emmanuel Wangi, has the vision and mandate to reach these people with the reality of life in Jesus Christ but they need our help.  They hear the cry of the people in the interior, the people in Bandundu, Equateur, Kasai, and other regions of the Congo River Basin. They speak the languages, are mature in the faith, are powerful in the Spirit but they do not have the resources to respond.  Several churches have been planted in these areas but without transportation and other resources they can not be adequately supported.  

Pastor Emmanuel and Solange Wangi

Pastor Emmanuel’s vision is to establish and support the Body of Christ in the Congo River Basin.  The objectives of the Church in Kinshasa are to preach the Gospel, train disciples, establish local leaders, provide Bibles in the local languages (Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili, Tshiluba, and French), and to provide some humanitarian aid as the Lord directs. 

The church there is starved for fellowship with like-minded brothers and sisters and has requested to link with churches here for mutual encouragement and support to help them reach the lost in the heart of Africa. 

They have asked us to join with them.  

The “official” language is French but many speak Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, and Tshiluba.  The area has over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population.

Infant mortality is 10% and the average life expectancy is only 49 years.    

The Population is near 60,000,000.  Very few are saved.

The local religions are: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10% so you can see there are very few true followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The war, which began in August 1998, has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, has increased external debt, and has resulted in the deaths from war, famine, and disease of perhaps 3.5 million people. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment. The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations.

Democratic Republic of the Congo is in the grip of a civil war, tribal conflict, and rebel gang fighting that has drawn in neighboring states of Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda; in the Great Lakes region and Sudan, heads of the Great Lakes states and UN pledge to end conflict, but unchecked localized violence continues unabated.

The Congo River in west central Africa is over 4,300 km long and carries more water than any other river in the world with the exception of the Amazon in South America.  In some places it is 16 km wide.  The Congo and its tributaries provide 14,500 km of navigable waterways, a vital means of transportation to the millions of unreached remote and isolated people of Central Africa. 

Our little here will go a very long way, there.  Any financial support we can send will save lives and souls.  And, if we can get a vessel for them and help them to support it, then we, with our little, will see many reached for Christ.

With our help, the Church in Kinshasa can reach over 20,000,000 people in the Congo River Basin (which includes the Pygmies of Africa.)  This area is one of the last unreached places on earth. 

Thank you for your prayerful consideration in answering this call.

In Christ,

Ps Dave and Tana

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Last modified: Monday, 24 March 2008