Hi, my name is Pastor Brendan and we’re based in Hope Adelaide. My wife and Helen and I, we’ve been planting the church for about 26 years. It is a privilege to go to DRC last year November. It’s been about five years, I think since the COVID-19 outbreak. And so we haven’t been able to go back. So it was very important that I go back in November to encourage the pastors, Pastor Mapya, and Ps Patron and Ps Camarade and the other leaders. And so they’re very good people. They’re working very hard in a very poor, very difficult situation. Rebels over from Rwanda killing people and causing a lot of trouble. Trying to steal land and resources. And it’s a terrible situation. Many people are dying. The hunger is really bad. And it’s been like that for a few years. Been getting worse. And getting very terrible photos of what’s been happening. So we send a lot of money for food. A lot of people have been dying and starving.
Ps Mapya oversees over 100 churches in eastern DRC, around Bukavu, just across the border from Rwanda. And it’s been a real privilege to go there. So we went there in November and we had some really good meetings. Actually, it was one of the best trips that I’ve had because the pastors were so hungry for the Word of God. They were so encouraged that somebody from overseas would care about them and bothered to turn up. In their very difficult stressed situation. So I was like a breath of fresh air sent from the Lord to just encourage them and bless them. And they really appreciated that. Pastor Mapya himself was really encouraged.
So it was a very valuable trip and still a little bit dangerous. I sensed a little bit more danger in the city than normal. The people are a bit more tense, a bit more edgy. So there was one occasion we were driving through Bukavu and people were running around crazy screaming and I got told the police had just shot dead a couple of people who had been a bit rebellious towards them. So it’s a very difficult, stressful situation, a lot of tensions running high and Ps Mapya doesn’t even have his own vehicle to drive.
He has to walk for hours and hours to visit the regional churches and he’s recently, he got evicted from his own house because rent is so high. It costs USD5,000. You have to pay USD5,000 in advance, you know, and 50 is a lot of money to them, so 5,000 is way above their possibilities. So he just got evicted from his house. He’s very stressed. And he’s really been serving God faithfully for the last 26 years, planting churches in eastern DRC. And he really needs our help. HIM is blessed with the opportunity to be able to help these real men of God in very difficult contexts. We saw some really good healings in the meetings we were there. Some really good healings of people’s backs, people smiling and so happy.
And there was one occasion where there was this little six year old girl, six, seven years old, beautiful smile, beautiful girl. And she was in the meeting, clapping, dancing, praying for one hour. Then I preached for 45 minutes. We pray. And I thought, okay, that’s the end of the meeting, two hour meeting, right? And this six year old girl, she’s still there. Then Pastor Mapya gets up and they start praying and singing again. And it kept going for another hour. And this six year old girl just smiling, happy, clapping, praying, singing for three hours straight. I was like, wow. And the spirit in the meeting was so intense. I was like, wow. And, and I said, is it always like this? He said, yeah, our meetings are always like this. Really powerful, full of faith, the spirit of God moving. So it’s a great blessing to be there. And we thank God for the good work He’s doing in DRC.
After that I went to HIM Nairobi and we had some really good meetings with Pastor Joseph’s church in Nairobi. So that was a great time as well. About four days with Pastor Joseph’s church. So we thank God for the good work he’s doing there. He’s got four or 500 people in his church. So that was that was great.
So let’s really pray for DRC Congo. Let’s pray for Ps Mapya and Janet, the family. Pray for their rental situation, their house. Pray for a vehicle. Pray for the churches to get enough food. Many of them don’t have their own building, but they’re persevering in very difficult situations. Pray for protection from the rebels who are killing people. Pray for enough food, so they don’t starve. We want to pray that the leaders would be very encouraged and continue to preach the gospel.
