There is great reward when we embrace others in need and equip them with skills (not handouts) so that dignity and sustainability can be passed on to others!
DRC Updates
Help Repair the School
Due to vandalism and flooding during the closure, the school needs urgent repairs—roofing, desks, chalkboards, and cement. Your gift today will help restore a safe, strong place for students to learn and thrive. The need is $4,200—will you help?
Help Us Feed 776 Students + Teachers at The ELI Academy in the DR Congo
--------------------------------------------------------
CURRENT SITUATION
The ELI Christian Academy in Bukavu, DR Congo is open!
However, the war in eastern DR Congo is still a serious conflict. A fragile ceasefire is in place but there is still fighting in and around Bukavu between gangs, freedom fighters, and some of the fringe rebels. Lives are being lost and multitudes of people seriously injured day in and day out. Through much discernment and out of the desire to protect our staff and students we opened the school. 776 students have returned along with almost all of the teachers and staff! Great courage, God’s provision, and your faithful prayers have made this possible. Now the school urgently needs your help. There are major shortages of supplies and food in the region.
The school needs $12,000 to secure key supplies and a few months' worth of food to provide the children with a daily meal of rice, beans, and porridge. In many cases, this is the only food the children eat all day.
Will you give today and provide months' worth of food, supplies, and hope to the children, staff, and leaders at the ELI Christian Academy? We are prayerfully hoping to raise these funds by May 31.
BACKGROUND CONTEXT
Since the first week of February, the Lake Kivu region of DR Congo has been under siege by a rebel group known as M23. They now control the majority of the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces . . . including the cities of Goma and Bukavu.
Thankfully, the capture of Bukavu was mostly peaceful because government and military leaders decided to vacate the city to spare as many civilian lives as possible. At the time of writing, the city is under M23 occupation.
A week before Bukavu fell, the decision was made to temporarily close the ELI Christian Academy out of an abundance of caution and deep care for the lives of the students, staff, and leadership. Your care, love, and support made it possible to mobilize resources that helped them and their families purchase weeks’ worth of food and necessary supplies. Additionally, you helped make it possible for many to leave the slum in order to be further away from the conflict.
On the ground, the effects of this conflict are not good. Many dynamics are creating traumatic realities for hundreds of thousands of people. Banks are closed. Most non-profit organizations are not operating. Medical supplies are drastically dwindling. Schools are closed. Food stocks are running low. Tensions between M23 and civilians are mounting.
Additionally, the dynamic of "jungle justice" (the local translation for a lawless situation) has begun to take hold. Looting, plundering, and vigilantly activities are a nightly occurrence throughout Bukavu. Youth are increasingly idle and frustrated and many social leaders/influencers are either in hiding, have fled the country, or have been "disappeared."
PLEASE PRAY FOR PEACE IN THE REGION.
PRAY THAT THE VIOLENCE ENDS AND THAT A MULTI-NATIONAL AGREEMENT CAN BE REACHED!
PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF EASTERN DR CONGO
PRAY FOR THE CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND STAFF AT THE SCHOOL