Bukavu, DRC 2024

"I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honour in every land where they were put to shame" Zephaniah 3:19

It has been a great joy and privilege to be part of the Lord's plans and purposes for Bukavu DRC the 10 days. We have been upheld by the Saints in prayer, guided and led by Holy Spirit, sustained and held in the palm of God's hand, blessed by the unity of the team. As a result we have seen God at work in many lives. Everywhere we have placed our feet land has been reclaimed and lives transformed.

We started with a 4 day trauma healing conference for 78 Pastors, women leaders, and youth leaders. When we started we saw a lot of trauma in their faces but praise God even on day 2 some of the trauma was lifted. Most testified to sleeping well. By day 4 there was a real shift in the spiritual realm as the joy and worship lifted to new heights. We saw fresh faces, brighter eyes, and big smiles. The Cross of forgiveness was full of red disks representing the many who were forgiven on that day. Burdens had been lifted off. One pastor testified to his wife being healed from a sickness when he forgave church elders who were against him, others received physical healing.

On the Sunday we preached in 4 churches on forgiveness, reaching 530 adults and children most of whom chose to forgive. All were prayed for collectively and 8 received their salvation in one of the churches.

On Monday we received 109 women for a one day trauma healing conference. These very vulnerable ladies are under the tender care of our hosts. It was clear that the Bishop was fully in support of his wife in this ministry and encouraged the ladies by his tender shepherding. The ladies entered the church with excitement and joyful singing they love being together in praise and worship. They love to dance before the Lord and we gave them opportunities throughout the day. We gave 6 teachings followed by prayers of healing and deliverance and took every opportunity to nurture and feed their spirits. When we invited them to come and place their forgiveness on the Cross, many did not come forward, but all of them willingly and sincerely come to lay their pain, loss, and grief at the Cross, and burdens were lifted. It was a very special time. At the close of the conference we gave certificates then had lunch. This was a grand affair, so good to see them eat well then take seconds to fill a bag to take home to feed their children. The rejoicing laughter and dancing was wonderful and hard to express. They were each given a bag containing rice and beans to cook at their places. Their hearts were full and overflowing with thankfulness to God and we praise Him for His provision by raising up the sponsor, making this day possible.

Our next visit was to Bukavu prison where we ministered to the male prisoners. The prison was clearly overcrowded with 2029 adult male prisoners, 76 women, 4 girls and 63 boys. Many looked very young. We took food for all the prisoners; beans, casava flour, and salt. We also took 5 Bibles for the chaplain to hand out. 300 male prisoners actively engaged with the teaching and stood around us, but many more were hearing as God's Word went out. 250 said the sinners prayer of commitment. Many came to the Cross to forgive. We ran out of red discs and quickly tore up paper to hand out. The Cross was covered with papers and red discs. As we left the prison a group of prisoners who had not been part of the 300, shouted out blessings over us. It was a remarkable spiritual change to that of our entry.

We were unable to minister to the police due to them all being called out for an incident in town, so our final visit was to the senior school where 759 children gathered to hear the Gospel message. 350 said the sinners prayer for salvation and 50 said they had been healed. It was a joyous time for all and a delightful finish to our time in Bukavu.

We are grateful to the Lord for all the prayer support and confirmation through you of what we believed the Lord was saying. We went to Bukavu as servants of the Lord, to serve the people of Bukavu. I believe we did that to the best of our ability and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.