The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the largest (the area of the US east of the Mississippi) and most populace (almost 100 million) countries in Africa. It is the world’s largest French-speaking country, in the global top 10 in terms of birth rate and urbanization, and in the bottom ten in terms of per capita income. Congo has endured instability for the last 25 years — over 3 million people have died in eastern Congo since 1996 — but is experiencing increasing development and stabilization.
The church has not been able to provide a transformational witness to help Congo’s profound spiritual, economic, and social challenges. Goma is one of the most strategic cities in the country with over 1.5 million people living in an exceptionally beautiful but exceptionally troubled part of the world. These endemic issues have affected those on the margins of society the most.
Individuals with special needs, mental and physical disabilities, and other development delays are often completely without individual, targeted care despite loving families. One of the missionary families in Goma has a son with a rare genetic disorder and significant special needs. There is simply no framework, training, or support for families with needs like his.
This Goer’s position would include supporting this MK as well as developing a broader social and support network for special needs kids and families in our community. We want to target the “least of these” within a context that is already among the “least of these” globally with an outpouring of technically competent, transformationally loving, special needs care.
More broadly, our team’s mission is to create and nourish an intentional, intercultural, creative community committed to living out the gospel in ways that expand the global Church and meet real-life needs in our city and region. We want our city, Goma, to be a city on a hill for the entire country, starting with our street and neighborhood first. We want to be radically implicated in the needs, capacities, and dreams of our neighbors — whoever God puts in our community. Currently our team works in education, entrepreneurship, renewable energy, and counseling sectors.
People applying for this placement should be self-starters, energetic, and impact-driven problem-solvers. There are many challenges to living in the Congolese context, but people who are ready to put forth great effort will likely also derive great meaning in seeing how even small inputs make a huge difference in the communities we serve. The person filling this placement should have some training or experience working with children who have special needs and a heart and calling for this population and their families. Our team is impact-oriented and deeply committed to our context and community here, and are looking for others ready to go all-in on building God’s kingdom in Congo together with colleagues here.