The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the largest and most populace countries in Africa, filling the equivalent of the area of the US east of the Mississippi with almost 100 million residents. 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. Congo’s population is overwhelmingly young — 47% are under 14 — yet its youth are tremendously underserved. Lack of high-quality education, systemic poverty, and ongoing violence put continuous strain on their lives. There are very few youth groups, programs, or gathering spaces available to them. Many youth are left to fend for themselves and figure life out.
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. Currently our team works in education, entrepreneurship, renewable energy, and counseling sectors. 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.
Goers in this position will help us initiate a program to provide places and times for youth to meet up, meet Christ, and grow together. We want youth to have opportunities for creativity, expression, and exploration of their identity in Christ within a safe and loving environment.
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 youth 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.