DRC Displacement Care

The present conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began in 2024, according to the United Nations, but it has its roots in the Rwandan Genocide over thirty years ago. To say that this warfare is complex is an understatement. While the news indicates that this armed struggle is primarily between the government forces of the DRC and M23, a force that is believed to be supported by the Rwandan government, it is much more complicated than that. Governments from South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi, are all involved militarily to some extent or another. On top of that, other military groups and private militias are reaping havoc. Everyone, it seems, is trying to gain control of the vast mineral wealth (some estimate its value at as much as 24 trillion USD) in the Eastern parts of the DRC. More than 7 million people have been internally displaced and an additional 1 million persons have fled across international borders (no doubt by this time the numbers are greater).

Many of these refugees fled to Goma. Among these refugees were nearly 600 Church of God families. Recent fighting in and around Goma made life there unsustainable at best and deadly at worst. With the takeover of the city by forces aligned with the Rwandan government, M23 rebels are closing the refugee camps and pushing the internally displaced persons back to their home areas. This is in violation of international law, but it seems such laws have little bearing on this conflict.

Now, many of these Church of God families have been re-displaced from Goma and have been forced to return “home” to destroyed villages, with little to no belongings. This project thus walks alongside the national leadership team in the DRC in order to provide livelihood recovery assistance (seeds, agricultural tools, and livestock) to families beginning again.

In the latter half of 2025, four distributions of agricultural supplies helped redisplaced families to restart their livelihoods. The team of volunteers delivering the supplies traveled 500 kilometers by motorcycle, sometimes through rebel-controlled territories, to reach remote villages with greatest need. The distributions included goats, sheep, and seeds, providing for a total of 290 people.

In the summer of 2026, the Church of God national leadership team in the DRC executed an initiative to construct household latrines for Church of God families returning to their villages. A total of 47 latrines were constructed across the Nyiragongo and Masisi territories. Before these installations, the families had no access to latrine facilities, thus elevating the risk of Ebola, cholera, and other water-borne illnesses. These latrines will have a long-lasting impact on the well-being of the families and their communities. In addition to meeting physical needs, the national leader for the Church of God in the DRC shared, “The objectives that the project has achieved have helped us to carry out a great evangelization of the local population.” Praise God for how this project has empowered the local church to share Christ’s love with their community.