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Africa |
 The
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)
is situated in Central Africa. Traversed by the equator,
it is the third largest country in the continent of
Africa, and is bordered by nine other countries:
- The Central African Republic (north)
- Sudan (northeast)
- Uganda
- Rwanda
- Burundi
- Tanzania (east)
- Zambia (south and southeast)
- Angola (southwest)
- The Congo Republic (west)
As of July 2003 the population was estimated at 56,625,039.
Officially Ezra Ministries was registered in Kinshasa,
the capital city of DRC Congo, on April 9, 1998. This
move was sudden and inevitable as Rev. Firmin Beya,
existing pastor of our affiliate church in Ottawa
at the time, was called by the Lord with his wife
Monel and their children, to go and provide help to
many children and families in Kinshasa whose lives
depended on rationed relief provision. When he called
the Ezra Ministries office and requested an urgent
meeting with our International Board of Directors
with regards to leaving Canada to go and help these
people immediately, news clips were already streaming
to us from the media with the disheartening facts
of the plight of an unjust war which had been imposed
on the passive people of Congo. Journalists, from
country to country, exposed the terrible suffering
and slaughter of innocent men, women and children
and its sickening death toll which was predicted to
be in the millions. As the war loomed, some media
forewarned the international community in vain that
another holocaust catastrophe was definitely in the
making. This was caused by armies from three neighbouring
countries, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda and was backed
by showy superpowers which planned and encouraged
these armies to push deep into Congo.
The war of 1997-1998 which attacked and devastated
this rich, prosperous, affluent country located in
the heart of Africa, began when Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda joined forces to invade and occupy this nation
for economic gains. Immediately after this war ended,
which was thought to be a war of liberation from the
dictatorial regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, the armies
which invaded this land were captivated and lured
by Congo’s rich deposits of minerals and thus
decided to stay. This sparked yet another war in 1998
which in turn drew in many nations and turned it into
what the world termed as, Africa’s first World
War.
Before the war began, the country was already enduring
years of economic embargo from the west throughout
the nineties. With war and the embargo, Congo undoubtedly
represented a picture of a massive, sick, old elephant
knelt down exhausted in a parched land waiting to
die as multitudes of vultures with their mighty wings,
circled and soared high above in the air, waiting
for it to succumb to its death so they could slowly
tear and devour it to nothing. Sadly, what the local
population was enduring at the time, Rev. Beya had
said was despicable to those who knew Congo with its
rich, fertile green land. As the war continued to
assault the country, starvation was rampant. The native
people had been caught unprepared as armies attacked
and death assailed one family after another in the
thick tropical forests where many ran to, to escape
the merciless killings. As the slow yet strong grip
of intended extinction of the most venerable met the
people; the innocent children and women began to die
with hunger, malnutrition and disease.
Having given you this short history, I am sure you
can appreciate the sense of urgency Pastor Beya and
his wife felt and why they were compelled to go and
help the people of Congo. After receiving the go ahead
from Ezra Ministries headquarters, we laid hands on
them, prayed and they left Canada to lay a foundation
in Kinshasa. As soon as they arrived, Rev. Beya quickly
sprung into action to help the needy as much as he
could in their homes, churches and streets. At the
same time, efforts were made to officially register
the ministry and on April 9, 1998, Ezra Ministries
was gladly received by the government. We received
a certification of this a few months later.
After two years of hard work, Rev. Beya and his family
returned to Canada. They had established two churches
and a very successful street ministry which fed children
and other needy people. In the year 2000, the leadership
of Ezra Ministries in Congo was handed over to Rev.
Job Esongo. He is currently the legal representative
and Chairman of the entire country of Congo. To date
Ezra Ministries has four churches in Kinshasa.
What is astonishing about the Kinshasa missionary
journey is that the presence of Rev. Beya in Kinshasa
was not only a blessing to the people there, but indeed
was a blessing for us as well. To hear of the things
God was doing in Kinshasa and the multitudes who were
being saved in the Eastern part of Congo by the gospel
taken to villages, cities and streets through local
Holy Spirit filled pastors, strengthened our hearts
and challenged us to continue to make more headway
into other parts of Congo knowing we had started a
serious spiritual war against the unseen Satanic spirits
of hatred which had engulfed this nation. Having heard
about the victories we were winning on all front lines
in Congo, our hearts were set to spread the same fiery
message of salvation to other countries of Africa.
By God’s grace, this drive to evangelize, prompted
by the necessity to attend to the needs of orphan
children from Congo, Rwanda and Burundi who had lost
their parents in the war, allowed the Ministry another
opportunity to plant yet another church. Many orphans
were rescued by compassionate village people in boats
and transported from Uvira to Kigoma, a Tanzanian
city sheltering many refugees on the other side of
Lake Tanganyika. During this evangelistic move, Ezra
Ministries ordained a pastor at Kigoma in 1998 and
then an expedition travelled to the city of Uvira
to establish another branch of the ministry there.
In the picture, CLICK HERE , taken May of that year,
Pastor Silas Tunugu is seen reading the Constitution
to local ministers who had accepted to join hands
with us to spread the Good News.
Since it is our call in Ezra Ministries to establish
a firm and solid church administrative system through
the implementation of strong, resolute rules, we believe
these rules form the necessary foundation that is
needed to bring order into every new church that is
planted. Not only that, but these rules also serve
to equip the pastor in becoming the responsible servant
of God that he needs to be to those he is called to
serve. In turn, the congregants “respect”
their pastor because he is serving his people with
dignity, a humble heart and a clear understanding
of what a pastor is expected to do, which is; that
of being ready to die for his sheep, (John 10:11:13).
With regards to the issue of finance, the International
Headquarters is obligated to be clear and precise
in dealing with any matters concerning money and its
collection, administration and its distribution. Pastors
are advised and counselled in knowing how to deal
with church problems and church discipline since many
find these matters quite a challenge. A pastor who
cannot or who refuses to adhere to the ministry’s
rules and disciplines, which are given him to help
his vision of bringing people to Christ, and instead
chooses to engage and/or allows himself to fall into
mismanagement or misconduct, such a minister is not
worthy of leading God’s people. This is why
wherever the Lord sends us, our first response to
any new chapter of Ezra Ministries, is to first send
them two constitutions for their perusal. The first
one deals with how the ministry operates; the second,
which was tailored for church use, helps the pastor
to know what God, His congregation and Ezra Ministries
International leadership expects from him as far as
protocol which governs day to day activities are concerned.
After the ministries rules and regulations were read
to believers at Uvira, many pastors showed an interest
in coming under our umbrella and decided to join Ezra
Ministries. With the Lord’s direction, we were
given an inclusive name which would group all these
churches under one central name; The Good Shepherd
Fellowship Church, translated in French as, Eglise
de la Fraternité du Bon Berger en Afrique Central
(EFBAC).
Since then, the work has multiplied and has witnessed
a great increase. A building project for a center
in Uvira began in 1999 and as of recently, has finally
been completed. (See pictures of our beginnings and
where project is presently.) The country of Congo
has eight provinces. By CLICKING HERE, you can access
a larger, more detailed map showing each province
to give you a idea of where Ezra Ministries has been
established in these regions and where the Ministry
is training local pastors to spread the gospel of
Christ in DRC (Congo).
You may wonder, “How is Ezra Ministries able
to do these wonderful things?” As part of the
body of Christ, we are doing what Christ has asked
us to do – to go into the world and preach the
gospel to every creature, (Mark 16:1518) by God’s
leading and His grace. More importantly, if it were
not for the love of God that Christ has shed abroad
in our hearts, we would not be able to rescue souls
from around the world. Far be it from any of us who
are Christians to know that some people will spend
eternity in hell just because we refused to show them
the way. This is our call - to reach the lost, to
rescue the perishin, to equip those in need. Therefore,
we must do what Christ has asked us to do regardless
of the obstacles or conflicts which arise.
New Developments
On April 25 2004, a meeting of the International
Board of Ezra Ministries convened to discuss the 2003
Annual Report from the Eastern region of Congo. Please
CLICK HERE to read the English and/or French Version
2003. During this meeting we were very disheartened
after reading about the many needs our pastors are
facing and battling with over there in this war-torn
country. One such urgency is the gangs of gunmen malitia
who are raiding villages and killing innocent people
and who are also stealing, especially iron sheets
from the churches. (Iron sheets are used in the construction
of churches) This leaves our brothers and sisters
in the exhausting position of having their churches
looted continually. It truly breaks your heart to
know how hard these pastors and lay people work and
the difficult conditions they work under to establish
a reasonable place to worship, only to have it ravaged
by uncaring rebels and thieves.
Since the Board of Ezra Ministries felt it was imperative
that we do something now to help alleviate Congo’s
frustrating situation, the Board unanimously made
a bold decision to send $200.00 US to Congo a month.
Dear Christian reader, please understand that we are
trusting God will move His people to abundantly supply
the needed funds which have been pledged to these
churches. In all honesty, we must bring to your attention
that this decision was based solely on faith as we
do not have any donors which give to the needs of
Congo regularly. In fact, there are months when we
are not even able to pay our bills in the International
Office here in Halifax – Canada. This is a faith
pledge on our part and yours too. It is out of obedience
that we are asking you to join us as partners in this
urgent call and compassionate cause we have received
from God. With great respect, we humbly, appeal to
you as a servant of God, “To come over to Macedonia
and help us.” We need your prayers and we need
your financial help.
As you reflect on what Christ has helped us to accomplish,
please commit yourself to pray for this work and contact
us so that you too can be part of this worldwide soul-winning
ministry. Please do not hesitate to drop us a line
and let us know you are interested in this work of
love. Ezra Ministries is equipped and ready to work
with believers from every country of the world. If
you feel the Lord is asking you to send us financial
help, your gift of love will be appreciated and gratefully
received as it will be used to extend God’s
Kingdom and bring in a harvest of souls. Together
we can make a difference in defeating Satan’s
power as we carry the banner of salvation to all peoples
from every tribe, language, people and tongue from
around the globe.
We understand you may be already committed to your
own church, but the Word of God says that a generous
man will prosper and he who refreshes others will
himself be refreshed.(Proverbs 11:25) Our God cannot
owe anyone. Whoever helps to build God’s kingdom,
will surely receive help from God to build his own
house, for He is able to multiply your generous seed,
and make all grace abound to you, so that in all things,
and at all times, having all that you need, you will
abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9: 8). Would
you consider helping Ezra Ministries with this worldwide
outreach?
Please make your cheque payable to Ezra Ministries.
(Note - all money is funnelled directly into the work
of the Ministry. All staff of Ezra Ministries do not
receive anything from donations, gifts or funds that
are given to help with the diverse needs of struggling,
suffering peoples all around the world.) You can make
your contribution online by CLICKING HERE to enter
our secure online donation form. Thank-you so very
much.
May God Almighty bless you.
Rev. Abella Kasheke, Th.D.
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