DR Congo: help and hope for a desperate nation

Mission partner Martin Gordon, Bishop of Goma, shares that the church is the one institution in DR Congo that people still trust. With a church at the heart of every community, Christians are well placed to offer help and hope to all those who are desperate for relief from the ongoing conflict. Pray for churches to be able to continue to offer hope and practical help.

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Try to imagine being a child in eastern DR Congo. Your whole life you’ve lived in the shadow of violence.

Think of the horrors you might have witnessed – armed robbery, murder, sexual assault.

And what if your parents had also never known an extended time of peace, so they had no words of comfort for you?

Who could you talk to? Who could your parents go to, to get help coping with their anxiety, grief or anger? Or would they just have to bottle it up inside?

A beacon of light for broken hearts

In 2013 The Guardian reported that DR Congo was undergoing a “mental health catastrophe” due to millions of people living with the stress of near-constant conflict for decades. Today, there are still only a few dozen trained neuro-psychiatrists in a population of over 65 million people.

In places like Goma, where CMS mission partner Martin Gordon serves as bishop, there are only a handful of mental health professionals for millions of people.

Suicide, addiction and domestic abuse are rampant in a population which has  known only violence for so long.

Enter the church.

Bishop Martin shares that local Christians are at the forefront of recognising the need for psychological and spiritual care if the cycle of violence is ever going to be broken in DRC. He also shares some glimmers of hope gleaned in the past year since the latest outbreak of violence.

On the ground in Goma

An update from Bishop Martin Gordon

The east of Congo has known conflict for nearly 35 years, and we’re still under occupation since the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group seized the city in January 2025. They had been taking over ever greater swathes of land around Goma for almost three years prior to the invasion.

The immediate aftermath of the occupation saw 8,500 deaths, a peak in sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, public beatings and executions, kidnappings and raids on hospitals. We count the number of internally displaced people and the number of children out of school in the hundreds of thousands.

Today, although the banks, the airport, the prison and the courts remain closed, there is now more of a sense of calm. But it is an uneasy calm. Violence can flare up at any moment.

Seeking solace in church

But for us as a diocese there has been some encouragement. The Church is still seen as the one remaining institution that can be trusted and in DRC there’s always a church at the heart of every village and community. 

After Goma fell to the rebels, we saw an increased attendance in several of our parishes. Those who don’t usually come to church came asking for prayer, and those on the fringes started coming more regularly. There is a spiritual hunger.

In the weeks following the fall of the city, through the generosity of Anglicans across the world, we were able to distribute emergency cash to 60 of our clergy, 50 diocesan staff and over 200 school teachers whose salaries were not able to be paid by the central government. And we were able to rebuild or repair eight out of our 109 schools ahead of the start of the academic year. So almost 3,000 pupils can study in better conditions than before.

Thousands turning to Jesus

And in the sadness, in the pain, in the suffering, there are some real signs of hope. Because most of the diocese is under M23 control, it means getting around is easier. We’ve been able to visit parishes that have been inaccessible for the last three years to see how they’re doing and to encourage them. Land purchase and construction are less heavily policed and in the last year we’ve been able to build 16 churches and have bought 22 plots of land for church planting.

In summer 2025, we were able to hold large scale evangelism campaigns in four of our secondary schools in the city, where over 6,000 children heard the gospel and a thousand came to faith and our school chaplains are now busy following them up.

We’re seeing particular fruit in Walikale which is our archdeaconry in the forest, two days away from Goma by motorbike. Here, God has given us an open door for the gospel. We’ve been busy training church leaders, buying land, building schools and a guest house, and planting churches.

Since 2024, the church in Walikale has gone from a handful of struggling groups of believers to 17 churches, each with their own land and church building. Nineteen leaders have already finished two or three years of theological training or are in the process of being trained.

We’ve heard some exciting stories of the power of God breaking into people’s lives through monthly evangelism campaigns in Walikale.

From hate to hope

The bigger picture for us as a diocese and part of our day-to-day calling as a church is to pursue peace and reconciliation in the midst of conflict. For four years, we’ve been working with all faith leaders across the city, issuing joint media statements to change the narrative of hate and suspicion, doing weekly radio broadcasts to millions of people, and organising inter-community cultural and sporting events.

At the heart of our peace work is training religious and community leaders in self transformation. Teaching them to find peace with God and with themselves and then being sent as peacemakers to bring peace and reconciliation to their families, churches, and communities.

Joining hands for peace

After one such peace training focusing on youth, leaders from four different ethnic groups, usually at each other’s throats, took to the stage, joined hands, and gave a public commitment that from now on they would work together to bring healing to the community.

Photo: schoolchildren form an enthusiastic crowd at an evangelism campaign

Mental health mission

Increasingly within this area of self-transformation, we’re focusing on trauma healing for pastors and for leaders. This latest conflict is just another layer on top of previous trauma. We believe that the pastors are much better able to help their own congregations if they themselves have experienced de-traumatisation or found some measure of healing from past trauma.

To date we have trained around 300 young people, women, pastors and evangelists to be able to offer support for others who are traumatised.

Adopted into the family!

I’ll end with a story of healing and reconciliation that has profoundly moved many of us.

Canon John, the Archdeacon of Goma, retired in 2025 after 49 years of ministry and 50 years of marriage.

The first 10 years of marriage were hard as his wife Providence fell ill and they couldn’t have children. Eventually, they did have two children, although they’d always wanted more.

Earlier this year, Canon John was with Mama Providence in a trauma healing seminar. There was another participant called Ansh who gave her testimony around the trauma of never knowing her father.

She was now in her 30s. She had six children, but she spoke of how she missed the father she’d never known. She also told of how her husband had abandoned her. Her tailoring business had been looted in the fighting.

Everyone sympathised with her situation. But Canon John did something different. Touched by her story, he had a whispered conversation with his wife. They approached Ansh to say that they’d always longed for more children and would love to adopt her as their own adult daughter. Ansh readily agreed and immediately took their family name and started calling them mom and dad. Their only son Samuel who was at seminar came forward publicly to embrace and welcome Ansh into the family.

You can imagine the reaction of the other participants. Canon John came to my office the following week to tell me that everyone in the community knew that they now had a new daughter and earlier this year she brought two of her children to the cathedral to be baptised.

Holding on to hope

I want to end simply by thanking you all for your prayers, your interest and your support. Times are still incredibly hard in Goma.

The recent invasion adds one more layer of trauma to more than 30 years of conflict.

And many still struggle to make ends meet.

But amid the suffering, we can testify daily to the faithfulness of God, and we continue to put our trust in him, knowing that he sees our suffering and is always at work.

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DR Congo: renewed violence

Pray for the residents of Goma, DR Congo following recent drone strikes on residential areas and the killing of humanitarian workers. Ask for God’s protection over vulnerable people and pray for the immediate, continuing de-escalation of the conflict between the army and rebel forces. Pray for wisdom for regional leaders, and for the Church and CMS people in mission to be strengthened as it provides trauma relief and essential care for hundreds of people.

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DR Congo: peace seminar

Local partner Bisoke Balikenga asks for prayer for a peace seminar taking place at the peace centre he leads in Bunia from 9–14 March. Pray for each person who comes to the seminar to have a powerful encounter with God and be encouraged to work towards unity across different church denominations and for resolution of conflict between people groups.

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DRC: Mass killing in Christian farming community

Please pray for Christians in Apakolu, a farming community in Irumu in DRC. Last Sunday the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed 25 villagers in a brutal attack and burned houses. As Apakolu mourns, fear and trauma grip neighbouring villages. Survivors are pleading for an end to the violence and recognition of their suffering. Please pray for Christians in DR Congo being murdered and persecuted. Pray for an end to the suffering, for God’s protection and for those in power to take action.

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DR Congo: one year since rebel attack

This coming Monday, 26 January, will mark one year since the M23 rebel attack in the city of Goma. More than 3,000 lives were lost and a further 700,000 people were displaced. Even so, mission partner Martin Gordon, Bishop of Goma says God is at work in and through the Church.

In Martin’s words, “The 2025 invasion adds one more layer of trauma to more than 30 years of conflict…. But amidst the suffering, we testify daily to God’s faithfulness, and we continue to put our trust in him, as the one who will ultimately bring about peace.” Click to read CMS’s full press release with more information from Martin.

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In late January 2025, M23 rebels took over the city of Goma, bringing death, destruction and hardship. But amid the suffering, the church has brought healing and is growing.

On the first anniversary of the invasion by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels into Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], Bishop Martin Gordon, the UK-born Anglican bishop of Goma, has spoken of the Christian awakening that has swept across his diocese, resulting in thousands of people putting their trust and hope in Jesus.

The invasion in late January 2025 left more than 3,000 people dead and another 700,000 displaced and also led to a spate of summary executions, a spike in sexual violence and kidnappings, and the closure of the banks, courts and airport. However, as Bishop Martin explains, God has been at work, often quietly but sometimes noisily, in and through the Church. He says, “There were parishes that we been unable to reach for three years, but this year we’ve been able to visit and encourage the people that they are not forgotten.”

He continued: “The suffering in Goma seems to have captured the attention of many in the Church globally, and we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of churches and individuals. As a result, when the situation was at its toughest, we were able to give a cash gift to each of our staff and clergy and even our teachers who hadn’t been paid for six months because of the closure of the banks. And again, at Christmas we blessed 200 families with a gift of a chicken and a sack of rice to celebrate.”

Bishop Martin went on to explain that not only were the churches a source of peace and practical succour but there was also a spiritual hunger emerging. He explained, “The Church is the one institution that is still trusted in DRC. It is at the heart of every village and community. When war came, people looked to the churches for every kind of help, as well as for hope. They were used as shelters, as distribution centres and we saw an increased attendance in many of our parishes that were not displaced. Those who didn’t usually attend started coming for prayer. Those who were more sporadic started attending more regularly.

“We’ve seen people hungrier than ever for the basic truths of the Christian faith and as I’ve been doing the rounds of the churches in the Archdeaconry of Goma, we are seeing a greater number of candidates for baptism and confirmation. And the church attendance figures show that the archdeaconry had doubled in size numerically in 2025, with 250 being confirmed in October and November. In our summer missions in secondary schools, over 6,000 children gathered to hear about Jesus and more than 1,000 put their trust in him.”

In Kibumba, a town in the territory of Nyiragongo just north of Goma, the diocese had long fostered plans to plant a church but were thwarted by the fact the town lay on the frontline between the M23 factions and government forces.

Bishop Martin explained what happened next: “We already had a school there, which struggled to function, but recent events have meant that getting around is actually easier. So, we bought a plot of land in October. Then in December, within the space of a 10 days we appointed an evangelist, built a 12m x 8m wooden church with the generosity of a UK parish, and held a two-day evangelism campaign which was attended by over four thousand people, with nearly 900 became Christians.

“Now there is the small matter of follow-up, but the following Sunday the church was full, and they had to borrow chairs from the neighbour to give everyone a seat. This is a Kinyarwanda speaking area and we have just finished translating the catechism into the local language which will help disciple these new believers.”

In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, Bishop Martin helped to launch the Goma Call for Peace, a nearly 500,000 strong global petition, supported by the Anglican Communion, that helped to raise the plight of the Congolese and call on the international community to intervene.

Bishop Martin concluded, “Times are incredibly hard in Goma right now. The 2025 invasion adds one more layer of trauma to more than 30 years of conflict. And many still struggle to make ends meet. But amidst the suffering, we testify daily to God’s faithfulness, and we continue to put our trust in him, as the one who will ultimately bring about peace.”

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DR Congo and Tanzania: empowering women

This week, Kelly from The Graceful Warrior Project visited CMS House and shared about the project’s work of empowering women through local and indigenous leadership and building women and girls up through teaching spiritual, physical, intellectual and financial self-defence. She shared stories about the struggles to keep children and staff safe amid conflict in the DR Congo. Please pray for wisdom for The Graceful Warrior Project team to discern the best way to protect vulnerable children against violence and to expand their work to help more people in need.

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DR Congo: peace at Christmas

CMS-Africa asks for prayer for lasting peace and stability in the eastern provinces of DRC, where communities continue to experience insecurity and displacement, especially in the province of Ituri. As December has often been marked by conflict, pray that people may celebrate Jesus’ birth in peace this year.

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DR Congo: schools in the Diocese of Goma

Mission partner Martin Gordon asks for prayer for schools across the (vast) Diocese of Goma. Education is a core part of the diocese’s ministry, and the diocese runs over 100 schools with more than 25,000 students. Give thanks that the diocese has been able to rebuild several schools that had been hit by bombs or otherwise damaged due to the ongoing conflict. Pray for continued improvements to the education system in the diocese and for the diocese’s provision of education to be a witness to God’s unconditional love.

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Over 6,000 school children and others heard the gospel, and well over 1,000 responded in faith, in Goma during a recent evangelism week.

Fourteen of these new believers have since taken the step of baptism, and 72 believers have been confirmed. Some people are talking of a spiritual awakening in Goma!

This news is particularly encouraging when viewed against the backdrop of the situation in Goma over the past several months.

After M23 rebels took control of the city in January 2025, many people saw friends and relatives killed in front of them and thousands of people fled Goma.

Many months later, violence has decreased and the rebels remain in control.

The streets are nearly empty, businesses are struggling and banks and courts remain closed.

According to mission partner Martin Gordon, Bishop of Goma, the Church is seen by many as the one remaining institution that they can still trust.

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DR Congo: peace and a growing church

Martin Gordon, Bishop of Goma, writes that in Walikale, the archdeaconry in the forest, the church is growing rapidly. Praise God for this growth. Pray for Jesus-followers in Walikale and across the whole of the Diocese of Goma to continue to grow in their faith through discipleship as well as in number. Martin also asks for prayer for peace: “The population is losing hope, and the situation is volatile.”

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