Congo Peace Updates

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We will add events to this page as they are scheduled. Please check back often!

FEATURED EVENT:

Winter/Spring 2024

• Spring Donation Appeal - help us open New Hope Academy! learn more

Summer 2024

• Stay tuned to see what we're cooking up!

Fall/Winter 2024

• Spirit of Congo Annual Fundraiser Dinner:  October 12, 2024, tickets available www.congopeace.eventbrite.com 
• Mission Fest 2024:  TBD
• Giving Tuesday - National Day of Giving:  Dec 3rd  

ALEXIS RUHUMURIZAMy name is Alexis Ruhumuriza and I was born in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. I moved to Rwanda in 1995. I have three brothers and 4 sisters. I am a Rwandan citizen. I attended Kigali institute of Management from 2007 to 2012 and received my degree in Financial Management.

I married my wife, Chantal, in 2011. She became my answer to prayer, the woman I asked God for. Since we married she has very much been involved in all my work. We have four children - two girls and two boys.

When I was a very young teen, I left East Congo for Rwanda and went to live with my uncle in Kigali and attended school there. I put the Congo out of my mind. I wanted to forget the violence, the conflict, the feeling of not belonging, and the fear that came from never knowing what the next day might bring.

When I was 17 years old I heard God’s voice to take his gospel to the street children and orphans of Rwanda. As these relationships grew, the children responded to the Good News from our God. Then I founded the “Rwanda Faith Academy“. The school now has 1506 children and 22 staff who teach these children and help them to know God.

While I was in Rwanda, I served as my Pastor’s advisor and assistant in the Assemblies of God church. I was also in charge of the financial department of the church from 2010 to 2015. I was also Coordinator for the Arise and Shine Network, founded by Jean McAllister, from 2013 to 2015. Arise and Shine was a network of 8 non-profit organizations that worked on the same projects together. I came to know Jean when she moved to Rwanda to live and work as a missionary from BelPres. From the beginning, I was deeply moved and impressed by her heart. Then she became my mom and my advisor in most everything in my life. Jean connected me with Pastor Rich Leatherberry and BelPres in 2006. 

In August 2015, I was forced to leave Rwanda with my family and came to the USA as a refugee. I was very discouraged and didn’t know what next steps to take. But God was with me in all the difficulties I faced in my new life in Seattle. Then he spoke to me about my next step and said in a clear voice, “Alexis, you will be a pastor.“ I learned that God never gives up his promise. Since then, I have become a member of BelPres and am deeply moved and impressed by Pastor Scott Dudley. He has blessed me very much in my new journey as Pastor of New Hope Revival to learn from the wonderful gift of love BelPres has. And the leadership at BelPres is also very excited to learn from New Hope Revival.

In 2018, I had another vision after having a conversation with fellow BelPres member Tim Cooke. We both wanted to help the elderly and their families in the community and to provide job opportunities to the underemployed allowing them to advance into the vision God has for their lives. Together we opened Agape InHome Care.

In 2018 the Congo connection that I had tried to put out of my mind when I left returned when renewed violence in East Congo became a daily reminder. My East African community at New Hope Revival was suffering . I was hearing firsthand accounts of violence from my sister who had lost her husband to illness and was now struggling to feed her five children. Villages were being burned, cattle stolen, people killed and women raped. That is when God called me to the Congo Peace ministry to bring justice and love to all people.

I believe nothing is impossible with God. My faith is greater than my fear.

Congo Peace focuses on these main priorities:

Reconciliation

Jesus teaches the message of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation in the Bible. The Congo-based, multi-tribal team shares this message with all the tribes in the community. They teach the Gospel of loving your neighbor and offer opportunities for each tribe to live, learn, work and play together with others. Through these efforts, we pray that the hostile tribes will forgive one another, reconcile, and unite in one community.

Vocational Training and a Sustainable Future

The Minembwe region, along with the entire South Kivu province, is a multi-tribal community that has lost so much – lives, homes, livestock, etc. Minembwe has little existing infrastructure and opportunities for training and work are limited. Our goal is to provide the tools they need to recover from the damage they have suffered so that they can rebuild their community and provide for themselves, trusting in their future to be safe and healthy. The goal is to provide the tools they need to recover from the damage they have suffered so that they can rebuild their community and provide for themselves, trusting in their future to be safe and healthy.

Community Center in Minembwe

A community hall was completed in June 2022 to provide a common space for gathering, worshipping, and learning. The center is built on land donated by the Minembwe community leaders in anticipation of having a common gathering place. In addition, the center is temporarily providing shelter to 50 orphans and vocational training for nearly 100 widows and men.

Vocational School and Training Center in Bukavu

Construction of a vocational school and educational center is underway which will provide a one-year residential training program where young people from warring tribes can live together and learn entrepreneurial skills, vocational training, and agricultural education in an atmosphere of reconciliation. A residential education center will be built in Bukavu to provide vocational training to young men and women from the area so that they can return to their homeland with opportunities for a sustainable future. This location was chosen because Minembwe is currently too dangerous and the area is quite remote making it a cost-prohibitive place to build.

Emergency Relief

When people are starving and living without basic needs, it is hard to focus on forgiveness and reconciliation.  Therefore, we have provided emergency food and nutritional supplements to people in several villages, with special emphasis on children and pregnant and nursing mothers.  We are also providing exciting opportunities for tribes to plant crops together, sowing the seed and harvesting the crops with one another, and then sharing equally in the harvest.

Food security and undernourishment are daily challenges of villagers affected by ongoing violence and persecution. People work side by side with different tribes to plant crops that will help feed their families for years to come.

All tribes are treated equally, openly, and fairly in the reconciliation work to heal those impacted by decades of violence and turmoil. Our approach is uniquely different in several ways. We are helping to bring  peace to the different tribes in conflict by providing for each tribe equally, while creating new channels for communication  and understanding.

We partner with a team of committed Congolese leaders on the ground, led by Pastor Joseph Harera, to bring the hostile tribes together to heal and reconcile so that they can live, learn, work, worship, and thrive in Christian community. Their team is made up of individuals from each of the tribes. They reach out to local chiefs, pastors, and other community leaders to bring people together to hear God’s message of love and healing through forgiveness and reconciliation. Pastor Harera reports that “people are excited, as this is the first time anyone has approached them with a vision that treats all tribes the same and promotes acceptance and forgiveness between tribes.”

The approach is unique in that where other non-governmental organizations have focused exclusively on individual tribes, we focus on all affected tribes.  When support is not delivered equitably among the tribes, whether from a lack of resources, inadequate local connections or inability to drive a consistent program, the result has led to increased competition for help and a distrust of neighboring tribes and of those providing relief.

In our first years, the Congolese team on the ground in Minembwe achieved many successes despite setbacks and challenges from continued violence and conflict by rebel militias with inadequate intervention from the DRC government. Homes have been burned, property stolen, lives lost, and injuries sustained. Children and adults suffer from malnutrition.

We are so thankful for the many blessings we have received so far in our ministry and the amazing results of our multi-tribal Congolese team. We are grateful for the Holy Spirit-inspired generosity of our many kind donors in the USA which have helped make this possible.

Highlights of Congo Peace's success to date (January 2021 – May 2024)

• 17,943 people in 22 villages visited with the message of reconciliation
• 45,000 people in area reached by weekly radio program focusing on reconciliation
• 18,104 individuals received food
• 1,105 young children, pregnant and nursing women treated for kwashiorkor (severe malnutrition)
• 50 orphans rescued receiving nutrition, shelter, schooling and care in home settings
• 7,308 pounds of beans, sweet potatoes, and Irish potatoes planted then harvested through the cooperative effort of diverse tribes
• Covid prevention teaching to 3,532 students in schools and 1,752 adults through 11 local churches
• Nearly 150 people have been employed in construction projects
• 2 Facilities built:  Community Center in Minembwe and the first phase of New Hope Academy Vocational Center  near Bukavu
• 14.5 acres of land now owned by NHRC in DRC:  12 acres in Minembwe donated by community leaders, 2.5 acres purchased in Kavumu near Bukavu for the vocational training center
• 18 large community gatherings, celebrations and intertribal athletic events held
• Met with 9 DRC-based community organizations to establish partnerships 
• 8 womens co-ops with 96 women and 4 youth co-ops with 40 young people launched and operating
• Church rebuilt for multi-tribal congregation

Our Mission

Congo Peace's mission is to break the chronic cycle of poverty, violence and tribal animosity in the Minembwe region of the DRC by assisting all tribes equally. We provide initial emergency support, and teach vocational and entrepreneurial skills to foster economic opportunity and stability, guided by Christ's reconciling love.

Learn together. Live together.

Our goal is to create a confident new generation of capable leaders with the skills and desire to unify the tribes with a common purpose – prosperity and peace.

Our Vision

Our vision for Minembwe and beyond is filled with hope!

We support the creation of a God-filled place where people will live, work, and play together as they learn to forgive and reconcile after decades of tribal conflict.

We support establishing a stable future where people are healthy and safe, and find hope for a sustainable livelihood through training, education, and humanitarian aid.

We strive to support a unified homeland where people live and flourish in Christian harmony and fellowship where displaced persons can return.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).

Congo Peace, formerly New Hope Congo, is a non-profit 501c3 charity (EIN 88-1555991). Your information is secure using our PayPal donation page. After visiting the donation page you will be returned to this website and donors will receive a receipt with our Tax ID information.

We promise to manage your funds faithfully and in accordance with our mission. Thank you for your generosity.

Thank you for your support.

The need is great. Your donation can make a big impact!

Here are some other ways you can help too!

• Pray
• Advocate
• Volunteer 

Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn how to become a volunteer and join our Congo Peace Prayer Group. We look forward to hearing from you!