2025 Congo Mission Trip REPORT

That afternoon we returned to the United Soccer Stadium for the first night of the Freedom Festival. A couple thousand people attended. The stadium showed signs of deep wear and past violence, yet the worship was outstanding.

During one song, people lifted their chairs and danced with them overhead. African worship carries an uncommon freedom and abandon. I was called to speak and addressed the crowd in Swahili. I shared my testimony and presented the Gospel simply and clearly.

We prayed prayers of repentance, forgiveness, renouncing witchcraft, and prayed for the sick. People were healed, saved, and delivered. Though there were no wheelchairs or blind individuals present that night, the ministry was powerful and deeply personal.

Saturday morning we returned to Bishop Jean Marie’s office with prosthetic hands and demonstrated their use for hospital staff and M23 leadership. We then spoke at a gathering of nearly 500 pastors and their wives, teaching on unity and the power of the Ekklesia.

Each pastor received food supplies, and later that day we returned to the stadium. Worship was intense. Dale and Victoria preached powerfully. During Victoria’s message about family restoration, a man received a call that his son, kidnapped six months earlier, had been returned home.

Sunday morning I visited an orphanage of 75 children who had not eaten in days. Most had lost parents in the war. I prayed for them and gave funds directly to support their care.

I preached at Bishop Mutumba’s church, shifting my message mid-service to speak about hope as an anchor from Hebrews 6. Across the city, the rest of our team ministered in different churches, witnessing deliverance and salvation.

The final night of the Freedom Festival drew the largest crowd. Leaders prayed over the nation. I spoke about Goma’s destiny, reading Isaiah 61 once more. Justin followed with an altar call, and many responded.

We prayed for healing and deliverance. Tumors shrank. (L-cross out)——. Chronic pain and emotional torment disappeared. People were freed from witchcraft and restored in joy. As worship continued, the sun set over Goma, a wounded but hopeful city.

Monday we visited the Catholic Center for the Handicapped and fitted amputees with prosthetic hands. A young girl clapped and jumped with joy when she could write for the first time. Others wrote their names for the first time in years.

We returned to Rwanda, visited the well my wife Jenny had helped fund, now supplying clean water to 100 families daily. Plans are underway to expand access to another community of 1,500 families.

We are currently raising funds for installing 6 water wells to get fresh water to thousands of people. We are meeting with the CEO of a notable American bank regarding banking in Goma. We are meeting with a man who has revolutionized poultry farming in several African nations and is reducing poverty in significant and measurable ways. As the trip concluded, we reflected on next steps. This was not an ending, but a beginning. It is a new day in the Congo.