East Congo

Chantal Naweza (left) weeds a community garden in the Ubwari region of eastern Congo. A project of The United Methodist Church, the community field fosters peaceful cohabitation and enables local community members to cope with economic problems. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

Church expands peace initiatives in Congo

The United Methodist Church is using a multidimensional approach, including community-based agricultural initiatives, to combat interethnic conflict in the Eastern Congo Episcopal Area.

Disaster Relief

Women wait for vegetable oil at the Malicha internally displaced camp in Fizi, Congo. The United Methodist Church distributed 74 tons of supplies to survivors of two fires that ravaged the camp in August and October. The aid included rice, corn flour, salt, sugar, beans, soap, toothbrushes and more. Photo courtesy of the East Congo Episcopal Area disaster management office.

Church helps survivors of fire in Congo

The United Methodist Church has provided food and other supplies to 5,000 survivors of two fires that ravaged a camp for displaced people.

Social Concerns

Jean Tshomba demonstrates the procedure for voting during an educational program at Victor Wetchi United Methodist Church in the Kibombo District in Congo. Tshomba is coordinator of the local disaster management office. Financial support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief helped fund a program to prevent election-related violence. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

Church strives to avert election conflicts in Congo

Through funding from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the church in Congo focused on preventing violence and hate speech before, during and after elections.

Violence

In this file photo, lay leaders and clergy at the Kivu Annual Conference in Goma, Congo, participate in a memorial service for those who died following violence in Eastern Congo in 2023. Local authorities say rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces killed at least 13 civilians, including the president of Komanda United Methodist Church’s women’s organization, in a Feb. 17-18 attack in the Ituri province. July 2023 photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

United Methodists killed in Congo attack

According to the superintendent of the Beni District, a faithful United Methodist woman and two of her children were among at least 13 people killed during the latest violence in the village of Komanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now