Reverend Mutabazi Kamutera Seraphin, 17th Episcopal District
Please do receive warm greetings from the African Methodist Episcopal Church – North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This period of nearly over a decade of service, answering the call of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), has been measurably and endlessly blessed. The Spirit has helped our different local churches to grow. We have witnessed a great advancement of God’s work in North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have won souls, ministered to the needy, and empowered and equipped men, women, and children with a convertible knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank and praise God for the souls added to our churches—new conversions and baptisms. We thank God also for the life and labor of those who have endured the hardships faced while serving the needy. The leadership of the Steward Board helped enhance the spirituality and stewardship in the church. The diligent work of the Trustees facilitated all the works we have been doing, from the work of painting the churches, providing chairs, musical instruments, finishing toilets, and much more. Organizational ministries, such as the Women’s Society Ministry, Young People’s Department, and Lay Organization, have met needs in their respective churches and surrounding communities.
We remain grateful to each congregation and to all those who gave support to the ministry all these years. We thank God for the incredible work of the Holy Ghost in restoring and replenishing the ministry in the North-Kivu, D.R. Congo. Bless His holy name.
EVANGELISM AND CHURCH GROWTH DEPARTMENT
In the true spirit of the AME Church Class Leader structure, we organized cells in churches urging each member to belong to a cell depending on where he or she lives. So, this approach helped us to reach hundreds of people wherever they are. Cell members meet two to three times a week; they organize visits and charity activities for nonbelievers. As a result, people have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When the number of people from the same cell increases, we study the feasibility of making it a church.
Also, by using the “Jesus Film” technics of Campus Crusade for Christ Ministry, this department showed this movie at least five times, and people received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Many local churches were started from these showings, and the clergy members stepped in for education, edification, and teaching.
Though our churches operate on rented properties, we have managed to build shelter for church members under the consent of the landowner.
So to advance the work of the Lord further, we ordained and appointed some servants of God to help spread the gospel around the world.
We organized some Gospel outings to Masisi Sud and Masisi Nord districts to strengthen the work of God
We set strategies to take care of the vulnerable (widows and orphans) in the church and in different communities through the contributions of church members. We did not reach to target orphans, widows, and destitute people successfully because the church members are jobless, and it is impossible to get some contributions.
Distribution of food and other items to internally displaced persons in Mugunga and Buhimba camps, and we visited different orphanages.
PROJECT & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
God has enabled us to create some schools though they are operating on rented properties with poor infrastructure and equipment.
Some of the schools are Marry Primary & Secondary School. These schools accommodate children from different poor and vulnerable families and children born as a result of sexual violence as well as unwanted pregnancies
HEALTH SECTOR
The African Methodist Episcopal Church – DRC has created a Health Center in Bukavu, South Kivu, to improve the financial situation of the church and to help the community with health services such as counselling and treatment, to name a couple, even though it operates under bad conditions, in an old building, and with outdated health equipment.
PARTNERSHIP WITH PAN AFRICAN COLLECTIVE – USA
The Project & Development Department has enabled the Church to partner with the Pan African Collective – USA to help implement some projects.
In July 2021, the AME Church – North Kivu spread the gospel by implementing a Food Distribution Project to victims of the May 22 volcano eruption, a project funded by the Pan African Collective – USA. The Church sympathized with the victims by offering rice, beans, water, cooking oil, soap, among other staples.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church – North Kivu will never forget this act of charity done by the Pan African Collective members and other contributors such as Bishop James L. Davis and the members of the 2nd Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for feeding these needy people. They put a smile on the faces of the beneficiaries. They have saved the lives of people both physically and psychologically.
AGRICULTURE & LIVESTOCK PROJECT
In partnership with the Pan African Collective, the African Methodist Episcopal Church – Goma, DRC created and implemented the Agriculture and Livestock Project for Vulnerable Returnees in the Masisi and Rutshuru territories. Cornerstone Trust – USA funded the project. Forty families, each of eight to ten members, have benefited from this project. Hence, in general, 320 to 400 lives have been impacted through this project. Additionally, each of the original 40 families is to give their first-born female livestock to another participant family that was not a part of the initial targeted group, which increases the impact to 640 to 800 lives. As each participant cohort repeats the action of passing the first-born, the impacted lives increase exponentially. The project aimed to improve the situations of the vulnerable returnees and their families, through which the beneficiaries received livestock and seeds, and they acquired new skills in cultivation and animal rearing techniques to augment their livelihood.
Repeated wars, young people forced to join rebel groups, increased orphans, abandoned children, sickness, displaced families, mass unemployment, poverty, no access to education or economic opportunities, and no constructive day-to-day engaging activities robbed vulnerable people of hope.
The Weaver School is in the Goma City, North Kivu Province, in the Eastern Congo. The school is under the legal authority of the Pan African Collective – USA. The school provides quality education to the most vulnerable children and orphans who could not get an opportunity to go to school. The AMEC – DRC volunteered to help the Pan African Collective purchase and distribute hand sanitizer and chlorinated water for the Weaver Primary and Secondary school to prevent Ebola.
PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN AME CHURCH – DRC & PAN AFRICAN COLLECTIVE
The partnership between AMEC – DRC and the Pan African Collective – USA has been essential in advancing the work of the Lord and the growth of the AMEC-DRC. It has allowed the African Methodist Episcopal Church – Congo to impact many people spiritually, economically, and in other ways. Countless souls have received Jesus Christ as their Savior thanks to this partnership. The partnership has benefited the church members and Goma communities in two contexts:
MEDICAL MISSION VISITS TO GOMA – DR CONGO
The African Methodist Episcopal Church – D.R. Congo has received the Pan African Collective for over a decade to impact church members and local communities through Medical Mission visits led by Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Weaver, President of the Pan African Collective – USA. The Mission included humanitarian activities, medical treatment activities, and gospel outreach to AME Churches in Goma.
Through humanitarian actions, the team could visit IDP camps (Mugunga and Buhimba IDP camps) where they provided displaced people with blankets, food items, soap, and water. They also provided humanitarian aid to the vulnerable AME Church members such as widows, orphans, the elderly, and the most destitute church members.
The medical team provided healthcare services to the church members, displaced people in Mugunga and Buhimba IDP camps, and church neighboring communities.
At the same time, the Medical Team organized gospel revival outreaches in all the AME churches in Goma – Congo, and in different public places in Goma city.
WEAVER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL – GOMA, DR CONGO
After noticing the impact of the AME Church on the local communities through the medical missions led by Pastor Jonathan Weaver, the Congolese local government suggested creating a school named “Weaver School” to expand the presence of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Congo and impact as many people as possible.
So, in September 2015, the school was established by the late Elder KAMUTERA KULU Salomon (May his soul rest in peace!) and Pastor Seraphin Mutabazi of the African Methodist Episcopal Church – Goma, DRC. The school was named after Rev. Jonathan Weaver, President of the Pan African Collective – USA, to honor his impact on countless lives of Congolese people during his evangelical, charitable, and medical missions in Goma, DRC.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church – Eastern Congo has experienced challenges since its beginning, starting from Late Elder Kamutera’s home to reaching far corners of the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the worst experience happened when Bishop Wilfred Messiah divided the church by creating his own Great Lakes Conference with our church members, such as the Rev. Bamba, who rebelled against the Church Leadership. For over a decade, no Bishop visited the church; no Bishop allowed us to send a report regarding the Church. As a result, we were left as orphans.
God sent the Rev. Jonathan Weaver and his medical team our way. He has always been there for us. He comforted us through his medical mission visits yearly. He has preached in all our AME Churches in Goma, organizing gospel crusades alongside AMEC pastors in Congo. Pastor Weaver’s yearly visits to the Congo have strengthened the church members’ faith, given hope to future generations of Congo, and contributed to the development of the Congo country. Despite all the struggles we have gone through, we thank God for being with us and leading us through all the troubles that the AME Church – DRC has experienced. We are proud and glad to be part of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and we hope to advance the work of God together.
Our hearts were full of joy after being informed that Bishop David R. Daniels is the new bishop of the 17th Episcopal District. We are praying for him, that God grant him godly wisdom as he carries out this great assignment. We hereby express our strong desire and eagerness to work under his leadership and submit all the church reports as required.
We hereby exclaim that doors are open for anyone who would like to partner with us in possibly one way or another as we start this new era with new Christian ventures to impact and build the Body of Christ. We welcome everyone to consider going along with us in vision and activity, so together we can reach the four corners of the world with the spreading of information on Jesus Christ, knowing that you will be rewarded by the Almighty God only (Matthew 28:18-20)
Editor’s Note: This article contains excerpts from a report submitted to Bishop David R. Daniels in February 2022 after a site visit by Dr. Jonathan Weaver.
