Inspirational stories

This weekend at St Johns Seven Kings we have been hosting Bisoke Balikenga, Provincial Youth and Children's Work Co-ordinator for the Anglican Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is Bisoke's second visit to St John's, as he came once before as part of a youth team brought by our CMS Mission Partner, Judy Acheson. His story since that time, as told in a 2007 article from CMS, is an inspirational one of making an impact in the community by helping young people to thrive in spite of the difficulties brought on by years of war in the DRC:

"Back in 1989 youth ministry in the Diocese of Boga was launched in Bunia. CMS mission partner Judy Acheson was serving as Co–ordinator at the time and was instrumental in the starting of the youth ministry, which was called ‘Agape’. It became a model that was replicated in other dioceses in the DRC.

In 1999, Bisoke Balikenga and his wife Furaha received CMS scholarships to study at Daystar University in Nairobi while the youth ministry in Boga Diocese remained in the hands of other capable leaders such as Jijika Kambonesa. By this time Judy was the Provincial Co–ordinator of Agape. So, although Balikenga and Furaha were away for four–and–a–half years, the youth ministry grew rapidly and it touched many young people’s lives.

Fresh from training, the couple brought in new expertise that helped to sustain the work and to create strategies for further growth, and made all the difference. Balikenga’s qualifications are in Business Administration and Management, and Peace and Reconciliation. Furaha majored in Accounting and also took Community Development.

“First of all, my mind has been opened and I have no fear of making any change in this world, especially in our church. I know how to manage the youth and how to meet their expectations and those of adults. I also know how to reconcile people and how to build peace among people,” says Balikenga.

For Furaha, the many needs of women in her community were among the issues at the forefront of her plans following her training. “In Ituri, only five per cent of women have been to primary school, and only one per cent of them have gone to secondary school. My vision is to help the women to learn how to read and write, and to encourage those who want to study, so they’re not seen as just housewives, cooks or mothers. They have to contribute to the development of our society in other ways too,” Furaha says.

Her activities involve encouraging women to gain literacy skills and to start small businesses. She also teaches women how to manage and plan for their homes as well as teach their children God’s word.

The youth ministry has experienced tremendous growth in the various areas of its operation. The evangelism programme reaches out to young people with the Gospel. During holidays there is a programme for the youth that helps to keep them active and to behave responsibly.
There’s also a team, which runs Peace and Reconciliation seminars to help to bring about healing from ethnic clashes and civil strife.

In the Development Section the youth are taught life skills and to start projects and co–operatives in their villages. There’s an agricultural centre, which provides seeds and seedlings. A trainer gives instructions on how to grow them. The centre is also used to give the numerous people raped in the war a new lease on life. They are given seeds to plant, taught God’s word and how to interpret the Bible as well as to read and write.

The youth ministry also runs the “Girl Hope Centre” in Bunia, where 176 women and girls come four times a week to learn various skills including knitting, sewing, reading and writing. It is a trauma–healing centre, which caters for people who suffered greatly in the war: some lost all their property; some were raped; and others received no education.

In the Community Health Section, the youth receive training on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Blood testing is provided so people can know their serostatus. They are taught nutrition and how to take care of their bodies.

Balikenga and Furaha started Hope for Orphan Children in Ituri (HOCI) in 2005 to respond to the problem of parentless children in the Ituri Province, where the town of Bunia is located.
Money was raised to purchase the buildings that now house the ministry. The centre is called “Bunia Children Hope Centre”.

The project aims to help children who are victims of civil war, ethnic killings and HIV/AIDS.
Over 100 children who come to the centre do not have any extended family. They rely on the centre to meet their physical, social and spiritual needs. They do not stay at the centre. Local people have taken them into their homes, providing them with overnight shelter and an evening meal. The centre provides porridge at midday.

Many host families are very poor and unable to feed an extra child. At one point, a local farmers’ association agreed to provide each host family with 10 kg of rice and 5 kg of beans for each orphan once a month, but that service ended in June 2006.

Approximately 200 other children take part in some of the weekend programming, particularly the spiritual–growth and HIV/AIDS training. Funds are limited so most of the HOCI staff do not receive pay. The teachers and counsellors are given a small amount of money to buy soap and sugar each month. They agreed to start work on a voluntary basis on the understanding that the centre would start paying them when funds became available. In the face of such challenges, children and adults alike have learned to look to God for their every need."

Although some of the programmes run by the Agape Youth Department in the Diocese of Boga have changed since that article was written in 2007, as a result of changes to funding, St Johns Seven Kings has continued to fund a post in the Agape Youth Department throughout. Bisoke meanwhile has been appointed as Judy Acheson's successor at Provincial Youth and Children's Work Co-ordinator and has become a CMS Mission Partner through the Timothy Fund, which supports local mission partners who are talented servant leaders only lacking in financial support.

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Steeleye Span - Gaudete.