Give Me Kinshasa

A pastor’s prayers and labors for his city result in hundreds of new missionaries and thousands of baptisms.

In 2012, God called me to step down from my position as the local Mission Conference President to set up a faith-based ministry. I struggled for three years before saying “yes” to the call. During that time, God sent 16 missionaries from the United States to help me start Train Them 2 Fish. In 2015, after many prayers, I asked to be released from my conference position. 

I knew the Lord wanted me in Kinshasa, the largest and most populous French speaking city in the world. Among Kinshasa’s 14 million inhabitants, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is almost completely unknown. 

As John Knox prayed, “Lord, give me Scotland or I die,” I prayed, “Lord, give me Kinshasa. I want it to be the most reached French speaking city in the world—otherwise my life is meaningless.” I started training Bible workers, and the Lord provided funds to sponsor 20 full time workers in the city. Light Bearers accepted our request for a container of French Bible study guides. When it arrived, we trained 350 more lay Bible workers to be missionaries in their local areas. In one year, these missionaries distributed the whole container of Discover Bible study guides, Daniel and Revelation study guides, and other magazines. The next container arrived with 7,156 French Bibles and millions of Bible study guides. God was answering our prayers to reach Kinshasa. 

Our team decided to set up 70 sites we called Bible study centers. Bible workers went door to door inviting people for Bible studies. Six thousand people registered, among them parliament members, senators, cabinet members, pastors, military officers, business people, university students, street children and common people. We erected tents to house our centers, and people from all classes began the series of 26 Bible studies. We planned to have a huge graduation program in a stadium when they finished.

The Covid-19 crisis stopped the graduation program, but it did not stop people from visiting the tents for Bible studies. We handed out 30,000 reusable masks, telling people that we had masks to protect them against the coronavirus and Bible studies to protect them against the deadly virus of sin.

Five thousand people completed the 26 lessons. Each graduate—among them hundreds of members of the parliament, senate, and cabinet—received a completion certificate and their own free Bible. Thousands of people were baptized in Kinshasa after the graduation. The local churches have been receiving new members every single Sabbath. On the military base, we baptized at least 10 officers, who have since asked the conference to organize an evangelistic campaign and build a church on the base.

After graduation, the people asked us to keep the tents up so that they could continue to study the Bible. We organized three levels for continuing studies: the initial 26 lessons, then a Daniel study program and finally a Revelation study. Over the next five years, we plan to increase the number of Bible study centers from 70 to 200. We have even extended the program to seven surrounding cities, including Brazzaville, the major city of our neighboring country of the Republic of Congo. With so much evangelism happening, we already need more containers of Bibles and Bible study guides!

Best yet, our new converts have already become missionaries. Swartz Kialanda, a Pentecostal pastor, was recently baptized with his family and a few of his church members. Now they have joined our literature distribution team, sharing the truth in their community!  


Location
Democratic Republic of Congo

Author
Pastor Thomas Ongasa is the president of Train Them 2 Fish, a ministry focused on bringing the everlasting gospel to Central Africa.

How You Can Help
Pray for the Train Them 2 Fish team as they train Bible workers to penetrate the dark regions of the Congo. Pray that the 14 million people of Kinshasa will respond to the everlasting gospel. 

Give. If you would like to help reach souls in the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond, mark your donation “Congo Evangelism” and send it to: 

Mission Projects International 
PO Box 151 
Inchelium, WA 99138

To give online, visit: 
www.missionspro.org/donate

Leave a Reply