From December 27th, 2011, to January 5th, 2012, a team of three were on the ground in Congo, visiting a village and its people that Port City has established a relationship with, and building upon the work of previous teams who have provided youth-leadership training in this area. Below, one team member shares his experience:

Congo is very different from America.

People have very little money. There are no traffic lights. They speak Swahili. Mosquitoes carry malaria. Everyone walks. Gasoline is sold in water bottles.  Obesity is abnormal. War, death, and rape are common.

But Congo is very much the same as America.

They have the same needs as we do. When they need food, they go to the market. When they are sick, they go to the pharmacy. To learn, children go to school. To make money, parents work.  On Sundays they go to church and worship the Lord.

I had never been to Africa. I had never even been out of the United States.

I went to Congo knowing very little about their culture and knowing even less of their Swahili language.  As I began my first Congolese worship experience, I did not recognize any Swahili words, but I did recognize one thing: God’s presence.

While in Congo, I was not overwhelmed by the poverty… or the mud… or even the smells. The thing that overwhelmed me was God’s presence in the midst of all those other distractions. Whether it was during worship, or prayer, or playing with little Congolese children, God’s presence was felt, and His voice spoke very loudly.

I realized that a person who has the Lord’s presence and listens to His voice is the richest person in the world. When we went to churches and taught, we were not speaking to poor Congolese people, but rather we were speaking to princes and princesses in the kingdom of God. We cherish the prayers and the blessings that our new family poured out onto us.

On January 2nd, we were supposed to be going to the prison to take them food and clothes. However, on New Year’s Day there was a riot, leaving eight prisoners dead. Instead of going to the prison, we went to a feeding center on the outskirts of the city of Bukavu. We had enjoyed our time teaching in the churches, but for our team, this was our favorite day.

We were finally out amidst the people of Bukavu. As we hiked to the feeding center, children from the neighborhood gathered around the funny looking “mzungus” (white people). When we got to the feeding center, we were able to help construct the new school room and help with the preparation of the food for the children.

For about 30 of the children, this was the only meal that they got for the day. Some of the children were even taking care of their little brother or sister, carrying them around and feeding them. Yet, regardless of these circumstances, these children still carried extreme joy with them. They would play games with us and laugh at our silly attempts to speak Swahili.

Though our team was greatly blessed by the children, we were also blessed to see how the youth leaders of the church were impacted and how they served their city. They spoke to us about how they were impacted by our teachings and the love that we showed to them. We were able to see how the youth leaders worked together to build the classroom at the feeding center. The day before we left, a large group of the youth leaders actually went to the prison!  Even though it had only been two days after the riot and the murders, they went in and served the prisoners with extreme love and courage.

I wish that I had more time in Congo to learn the language, to learn the culture, and to know the people. It was an incredible experience that had me yearning to see more of God’s handiwork throughout the rest of the world. It was worth the time and the money to catch a glimpse of God’s love for the people of Congo.

—Submitted by John Longshore

In January 2011, Rachael Parker and Jessica Mills departed from their team after a short-term mission to Kenya in December, and traveled west to the Democratic Republic of Congo.  There, the two of them began a new mission, picking back up on a work that began with a PC3 team in May 2010, in which they had both participated.  Upon their return to the States, the missions staff at PC3 interviewed these two women about their experience in Congo this time around, posted below.  For more information about Port City’s involvement in Congo, visit congo.portcitychurch.org.

PC3: What work was begun in Congo in May 2010, and how did that lead to the two of you returning in January 2011?

Rachael Parker: In May of 2010, Jessica Mills and myself were on a short0term mission team of nine who went to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to host a leadership conference with 60 of the youth leaders from the church we are partnered with there in Bukavu.  When the team returned, Jessica and I decided to go with a different team to Kenya that December, to host an annual youth conference, and since we were going there, we decided to investigate if we could go back to Bukavu to continue training some of the youth leaders.  It all just kind of panned out for us, and we decided that we’d do both: go to Kenya and then on to Congo.

Jessica Mills: The main idea we wanted to present [back in May] was the idea of small groups getting together to discuss what they were learning from God both inside Sunday church and all throughout the week. Our hopes were that they would be more comfortable coming together in honesty and depending on one another for encouragement. We had such a great connection with and response from the participants that as soon as we got back to the States, our hearts were already stirring on how we could get back and continue to build relationships.

PC3: What was your main focus this time, and how did that differ — or expand on — the work of your team back in May?

JM: Our main focus this time was to build upon the lessons that we had given the time before. The two main differences were that, one, we wanted to meet with a smaller, more intimate group.  We decided to get a list of all the participants from May who truly took the information back to their churches and united with the people to grow. The second main difference is that we this time we decided it would be best to actually get out in the community and serve alongside the participants. We basically put the teachings in action!

RP: We began exploring our teaching options early on and really felt a push to help the youth leaders dig deeper into discipleship.  PC3 had just come off of a series called R.E.A.L, and it was really from that series that we began to draw our teaching topics.  We felt that the church in Bukavu needed to understand how to become fully engaged with the mission of God and His purposes for them in Bukavu, and we wanted them to begin owning the mission of their Church.

PC3: What did you see in the way of progress and implementation among the people in Congo you worked with from that mission to this one?

JM: It was really great to see how small groups had formed in different churches after our last visit. Also, the first time we went it took a little bit of time to get them to really open up and be vocal in small groups. This visit we spent the entire time in a small-group setting, and from the very start they were speaking up and getting involved with the teachings. It was so incredibly encouraging to see how God truly had been at work amongst the people of the church.

RP: We felt it was necessary to capitalize on the forward momentum that had been created from the May team, so we wanted to further engage the people who were already making impact in their churches.

PC3: What surprised you on this mission?

JM: It probably doesn’t sound great to admit this, but if I am being totally honest: God’s ability to use us so perfectly in the way He had planned. On day two of this mission, I literally could feel a point when Rachael and I just completely surrendered it to God. We truly just approached Him saying, “We are all yours. We prepared the best we could, and now we trust you with the rest. Lead us.”  And He really did.  On the last day, they had to give presentations to their pastors about what they learned. As the first person got up and began to tell how she was impacted, I literally had tears in my eyes. I was listening to her speak, but in my heart I knew God was saying, you came by my wishes and you acted by my Spirit, and I have now used you exactly according to my will. When we got on the plane to leave, I honestly could say I left without one regret. It was a peace of His provision that never ceases to surprise me.

RP: The most surprising thing about this mission, to me, was the knowledge we were able to convey to them.

When we first went to Congo in May, we came back with this understanding that for these past four to five years of relative peace the city has seen, there has been an enormous influx of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have brought with them tons of foreign aid, food, programs, etc.  They dumped millions of dollars worth of relief efforts into this country but really left the people dependent on that aid.  They were feeding the people but not teaching them how to fish, so to speak.

We knew that this phenomenon was really plaguing the people in this city, and we also knew that no amount of money would ever really fix any of their problems.  The real thing that would change their communities, their families and their children’s future was the love of Christ.  That can can seam so trite sometimes, but the reality is that is exactly what they needed.

So when we first charged them with that—serving people and loving people biblically, the way Christ has called us to love people—they were stunned.  They kind of just stared at us blankly.  I remember Fiston, our translator and one of the main youth leaders in the churh, turning to us and saying, “You know these ideas that you are teaching us are so new.”  It stunned me that that idea had never crossed their minds!  I knew it was a possibility, but it almost seamed to be stating the obvious.  We wanted to make sure they understood exactly what we were telling them to do, so that Saturday we spent our day at a local feeding center that is sponsored by the church.  We wanted to show them that through service they would be able to leverage their resources (their time in particular) without using money!  With nothing more than their knowledge of how to cook, how to fetch water, how to play games and sing songs, they would literally begin transforming the youth of their nation.

PC3: What specific moments would you say were the breaking points of this mission, the times when you could “see it all coming together”?

RP: Yeah, that Saturday at the feeding center is really what began to solidify our time there.  When we got back from the feeding center, Jessica and I really felt this wave of peace and joy because while we were there we saw so many of the 15 leaders engage in what we were trying to help them understand.  It really was the grace of God that they were able to take a situation of question and doubt in their minds and say, “OK, we’ll trust you enough to try this.”

JM: The day we went out in the community, we were just able to see them really embrace the idea of serving others simply through time and love. They really engaged with the children at the feeding center. Some were playing with the kids, while others were chopping vegetables, and some were fetching water. It was breathtaking to watch the group come together as one and use their individual gifts to collectively love their community.

PC3: What was particularly hard for you about this mission?

RP: It was, to us, an incredibly long time to be gone, and the days were very long, but the spiritual renewal we both received from being in Kenya and Congo was such a blessing to us.  It’s so hard to feel detached from home when we’re here in our routine, so when you can break away from that normalcy, you really have the opportunity to lean into the Spirit and fully engage Him for life.  Being gone can really offer some extended time of renewing and invigorating that movement of the Holy Spirit in your life that we may not otherwise have here at home.  There has certainly, for me at least, always been a spiritual growth spurt in my walk any time I’ve ever gone on a mission.

JM: It was hard, for me, coming from Kenya where you could communicate with almost anyone without a translator. You just want so badly to go up and start a conversation [with people in Congo] and just love on them. God really stretches me in the situations when I can’t do that. Instead I have to trust Him to love on them through me even when words can’t be spoken and understood freely.

PC3: What is/are the major things you felt God taught you from your time in Congo?

RP: The biggest thing I took away from both my time in Kenya and in Congo was one simple thing: That it’s not about me.  I wanted to feel used and to feel that I was making an impact, but God graciously reminds us that true service, true love, isn’t ever about how we feel.  The feeling is secondary to the response.  We can’t love anyone like Christ loves outside of the Holy Spirit’s out pouring in our lives.  I forget that too often.  I try to love people out of my own understanding of what they need.  I try to do it on my own effort, and that produces a weak love that is easily broken by frustration.  The greatest reminder of my weak love is the presence and moving of the Spirit in my daily life.

JM: One thing I really came to realize is that while there are many differences between our culture and theirs, between our people and theirs, the needs of our hearts are the same. Many of the struggles of identity, value and love are the same, even though on the surface the may not appear so. Everywhere in the world people think money is the solution, but really if this were so, nowhere would have the problems we all face.

PC3: What can be learned from the Congolese? On the other hand, what gaps still need to be filled?

JM: We can learn to smile. When they see you, instantly just a warmth of welcome comes over their faces. Or when you do the smallest act of kindness, gratitude lights up their faces. They really love, and it is written all over their faces.

I think the gap is still just the idea that money is the solution.

PC3: What are some things that people can pray for about Congo and its people?

RP: Pray that they will be in love with Jesus more than anything.  Pray for a continued revolution of the youth in the churches in Bukavu.  Pray that they will continue to serve and love on the people in their communities.

—Submitted by Rachael Parker and Jessica Mills

I’ve been overseas before, but I’ve never been to a place quite like this. Going to the Democratic Republic of Congo (or the “DRC”) was unlike any mission I’ve ever been on. It had been almost two years since my last mission to Kenya. As our team prepared to go to the DRC, I anticipated so much of the same as I had previously experienced. It completely caught me off guard to walk into the country and be surrounded by an Africa I did not know.

My love for Congo started after watching Congocast (www.congocast.org) and working with the Congocast team in 2008-2009. I had come to know the affliction the Congolese people felt through the eyes of the Congocast episodes, and I knew, long before I’d ever have a chance to go, that I would one day be there. What I didn’t know was that I’d be going there twice in the same year! Our team spent the several months leading up to our leave date preparing, packing, and talking through and organizing our days on the ground. Honestly, we had no idea what we were preparing for, who we were preparing for, or even what to expect. By PC3 standards our team was small—only nine: three men and six women.

Our journey to Congo wasn’t an easy one. I knew from the very first day, when our flight got canceled and pushed back to the next day, that this was going to be a mission like I’d never experienced. When we gathered together the morning we were to leave, one of our team members was sick and wasn’t at all sure she was going to be able to make it—or if it was the best idea for her to go. It was misty and cool for the month of May as we set off on the drive to Raleigh with our nine people and 18 bags (not counting our carry-ons). From Raleigh we flew to D.C. We were kept in anticipation during our nine-hour layover, as Erin decided whether or not she would go. I told you, a mission like no other. The first rule of missions kicked in before we ever set foot in Congo: Be flexible! We boarded the flight to Ethiopia and immediately got kicked into pre-mission mode: sleeping, followed by eating, followed by not being able to sleep because of the screaming 7-year-old sitting behind us, followed by more eating, followed by sleeping (or not—depending on your ability to blur out the loud child screaming). When we arrived in Ethiopia, we were to spend the night in the city due to the rescheduled flights. All I could think was, I know this place is safe, but Ethiopia is still Africa, and anything can happen in Africa! We got to our hotel, got acquainted with our stiff beds and hot showers, but I still couldn’t relax. Six hours later we were up, waiting (again: flexibility, people, flexibility) for our van to come take us to the airport. Then on to Rwanda, only a few more hours of flight and then a six-hour bus ride through the 1,000 hills of the Rwandan countryside! After finally making it to the border town, a quick dinner and discussion with Bishop, and finalizing our plans for the next morning, we made our way to our beds.

The next morning we finally made it across the border. We had arrived. This was it! I’d been waiting for it to feel like I was being welcomed home again, but the feeling never came. Not because the people weren’t amazing or welcoming, but because I had anticipated Kenya, and this was Congo. I’d never been in a country where so many people didn’t speak English. I’d never been in a place where you had to walk across the border between countries. I’d never been to a place that had seen the affects of almost 20 years of war. That’s because I’d never been here before. I was amazed. It felt like it was the first time I’d ever been on a mission. Some things were similar—the food; the warm, friendly smiles and faces; the stares as a group of white Americans walked the streets—but nothing compared in my mind to the experience altogether.

We got started right away. We had come to teach youth leaders some of the material from PC3’s “Step 2” curriculum, and to share our experience of having small groups. When we arrived at the church, we were greeted by 60 very excited youth leaders. Our goal was to spend a portion of our day worshipping, teaching, and playing games (like Four Corners and Let’s Make A Deal), then breaking up into small groups to discuss the topic we had just heard about. It was crazy; so many logistical things that had no real answer just kinda worked out. So many theological cans of worms were opened that brought our attention to the deeper needs Congo was facing. In the afternoons we traveled to various places in Bukavu, a few feeding centers, a church, and the location of the Julie Project-funded Community Center, just to name a few. I don’t think we slowed down except to sleep and eat.

Being there planted so many new ideas and opportunities for God to grow in the hearts of the people. It was His idea in the first place, and being allowed to be a part of it still blows my mind. We went in being as prepared as we could be, not knowing what would happen, and desperately waiting for God to show up. And He did! What we did while we were there was just a spark that God has turned into a mighty flame that, through His provision, will bring change to the Congolese people. He is that flame. We didn’t do anything special, we just showed up when He asked us to, all nine of us.

I mentioned earlier that I’m blessed to be going back to the DRC in the same year, and now an even smaller team is preparing to return to teach and serve the Bukavu community again. I can’t do much except show up when God asks, and so I have. My heart for these people is constantly being molded into His heart for them. There were moments as I look back, where I felt uncertain of what we were doing; but now, looking forward to our return, I can see clearly how God designed those moments, those conversations, to fit perfectly into His plan to bring these people into a closer relationship with Him.

— Submitted by Rachael Parker

A team of four from PC3 traveled to Congo in March 2009.  Their mission was, in part, to wrap up the filming of CongoCast.  In addition, they were there to assess the progress of the women’s shelter, the women’s vocational projects, and the feeding center PC3 supports.  We were happy to learn there are plans for what was originally planned as a shelter and vocational training center for the women who have suffered from the violence there, to now become a community center whereby many others will be served.  The hope is this will promote a healthier and more natural reintegration of the women back into their community.  One of the team members, Erin Bond, provided the blog below about the team’s experiences during this mission.  As you will read, not only did this team bring encouragement to the people in Congo….more so, the team members were greatly encouraged by the Congolese people.  Here’s Erin’s account………

I never wanted to go to Africa. It wasn’t personal. I didn’t have anything against Africa. I just never had a desire to go. Sure, the pyramids looked awesome. Victoria Falls would be neat to see. And lions and elephants and zebras and giraffes? All very cool. But the intrinsic problem with all of these things was that they were all located…in Africa. Which I never intended to visit.

Until July 2007, when I saw the preview episode for CongoCast, played at Roland Grise one Sunday morning. It was the summer that the middle school’s AC kept breaking down, and there we were, probably about a thousand people crammed into those hard wooden chairs that made that annoying-yet-comfortably-familiar squeaking noise with every move. The trailer started with a rainy scene, and everything else fell silent. We were riveted. I was riveted.

For the rest of the summer, I thought about Congo. I watched the podcast obsessively, playing and replaying the episodes until I could practically recite each one. I couldn’t get Congo off my mind.

Then at the beginning of 2009, I was given the opportunity to go with a team to the DRC. Suddenly, this abstract concept was becoming a reality. Suddenly, it wasn’t just thinking. It was getting vaccinations and taking malaria medicine. It was buying a sturdy pair of waterproof hiking boots (which I would later be incredibly grateful for). It was leaving my husband for nearly three weeks, the longest we’d ever been apart since getting married. It was telling my parents, I’m going to the Congo, and hoping they wouldn’t see any of the podcast before I went, especially episodes like the one in which Wendy nearly dies in a Congolese hospital.

And then, after weeks of preparation and prayer and early morning team meetings, we were off. No turning back now. Africa, here I come.

As soon we stepped into the Addis Ababa airport to await our connection to Kigali, Rwanda, I felt I had stepped into another universe. As we climbed into a Land Rover and were driven through the streets of Kigali—where the Rwandan genocide had begun nearly fifteen years earlier—I felt home slipping further and further away. And as we walked across the bridge from Rwanda to Congo, I felt as though everything secure and steady were dissolving.


Over the next two weeks, everything was going to change.

How do I summarize the experience? How do I put into words how loving the people at church were, how beautiful their faces were as they worshipped, as they sang pitch-perfect and loud songs I couldn’t translate but understood nonetheless? How can I describe how it felt to sit across from a woman as she told us how her parents had been killed and how she had been kidnapped and raped, how she didn’t know how to tell her daughter about the man who was her father, a rebel, an interahamwe soldier?

I expected the sorrowful moments, but I did not expect how much joy I’d experience in Congo. Every day, the Pastor and his wife who hosted us, brought us platters and bowls full of some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, and we never could finish it all. We devoured plates of rice and beans, cabbage and spinach and peas, grilled meat and chapatti bread. We washed it all down with Coke and Fanta and Sprite out of tall glass bottles, and we drank carafes of hot homemade lemongrass tea. The Pastor and his family treated us like royalty, and we could see in their faces how pleased they were to do it, how much it meant that people from PC3 cared about them, knew their story.

I expected the poverty, but did not expect the beauty around Bukavu. Lake Kivu is impossibly blue, with tropical flowers growing everywhere. The mountains were misty in the morning, with the sun peeking over them and making everything glow. One day, we ate ice cream made by nuns in a red-roofed convent just outside of town. We were surrounded by tall wispy-looking pine trees, by cacti and birds of paradise, and as we sat in a little pavilion sharing containers of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream, talking about how the Pastor and his wife first met decades ago, I looked around and knew I was in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

And, finally, I expected the women who had been raped to be scarred from their experiences, but I did not expect their hope. While we were there, we met a woman who had just been saved. She had been through unspeakable things, and the first time we met her, the grief was etched into her face. She seemed small and nervous and said she felt she had no purpose. By the time we left, after she had been enveloped into the church community, after she had witnessed a “graduation” ceremony celebrating other women who had similar stories and who were now independent, after she had been devouring the Bible someone at the church had given her, the change was remarkable. She sat up straighter. She smiled. She said she had a purpose now. The difference was love—God’s love and the love of the church.


As we walked back over that bridge and into Rwanda, I looked back at the Pastor standing on the Congo side of the border, waving goodbye, and I knew I would be back. As we drove to the airport, the river on our left, eucalyptus trees towering overhead, I knew this place had gotten to me, that it had gotten under my skin. A place I never wanted to visit, but I place I couldn’t possibly forget. And now that I’m back in the States, I am praying that God will send me back, that He will allow me the privilege of once again seeing that beautiful lake, of hearing the choir worshipping, of shaking the Pastor’s hand, of hugging the Pastor’s wife and saying, Asante sana. Asante.

—Submitted by Erin Bond