Peace be with you from our Lord Jesus Christ!
I am Polisi Kivava, a CBM field staff based in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa. I am in charge of relief and development among CBM partners in Africa.
Despite the numerous challenges facing our partners in my area of work, I always feel encouraged to know that you are praying for me. And when I see the sign of gratitude on the faces of the people that we serve, I understand that God is hearing our prayers and using you and us to achieve his ministry. You are bringing real change and hope in a broken world.
The end of last year was a time of blessing for my family. First, I got a new granddaughter, Priscilla, from my second son David and his wife Prisca. One month later, my last son Victor got married to his beloved Suzan, an event which brought together the whole family. On a spiritual level, two young relatives living with us decided to receive Christ as saviour and got baptized.
But the beginning of this year marked a new phase in the armed conflict opposing rebels to the government forces. In Goma, we live in permanent fear of bombs launched in the city, such as the one that killed 35 people and wounded more than 40 in the middle of a refugee camp. Most of the victims were children playing outside.
Elsewhere, in South Sudan, refugees continue to flood in from Sudan, worsening the already difficult living conditions. In addition, a flood destroyed houses in Kenya recently, killing 45 people including some members of our partner church, the ACC&S.
We are grateful to God that despite all those challenges, our partners are still working to bring about change in society. I visited some of them a short time ago.
In the Upper Nile State of South Sudan, there are two extremely different seasons: during the rainy season (June to October), the whole area is flooded, making it sometimes impossible to cultivate the soil. In the dry season (January to June), the sun is so hot that it makes cracks on the soil, making it difficult for any crop to grow. Despite those harsh conditions, farmers with the help of CBM, are able to grow vegetables even at the peak of the dry season. Most of the farmers live along the Nile and its branches, such as Sobath River. So, they need pumps to water the gardens. In a future project, we are going to promote kitchen gardens, which doesn’t require as much water, but will contribute tremendously to food security.
We are also drawing their attention to another resource: cow dung. As we introduce conservation agriculture, we are going to promote the use of manure for composting. Another aspect on which we want to focus is the promotion of Village Savings & Loan Associations to facilitate access to funds, the purchase of seeds, and other needs. This is a tough task which requires patience to change the mindset from humanitarian action to livelihood and self-reliance.
Together with Tineh from CFGB, I visited also the Edeni Yacu (Our Eden) food security project in Rwanda. The project is on a very good track and the yield is visible. I was particularly interested in the joint preparation of composts by members of the associations.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for peace as war and violence in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo keeps increasing and the refugees are losing hope of going back to their home. But the situation becomes heartbreaking when bombs are launched in the refugee camps, as it happened recently, killing innocent people, including children playing outside.
- Pray also for peace as the ongoing conflict in Sudan keeps pushing people out of their home to seek refuge in South Sudan. In isolated areas like Malakal, this makes life very expensive, especially with the increased cost of fuel.
- Please pray for the survivors of the flood in Kenya.
