Ministry Update

Gato Munyamasoko Ministry Update October 2024

Ministry Update

5 min

Greetings from Musanze/ Rwanda to you brothers and sisters in the name of our Savior and Lord Jesus. It has been 5 years since I was sent to work in Congo with two of CBM’s partners, CEBCE and CBCA, and to work in South Sudan with FEBAC, another of CBM’s partners. This update will cover the year so far.  

What has happened with the Peace and Reconciliation Ministry in DR Congo and South Sudan?

  1. In February we had eight days of training with CEBCE’s coordinators and school headmasters, where they finished the 12 Peace Buildings modules. The aim was to release them to create Peace Clubs in their respective schools, using their influence to encourage others to celebrate differences and be good stewards of the environment.  
  2. In April, 17 of CEBCE’s Pastors of the Great North Kivu/Butembo and coordinators of schools in that area completed the 12 Peacebuilding modules and are applying them in their respective churches. This is significant because during the period of CEBCE’s division, there was conflict between tribes, but now they are determined to stay united due to the training they received and their decision to choose the good way of being Christian peacebuilders.
  3. Another Peacebuilding group in CEBCE was 50 youth in a refugee camp. In camps, hate spreads quickly, most often affecting youth who are influenced to instigate violence when they return to their villages. The objective of the youth Peacebuilding training was to break this circle of violence. The group of youth completed the 12 modules. Some began to write songs related to peace that they are sharing in their churches in the camps, and others have planted kitchen gardens around their tents to practice caring for creation. When they return to their villages, they will share what they learned. 
  4. During a session in April and a session in September, 44 of CBCA’s Youth Peace Ambassadors made up of youth, Sunday school leaders, women, and parish reverends, followed the 12 Peacebuilding modules. Attendees travelled from up to 1000km away. I praise the Lord for how he worked during this training. Many participants were aggressive at the start due to the effects of war, but by the end God had softened their hearts, readying them to build peace by reconciling people. A medical doctor was particularly moved about how he can use the training to help his staff and patients, who come from both sides of the ongoing conflict. 
  5. In April and August, a group of 17 university youth from South Sudan met to complete the 12 modules. The participants were very engaged in the training, and we hope to see them catalysts of peace in their country once they begin teaching others in their churches and their fellow students.
  6. A group of 12 people from West View, a STEP church in Calgary, spent a day in Rwanda walking through the Restorative Justice module. They also visited a village where victims of genocide and their offenders live side-by-side in forgiveness and repentance. 
  7. A group of 35 of CEBCE’s leaders – men, women, civil servants, and senior pastors – gathered to learn about Integral Mission in the Marketplace, following three modules. They learned that the Church’s mission is not only the Great Commission but also the great commandment and creation mandate.  

Looking forward, I hope that, in collaboration with the Leadership of FEBAC and other actors of peace in South Sudan, we will establish a Peacebuilding program in which FEBAC will contribute to the repentance, forgiveness, cohabitation, and reconciliation between South Sudanese people.  

Looking Ahead to 2025 

There are our planned activities with CBM’s partners in the area of peace and reconciliation:  

  • Train Medical staff in the office and different leaders of CEBCE’s hospital and health Centers. 
  • Reinforce CEBCE’s IDPS youth who were trained to continue organizing songs and drama in camps for large mobilization of peacebuilding. 
  • Work with CBCA and CEBCE by encouraging them to work together, learn from each other, and address the issue of cohabitation among the tribes in North Kivu. 
  • Collaborate with CBCA’s Youth and Sunday Schools Leader Peace Ambassadors who were trained on the 12 Peacebuilding modules and exposure tour in Rwanda. 
  • Continue the Peacebuilding modules with CBCA’s Catalyst of Peace, who delayed finishing their modules. 
  • Travel to South Sudan / FEBAC to determine the best way to work with pastors, police, and military personnel.  
  • Travel to the Central Africa Republic to determine how we can begin working there.  
  • Travel to Togo Republic to assess how we may conduct future Peacebuilding training. 
  • Work with Leaders of AEBR and see how we can give a new vision to the peace initiative in Rwanda. 

A Word of Appreciation  

I thank CBM Leaders for their support of work by providing advice through meetings, materials, and finance. I am grateful for my Africa Team colleagues and how they inspire me in my work. My collaboration with the Team Leader in Africa is significant to me. I also appreciate the different partners who support me through CBM in this ministry. It is encouraging to see the monthly reports on how people and churches are contributing to this important ministry. Your emails of encouragement bring me strength and encouragement to move ahead even when there are challenges. Your prayers and financial support have enabled CBM to accompany the Africa partners’ churches to accomplish their mission through different drivers – peace and reconciliation at this critical time of war, ethnic division, oppression of social classes, and poverty. 

It is my hope that we will keep journeying together in this call to Mission through prayers and financial support. Thank you.  

 

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