Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining us in prayer for Dr. Honoré Bunduki Kwany in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nearly 102 million people live in the DR Congo, where approximately 94% of the population identify as Christians: 30% Catholic, 27% Protestant, and 37% other Christian (mostly Evangelical). Seventeen years after the Second Congo War (1998-2003), armed conflict among dozens of rebel groups persists in the northeast over multigenerational ethnic rivalries, the country’s rich mineral resources, and extreme food insecurity. Pray for the Church in the Congo as it ministers to the needy and proclaims hope in Christ amid ongoing violence and displacement, as well as educational and economic disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Honoré is the Rector of the Christian Bilingual University of Congo (UCBC), a ministry of Congo Initiative, founded by Drs. David and Kaswera Kasali. Honoré has also worked on the Lendu Bible Translation Project with the United Bible Society and served as a pastor in Beni in North Kivu, DRC. ScholarLeaders supported Honoré for his PhD in Education Sciences from the University of South Africa in Pretoria. His research on sustainable and holistic Christian higher education in the African Great Lakes region informs his leadership at UCBC. Honoré and his wife Kahindo have four children.
Honoré shares the following message:
My family and I are doing well. Our prayer letter includes both thanksgiving and prayer requests.
Thanksgiving
We are so grateful to the Lord for his unfailing love and protection since our return to Beni in 2016. After I served for three years as Vice Rector at the Christian Bilingual University of Congo, it pleased the leadership of Congo Initiative to appoint me as Rector in August 2019. With a very humbled heart, I accepted the responsibility. I continue to ask God to supply wisdom and intelligence for leading this institution in bringing much needed change in our country.
We are also thankful that classes could resume after five months of COVID-19 lockdown. We are hoping to finish the academic year in November and start a new academic year in December.
In addition, we thank God for the eradication of the Ebola epidemic from our area, though it is still in the northwestern province of Équateur.
Prayer Requests
With COVID 19, the general order of things in the world has been shaken. As a Christian institution of higher education, we are already experiencing the effects. There are uncertainties ahead, but we trust God to lead us through this time, and we faithfully follow him in the mission he has given us. We are praying that he would continue to strengthen us and give us clarity and confidence.
After fifteen years of ministry, our organization, Congo Initiative-Christian Bilingual University of the Congo, has decided to conduct an Organizational Assessment Review. We are praying that through this process the Lord will lead us to a clearer and more focused restatement of our vision, as we respond to the challenges of the DRC through education and community-driven initiatives. We would love to see a DRC where human dignity is celebrated, where integrity rules, and where Christ is Lord in every action and life. We believe this will put the nation on the right path for thriving.
Presently, Beni territory is still prey to insecurity and killings. In fact, for two years, we have had to move from our campus and rent a property in town as a temporary campus. This strains our budget, though the Lord has blessed us with very good facilities, which we continue to develop. We are praying for God’s intervention to bring security to the territory and country. It is difficult for the country to develop when there is insecurity and hopelessness.
We are also praying for the leadership of the country, that the Lord may use them for the restoration of good governance as a condition for socioeconomic ease. The new president has shown signs of moving in that direction. May the Lord give him courage, assets, and full blessing to move forward.
We are praying for Christians throughout the world in this time of COVID 19, that the Lord would help the Church be light and salt to shake the world with Kingdom values and instill hope in the living Lord.
Please also pray for the schooling of our children. Due to COVID 19, our firstborn son was stranded in Kampala, Uganda, where he had been studying. Praise God that they have resumed classes in mid-October. Our second-born daughter is studying in Bunia, 200 kilometers north of Beni, and they did not finish the school year. We are praying that as they resume studying, God would continue to enlighten their minds. Our third-born son and the last-born daughter are with us in Beni, but have not been able to complete the school year because of COVID 19. We are praying that the Lord would lead the educational authorities in the actions that they plan to undertake for children’s schooling.
Again, thank you for reaching out to us and holding us in prayer.
Peace and blessings,
Honoré Bunduki Kwany