St. Thomas the Believer Project

Greetings from DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo] in the diocese of North Kivu. 

“The Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo (French: Province de l’Église anglicane du Congo) is a province of the Anglican Communion, stretching over the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.”

Thank you very much for this message and particularly for your concern about prisoners.

In our diocese we have two big prisons. Butembo has a small house but there are always 780-850 prisoners, among them some ladies. Lubero, which is in another area, has regularly about 350-400 prisoners. And we do also have other many small prisons in rural areas.

The big problem facing us is the lack of food, medicines, and sleeping in bad conditions because they don’t have mattresses.

Our diocesan office of the Mothers’ Union and the diocesan coordinator of Evangelism are those who are trying to visit those suffering people in prisons. They go there to preach the word of God and also teach to them some hands work. If possible, they can also bring some food collected from our poor church members.

This team is very engaged, but very limited materially and financially. Our government does nothing for prisoners and many die because of the non-assistance. Prisoners at Butembo and Lubero prisoners are so many, and they are living in very bad conditions: They don’t have food, no medicines, no beds, no mattresses, no blankets, no soaps, and some of them do not have clothes. There are many who are dying in prisons because of hunger and the lack of medicines.

So, when we go and visit them, we share with them the word of God to encourage them to continue to stand firm in their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as we can read from Romans 8:35-39. And because of their faith in Jesus Christ, they can worship God by singing and even dancing knowing that, after the spiritual food, we will also give some physical food to them.

But as I told you in my last message, our local church members also do not have the possibility to get enough quantity of food to satisfy them every day. Sometimes church members can collect cassava flour and sweet potatoes, but they don’t have money to buy other items like oil, salt, woods.

We praise God because many of them are receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord while they are in prison, and from there they continue to serve Good. That is what is encouraging us as church leaders to continue to preach the gospel in prisons.

-Bishop Isesomo, North-Kivu diocese/ DRC

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Editor’s note: Concerning Butembo Prison, Amnesty.org reports, “The prison authorities do not give the inmates regular food rations, and they are forced to rely on family and friends to bring them food.” (Read more.)

Butembo Prison houses both men and women. Before December 2016, there was no separation between the men’s and women’s wards. The “fence wall” was constructed by MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo). Prior to the construction, “women inmates were prey to gender-based violence including sexual violence, with consequences such as psychological and physical trauma as well as exposure to the risk of unexpected pregnancies and sexually communicable diseases. It was highly risky for them to go to the rest room.” (Read more.)