Field Focus: DR Congo with Jaimie

“Bonjour” and “Jambo” from Beni, DRC!

I, Jaimie, have been living in eastern Congo for over a year now, and I am honored to partner with Congo Initiative (CI), a Christ-centered global fellowship led by Congolese vision. Along with my colleagues and partners around the world, we are united for the transformation of lives and communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am serving at Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC), a Christian bilingual university in Beni that shares the vision of a transformed Congo through educating and equipping the future leaders of their country. I navigate many roles on campus, but at a recent event, a colleague introduced me simply as “Jaimie, an international staff and a friend of the students.” At its core, that is who I seek to be: a mentor, a support, a confidante, and a friend to the community God has entrusted me with here in eastern DRC.

Last month, I kicked off one year with a bang by planning, leading, and executing the first ever CI-UCBC mission trip! I worked with my colleague, Kizito, to co-lead this trip in partnership with Taylor University from the US, as we interviewed dozens of students, negotiated details with UCBC administration, budgeted with the finance department, visited the mayor's office and local immigration & vaccination offices for necessary documents, and prepared times of training for the 8 selected students (the majority of which had never left eastern Congo) to spend over 2 weeks on the road traveling and serving throughout East Africa. If you know me, you know that I love road trips, but I had never road-tripped by car and bus through Congo, Uganda, and Kenya before!

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For the first half of the trip, we joined our Taylor University teammates in Kericho, Kenya, to partner with an amazing local church and serve in different capacities, including local school ministries, student leadership trainings, and church services. During the second half of the trip, we served as ambassadors from CI-UCBC to strengthen partnerships and relationships at different institutions and universities in Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda. In between, we encountered and overcame various travel difficulties, battled some sickness and continual exhaustion, navigated new cross-cultural experiences & language differences, grew as a team through the joys and difficulties, and saw the Lord work and intercede in the menial and the meaningful.

One of my students shared that the trip produced in him “a deeper understanding of service, community, the sense of the leadership, and the transformative power of human connection.” Another student explained that,

“For me, the main highlight of the trip was to see how people of different culture and race can form a strong unity as if we had known each other for years…there was just a sense of belonging.”

For this young Muslim woman, this was the first time she had ever been part of Christian ministry and outreach, and to hear how the experience affected her demonstrates how the Lord crosses all boundaries to meet His people regardless of race, religion, or nationality.

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As I reflect on the experience, there are so many stories I could tell, but the main word I keep returning to is: pride. I am incredibly proud of my students and how they exemplified servant leadership throughout the trip; I am incredibly proud of my colleague, Kizito, and how he lead and shouldered so much responsibility before, during, and after the trip; I am incredibly proud of the UCBC community and various colleagues that supported and aided us through our travels; I am incredibly proud of myself and how I cared for my students and those around me throughout our travels; and I am incredibly proud of my God, who keeps surprising me by doing the seemingly impossible, always making a way when there doesn't seem like we can possibly make it through, and going above and beyond our expectations!

This mission trip was a first for UCBC, but we know it will not be the last. May the Lord continue to lead and guide us as we follow Him and seek to impact our Congolese community and East African region for His glory!

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About Jaimie’s Ministry: Jaimie has lived in eastern Congo for more than a year, and partners with Congo Initiative (CI) and a Christian bilingual university in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo.

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