DR Congo 2025

We had an incredible trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September, and the first thing I need to say is, THANK YOU! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and encouragement before and during the trip. God was with us and He fulfilled all His plans that He wanted us to accomplish. I also need to thank our Men of Peace that arranged the meetings, food distribution, church services, and the overall logistics for the trip. These are true men of God that love the Lord and love the people of the DRC!

With the invasion of M23 earlier this year, the DRC is essentially a failed state that has led to a severe humanitarian crisis. Recovery and economic revitalization feel insurmountable. Poverty, war, conflict and spiritual darkness are now the “new normal,” and to our knowledge, there have not been any western missions organizations that have been able to access these hard-hit regions since the beginning of the conflict.

Sometimes when we are doing work in this sort of context, I believe the enemy starts to speak into our ears and tells us that he has won- so why bother? If we look at the DRC with only our human eyes, we can almost believe it. The things I saw and heard about were unimaginable. I had to pray continually for God to give me spiritual eyes to see when hope felt out of reach.

ATC has been doing work in eastern DRC for many years. And now this part of the country is controlled by M-23, which is a terrorist organization funded by Rwanda. So now, M-23 and small resistance groups are fighting to reclaim land in the eastern part of the DRC, which is filled with precious and rare earth minerals. There are, quite literally, trillions of dollars beneath the ground in this region. Because of this type of struggle taking place in DRC, we had to be very careful and strategic in where we went, and the time of day that we entered different parts of the country.

Before I left, I knew we had 3 main missions for the trip:

1. Deliver relief aid to churches and schools

2. Deliver medicine and aid to a local clinic

3. Deliver hope through the Gospel and distribute audio Bibles.

Relief Aid for Schools and Churches:

Earlier this year ATC had a relief aid fundraiser to assist with the needs in DRC. Through the money that was raised, we were able to give out bags of dried beans, flour, and oil to over 800 families. Each family that received food will be fed for around 1 month.

In addition, as I arrived in the country, the school year was just beginning and most, if not all the students, did not have the financial means to purchase any school supplies. We were able to visit 2 schools, and at each school, we gave out blank notebooks to each child. Each one was extremely excited to receive such a gift and personally sent their thanks, which I am passing on to those who are reading this re-cap because you were such a big part of this effort to help these schools.

One school I will report on was located in a dangerous and very violent part of the DRC. The pastor I was working with told me that 3 days before we got there, M-23 raided the school and took several children hostage and forced them into their army. Normally this school has over 500 students, but the day we visited there were only 40 students and a few teachers. The local resistance groups opposed to M-23 told their children to stay home that day so that they wouldn't be captured or caught in the cross fire with M-23. This was an extremely difficult situation to encounter, but through ATC we were able to assist with school supplies, give them hope through Jesus Christ, and pray with them.

Assist a Local Clinic:

Medical care is very expensive for most people living in the DRC and is also in very short supply with the conflict. Through ATC’s efforts, we were able to buy $1500 worth of medical supplies and help with $1500 worth of medical bills for patients at the clinic.

I am not sure I quite understand how the medical system works, but once you receive medical care at a clinic, the patient has to pay their bill before they are allowed to leave. Our team was able to meet 2 women that could not pay their bills. One woman had given birth 7 months ago and we were able to tell her that her bill was paid and she was free to go! She could not believe it. She and her baby had been at the clinic for 7 months and she and her family were trying to slowly pay her medical bills. But because of the ongoing war, they have not been able to find work to pay her expenses. What a true blessing to witness. Thank you everyone for making a donation to allow her to return home and be reunited with her family!

The doctors and medical professionals that work here are true servants of God. They rarely get paid, and if they do, it is not much. They are all from this part of the DRC and want to help their country heal. War and conflict continue to rage in this area, and they see, firsthand, the atrocities that are happening all around them, but they choose to stay and help those who are most in need.

Audio Bibles and the Hope of Christ:

Everywhere we went, we attended a church service. The 7 churches I worked with are all part of the same network, and they are incredible. The services would last for about 2 hours and the first hour, the congregation was praising, dancing and worshipping God. I was amazed that people living in poverty and war, and that have little to no food, could worship God so earnestly! They have to rely on God every single day to meet their very basic needs of food, water and shelter.

I had a chance to share with them the message of hope through Jesus and pray words of encouragement over them. They were extremely grateful that we were there and happy to hear about the hope of the Gospel! Sometimes just showing up and being there with people in the midst of hardship is the most important thing.

I was touched to hear that even in their state of dire physical need, they were willing to pray for the hearts of people in America. Most Americans can say that they are not starving for food or struggling to have a place to live. Our daily needs are already met, but many citizens of the U.S. have abandoned God and have great spiritual need. The DRC has physical poverty, which you can see right in front of your eyes, but in so many places I went, they were alive in Christ and eager to learn more about Him.

The audio Bibles we give out are in the local languages and most people in the churches we visited did not have a Bible. The excitement and gratitude were palpable. I am also happy to report that a total of 12 people committed their hearts to Christ while we were there. Please keep these new believers in your prayers.

Thank you for your care and all your prayers for the people of the DRC. They are not a forgotten people. God loves them and cares for them, and we are so grateful to call them friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this trip or future trips. I would like to take some of you with me on a trip next year. You won’t regret being part of what God is doing in some of the world’s most difficult to reach places.

Asante (Swahili for thank you!),

Vic

“you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32

---

VIC LEIVISKA

FIELD COORDINATOR

Based out of Wilmington, NC, Vic spent many years as a missions pastor at a local church, traveling the world and investing in the local community. He and his wife, Bridget, have two incredible kids, Sam and Abby, and an amazing community through their mission minded coffee shop called Sundial Coffee and Tea. Their business has allowed them to pursue their passions together, full-time, while also giving Vic the opportunity to travel internationally and invest in missions as a field coordinator for ATC. When not investing in their local community and difficult to reach places around the world, you can find them spending time with their family, taking walks with their dogs, Rio and Tica, on the beach, and getting away for a camping trip in their teardrop trailer.