DR Congo | Rooted in Jesus

Over the last few years Rooted in Jesus has been successfully established in the Diocese of Aru, DR Congo, by CMS partner Canon Peter Wyard and a team of local colleagues. Peter has recently returned from a further month in Aru, helping to provide further training for the existing 80 group leaders and to introduce the Rooted in Jesus Junior programme for the first time.

Conference participants dancing at the Junior conference

Peter writes:

‘My wife, Dr Patricia Strubbe, and I, Canon Peter Wyard, served in Aru Diocese as CMS mission partners for four years from 2018 to 2022, returning to the UK in December 2022. During that time, my major role was as Coordinator of Christian Education, which in the terminology of the Anglican Province of Congo essentially means discipleship. Faced with the enormous challenges of a Diocese the size of England with appalling dirt roads, the low capacity of many of the pastors and catechists, and the extreme poverty, I decided to concentrate on just one discipleship programme: Rooted in Jesus.

‘Our vision was to establish the course in every one of the 49 parishes of the Diocese, from Aru, the seat of the Diocese in the East near the Ugandan border, to Isiro in the far West in the Ituri rainforest; and from the arid region of Kumuru in the North near the border with South Sudan, to the hills of Mahagi and the Djugu region in the South, where there is continuous instability due to the presence of militias, and regular killing and displacement of people.

‘Such a vision requires a long-term programme, and great perseverance from everyone involved. First, we carried out many visits to understand the realities far from the centre in Aru and to meet the archdeacons and pastors. Then we commenced a major translation programme to translate RinJ into the main local languages of Lugbarati, Kakwa and Alur, and also into another national language, Lingala. Next, we held five conferences around the diocese; their purpose was to train the RinJ group leaders. About 400 people attended and received their certificates. And finally, the most difficult and longest phase: the faithful follow-up and nurturing of the groups that were started after the conferences. This is a huge challenge, given the low leadership capacity of many of the pastors and the multiple factors which lead to a group becoming irregular or giving up entirely. This has now become the task of the Revd. Emmanuel Etsegeri, my successor as Coordinator.

The Conferences held in Feb-March 2024

‘Although I have handed over the RinJ programme in Aru Diocese to Revd Etsegeri, I have remained involved since my return to the UK. In early 2024 the Lord opened the door for a return visit to Aru. The aim was twofold: to support and encourage Etsegeri and the group leaders with follow-up conferences, and to introduce Rooted in Jesus Junior for the first time. We held three conferences; two follow-up conferences and the Junior conference, to which participants came from every part of the Diocese. The conferences were richly blessed by God, and both we and the local team members were immensely encouraged.

‘The number of participants was 70 at the Aru follow-up conference; 100 at the Mahagi follow-up conference; 100 at the Junior conference. All of them have committed themselves to leading or co-leading a RinJ group. Some are very much on the ball, others are simple people with a low level of education, but all of them made the effort to attend, often with great effort.

‘All three of the major elements of a RinJ conference were greatly appreciated by the participants. They found the teaching solid and nourishing, and especially liked the demonstrations of water cascading from a glass to a bowl to a basin, as the renewal of the Holy Spirit flows from individual to church to community; and the demonstration of one egg, two eggs, and a hen to show different ways we can respond to the gift of new life in Christ. Although some participants were scared to volunteer to lead one of the practice groups, we saw many examples of encouraging leadership, putting into practice the principles of activity and interaction, and thinking up some novel variants of the demonstrations given in the manual. And the times of ministry by the Holy Spirit were highly valued, both by the participants (who could open up about personal difficulties and challenges they were facing, and seek the Lord’s healing) and by the team members, who really valued these times of refreshment personally.

The leaders at the RinJ Junior conference with their certificates

‘Apart from myself, the team members were all Congolese, and they did a great job. They were dependable and adaptable, and their ownership of the material and skill in presenting it has reached a very good level. We would like to thank them all: Venerable Madhira (Dean of the Cathedral and a particular advocate for RIJ); Canon Nzua (Provincial coordinator of evangelism); Revd. Etsegeri (Coordinator of Christian Education); Venerable Droma (Archdeacon of Aru); Catéchiste Apamba James (Coordinator of the Youth Department, and responsible for the Junior programme); Mama Francine, Director of the Cathedral Sunday School; Rev. Apenjong’a (RinJ local coordinator in the Mahagi archdeaconry). We also thank Ven. Georgine, the Diocesan secretary, who gave a warm endorsement of the importance of the RinJ programme at the start and end of each conference in Aru.

‘The enthusiasm and energy of the youth leaders at the RinJ Junior conference was very encouraging. There are particular challenges with finding enough leaders to make RinJ work with the huge numbers in many of the Sunday school classes, but we pray that the newly trained leaders will each find a way forward.

‘The final conference at Mahagi was especially welcoming, with a very fresh and honest atmosphere. We thank Archdeacon Niconnard for his warm welcome, and for finding solutions to all the problems – for example, when we arrived there was only enough food for the first day of a three-day conference, but with prayer and good will, enough food was forthcoming, and the participants even enjoyed a goat on the last day.

Canon Peter demonstrates he cannot play the adungu without learning as an apprentice;
participants ask for ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit

‘We end with a few testimonies:

One of the participants at the Junior conference was a member of a militia group, who always carried a gun. He came to ask prayer for the strength to leave this way of life, in spite of opposition from his family who didn’t want him to give up his gun; and to return to serving God.
One young man at the Junior conference, Alex, said that it was the first time he had learned how to talk about his faith.
One woman at the Mahagi conference was illiterate, but the conference had given her the desire to be able to read the Bible, and now she was searching for a literacy class to join so that she could both improve her education and follow Jesus better.
Anther woman at Mahagi was a Roman Catholic who had accepted the invitation to attend the RinJ conference. She felt troubled by the spirits of her ancestors, and believed that a witch doctor had placed a spell in the skin of her body. She asked for prayer for deliverance from the evil spirits. Afterwards, she resolved to stop consulting the witch doctors.
One elderly man in Mahaghi now feels equipped to become an evangelist as he feels so encouraged by the RinJ programme.
In Aru, one group of participants felt overwhelmed by the difficulties of being a Christian, with no solutions to be seen. But the visual demonstrations (see above) spoke to them and gave them new hope in the power of Christ to bring them through.

Coordinator Revd Emmanuel Etsegeri adds:

“The feedback times showed that the teaching had been much appreciated. There were many testimonies after the times of ministry, and several participants made a renewed commitment to serve the Lord and his people.”

Please pray for Revd Emmanuel Etsegeri and Catechist James Apamba as they oversee the programme, and for all 80 groups in the diocese and their leaders, that they may indeed be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as [they] were taught” (Col. 2.7).’