A Tribute to Rev. Kambale Amani Peter

by Dr. Paul Robinson

This weekend, Congo Initiative lost a giant of a man, Rev. Kambale Amani Peter, who entered heaven from Oicha, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I met Peter at our first Congo Initiative event in Congo in 2003, at which time more than 200,000 displaced Congolese fled from genocide in a neighboring province. It was Congolese churches that took in most of these refugees, providing shelter, food, space for gardens, community, and offering hope. Peter’s church was part of that process. 

Peter studied Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Kisangani, and his understanding of the dynamics of human societies and cultures was an anchor to his theology, his missional and pastoral life, and his vocation. 

Peter was a man after Jesus’ heart and life. He had a deep love for the poor, the marginalized and excluded, those that society rejected. He offered Jesus’ love and acceptance and inclusion to these people — be they addicts, sex workers, prisoners, destitute, unwed mothers — it didn’t matter. He believed Jesus could and would forgive, heal, and restore them. His life’s motto, and that of the church he founded, was simple: “Christ alone. Grace alone. Faith alone.” Grace and forgiveness. All that Jesus required was faith. And what Jesus offered is grace. Simple and complete.

When CI’s founders looked for women and men among eastern Congo’s faith, social, and professional communities who would together think about Congo’s condition and what could be done, Peter was at the heart of the process of visioning radical transformation and hope. For the past 22 years Peter never wavered, never flagged in his commitment to CI, to his people, and to his radical hope — his conviction — that transformation was coming to Congo. He was always committed. He was always engaged. He was always thoughtful. His intellect, experience, knowledge of culture and theology, his love for his people — all were deeper than anyone knew. I will miss my friend and brother.

There is a proverb that says: “A society flourishes when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”  On one of my last visits with Peter, we sat on a parcel of land on which he was planting hundreds of trees. A place he hoped would become a hermitage — a retreat center — for Congolese pastors. He knew he would not sit in the shade of those trees. Peter planted in hope and confidence. We have lost a great and strong tree of the Ituri Rainforest. But he is not gone. He lives on in all of us who knew his character, commitments, laughter and smile, his exuberant worship, and his love for God.