What We Learned in 2025 – Congo Initiative

What We Learned in 2025

In 2025, we learned just how powerful your partnership truly is—and we celebrated 20 years of God’s faithfulness through Congo Initiative. Because of your generosity, students at UCBC continued their studies despite uncertainty and an escalation of conflict in eastern DRC. Women leaders received training and mentoring and communities gained tools to build peace and opportunity from within. You didn’t just fund programs—you helped sustain hope. Time and again, we witnessed that when we invest in local leadership, God multiplies the impact. Classrooms stayed open, small businesses launched and families found renewed confidence in their future.

We also learned that consistent support creates stability in unstable places. Your faithful giving allowed Congo Initiative to plan beyond emergencies and focus on long-term transformation through education and community development. Every gift in 2025 became part of a larger story—one of resilience, dignity and forward momentum. As we look to 2026, these lessons shape our path ahead: deepen local impact, strengthen leaders, build capacity and steward wisely so that together, in faith, we can continue building a more peaceful and flourishing eastern Congo.

How Do You Capture 20 Years of Transformation?

How do you capture 20 years of transformation? By telling the story through faces, classrooms, and communities shaped by perseverance and hope. This digital photo book traces Congo Initiative’s journey from its earliest days to today, highlighting the students, leaders, families, supporters and staff whose lives reflect the quiet power of education, faith and partnership. Created to share this story more widely, it serves as a living record of what has been possible through faithful collaboration over two decades—inviting readers to see not only how much has changed, but also the promise of what is still to come.

View Digital Photo Book

Graduate Story: Stanislas Kibongakali Nganabo

Stanislas Kibongakali Nganabo came to UCBC from Nyankunde in Ituri carrying a painful family history and little external support, becoming the first person in his family to attend university after growing up without knowing his father and being raised by his mother following his parents’ separation. While studying counseling, he served for two years as a leader of the Ebenezer Worship Team and, one year before graduation, made the courageous decision to seek out and meet his father for the first time. His journey was marked by loneliness and serious academic obstacles, including completing his research without a laptop. When UCBC Rector Dr. Honoré Bunduki embraced him at commencement, the weight of years of struggle and perseverance overwhelmed him. Tears flowed, as he experienced both the joy and the responsibility of becoming his family’s first graduate—an achievement made possible through the support and hope he found at UCBC.