Our Work in DR Congo began with partnerships in the city of Goma. A local pastor and his congregation were conducting weekly outreaches to the community to mostly provide meals. Goma is a city of about 2 million people that is no stranger to hardship. With over 122 militia groups active in the region combined with volcanic eruptions and Ebola outbreaks, the communities in and around Goma have been hit hard with a number of destabilizing conditions for many decades.

During a visit from the Children’s Refuge founder in 2019, the leadership at the church campus in Goma expressed a desire to expand their ministry into a full-time residential care program for abandoned and orphaned children. Coleman and Reagan our DRC Director, we out into the jungles to meet with rural churches and friends of the ministry to assess the needs. The first 14 children were brought to the home. From that time, Open Spring children’s home began to expand and has grown to housing about 200 children today including a large number of infants brought straight from the hospital.

While the situation seemed hopeless, the ministry to blossomed into a thriving multi-campus mission. In 2024, we launched Light of Life home in Bunia which is in an even higher risk area north of Goma. Beyond these children’s homes, we also provide the only source of clean water to the neighborhood, have served over 1 million meals, and provide regional outreach church discipleship programs as well. Our goal is to launch a new church campus with capacity to hold 600 per service and continue to expand our work in DR Congo to reach some of the most vulnerable children.