So many people remarked last year on how quickly 2025 passed and here we are moving quickly towards the end of January 2026 already. Despite its quick passing 2025 was a full and eventful year. It saw the beginning of a new partnership with Maranatha Pentecostal Mission (MPM) in Sierra Leone and the fruit of that is already being seen in the support of almost 100 teachers.
In DR Congo the year was dominated by the M23 takeover of Goma. However, despite the political and military turmoil, Comfort Congo, as they always do, showed a commitment and determination to those suffering the most and continued to push the boundaries of what they could do to impact the lives of the broken, displaced and traumatised. A new amazing maternity unit was opened at Rusayu Hospital, the first three classrooms at Marajeo primary in Rubaya were completed, a new income generation project begun among teachers’ spouses, land for a new school at Nahori bought, the church leaders’ training programme (CIMS) begun at Goma, and one of our most generous responses to an emergency appeal enabled considerable help to be sent to support those affected by the conflict, including the re-equipping of the main hospital building.
We continued to see large numbers of graduates from the Street Kids Rescue and Comfort Babies projects with a total of 301 project members now having graduated from the Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi based projects. The Transformation Centre has made great progress and finished the year with all three levels structurally built and the roof on.
The work among communities saw significant milestones as the Batwa harvested their first crops from the farming project, the Karengera community built a community hub, and the feeding programme at Bisesero expanded to take in children at Gishyita and Mubuga and is now supporting 100 children and helping them do incredibly well in both exams and university scholarships. A new project supporting elderly genocide survivors at Bisesero began. One of the year’s other milestones has been the 30th anniversary of Solace Ministries. Solace were one of our two original partners from 1999 and it is great to see the way the partnership has continued to flourish over the 26 years we have worked together as partners.
Challenges remain – the need in DRC continues to stretch resources with the orphans and malnourished children at Sake a particular concern. But we look ahead to 2026 with renewed dependency on God’s goodness, grace and provision. Our income rose again in 2025 to over £750,000 and it amazes us how the miraculous provision of God and the generosity of our supporters keeps enabling the work to grow and multiply. And every time that happens other lives are touched and transformed. Our visits to the projects always reinvigorate our conviction that our partners are doing a very special work and that each individual life helped is a cause for joy and thanksgiving.
This coming year we are working and praying for the building of a welding and carpentry workshop at the Good News Joy Centre, the building of an additional home for rescued girls at the Children of Liberty’s Village of Hope, the rooms at the CTC to be completed and ready for furnishing, a ‘Goats and Garments’ project begun among the poor in Burundi, the establishing of CIMS in Sierra Leone and, God willing, Bukavu in DRC, and further projects begun with MPM in Sierra Leone. We walk in the fear of the Lord, recognising our own frailty and fallibility but confident in His love and power. We are beyond grateful for our amazing donors and volunteers. And we hope very much you will stand with us through this year to see many more lives transformed and communities lifted up.
Amazing