After the Covid years, we probably all thought things would settle down in 2023, but that fails to take account of faith-filled pioneering partners and a stronger than ever sense of God’s call on us to keep reaching out as far as we can to bring His love and provision to broken and hurting people. There have been many times through the year when we seemed to be stretched beyond our limits but we are so grateful to God for repeatedly stepping in and showing us He is with us and able and willing to hear our cries.
Once again this year we have had such a wonderful sense of the support of so many people and are very very aware and appreciative of the sacrifice of time and money and heart we benefit from as an organisation. Our volunteers are committed and wonderful to work with, our donors are generous and have such big hearts and our staff are skilled and diligent. We stand at the doorway of another year with a huge sense of excitement and anticipation with the arrival of two new staff members (Chris Hoskins and Thomas Nkhonjera doing three and two days respectively) and look forward to learning so much from them!
At long last we were able to see the Comfort Transformation Centre begin to be built. This will be a long term project requiring a big investment of time, effort, prayer and finance, but to see it take off is a great joy. The other big building projects have been focussed on Congo schools with a mixture of fully Comfort International funded schools like Rubaya and jointly funded schools like Miseracordia and Kambize at various stages of building. The situation in Congo has given us much cause for concern. With over a million people displaced in the area, some of our projects in zones under M23 army control, starving children trying to cling onto life and the cost of basic necessities needed to meet those challenges escalating, it has been an exceptional year for our exceptional partners, Comfort Congo. It is impossible to describe our love and admiration for them and the work they do under constant severe challenge. And yet we see the miracle and wonder of lives restored from the horror of mankind’s inability to live in peace and love. Across Rwanda and Congo it has been deeply inspirational and moving to see the impact our partners’ work is having on men, women and children we have come to know and love and to experience the joy of seeing hope and smiles restored.
The security situation in Burundi, though still fragile, has improved through the year, making travel to and from Rwanda and within Burundi itself less fraught. It has been a real blessing to have the Batwa project make progress with the provision of cattle and we are committed to carrying this project through to provide significant support to the Batwa community. South Sudan continues to be a desperately poor and broken country and there is so much more that could be done there. In Uganda the initiative of Lea Shaw to support street kids in the town where we do our Ministry School opened a door to partnering Lea herself and Wejuli Fred and LEMA in support projects – something we all felt God would do at some point.
So here we are at the turn of the year with next year our 25th anniversary. We still see so many lives broken on the rocks of injustice, violence and poverty waiting and searching for a way to healing and hope. It is our deep desire to continue to be servants of God’s redemptive purposes in their lives and we ask you to join us in prayer and effort to see 2024 a very, very special year for Comfort International.
