Conflict in Eastern Congo

By the beginning of 2025, One By One Ministries had already seen the Lord do incredible things. We had purchased our first piece of land for Unity School, and work had officially begun on the Water Project in Miramba. It felt as though the ministry was entering a new season.

Just days after work began on the Water Project, years of ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo escalated dramatically. M23 rebels advanced through the surrounding towns and villages before entering Goma, the city closest to where our ministry serves. The airport closed, transportation became limited, communication became difficult, and uncertainty spread throughout the region.

For many of our family members, friends, and ministry team, life changed quickly.

But to understand what happened in 2025, it helps to understand why eastern Congo has lived with conflict for so many years.

A History of Conflict

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the richest countries in the world in natural resources. Beneath its soil are vast deposits of cobalt, gold, tin, coltan, diamonds, and many other valuable minerals. Yet instead of bringing prosperity to the Congolese people, this wealth has often attracted exploitation, corruption, and violent struggles for control.

Many of today’s conflicts in eastern Congo trace back to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. After the genocide ended, more than a million people fled into eastern Congo. Among them were innocent families seeking safety, but also armed fighters responsible for carrying out the genocide. Their presence helped ignite years of regional conflict involving neighboring countries, rebel movements, foreign armies, and local militias.

Although the larger Congo Wars officially ended, the violence never truly stopped. For decades, armed groups have attacked villages, displaced families, recruited children, committed sexual violence, and destroyed homes and businesses. Millions of people have been forced to flee, and entire generations have grown up surrounded by instability.

One of the most well-known armed groups to emerge was M23, named after a failed peace agreement signed on March 23, 2009. In 2012, M23 captured Goma, bringing another period of violence and instability to the city and surrounding areas before eventually withdrawing. Although many hoped the conflict had come to an end, the violence in eastern Congo never truly did.

In 2022, M23 began gaining territory once again, capturing towns and villages throughout North Kivu. By January 2025, the group had surrounded Goma and was moving closer to our communities.

When the War Reached Us

With our family, friends, and ministry team now living in an area under M23 control, Elijah and I entered a season of prayer and fasting.

At the time, work had just begun on the Water Project in Miramba. As the fighting intensified, the project was placed on hold while we waited to see what would happen.

During this time, one of Elijah’s younger brothers, Uwezo, sold his small business after several security concerns made him believe he could become a target. He left for Kenya, where Junior was already studying. Just one week later, his former shop became the site of an exchange of gunfire.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Our team was also learning what life under M23 control would look like. One day, Bahati was participating in community labor required by the new authorities. He finished his work early and began heading home when a supervisor accused him of being rebellious and said that he and two other men would be taken to prison. Members of the community stepped in and gathered money to pay the officials to let the three men go.

Experiences like these gave us a closer look at the uncertainty our friends and family were living with each day.

Throughout it all, we were incredibly thankful that our family and team remained safe and that Miramba was spared from the fighting.

Toward the end of April, after nearly three months of prayer and waiting, we felt the Lord leading us to begin the Water Project again. The situation was still uncertain, but the community returned to work and the project began moving forward once more.

As the year continued, there were attempts at ceasefires and peace talks, and we continued praying for lasting peace in eastern Congo. While the situation remained complicated, we were thankful to see some stability return to the areas where our ministry serves and to be able to continue the work the Lord had placed before us.

The conflict in eastern Congo did not begin in 2025, and it did not end there. But that year gave us a much closer look at the reality so many Congolese families have lived with for generations and reminded us again of how deeply these communities need continued prayer, peace, and lasting change.