Two Brothers…A memory, A dream, A reality

We spent our early childhood in the Belgian Congo where our parents were missionaries from 1950 – 1964.  It was an idyllic life, with one foot in a modified American culture and one foot in the Congolese culture.  We made friends, learned the language and loved the culture.  Due to political unrest we left Congo in our early teens and moved back to the United States where we settled in for the long haul.

From the first day we set foot on American soil we dreamed of returning “home.”  We missed the friends, language and culture.  We did not realize how long we would be left with only a dream.

2007, forty three years later our dream was realized.  Upon arriving at the airport in Kinshasa we immediately knew we were not in the same Congo we left.  Our idyllic childhood memories were replaced with a new reality.

Two Brothers…A memory, A dream, A reality

Following our 10 day trip, traveling to the different places of our childhood and renewing long forgotten relationships, we came away with a new memory of Congo, The Democratic Republic of Congo.  Our idyllic memory of earlier years was replaced by a memory of our experience from an adult perspective and 43 years of change.

A new dream growing out of our visit, was realized…Hope for Congo.  Our dream was to bring hope to the next generation.  The Bible says “hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life”.

We met vibrant and persevering people and communities.  People eager to build a better life but lacking the necessary resources to do so.  They knew how to “go fishing but lacked fishing poles and access to the pond“.  Hope for Congo is all about fishing poles and access to the pond.

God opens a door.

AIMM, at one time known as the Congo Inland Mission (CIM), was the mission with which our parents served.  AIMM graciously allowed us to partner with them.

Over the past 100 years, God’s Spirit has been at work through AIMM, Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, establishing the church of Jesus Christ in Congo.  Hope for Congo, in partnership with AIMM, is all about providing the necessary tools and resources to the Congolese believers so that they can do the work God has called them to do.  Hope for Congo projects have included such things as Bibles, medical equipment, generators, manual brick making machines, safe drinking water, technical trade school equipment, and scholarships.

God is faithful and his work is accomplished through people.  Thank you for your interest and visit to our web-site on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Congo.

Stan and Brad Graber

©2015 Hope4Congo