Christ’s Hope International – Democratic Republic Congo

D.R.Congo in Africa

Contact information

Glenn Vantieghem
Ministry Coordinator for Christ’s Hope International DRC
E-mail: glennv@christshope.org
Tel: +243 (0) 81 836 7423

History

It was in 2004 that an active group of 7 people were identified to start up the ministry of Christ’s Hope International in the DRC. During the month of August, the legal registration took place so that as of September 2004, Christ’s Hope International is registered in the DRC as:

a non-profit organisation
a non-governmental organisation
an organisation for assistance and social promotion

Soon, active ministry was being carried out under two of the three Ministry models, put forward by Christ’s Hope International.

However, in 2007 the International Board of Trustees for Christ’s Hope International decided to stop the Ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Until a Ministry Coordinator would be found to train and send to the DRC, the charter for Christ’s Hope International was withdrawn from the country.

Christ’s Hope International DRC anno 2009

Glenn and Esther Vantieghem were identified as Ministry Coordinators for Christ’s Hope International in the DRC. They were trained through an Internship Course at the International Office for Christ’s Hope International, before being commissioned to go to the DRC and rebuild the Ministry in this Country.

During their first year in the country, they mainly focussed on their integration in DRC. They worked hard to set up a structure workable and legal to restart Christ’s Hope International Ministries in the DRC. On this page, you’ll find short updates from time to time on how the Ministry progresses.

Starting From Scratch

Yes, restarting an organisation in an African country you don’t know is not easy. However, we are blown away when we see what God allowed us to do over the past year.

Since we needed to rebuild the Ministry of Christ’s Hope from scratch, we mainly focussed on two things:

1. Rebuilding the Organisation

We began from the very start in DRC by gathering all official documents still to be found. We obtained the legal registration document that was still valid. Apart from that, we had a legal copy of the National Constitution with us and a copy of an agreement with the Ministry of Social Affairs.

After having talked with a lot of people we decided to form a Steering Committee to function from May 2009 until January 2010. This would be the team to restart the Ministry.

Today, beginning 2010, we are thankful to the Living God for what He allowed us to do:

We have a definite National Board of Trustees with a 3-year mandate;

We are legally registered with the Ministry of Justice;

We have a legal recognised Constitution that stipulates who we are and what we do.

On the 18th of January, we held our very first Board Meeting with some very positive signals from our new Trustees. We look forward to what God will do.

2. Assess the needs on the field and compare with Christ’s Hope International tier Ministry Models

From the start we decided not to undertake a lot of Ministry. One first needs a strong foundation before constructing a house. That’s the reason why we first and foremost focussed on the organisational structure in this first year of operation.

We however tried at the same time to discover the field and to get in touch with some well established organisations already active for many years. We learned a lot from them and we were able to determine that our first Ministry Model to be active in would be OVC (Our Valuable Children – Orphans and Vulnerable Childrens Ministry)

As a matter of field-testing, we organised four Kidsclubs. What started as an adventure in faith, ended up in a huge success. A basic orientation training for 50 local volunteers, putting in touch 150 children with their Friend Jesus Christ and establishing some first important contacts with churches whom helped us running these clubs.

We thank God for the way He led all of this and for what He allowed in 2009. We look forward to what 2010 will bring but now already we thank Him for the way in which He undertook so far.

If you want to know more, please don’t hesitate to ask for our Annual Ministry Report 2009. You can mail us to get our monthly newsletter, furthermore, you can contact us at:

glennv@christshope.org
In His Service,

G. Vantieghem

Christ’s Hope International

Ministry Coordinator for DRC

An Impression

Have a look at our ministry:

Stay in Touch

As the ministry is growing, things change rapidly. To stay in touch, do not hesitate to make contact with us. A link to our website will also be put on this page, as soon as it is operational. In the mean time, you can read our news in our newsletters below:

Newsletter May 2010
Newsletter April 2010 #2
Newsletter April 2010
Newsletter February 2010
Newsletter November 2009
Newsletter September 2009
Newsletter June 2009

Glenn Vantieghem
Ministry Coordinator
E-mail: glennv@christshope.org
Tel: +243 (0) 81 836 7423

DRC Country Office

Street Address:Avenue INSS no242 Quartier Mama Mobutu Coommune de Mont

Ngafula

KINSHASA