Congolese Meeting in Green Bay, WI

The Congolese meeting in Michigan is enthusiastic about preaching and sharing their faith, especially to other Congolese in the area.

This past Spring, our meeting (Lombard, Illinois) was contacted by a refugee brother who had arrived in Green Bay with his extended family. His name is Bro. Ali Kakozi and his family are from Congo. There are two extended families with fifteen people in total. We could visit and communicate (mostly in Swahili) since we have members from Congo who knew Bro. Ali from South Africa.

Bro. Ramazani Emena and his wife Sis. Sangani visited there in April with my wife, Sis. Beth Richard and myself. We brought plenty of food and Swahili first principle books since we knew those would be needed for their development. We learned that Bro. Ali and his sister, Maombi Ali, had arrived in Green Bay separately by a couple of months and had lived in a motel for more than a month. Catholic Charities was their relocation service, and it eventually helped them find apartments and jobs (though not ideal in either case).

We discussed relocating them to the Chicago area, and they were unsure what to do. Eventually, they decided to stay in Green Bay and started their own Congolese meeting. They are very enthusiastic about preaching and sharing their faith, especially to other Congolese in their area. Recently, they had twenty-seven people in their apartment for Sunday service! We also sent them ten Swahili Christadelphian songbooks we found online and two Swahili language Bibles. The adult women mostly only speak Swahili, while the men and teens speak English.

In the summer, Bro. Ali asked us to return to have baptisms. It took some time to return, but Bro. Ramazani and I returned on August 10 and participated in a long 90% Swahili confession of faith, which led to two baptisms. One was Bro. Ali’s daughter and the other was a Congolese man they knew from their village in Congo many years ago. Both had asked to be baptized over a month earlier and wanted experienced Christadelphians to participate. Bro. Ali baptized both in chilly Lake Michigan, and it was a joyous occasion for all to witness. 

Their journey forward will be difficult, as winter will set in, and no one in this group can drive. On the second visit, we also learned that Bro. Ali’s wife, Sis Mkyombwe Mariamu, at forty-three years old, is now pregnant with twins!

They have much to learn about life in America, but they also have much to teach us about sharing our common faith with others. Feel free to reach out to me for more information. My contact information is danbethr@gmail.com, telephone 630-441-7993. And please pray for this new lightstand and their spiritual development.

Dan Richard,
Lombard Ecclesia, IL