THE STORY

With the help of Hope Centers for Children of Africa out of Buffalo, MN, Bisoke and Furaha opened the Bunia Children Hope Center (BCHC) in 2004 as a school for orphans of war. Now, twenty years later, with over 1,000 students, BCHC teaches non-orphaned, and tuition-paying students as well. In addition to education, under the direction of Furaha, BCHC finds homes for orphans with widows and other families.

At its peak BCHC had two campuses: the main campus, Baraka Academy I in Bunia and Baraka Academy II located at Shari, 10 km west of Bunia. The Shari campus had accompanying land where crops could be grown for sale, helping both to feed the students and support the school. In recent years that campus had to be abandoned due to rebel activity in the area.  The children who attended Baraka Academy II are now being accommodated at Baraka Academy I. Of the over 1000 students attending the school (preschool through secondary school), over half are orphans. 

New Wineskins Conference at Ridgecrest, NC

Bisoke uses Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to travel in the DRC where ground transportation is impossible.

2019

The Peace Center

2017

A service at the Peace Center

There are three IDP’s in and around Bunia: ISP with 32,000, Kolomani with 12,000 and Rwampara with 7,000.

2003

Reverend Balikenga Bernard (Bisoke) and his wife Furaha Bisoke Loucie (Furaha) moved their family back to Bunia in 2003 after completing their education at Daystar University in Kenya. Bisoke graduated with two degrees, one in Business Administration and the other in Reconciliation, Peace and the Bible. He was ordained over twelve (12) years ago. Furaha graduated with a degree in accounting. Bisoke and Furaha have devoted their lives to help bring peace and stability to the area, promote reconciliation between individuals and rival groups, and care for widows, orphans, and the many displaced individuals and families.

Grace, Furaha, Fred, Bisoke, Baraka

We met Bisoke in 2019 when the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina invited him to an Anglican meeting at Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island, followed by the New Wineskins Conference in NC. Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Charleston hosted him then, and again when he returned to Charleston for an Anglican Leadership Conference in January 2020. We heard more stories of hardship yet unwavering faith amid great suffering. After six months of prayer and discernment, Holy Trinity determined to find ways to help support the work of BCHC and the PC and our brothers and sisters in the DRC.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Charleston, SC

Once a month agape meal at the PC feeds 300 adults and 400 children.

Rev. Balikenga Bisoke Bernard serves as the Provincial Youth Coordinator for the Anglican Church in the DRC. This job is difficult in his vast country where very poor roads and dangerous conditions relegate travel to flying, usually with Mission Aviation Fellowship. While continuing to maintain his duties in this capacity, Bisoke started the Peace Center (PC) in 2017 on land donated by a tribal chief 11km west of Bunia. The PC is a place of refuge and prayer, where classes in grief counseling and job training are taught and an agape meal is served once a month when funds allow. Bisoke also ministers to the traumatized and grieving at the Rwampara IDP, 2 km from the PC. In addition, the PC as works with leaders in the other two IDP camps, and is in service to homeless children on the streets of Bunia, and surrounding villages and towns in the region.

Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Anglcan Diocese of South Carolina and Reverend Bisoke 2019 New Wineskins

Initially our focus was to share their story and the daily hardships they face, highlighting the realities of loss, resilience, and triumph. Then we committed to raising $500/month for a once-a-month agape meal at the PC. With the help of New Wineskins, Anglican Relief Development Fund (ARDF), and an ever-widening circle of churches and supporters in several states, we have funded installation of four wells, seminars, travel, building projects and medical care. Swahili Bibles, sewing machines, land and tools for farming, school supplies, shoes and clothing have been purchased. The need is far greater than we can fulfill but God has been faithful to direct and multiply our efforts. Our partnership has grown and evolved to form Hearts for the Congo, Inc, a 501(c)(3) corporation.

What does IDP stand for?

Internally Displaced Persons

Internally Dispaced Persons are pople who have been forced to leave their homes but remain within their country’s borders. The closest IDP camp, Rwampara, is 2 kilometers from the Peace Center.

Rwampara Dispaced Camp

We are walking two by two with our friends in Bunia, with hands and hearts connected across the ocean to be God’s hands and feet as we share Christ’s love. We pray for each other and are energized by answered prayers and witness of what God is accomplishing. Our eyes have been opened to the suffering not only in the DRC but all over the world, as this window into the lives of individuals in the Congo makes hardships of the world more real to us.

Bunia Children Hope Center

2004

Baraka Academy I - Bunia

Baraka Academy II - Shari Campus 10 km west of Bunia, currently closed due to dangers in the area.