How it all started
Some years ago, the Lord revealed to me, Roland, how the Bible story of Moses, Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughter, applies to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was walking on the streets of Goma and felt the Spirit of the Lord whispering to me: “There are many Moseses needing a Miriam”. First, I did not understand what that meant, but as I inquired and sought understanding, the Holy Spirit took me to the scripture talking about the sister of Moses in Exodus 2:7: “Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter: ‘Should I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? ‘ And pharaoh’s daughter said to her: ‘Go!’”
Moses was born in the time that the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. The Farao at that time commanded all baby boys to be killed, for the nation of Israel was growing very big and strong, and he was afraid that they would turn against him. The mother of Moses hid Moses for three months and then put him in a basket in the river for someone to be found, to save her boy’s life. She sent Moses’ sister Miriam to keep an eye on the basket. When the daughter of Pharaoh went to bathe in the river she found the basket. Miriam went to her and asked if she should find a woman who could care for and feed the baby until he was strong and big enough to live with the princess. The princess agreed and Miriam went to get her own mother. The rest of the story of Moses is known; in the end God used him to lead the whole nation out of captivity, out of Egypt.
We can all follow what is going on in DR Congo. Recurring wars, deadly epidemics, disease and poverty are the order of the day. As a result, large numbers of children live in distress, loneliness and malnutrition: orphans, street children, children dying of treatable infections. They are like Moses. Their lives are in danger. They carry within them the potential to become leaders of a people. To be like Moses, to lead a people out of darkness, from bondage to Light. However, they need a Miriam, who will stand up for them. A Miriam, who helps them become the person God intended them to be. Moses was meant to be a leader to deliver the people. Action Uruma exists to ‘be a Miriam’, to care for and to bring the love of Christ to the orphaned, at-risk and vulnerable children. We see potential and look for the gold in them. We look for ways to care for them, provide them with education and feed them.
Action Uruma exists to ‘be a Miriam’, to care for and to bring the love of Christ to the orphaned, at-risk and vulnerable children.
Roland Bahozi, DR Congo
OUR VISION
We believe God created family as a structure where children are safe and loved. Children without the safety of a family are extremely vulnerable. In DR Congo many children have been left alone due to poverty, war, displacement, or recruitment into armed groups. This prevents children from growing up safely; they often do not have access to education and lack a healthy diet. They become susceptible to malnutrition and diseases.
Action Uruma is dedicated to serving the needs of vulnerable children in DR Congo. We want to be family to to the ones that don’t have one, showing them their identity, their value and God given dignity, one child at a time. We want to give them our love and provide education and health care. Our mission is to raise them up to become loving, honest and strong leaders – leaders within their own family and leaders of their nation.
To fullfill our mission we want to see:
THE HEART BEHIND
Behind all that we do we have the desire to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength. To live by faith and not by sight and to know and live out that it is not by might, not by power but by God’s spirit that we work.
We want to live for the simplicity of the gospel, the raw gospel that God is sharing in His word. God is a Father and it was His idea to create families. First of all, He created His own family – we can be His children. In His care we are loved and protected. Then He created families on the earth, to represent Him. Within the family unit a child is protected, cared for and loved. Children without a family are extremely vulnerable. That is why God is so passionate about protecting the orphans and caring for the ones in need. That is His Fatherheart speaking! And we want to express that Heart in the world around us.
Here is the sort of fast I want – (…) sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you see them, fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen! Then your light will burst forth like the morning, your new skin will quickly grow over your wound; your righteousness will precede you, and ADONAI’s glory will follow you.
Isaiah 58:6-8 (CJB)
Our core
The Bible verse of Isaiah 58 is the core of what we want to do: to share our food, to take the homeless into our house and cloth the naked. Seeing the one, building a relationship, caring and sharing. So they can grow up to become leaders, knowing who their Father in Heaven is because it has been shown to them.
‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them? When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’
Matthew 25:35-40 (CJB)
This is a story Jesus was sharing when He was talking about His Kingdom. Who does the Father bless? It is the one that saw the hungry and gave them food. The one who gave the thirsty a drink and bringing in the stranger. The one clothing those who need clothes. The one caring for the sick and visiting the prisoner. God says: “when you do that to someone, you are doing it to Me!” That is the heart of the Father. For us, this is what it is all about. This is what love looks like. And that is what we want to share in this world.
About CONGO
Action Uruma is based in the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Goma is the capital city of the province North Kivu in the east of Congo. The city has around 1,000,000 citizens and is situated on the northern shores of Kivu Lake which is on the border of Rwanda. The landscape is dominated by the active Nyiragongo Volcano (Virunga National Park).
The recent history of Goma has been dominated by the volcano, the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 and the resulting Congo Wars. The aftermath of these events was having effects on the city and its surroundings for many years. There have been numerous outbreaks of violence. Rebel groups remained in the forests and mountains north and west of Goma. During the years there have been several armed conflicts. These have resulted in the population’s forced displacement and emigration. Insecurity striked the lives of children, teenagers and young people, many of whom are street kids suffering of malnutrition and illnesses that continues to threaten their lives and those of their families.
CHANGE A LIFE
Your help brings change to a child’s life.
Get involved in our work and make a difference today.