While the tension is rising once again in the eastern cities and villages of the North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while news agencies are reporting the crossing into Congo of numerous armed rebels in the this January 2017, while the majority Congolese population continues to live in fear, trauma, and extreme poverty right in the middle of one of the potentially richest countries in the world, a group of young men and women are focusing on what the Lord God gave them to do.

They are volunteering time, energy, and other resources to point a select group of about 10 women and young ladies to the Lord Jesus and the hope He gives while teaching them a skill that would help them provide for themselves and their families.

Through the Encourage Mothers program, Rudi International, a youth-led and Christ focused non-profit organization, is running the second year of Renew Hope. This project is a response to the need of a holistic approach to solving profound and deeply rooted issues among the women and children of Lac Vert, a city where most of the participants in Renew Hope reside. Rudi International partners with Linked Through Love Foundation, a Canadian non-profit organization, to make this project at all possible. Linked Through Love Foundation provides you with a way to give, to join in the work, and to learn some more about the Encourage Mothers project.

Renew Hope consists in classes where the women receive training in sewing skills. These have proven beneficial both to the first group that graduated in 2016 and to the new group that started right after them. Of the first group, Ms. Philomene testifies of her own progress and the confidence gained in one month of training:

“When I first came here, everything was hard for me. From using scissors to cutting a piece of tissue, it is a long journey. The month was not too long, now I am proud to present a shirt and a dress I was able to sew. I am thankful to God and to our trainers who are putting in a lot of efforts to help us go through our first steps”.

Philomene is just one of the 10 students who are this year benefiting from the collaboration between Linked Through Love Foundation and Rudi International who are serving Jesus Christ with the immediate goal of “Improving the lives of vulnerable, at risk women by providing them marketable skills they can use to escape the restraints of poverty and/or abusive relationships, providing them independence and an ability to provide for their families.” (LTLF)

Please learn more about the program at Linked Through Love Foundation’s website where you can also choose to sponsor one or more of the women in the program.