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As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Goma offensive, when the March 23 Movement captured and controlled major cities of eastern DRC in a final military offensive which had been on-going since 2022, I reflect upon my first visit to DRC in 2022. After having lived in other conflict states across the east African region for several years, I had known about DRC by its reputation. Having grown up in the U.S., I had read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in a high school English class, a divisive novella that provoked stereotypes and cast modern-day DRC under a dark shadow to the outside world. Michael Crichton’s bombastic science fiction novel Congo and The Andromeda Strain exacerbated those fears that many held and did little to combat stereotypes when Ebola was first discovered in then Zaire in 1976. By 2014, I had lived in West Africa for a year, and while never having been impacted by the West African Ebola Epidemic, I would be remiss to say that I had no fear-based preconceived notions of the place.
Yet here I was, just weeks before the M-23 offensive really got off the ground, standing in the immigration line at the Goma airport. Two officials reviewing my passport were beaming at me when they learned that even though I am American by nationality, I could speak French. More smiling faces awaited me at the World Relief offices in Goma, and rural Tanganyika Province. Our agricultural Coordinator Laurence was all too quick to teach me about raising guinea fowl. Mama Eva took me shopping for art and bright kitenge fabrics, the pride of any Congolese woman. Mama Sarah made us all home cooked lunches everyday at the office, with fresh fish from nearby lakes and stews with lots of spice, starches and vegetables. To travel to field sites, I flew over swathes of virgin forests, DRC housing the world’s second largest rainforest system and holding nearly 10% of the world’s biodiversity. Was this really the place that I read about with graphic horror in popular culture — and watched on my local news channel?
DRC is a complex place that has reached its boiling point: it is heat coming from internal tribal-based conflict, and it is pressure from centuries of external international extortion and exploitation. All the more in the east where World Relief has been running programs officially for over 20 years, that tension has remained high. To this day, DRC is the most frequently placed country on the “top 10 most neglected global crises” report published annually by various organizations.
In recent history, DRC has been in the headlines for deadly disease outbreaks: Ebola, Mpox, Marburg and the COVID-19 pandemic. Natural disasters have not eschewed the place: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and irregular weather patterns, which have affected crop production ( agriculture is nearly 20% of the national economy). Environmental and resource exploitation has been fought over and systematically ignored by those most powerful for far too long. In Eastern DRC, provinces that on January 23, 2025 stood on terra firma under DRC’s geographic administration, now on January 23, 2026 sit in limbo between DRC and Rwanda.
Being under control of the M23 group for most of 2025 in what was at first a violent takeover has now turned into a quiet waiting for an unknown future, one mostly forgotten by the outside world.
DRC is a place where societal wounds run deep. Even though I felt immense warmth and hospitality during my month-long stay, I felt the pain too. Three days before I left, rumors of fighting in North Kivu Province had sparked worry in Goma, the city of nearly 2 million residents. Days after my plane had taken off, it was confirmed — another battle had begun, and the Congolese resiliency was once again tested.
DRC is considered the rape capital of the world, a dark undercurrent culture that has sprung up as a result of persistent conflict. Mass displacement has affected the same families for decades, pulling them back into the grip of poverty just when they start to restabilize. At least 60% of the population lives below the poverty line. Long-term quality education is scarce — predominantly in rural locations which are home to 60% to 70% of the total population — pushing new generations into continued patterns of conflict, instability, poverty and vulnerability to external exploitation.
Still, we know that in the darkness, the light shines brightest. This is why World Relief partners alongside the local church while responding to the ongoing DRC crisis. When all other options have run out, it is only God and his empowered people who can withstand the dark. I visited Brother Amos’ church where his son pastors. Praise was high as music permeated the building, reaching far out into the streets. Prayer is a serious and corporate business among DRC’s believers. Smiles, laughing, dancing and jubilee filled the church. Women and men wore their best and brightest outfits to celebrate.
The church and the people pouring out of it are living hope in the DRC crisis. World Relief remains strong and steady in DRC, looking to local churches and church leaders to help guide us in responding to what is most pressing in vulnerable communities in the east. In 2025, World Relief actively engaged with over 275 churches and either directly through church partnership or church guidance, responded to 4,681 individuals affected directly by gender-based violence. The response included prevention and trauma care activities. Just as Jesus filled the people with bread and fish before he ministered to them, we did not ignore the need for physical bread. Over 5,500 displaced families received emergency food assistance in 2025, through food or cash distributions, as many reeled from the ongoing M23 conflicts. To avoid dependency traps, we helped 300 farmers increase their food production and income security, and through savings groups initiatives and financial education, an average of $97 was saved per family. Collectively, nearly $25,000 was saved by new participants through the program. Moreover, 660 trained church volunteers visited over 6,000 households in various areas in the east, offering care, encouragement and practical help.
In 2026, despite fiscal set-backs of the previous year, we still aim high and believe in the light of the church. This year we look at equipping the church to lead in crises, from offering spiritual and psychosocial support to addressing practical community needs such as raising health awareness and providing temporary shelter to displaced persons. We continue to rely on their networks when identifying the neediest of families and providing emergency aid, including food assistance, cash transfers and essential household kits.
World Relief will expand its reach to health, nutrition and water, hygiene and sanitation programming to new locations. By supporting existing health facilities and community health workers, we seek to strengthen access to quality care for families, especially those with young children, women who are pregnant, elderly or disabled members. Addressing the wound of rape culture, World Relief DR Congo will still focus on preventing gender-based violence and ensuring holistic care for survivors in communities where women and girls face the greatest risk. Working in high-risk transitional zones, our approach integrates medical treatment, psychosocial support and socio-economic reintegration for survivors, as well as community awareness and education.
Economic fragility is one of DR Congo’s greatest challenges, especially for families who rely on subsistence farming and have few financial safety nets. Savings and loans activities as well as agricultural support remain a top priority in addressing the DRC crisis. We work towards strengthening household resilience by helping families manage emergencies, invest in their farms and build long-term stability.
The DRC crisis is indeed dark —- but together with compassionate people like you, we at World Relief choose to see the light and be the light. As many will be reading this from the northern hemisphere on some cold night in January, I encourage you to step outside with a warm brew, and look at the clear night sky twinkling in the darkness. David said, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4). God is awe, God is wonder. He is powerful, he is thoughtful, he is all-knowing, he is love. He cares for you and he cares for those in the midst of crisis in DRC. See how the stars shine bright! This is the DRC we can re-imagine. Won’t you join us?
Amanda Patterson serves as Senior Program Officer at World Relief with a focus on humanitarian and disaster responses. Most recently she has been engaged with conflict response in Ukraine, Haiti and DR Congo, as well as sudden-onset disaster responses. Prior to joining World Relief, Amanda lived a decade overseas and worked with a Christian organization as a responder to refugee and conflict emergencies in Niger, South Sudan, Greece and Ethiopia. She is passionate about creative expression through visual and textile arts, and creation care/environmental preservation especially in the woodlands where she is based in rural Pennsylvania.