Ebola Prevention Training in the DRC

The deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread much faster than in previous outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, with 7,600 confirmed cases and nearly 3,700 deaths in the DRC.

Amid this outbreak, an OMS Village Church Planting (VCP) training is taking place in Bunia, the epicenter of the outbreak.

A VCP trainer and his students saw an opportunity to help villagers understand how to prevent the spread of Ebola and care for those affected—thereby demonstrating the love of God through practical action.

They reached out to VCP leaders for help. VCP supervisor Boopolo and his assistant, Amani, quickly developed three interactive lessons for the response. They trained leaders in Bunia to use the lessons, who are now equipping VCP students to take the training into villages. Because VCP trainers regularly use interactive methods to equip church planters, they quickly adapted their existing knowledge to meet an urgent need.

This training also recently began for VCP leaders in Beni, another center of VCP activity in eastern DRC affected by Ebola. As Ebola continues to threaten communities across the DRC, these OMS VCP leaders are taking what they have learned to villages, where practical knowledge can help save lives, trusting God to use them and the training.

If you’d like to provide training materials, soap, chlorine, and washstands so volunteer trainers can teach people how to prevent the spread of Ebola, care for those affected, and experience the love of God, you can give to One Mission Society’s DRC Crisis Response project #403690.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).