A trader's loss plants seeds of Kilunda Sangi renewal

Léon Mavula is a Christian businessman who wears the shorts and baseball cap of a farmer, not a suit. Twenty years ago everything seemed to be going his way until hyperinflation wiped out his working capital. He lost his trucks, most of his store stocks, his wealth. Still hyperinflation couldn't rob him of two important things -- his faith in the Lord and his entrepreneurial spirit. He settled near his home village, Kilunda Sangi, to rebuild his livelihood and has ended up helping his neighbors transform their village.

Léon was not a farmer. But as he talked with other members of the local church he began to understand their struggle to produce enough food. Farmers were reluctant to run the risk of planting large fields. They preferred smaller subsistence plots. Fear of failure contributed to inadequate food supplies in many years. Kilunda Sangi often topped the statistics for malnutrition.


Problems with cassava mosaic disease in recent years only made the situation worse. Léon thought, "Surely God must have a solution for us."

And God did have a solution, in the form of 5 new high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of cassava promoted by the Baptist extension program at Lusekele. To bring that solution to Kulunda Sangi, Léon formed the MAG group and invited all the church women and their neighbors to join.

Together they planted a large multiplication field and experimented with planting on raised beds, a technique used in Lower Congo that conserves organic matter and soil nutrients. They also worked together with the whole village to control cattle and goats that were constantly browsing in fields close to the village.

The first year's experiment was a huge success -- a cassava harvest much larger than people expected and seed cuttings enough to get most families started planting the new varieties. Each year a new success has fueled enthusiasm. Now in its fourth year, the MAG group has shared the new varieties with everyone in the village. The impact is beginning to show.

People have enough to eat and a bit of surplus to sell. Many of the MAG members are making investments in fish-farming . Others have planted over 7 acres of oil palm. They are multiplying high-yielding peanut seed to share with the village. The Kilunda Sangi congregation has set its sights on putting a permanent roof on the church building.

Léon himself is a committed tither. With part of his modest means he supports the regional Christian radio station, an important source of inspiration and Bible teaching. He continues to help his neighbors find ways to farm more productively.

It is a privilege to work with believers like Léon and the MAG group. God has built solutions into His creation and moves us (me, our Congolese colleagues, and supporting believers in the US) to share these blessings so that ordinary village farmers can feed their families and hope for a less precarious future. Maybe God is moving YOU to join us as you consider the Lord's call to mission in this coming year. May the Light of the World light your life, reveal your path and through you shine into the world around you.