Adapted from a report by a former CAMA worker, who now pastors a refugee ministry at a U.S. Alliance church.
“That’s what I want to do—I want to go back to my people and be a missionary! Can you help me do that?”
Lumona excitedly whispered those words to my husband, Robert*, during a recent service at our church. Our missions theme that weekend was about sharing Christ’s message with the nations.
A high school student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lumona had listened wide-eyed as a retiring Alliance missionary couple, Joe and Kay Kong, shared their story of coming to our city as refugees from Cambodia more than 40 years ago.
When the Kongs were in their 60s, they felt called to return to their homeland—to share a message of life and hope in the place where they had fled persecution and certain death. It is an incredible story of faith told by people who share a history very similar to Lumona’s.
A Rich Alliance Legacy
Because of war and violence in his home country, Lumona had spent most of his life in a refugee camp until we helped his family resettle in our city last year. This vibrant teenager is now a member of our church’s International Prayer Gathering worship team, ministering to us here in the United States from the place where the very first Alliance missionaries were sent in 1884.
He and the Kongs are part of a rich Alliance legacy. Many immigrants to the United States have been embraced, discipled, and equipped for ministry by Alliance churches before returning to their home cultures with a burden for the lost.
Lumona is already asking about Bible school and pastoral training. He has deep conviction and charisma, and he loves Jesus. We can’t wait to see how God will weave this young man’s life into another beautiful story of His redemptive work around the globe.
*Name changed
Did You Know?
Our movement’s heart for the nations has resulted in The Alliance becoming one of the most diverse evangelical churches in America—more than 40 percent of our U.S. congregations are non-Anglo, speaking 37 languages and dialects.
What You Can Do
Join the many who have already given to the 2019 Great Commission Day Offering—help send and support new workers who introduce Jesus to the world’s least reached, most overlooked peoples.