PROGRESS AT "SPACE OF JOY"

Dear Friends of BESI / Radio Kahuzi,

The month of July 2026 marked the effective launch of two new projects for the 130 orphaned children living in the Cabana Camp, following the start of the pig farming project in June.

*  Our pig farm is in full operation.

*  The fish pond has been fully completed and stocked with fingerlings.

*  The multilingual school (Kihavu, Kiswahili, French, and English) officially began classes on July 1, 2026

*   The overall objective of these initiatives is to promote food self-sufficiency, psychosocial well-being, and sustainable income generation for the benefit of the children.

PROJECT 1: PIG FARMING COMPLETED

Objective: To generate income that will support the orphaned children and help fight hunger in the camp.

Construction of the pigsty and installation of a fence made from recycled metal sheets to secure the site. The fence was built following the recommendation of my wife, Mrs. Moseka, and our veterinarian friend to prevent unauthorized visits from outsiders.

A representative group of orphaned children visited the piglets, accompanied by their teacher and the Camp Secretary. Because the pigsty has limited capacity and the number of children is large, only a small group was able to participate in the visit.

The children were delighted to discover their project. The visit strengthened their sense of ownership and motivation as the direct beneficiaries of the initiative.

PROJECT #2: FISH FARMING COMPLETED - CIDORHO FISH POND (CIBANDA)

Our objective is to produce enough fish to improve the nutrition of more than 130 orphaned children while generating income for the sustainability of the project.

The fish pond is now 100% complete, watertight, and fingerlings were purchased and transported to the pond. You have provided the required funds for purchasing the fingerling and fish feed and the pond is located in the Cidorho Valley, approximately 900 meters from the camp.

The fish farm has already become an attractive site within the village because of its beautiful landscape. Some local residents have requested permission to take photographs there, but we have decided to prohibit this in order to protect the site.

PROJECT #3: EDUCATION FOR OUR ORPHANED CHILDREN

Our objective is to help the children learn the alphabet, syllables, words, and sentences, while developing proficiency in Kihavu, Kiswahili, French, and English. The project also aims to support psychological recovery and prepare the children for a brighter future.

Official launch of classes in Kihavu, Kiswahili, French, and English.

The children first gather at their playground known as the "Space of Joy" for introductory learning sessions before continuing lessons in the office hall of the Cabana local authority, which has generously been made available to us two days per week.

On the first day, our new teacher, Julien, used an oral teaching approach that was well adapted to the children's educational background and current circumstances.

All 130 orphaned children have joined the program with great enthusiasm. for many of them, returning to learning after losing their parents represents a new beginning and renewed hope. the teacher responsible for the children is a Christian and a choir member at Bethel Church, where he is actively involved in ministry. He accepted $200 monthly as salary.

Major Challenges

Lack of a permanent classroom. Insufficient teaching material, including paper, notebooks, and school supplies. Lack of an MP3 player or a computer with speakers to play recorded Bible lessons in the Kihavu language about the Life of Jesus Christ.

Our Urgent Need

We need to provide a suitable learning environment for the children and propose the construction of a simple wooden classroom measuring 15 meters by 8 meters, roofed with standard corrugated metal sheets. This affordable solution would protect the children from the weather and significantly improve their learning conditions. 

School Building Need: $1,500

How to Help...just go to

www.besi.org/Donate

Richard and Kathy McDonald Update

We remain under M23 control in Bukau but continue to broadcast the Gospel on FM with a new antenna 102.1 as M23 has been illegally broadcasting on our 91.1 FM. Most journalist with other stations have fled due to the danger and threat to lives. We covet your prayers.

Much Love and Prayers,

Keep Looking Up!

Richard and Kathy McDonald

CAMP KALEHE CHILDREN ARE BACK TO SCHOOL

THROUGH WAR AND THE CHAOS

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION WITH A NEW TEACHER...JULIEN!

OUR team member and printer, Richard Lugano, gave 600 printed tracts to Danny for our new teacher, Julien, for his July 4 program for our 130 orphans at Kalehe. We are also using Bible players from MegaVoice with music and programming in different languages to share with the children.

Pray for a new school house to be built soon as there is little room for all the children in the current situation. You can help by going to our website at

http://www.besi.org/Donate

The Day the Airwaves Opened: July 4, 1991

35 YEARS AGO

Photo: Richard in center shaking hands with President Mobutu saying, "Mr. President, I have two communications projects held up in Kinshasa." President Mobutu turned to his right hand man and said, "See to this man's request."

For years, it seemed impossible.

Richard McDonald had met twice with President Mobutu and the Director of his Office, only to hear the same answer: the Constitution of Zaire gave a monopoly on public broadcasting to the state network, OZRT. There was, they said, simply no legal room for another radio voice in the country — let alone a Christian one.

But the story of Radio Kahuzi had never followed the ordinary path.

It began, unexpectedly, with a torn retina. A medical emergency sent Richard by helicopter to a mountain hospital, where he crossed paths with the President of the Far East Broadcasting Association — a meeting no one could have arranged, yet one that planted the first seed of an idea: what if the Gospel could reach eastern Congo over the air?

The very next day, before flying to the United States for treatment, Richard met with the Provincial Governor and asked for permission to use an abandoned radio studio to start a Christian broadcasting network. It was a bold request born out of urgency — and it turned out the Governor had, only weeks earlier, given his own life to Christ. His Administrative Assistant had done the same, just months before. The Lord, it seemed, had already been preparing hearts long before the request was ever made.

Still, the obstacles were real. For three years, Richard worked to complete the statutes required to establish Believers Express Service, Inc. (BESI) as a legal entity, all while the constitutional door to independent broadcasting remained firmly shut.

Then, in the early 1990s, everything changed. President Mobutu made the historic decision to end Zaire's one-party state and open the way for multi-party elections. Two days later, he signed a Presidential Decree recognizing BESI as a Congolese Association, clearing the path for its work.

On July 4, 1991, that vision became reality. Radio Kahuzi received the very first non-government broadcasting license ever granted in Zaire — a nation where, until that moment, no voice but the state's had ever been permitted on the air.

It was more than a license. It was the beginning of a National Network of Radio Broadcasting, and it quietly opened the door for other independent radio and television stations, and a measure of press freedom, to follow across the nation.

What had once been declared impossible by the highest office in the land became, through patience, faithfulness, and what can only be called divine timing, the first crack in a wall that had stood since independence.

Three decades later, Radio Kahuzi still broadcasts the Gospel across eastern Congo — a living reminder that when God opens a door, no constitution, no monopoly, and no impossibility can keep it closed.

"Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." — Revelation 3:8

Keep Looking Up!

 A PLEA FOR THE CHILDREN OF KALEHE

      130 orphaned children. One camp.                                                                                                                                                    Urgent need for your support.

On the night of May 4, 2023, floodwaters tore through the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in Kalehe Territory, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 5,000 people perished. Entire families were swept away. Houses, fields, schools — gone.

What the waters left behind were the children.

Who Are These Children?

Today, 130 orphaned children — ages 3 to 16 — live in the Cibanda Lwako Camp, a former airstrip 58 kilometers north of Bukavu. They are there because they have nowhere else to go. Their parents are dead. Their homes no longer exist.

130 Total orphans

52 Girls

78 Boys

10 Deaths in camp

 

Among them, 63 are of primary school age and 58 are of secondary or vocational training age. Nine are toddlers, between 3 and 5 years old, who have never known anything but life in this camp.

Life in the Camp

These children face hunger, malnutrition, and illness every day. Ten have already died from illness and malnutrition since arriving at the camp. Many have developed mumps — a painful, fever-causing viral infection — with 10 currently affected, three of them severely.

They sleep crowded together on thin mats. Their clothes are torn. When the rains come — and they come often — the children are cold, sick, and terrified. They dream of landslides coming to bury them in their sleep.

"In this house, I sleep in a small room with my younger brothers on a small mat, often waking up in the morning with stomach pain. Our clothes are torn. When it rains, we are cold and suffer from headaches. At night, I have nightmares that the landslides will return to bury us here." — Ombeni, age 10

Without sponsorship or income, the children have no access to school. Some are forced by hunger into domestic labor in strangers’ homes, performing heavy chores in exchange for food — a cycle of exploitation that deepens their trauma and cuts them off from any hope of a normal future.

Surveys conducted at the camp have confirmed serious psychological trauma: grief, anxiety, and stress that, left unaddressed, will impair these children’s development for years to come.

What Radio Kahuzi Has Already Done

Radio Kahuzi Bukavu (BESI) has not stood by. With very limited local resources, our team — led by journalist Danny Magadju and his wife — has provided rice, beans, and porridge to the camp, organized medical care for the most critically ill children, and brought a Christmas celebration to the camp each December so these children can experience a moment of joy and dignity.

Three children with severe mumps received $50 worth of medication, funded by Radio Kahuzi. But our resources are exhausted. The need far exceeds what we can provide alone.

What Your Support Will Do

We are asking for your help to launch two income-generating projects that will provide sustainable food security for these children, along with continued access to schooling, healthcare, and psychosocial support.

Project 1: Mini Piggery

A small pig farm — 12 piglets, a wooden sty, and six months of feed — will provide these children with a sustainable source of protein and income. Space is already available at the camp site.

Construction of wooden pigsty                               $400	$400
Purchase of 12 piglets                                  $480 + $36	$480 + $36
Feed for 6 months (oilcakes)                               $1,500	$1,500
Equipment (cans, buckets) + contingency              $174	$174
TOTAL START-UP COST                                    $2,590	$2,590

Project 2: Family Fish Pond

A tilapia fish pond (100m x 60m) will provide a second source of nutrition and income. Land is available. Fingerlings will be sourced from a neighboring country and transported to Kalehe.

Digging the fish pond                                                                $350	$350
Materials (pipes, nets, tools)                                                     $180	$180
9,000 fingerlings + transportation                                           $1,700	$1,700
Fish feed for 6 months                                                               $500	$500
Maintenance + contingency                                                      $295	$294
TOTAL START-UP COST                             $3,024	$3,024

Together, these two projects are projected to cover approximately 65% of the children’s food and basic needs — reducing dependence on external aid and giving these children a foundation for the future.

Kalehe Territory sits in the heart of South Kivu, a region that has faced both natural disaster and armed conflict. The floods of 2023 killed over 5,000 people in a territory of fewer than half a million inhabitants. The armed conflict of early 2025 has only deepened the humanitarian crisis — and the suffering of the most vulnerable: the children.

These 130 orphans have lost everything — their parents, their homes, their schools, their childhoods. They have survived floods, conflict, illness, and hunger. They are resilient. But resilience alone is not enough without support.

The Bible tells us: "Pure and undefiled religion before God is to visit orphans in their suffering" (James 1:27). We take that seriously. We hope you will too.

"A child who smiles is a child who heals and learns."

How to Give

Every dollar you give goes directly to the children of the Cibanda Lwako Camp. Please contact us to make a donation or learn more about sponsoring a child’s education.

GO TO:

www.besi.org/Donate

Léa's PODCAST BIO

 

Hi everyone!

My name is Léa Mulasi Kalangwa, a Calvary Preparatory Academy and Calvary Chapel University alumna.

I'm originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but I currently live in Kampala, Uganda.

I had the opportunity to start a podcast program for Radio Kahuzi, called "The Radio Kahuzi Podcast," and the first few podcasts were published in June 2025. We first started with English and now we have added French and Swahili.

Our mission is to reach souls and declare God's glory, and we hope to reach and impact youths all over the world.

Throughout this journey so far, I have grown a lot in presenting and sharing my different themes to the world. And I recently started to edit the videos myself. By God's grace and with Him by my side, I hope to continue growing and becoming better and better for His glory! I hope and pray that through this project, God will use me to share His Word and impact people's lives, especially youths around the world.

Thank you all for watching, listening, and may you be blessed by the messages.

God bless!

Thank you so much!

With Love,

Léa

HAPPY 82ND BIRTHDAY, RICHARD!

 

RADIO KAHUZI STILL BROADCASTING THE STORY OF JESUS

                                                                          

 CELEBRATING 

 ~EASTER~

HE IS OUR ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OUR 

REASON FOR BROADCASTING 

THE JESUS STORY...

...FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.  JOHN 3: 16

RUN . . . THE TREE IS FALLING!

What Happened

On Thursday, March 3, 2026, Kati was walking home from the university with a group of friends, taking a shortcut through the forest. She had just finished delivering her oral thesis —having already graduated at the head of her class with a MASTER IN LAW DEGREE — and the group was in high spirits. Government workers were cutting trees late that afternoon when someone suddenly shouted, "The tree is going to fall!" The students scattered in every direction, but Kati ran the wrong direction. The tree struck her on the head, chest, and legs, the force so great that it apparently dislocated her leg at the joint.

Her friends pulled her from under the tree and got her to town. She was first taken to the General Hospital, which turned her away for lack of specialists. An ambulance — paid for by her parents, Feza and Primo — transported her to the University Hospital, where she was admitted to the ICU. Doctors assessed her injuries as serious but said she would be okay, and surgery was planned to address the leg. Her father, Primo, traveled to be with her; Richard and the Radio Kahuzi team advanced him $100 for meals.

Tragically, early the next morning, Kati passed away — most likely from internal injuries or internal bleeding.

The Mourning

The family observed three days of mourning at Feza and Primo's home rather than at their church. Because the house is small — part of a duplex — most mourners gathered outside. It rained during the nights, so the family and their neighbor erected makeshift tent sheeting for two groups. Pastor Grégoire and the Grace Church supported the family throughout. Richard and the Radio Kahuzi team helped purchase a goat and food to support the three days of mourning and celebration of Kati's life. The mourning officially concluded at 2:00 p.m. on the final day.

The Family

Feza and Primo have three children: their son Don, who has recently completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Informatics; their son Fider (whose name means "Faithful"); and Kati whose full name is Kathleen, named after Kathleen McDonald. Dada Feza has said that God loved Kati dearly and has now called her home to Himself for eternal life. She is certain they will see Kati again in the kingdom of heaven.

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." — Matthew 6:20–21

JUDAH'S TRIBUTE TO THE COMFORTING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

                        Lilah Faith (16), Jared, Kim, and Judah

You might think my family and I are crazy, but a person can only convince themselves something didn’t happen for so long before they give up. Denial only lasts for so long, but the joy that the Holy Spirit gives is eternal, so crazy that even I can hardly believe how overjoyed I am in every moment.  

There were no stages of grief, there was only healing, love and joy. That is proof that my God is real. He is so sovereign he can use death to bring life and love in places where there should logically be none. No height, no depth, no angel, no demon, can separate me from the love that is in Jesus Christ.

 

This same joy and peace are only found in His arms, nothing you have to earn, and there is nothing you have to do to receive it. The God of our universe died in the worst way possible just for you, just so you could have it. He only wants a relationship with you, so accept the gift freely given!!! No matter what you’ve been through, what you’ve done, or who you’ve hurt, God is waiting with open arms for you.

 

Throughout the entire time Lilah was in the hospital, I never once asked God why, when she was in her last days, I never doubted His plan, and after she had passed, I never raised my voice or cursed Him.

 

The only question I asked myself was “How am I waking up every morning praising Him and having this much peace?”. It was absolutely nothing I could do, it was all Him. We have an advocate with the Father, we have a man who was imprisoned, whipped until his ribs showed through His back, forced to carry a cross that he would be nailed to hours later with a crown of thorns on his head.

 

Whatever you’ve been through, that man went through ten times over, and He didn’t do it for no reason, or curse anyone, in fact, He forgave those who crucified Him. Jesus Christ died for you, even if you would have put Him on that cross. He died so you could have the chance to know Him and accept the gift of eternal life.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

Romans 10: 9 

 To Listen to Lea's Podcast Click On One of Her Titles to Your Right.