Leader Profile: Serge Musubao - Kinshasa, D.R. Congo ~ by Chase Lovins
Serge Musubao was born in Rutshuru in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Born in this remote and not well-recognized region, he exhorted me: “Go look it up, Chase! Really, google it. All you will find are stories of war and crisis.
”As a young boy, Serge began to dream of what his life could and would become - dreams of career, life and family outside of Rutshuru. In 2008, Serge chose to follow Jesus and experienced the Lord giving him a “better dream” - a dream of community development and service to the poor. He attended University and found a growing passion for project management. He began to see project management as a way to truly care for the poor. After University he took his first job working with a mining company in South Kivu. There, he saw first-hand a community rich with mineral resources but fractured and poor. The community was receiving outside aid, however, he realized their issue wasn’t poverty, but a lack of community connection
.For Serge, this experience was the beginning of God’s “better dream” for him. He began devoting his time, talents, and understanding to project management and community development. Serge explains that “Project Management is God’s power to teach us, and is all about receiving the goals from God rather than our own minds.” He began to apply this perspective working with impoverished communities, schools, and refugee camps, teaching and training them in the practice of Community-Centred Development (CCD).
But how does CCD work itself out in a practical way? Serge shared about a group of people he works with called “Goma Actif” – a group that has been responding to the needs of their community after it was devastated by volcanic eruptions and civil conflict. Rather than waiting on foreign or government aid, these young men and women took their community’s welfare into their own hands, rallying food, clothing, medical aid, and water from within their own resources. According to Serge, “Any community not at the centre of project design, management, and evaluation is bound to fail.
”Five and Two is a flat network of community activists and change agents working across the Global South. What these leaders share in common is a passion for Community-centred development - a radical approach in which the vision, assets and agency for change come from inside the community itself. This change process can only take place when courageous, innovative leaders are prepared to begin with what they have.
Prayer Request:
As a key member of Five & Two Network, Serge is working with leaders across the D.R. Congo, sharing the principles and processes of ABCD that are having a transformative impact on communities. Please pray for Serge, as he teaches, trains, and further uncovers the “better dreams” that God has for him and his country and ministry.
