Selected Areas of the Republic of Congo

Coordinator: Charles Mikole

Charles is the son of Eugene Mikole and Jacqueline Bowenzi, and is married to Solange Nadege. The couple has six children.

Charles was born in Impfondo in the northern part of the country, and has been in the ministry since 2000. He was born into an unbelieving family, but grew up in a Catholic environment that influenced him. In 1989 a Roman Catholic sister invited him to attend a church meeting. The preacher that day led him to Christ in prayer. Since then, he has been a follower of Christ. After his conversion he became the leader of an evangelistic choir team at the church he attended.

In 2000, Charles started his theological studies in Bangui, Central African Republic. His passion is in discipling people. He partners with the Eglise Evangelique Chretienne du Congo, a denomination started in 1948 by an American missionary named Verna Sigler. This church has a great influence in the northern part of the Congo where Charles was born. The first pastors of the church association were trained in the Lingala language, but their training was not very deep due to generally low educational standards. It was in 1999 that the first pastor was sent to Bangui for a more advanced theological training. As of late 2008, the church association had three graduates from the theological school in Bangui with master's degrees and three with bachelor's degrees. More than 25 others have graduated from other Bible schools.

God has worked powerfully through evangelistic activities prompted by the Into Africa Project, and revival is taking place in the church. Through the VCP program, Charles and his team have planted 90 churches with a total membership of 5,255. Of these, 4,547 individuals are in discipleship training.

Testimony

After showing the Jesus film at the VCP training center in Dzeke, the local chief was deeply convicted and decided to give his life to Jesus. Charles had the occasion to meet with him, and asked about his decision and the witchcraft his villages entrusted with him for their protection.

The chief said, "I was born with these beliefs and one day I will have to leave them. And this is the day that I am quitting them." He then confessed in public to this and his new-found faith in Christ. This took place near the river where baptisms are conducted, and where he was later baptized on 14 December 2008. His relatives were happy. But some other villagers wondered what would happen to the witchcraft practices that had been entrusted with him, and who was going to take them over.