From a Train of Death to Training Leaders: Escaping Ethnic Cleansing in the Congo, changing nations!
Freddy (left) & Éric Kazadi are 2010 graduates of RHEMA Bible Training College in Quebec, Canada. (Another school made possible through partner support.). Freddy is the campus coordinator of RHEMA Kinshasa in their native Democratic Republic of the Congo where he’s planted several churches. After serving years as an assistant pastor in Montreal, Éric now leads the church he pioneered in Ottawa, Canada.
”Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.“ Romans 8:35, 37
Freddy Kazadi and his twin brother Éric were enjoying a peaceful life in the eastern Congo (formerly Zaïre) until a wave of ethnic cleansing threw them into a nightmare. Because their grandfather was from the targeted tribe, neighbors and former friends, armed with machetes, forced them from their home. They fled with knapsacks and the clothes on their backs. Joining thousands in a make-shift concentration camp, a month passed waiting their turn on a train of death that would return them to the region of their ancestors. At one point, Frédéric had to carry his brother, weakened by hunger and disease, on his back.
“Bodies of those who succumbed were wrapped in banana leaves and abandoned beside the tracks.”
The four-day train ride was stifling with people crammed upright and no way to sit. Feet were swollen and bleeding. At each stop the cry was heard, “Are there any dead aboard?” Bodies of those who succumbed were wrapped in banana leaves and abandoned beside the tracks. Passengers alternated riding on the roof to get air. One friend took his turn on the rooftop, holding one of the twins’ backpacks. Approaching a tunnel, he lay prostrate hoping to pass through the narrow gap. The thick pack caught the tunnel opening...sweeping the dear friend and about 20 others to their deaths. Men were shot at point blank range before their eyes and they experienced unspeakable horrors.
Seeking to survive at their destination, the twins worked in the dangerous diamond mines. Being lowered vertically by ropes into deep holes, barely wide enough for a body, they would dig long horizontal tunnels looking for diamonds. Tunnel collapses were common. Over a month of grueling work finally yielded a diamond. The agreement was to split profits amongst the team. One man ran off with the stone, leaving Freddy, Éric and the others with nothing.
Miracles Shine in the Darkness!
Throughout the ordeal, Freddy & Éric chose not to become victims! During the four-day train ride, they took turns preaching the Gospel for hours at a time and God confirmed His Word! One mother had left her toddler with a friend below so she could get some air on the roof. When someone screamed the child was dead, they handed the toddler by its leg to Freddy so he could pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, the baby came to life. When the dead body of their friend, Jean, was being wrapped in banana leaves in preparation for burial, they prayed over him and, he too, was raised from the dead!
“The dead body of their friend Jean was being wrapped in banana leaves in preparation for burial, they prayed over him...he too was raised from the dead!”
If ever anyone had an excuse to the bitter, it would be Freddy & Éric Kazadi. Thanks to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, they’re two of the kindest, most loving, compassionate people one will ever meet. The Lord really does turn what the enemy meant for harm and use it for His glory!
To be continued: In Part II we’ll see the supernatural story of Freddy’s role in launching the first French-speaking RHEMA Bible Training College in Africa and how he continues raising up leaders in the Congo and beyond!
Thank you, again, for your partnership which has already helped train over 1,420 nation changers like Freddy and Éric. Will you help Train more in 2024? More seed = more leaders trained = more nations changed!
Nations180 is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organisation with a vision to:
Facilitate church planting movements
Establish ministry training centers
Provide faith-building publications and media
For the 34 nations and 11 territories of the French-speaking world.
Ken & Tonja Taylor - nations180 Founders/Directors