Fortitude
Everyone has a story of Fortitude! When we tell our stories of pain in adversity - stories of courage, redemption and hope - we give others permission to speak up and get the help they need. Each episode will give the listener a look inside what overcoming adversity looks like no matter what life throws at you. Each story is uniquely different - stories of alcoholism/addiction, infidelity, rape, abuse, loss of a child/children, cancer, rare disease, tragic accidents...etc.! We are in this life together to support one another and build community around hope and redemption. I am your host, Heather Kittelson, and I am so excited to have you here as part of the Fortitude community!
Fortitude
#56 - Bintu Mujambere & Luc Meaux - Faith in the Fire: Bintu's Journey Home
In this episode of Fortitude, hosts Heather and Amos Kittleson sit down with Bintu and Luc, a remarkable couple with a compelling story that spans continents. Bintu shares her journey from the Congo to Belgium, her escape from war, and her mission to bring hope and education back to her homeland through her nonprofit, Future Hope Africa.
Luc, who was atheistic most of his life, recounts his unexpected path to faith and how it led him to meet Bintu. They met in 2019 and were married shortly after in May 2021. Despite their diverse backgrounds, both have come together with a shared purpose. From anecdotes about life in Africa and Europe to insights on overcoming cultural and personal challenges.
Bintu Bio: Grew up in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, adjacent to Lake Kivu and Rwanda. Throughout the 1990’s violence emanating from neighboring Rwanda and an indigenous civil war in the DRC (Zaire at the time) created much instability, chaos and death across the region. Bintu and her siblings fled Bukavu, stayed in Nairobi, Kenya for a year, and Bintu eventually travelled to Belgium and began university studies in the city of Mons, south of Brussels. While in Mons she attended the English-language “International Baptist Church” which is attended by Americans posted to the nearby NATO facility (SHAPE).
As Bintu continued her studies in Belgium her thoughts were never far from Bukavu and the families suffering there. While many people fled the Zaire/DRC and made new lives in Europe or the United States, Bintu envisioned returning to Bukavu to use her education to improve life for her fellow Congolese. In Belgium she earned her Bachelor’s degree in French Education and an MS in Social Development.
As security slowly returned to South Kivu, Bintu returned in 2008 to begin the process to open an education center in Bukavu. She and a few colleagues eventually started two centers—one assisted local teachers in improving French language instruction, the other provided homework assistance and tutoring in French and Swahili to children.
— In 2012 - American supporters incorporated a 501(c)3 organization, Future Hope Africa (FHA) to provide a financial and spiritual foundation to E-Asbl.
— Since 2016, the “FHA - Kanega Education Centre No.1” organizes and conducts entrepreneurial seminars that teach Biblically-based business models to adults, as well as leadership classes to prepare youth for the future.
Bintu remains FHA’s Director of Operations at the Bukavu center and travels to Europe and the U.S. advocating Christian education for D.R. Congo.
https://www.futurehopeafrica.org/
https://www.facebook.com/nmujambere
Email: nabin
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