Our Mission
Inspired by St. Paul’s call for Christians with more resources to support the poorer churches in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1–4), Woshasha for Congo is a Christian nonprofit that radiates Christ’s love by alleviating suffering in the Sankuru region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
As one Church, the Body of Christ, Christians with more resources offer their woshasha — meaning “donation” in the Otetela language — to meet vital needs in the Congo: food, clean water, healthcare, and priestly formation at the seminary in Lodja.
Our Team
Laurent
Fr. Laurent Okitakatshi is a Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Tshumbe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Central Africa). In 2014, he was awarded a scholarship to study for the priesthood at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO. He graduated with a Master’s in theology in 2017 and returned to his home diocese for his priestly ordination. After ordination, and still recovering from his open heart surgery, he was admitted into the doctoral program at the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley, CA. Father Laurent graduated with a doctorate in biblical studies in May 2022. He served as the chaplain of the St. John Henry Newman Center at Southeast Missouri State University from August 2020 to August 2024. Since September 2024, he has been back in the Congo where he currently serves as the Rector of the St. John Paul II Theological Seminary. He teaches Scripture courses at the same seminary and is a guest lecturer at the Université Notre Dame de Tshumbe (in Tshumbe) and at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley, CA.
Paul and Barbara
Paul and Barbara Heschmeyer of Kansas City, Missouri, have supported Catholic communities in the Congo for over ten years. Through their relationship with Congolese priests, they learned of the pressing need for both clean water and spiritual formation. Choosing to focus on education and support for seminarians in Lodja, they help provide food, water, and resources so these young men can train to serve their communities as priests. Committed to annual giving, the Heschmeyers believe their support helps meet both the temporal and spiritual needs of people in the Congo and beyond, as these priests may one day serve parishes worldwide.