Audio Bibles offer two life-saving messages

Upwards of 3,600 solar-powered audio Bibles have reached the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a dual purpose of providing access to the Word of God as well as life-saving Ebola-prevention information as the country battles its fastest-growing outbreak on record.

Deliveries facilitated by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and supported by Hamilton, Ont.-based Galcom International, however, were far from straightforward. After weeks of stringent flight permissions, logistical hurdles and even two aborted flight attempts, a September shipment of 750 audio Bibles finally arrived in the capital city of Bunia, where they were distributed to displaced residents through local partner The Rebuilders Ministries (Les Rébâtisseurs).

That shipment in September saw 750 audio Bibles delivered and distributed through nine churches at the Kigonze displaced-persons camp. Additional runs to Bunia have been made, where upwards of 3,500 more devices were delivered. Each works as both a radio and audio Bible, complete with pre-loaded Scripture, as messages broadcast live by Rebuilders Radio help families better understand how the disease spreads and how they can protect themselves.

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It’s aid that has arrived at an opportune time, with confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC having surpassed 10,000 as the outbreak continues to spread. Government data released Oct. 27 put confirmed cases at 10,060 and deaths at 4,887. There is currently no approved vaccine against Bundibugyo, the virus causing the recent outbreak. 

As Canadian pilot Dominic Villeneuve — speaking to The Catholic Register from Bunia — reflects, the devices’ presence in the affected areas and beyond will be useful long after the outbreak is controlled, both practically and spiritually.  While training material for Ebola prevention is being broadcast today, the technology can be reused or updated for future outbreaks. He also shared how locals are already giving thanks for the existence of such a product and mission. 

“ We're saving lives in the very practical sense that people will live longer, but there is also eternal salvation that comes through the word of God,” he said. “Those who have received them are encouraged by that, but also that people care and would go through the effort of building these things and getting them out to Congo. That fact isn't lost on these people.” 

The ministry is now raising funds for another 5,000 devices, which it hopes to ship before Christmas. Until then, Villeneuve shared his appeal for Canadians to remember not necessarily the amount of aid being delivered, but the people affected across the world.

“ My prayer is that the suffering would end, that the outbreak will be declared over, for those who are sick and the doctors who are caring for them. This part of the world is forgotten about a lot of the time, and so it can be very easy for us in Canada to think of this as an over there problem,” he said. 

“These are people who are loved by God and who need help. We would encourage people to see how they can help in this fight against Ebola and to show that they love and care for these people who are on the other side of the world.” 

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The help did not come without plenty of patience on Villeneuve and MAF's behalf. Villeneuve, who has flown with MAF for seven years, provided details on just how tricky the mission operation proved to be.

“Just getting cargo from Hamilton to the other side of the planet is a pretty significant undertaking. Heavy shipments cost a lot of money, and the bureaucracy of getting customs clearances and everything is always, always a challenge,” he said. 

While operations and execution are one thing, Villeneuve described the experience as shifting from mere organizational problems to that of spiritual warfare. 

“ I was based in Uganda and planned to hop over to Nairobi in Kenya, pick up the Bibles and then fly them to Bunia. We initially kept getting refused approval for very strange reasons, which we chalked up to the Ebola outbreak. When we kept pushing as to why we couldn’t get the permissions, one official said to us, ‘I don't want Bibles going to Congo.’ That was the moment I thought that there was a much more spiritual aspect to this,” he said. 

The team, believing that there may have been a misunderstanding about the nature of the shipment, persisted in its mission. Yet, even after the team obtained the necessary permissions in August, further problems arose — technical issues with the plane forcing cancellation of the flight. 

“ The next day, even with a new plane ready, we again couldn't get permissions, and it was a good three or four weeks of back and forth between that and having technical issues. When you sit at the airport for permissions that never come, you leave super discouraged, and there was definitely a moment of thinking, ‘Why are we even bothering?’ But we knew this was important, and so we kept at it,” the pilot said.  

The timely mission ultimately succeeded when the team coordinated a new arrangement, seeing a colleague fly from Congo to Nairobi while Villeneuve brought another aircraft to meet him there. The aid devices were then transferred for the flight into Bunia.

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Although his quick thinking and persistence led to the eventual breakthrough, Villeneuve credits the Lord’s timing over his own. 

“ There was a moment I said, I don't know how many times I have to relearn it, but (God) had a plan for how this was all going to work out. We took courage in the Lord, and He made it happen, not in the way we originally planned, but the way He planned all along,” he said. 

A version of this article appeared in the November 08, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Audio Bibles offer two life-saving messages".