The Making and Meaning of Pentecostal Congolese Refugee Churches in Uganda

Abstract

This paper looks at the role of religion in a displacement context. It discusses how Congolese Christians in Uganda appropriate and adapt their Christian faith and practices to being a refugee and living in a situation of uncertainty. How are notions of belonging being dealt with? How are people’s experiences of displacement and aspirations of mobility talked about in a religious language and reflected in their religious practices? The paper discusses in particular how relations of spiritual and economic exchange unfold and what ideas of reciprocity, wealth and gifts this reflects. It analyses how spirituality (spiritual gifts) is understood as an asset that can be exchange for material goods, money and recognition.

The paper argues that the particular material conditions and the local dynamics of Congolese living in Uganda are strongly related to their religious practices and faith. Studying small Pentecostal Congolese congregations in Kampala, Uganda points to parallel tendencies of mobility and connectedness on the one hand and on local adaptations and particular meaning making on the other.