Reflections on the 2026 Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo
Jesus held and healed the sick, declaring the presence of God’s goodness in the middle of the fray. He didn’t wait for safety before He moved toward suffering—He moved toward it, touched it, and called it by name.
When three doctors and three nurses who comprise the three families on our Serge DRC team followed Jesus to do the same, they knew they were committing themselves to the hard, costly, beautiful frayed edge. They stepped into a risky place to hold and heal people the world rarely notices.
This is what it means to go on mission—not a strategy, but obedience that costs something real.
They are His hands, but we behind them—the Church, supporters, prayer partners, missionary sending organizations—are His heart, all of us locking arms toward concrete, holistic change for good. We do not send people into danger and stay comfortable ourselves; we kneel down with them and give sacrificially.
In May 2026, Dr. Peter Stafford, his wife Dr. Rebekah, and Dr. Patrick LaRochelle were all working their usual long weeks of seeing the sickest of patients, teaching medical students, and performing surgery. They and their Congolese colleagues had noted some unusual clusters of severe illness and death, but initial screening tests had all returned negative. Then on May 15th, the first tests for a more unusual strain of Ebola were found to be positive. Because all three physicians had had high-risk contact with patients that in retrospect could have had Ebola, they were advised to quarantine.
And while we as an organization scrambled to make plans to move them to a quarantine location where they would have access to higher levels of care in the unlikely event that one of them became ill… Dr. Peter began to feel symptoms.
Suddenly our worst fears became real.
Dr. Peter tested positive for Ebolavirus Bundibugyoense himself on May 17th.
We prayed as we have rarely prayed. “Lord, have mercy.” And because so many of you prayed too, we thought you deserved more than a press release—you deserved to be brought back into the story you carried before the Lord.
The Days We Won’t Forget
What followed was one of the hardest weeks any of us can remember—a round-the-clock effort involving Serge leadership, international health authorities, multiple government agencies, and the Congolese doctors and nurses who worked through the night so that Peter could get to a place where he had a fighting chance.
There were delays. There were moments of real fear. By the time Dr. Peter was evacuated to Germany on May 19, he was very sick, barely able to stand and needing IV fluids. His wife, Dr. Rebekah, and their four young children, along with colleague Dr. Patrick LaRochelle (who also had a high-risk exposure), were evacuated the following day to Berlin and Prague.
We held our breath during those days, and we held them in prayer, because in the end holding our breath is not enough—only the God who holds all things together could hold Peter.
We at Serge were quickly joined by our faithful supporters and churches who mobilized to pray for these families with young children. We heard from so many of you around the globe as you lifted up the Staffords and LaRochelles in intercession.
On behalf of our entire organization, thank you. You prayed, and you were part of this rescue as surely as anyone on the ground.
During those hard days, we witnessed the best of so many people. Congolese doctors and nurses who dropped everything. Government officials and civil servants who worked with extraordinary speed and care. We are genuinely moved by the dozens of hands that made those evacuations possible, and we believe those hands were an answer to prayer, grace poured out through people who may never imagine the great cloud of witnesses involved.
As Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge’s Senior Director of Field Operations, shared when Dr. Peter’s safe arrival in Germany was confirmed:
“The complex, coordinated efforts of many government agencies and international health authorities resulted in Peter Stafford’s safe transport and the protection of those involved in his transfer. Serge’s leadership extends their deepest gratitude to all involved.”
Cautiously Optimistic
Peter had been critically ill—he said himself that before the evacuation, he wasn’t sure he was going to make it. Arriving in Germany after receiving an antibody infusion en route, his lab markers, energy, and fever all dramatically improved. The Germans were extraordinary in their care for Peter, and we received that care as a gift from the God who provides even through hands that may not know Him.
In Peter’s own words, he said, “Before I was evacuated, I was feeling really concerned I wasn’t going to make it. And now I’m cautiously optimistic.”
We, at Serge, held that phrase close. Cautiously optimistic. It felt honest and raw, and in the moment, we were all desperate for God’s hand to hold these dear families. “Lord, pour out Your grace in this mess.”
Grace at the fray.
Not just a slogan but our heart’s cry—the cry of people who have nothing else to stand on but the sovereignty of a good God when the outcome is not yet ours to know.
Amid the unraveling of the Ebola outbreak, our core value of ministry from weakness became not just something we talk about but a truth tried and tested by fire.
We do not go to the frayed edges because we are strong enough for them. We go because Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness, and we would rather be weak and present than safe and absent.
Rebekah and the kids remained asymptomatic, as did Patrick in his BioBox isolation chamber. He wrote of their concern for those back in Congo at that time.
“Standing helpless as Peter worsened prior to his medical evacuation, I had a glimpse of the reality that my Congolese friends and colleagues are living constantly, and for which a medical evacuation is not an option…..
The challenges are overwhelming, and it’s easy for me to lose hope. But what gives me hope is my colleagues who are fighting for the lives of every patient, risking so much to follow their call to heal the sick, and then many hundreds and thousands—both Congolese and expatriate—who are mobilizing to come fight Ebola with them. We are encouraged by their lives and are honored to know them and serve alongside them. We are amazed to see them not flinch or draw back in the face of so much danger and chaos.”
They are the real heroes here. And we believe their courage is not self-generated. It is the fruit of a God who goes ahead of His people into danger and does not abandon them there.
The Part That’s Still Very Hard
We’d be telling you only half the story if we stopped there.
In Congo, multiple patients are dying every day. Healthcare workers at the hospitals we support are threatened by grieving families who can’t understand why they’re being prevented from the burial traditions that have always honored their loved ones.
As one of our Congolese colleagues said: “So much has been taken away from the Congolese people; and now even death has been taken away from them.”
As of July 23, 2026, almost 1,000 Congolese deaths have been reported. And it’s not slowing down. NPR recently reported, “Perhaps the most alarming finding is that many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in their communities without ever reaching a health facility and without receiving care.”
While Peter received world-class medical care in Germany, the Congolese doctors, nurses, and patients did NOT. That gap breaks our heart for the weak and helpless, and is why Serge remains committed to the communities of DRC. Our Congo Recovery Fund last month quickly bought $20,000 worth of PPE (personal protective equipment) to supply 44 partner hospitals and clinics with the gloves, gowns, and masks they need to safely treat patients. We value filling that gap, while continuing to sustain long-term gospel-centered medical ministry in a place where suffering is deep, and resources are few.
We do not get to look away from the disparity just because our own colleagues were spared.
If anything, the Staffords and LaRochelles’ rescue makes us more determined to keep asking the Lord to move on behalf of those who have no evacuation plan, no antibody infusion—only neighbors, and God, and whatever help we can send.
As our Area Director for East and Central Africa, Dr. Jennifer Myhre, put it:
“Since the original Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in 2007, Serge has spent the last two decades building capacity in that remote district in health and education. We are pressed but not crushed, struck down but not destroyed, and are committed to continuing to carry the resurrection life of Jesus to the most frayed edges of East and Central Africa.”
Pressed but not crushed. That is not a promise that this will be easy. It is a promise that the God who raised Jesus from the dead has not let go of the Congo, and has not let go of us.
Will You Keep Praying With Us?
There’s no tidy ending here. This story is still unfolding every day, and we’re in the middle of it with our people—Peter and Rebekah, their kids, Patrick and Anna, their kids, the rest of the Serge team, and the Congolese doctors and nurses who are doing the hard, sacred, faithful work every day. We do not know how this ends. We do know Who holds it.
We would rather ask you to pray than ask you to simply admire what happened. Prayer is how you join us at the frayed edge, even from wherever you are reading this.
Here’s where we’re asking you to direct your prayers:
- For God to supernaturally redeem this tragedy, bringing life from death, by growing trust, overcoming chaos, stopping the spread of Ebola, and healing those who are sick
- For DRC communities—grieving, afraid, and needing both medical help and the presence of people who will sit with them in the loss
- For the rapid escalation of the international response, so that the Congolese have the resources to stem this outbreak
- For Peter’s full recovery, and for Rebekah and their four children as they walk through something they didn’t plan for but that God did not fail to see coming
- For the LaRochelle and Stabell families as they serve Congo remotely for this season
- For Serge, and every mission-sending agency like us, to keep sending willing people to the hard places rather than retreating from them
Before we close, we want to leave you with one more thing we’re sitting with.
A young boy in Bunia—a street kid Peter had done extensive wound care for—heard that Peter was sick with Ebola. His response:
“He held me. I can pray God heals him.”
Peter, flat on his back and unable to stand, was still ministering—because his weakness became the very place where the Congolese boy who once received his care could now offer Peter something back.
That’s what it looks like when ministry out of weakness comes full circle. Peter held that boy. And now that boy is holding Peter in prayer.
A full circle of beauty and grace in the middle of the fray. Would you circle up with us?
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Serge teams on the ground in DRC are committed to training excellent Congolese doctors and nurses who care for patients both physically and spiritually. While providing clinical training, Serge missionaries also teach spiritual care and evangelism in the context of healthcare for medical and nursing staff. With a focus on encouraging the local church and fellow missionaries, the team strives to become embedded in the local community and to love their neighbors well in Jesus’ name. For more information visit Eastern DR Congo.
