Lorella Rouster

After helping found ECM in 1985 and serving with her late husband John for 18 years as International Co-Director, Lorella is now dedicating her time and energy to Congolese children and families as an ECM missionary with the Mwinda Project, as well as training and mentoring African staff.  Mwinda=Light in Kikongo, and Lorella is opening the light of God's Word to the new generation in DR Congo with special emphasis on the deaf.

In past years, Lorella trained “Teachers of teachers” to multiply Bible teachers for children in Congo. All training is now in the hands of the Congolese. Through their efforts, over 7,600 Sunday schools and other children’s ministries have been developed in Central Africa, reaching half a million children weekly. Now 80, Lorella concentrates most of her time on writing Kituba-language Bible lessons for children to enable Sunday school teachers to evangelize and disciple the new generation in Congo. She is on target in 2026 to complete the "Through-the-Bible" series of lesson guides. This is a library of lessons covering all the major events of the Bible in about 10 years teaching. Her potential audience in Kituba alone is about 3 million children! But it doesn’t end there. Congolese staff are translating these lessons into Lingala, Tshiluba, and sometimes French. Once a year, Lorella travels to Congo to see how teachers are using these lessons and to confer with Congolese staff for training, evaluation, strategizing, and most important, prayer!

In 2016 John officially “retired” from ECM and could no longer travel to Africa due to health reasons, but volunteered actively as a “bookbinder” and lifted much of Lorella’s household load to give her more time for developing lessons until he went home to be with Jesus in June 2024. Lorella has continued, serving as Congo Projects Advisor (by e-mail, Facebook messenger, and through the annual gatherings in Congo). 

In 2022, she learned that the deaf are considered unreached people groups in many countries, including Congo Brazzaville. She began researching ministries for the deaf in DR Congo and asked the Kinshasa staff to join in. They discovered that most deaf ministry is found in the extreme eastern part of Congo, with virtually nothing in Kinshasa. Across the river in Congo Brazzaville, the deaf are listed as unreached with the Gospel.  Together, the team presented a report to ECM proposing that a deaf ministry be started in Kinshasa. That program began in 2023, working in two of the five known groups of deaf in the city. See ECM’s “Let the Deaf Hear” Project for more details. Lorella serves as advisor and a major visionary for this project.  In 2026, the program expanded into another of the deaf groups of Kinshasa, and sponsored an evangelistic outreach to Congo Brazzaville (a different country just across the river).  This result in a cell church and Sunday school being implanted there.  A third outreach to the deaf began in Ndjili in September 2026.

In her “spare” time, Lorella has written and published three books in English: 

“God Uses Crooked Sticks” about her family’s 30+ years & counting adventure of serving and learning with Jesus in Africa. “Give Me Eyes to See” about how she struggled on the autistic spectrum as a child, yet God used these very characteristics to help her “see” and reach out to vulnerable and outcast groups of children. “Stoke My Fire” which retells in short form some of Lorella’s favorite missionary stories gleaned from a lifetime of devouring missionary biographies. Some stories are geared for children and others for all ages, aimed at family reading. 

(Cost $20 postpaid per book for a personally signed copy of any book. Special deal only $50 postpaid if you order all three. All proceeds support the Congo Ministry, helping with staff salaries and benefits.) Also available on ECM’s website under Marketplace.

Additional ministry projects include the recording of Sunday school songs in Kikongo and their distribution to trainers on flash drives that connect to their phones, and a weekly radio broadcast for children in Kikongo, called BIBLE KITOKO. She is also working with the International Director to help develop staff training programs for all ECM countries.  Although she has experienced some mobility issues due to full-body arthritis, Lorella continues to serve with passion. 

How you can partner with Lorella:

Help financially.  Lorella is seeking to raise funds for a Ministry budget that averages $50,000 per year. This covers the printing in four languages, transport, and distribution of her Bible lessons into “Teachers’ Resource Libraries.” These libraries loan Sunday school lessons, operating as a lending library. This permits the lessons to be taught over and over by different churches enabling maximum use. It also includes her annual ministry trip to Congo, including travel costs to convene staff for planning and training. 

Write to Lorella at [email protected] to: • Order any of her books (also available on the website under Marketplace). • Invite her to speak at your church or group setting on a variety of missionary topics. • Partner with her on a children’s project for VBS or Sunday school classes supporting children’s ministry in Congo.

Other ways to bless Lorella: 

· Lorella needs prayer partners! Email Lorella at [email protected] to receive her monthly news & prayer letter to guide your prayers. 

· A separate newsletter, “Let the Deaf Hear”, written by Lorella is available for the deaf ministry on request (same email). 

· If you like to sew, you can create Wordless Books in felt. These are books that use simple color symbolism to help teachers explain the Gospel to children. Just email Lorella for easy instructions. Lorella would love to give one to every teacher. 

· Give a special gift or organize a fundraising project for her Ministry Budget. Designate gifts for this purpose “The Mwinda Project” or give to the project online. 

· If you know ASL, consider joining a volunteer team to conduct an ASL Day Camp for deaf children in Congo. Lorella will organize teams as interested ASL signers are located. 

Examples of what your gift can accomplish: 

$12 can print and deliver one Bible lesson book to Congo. Placed in a Teachers’ Resource Library, it will be used over and over! 

$20 can provide one local language Bible and deliver it where it is needed. Bibles are sold at cost and funds invested in more Bibles. 

$160 can pay for 20 heavy-duty tubs for transport & storage of Bible lessons. 

$250 can transport one 50# tub of materials to Congo. 

$635 can put weekly kids' radio programs on the air for 3 months. 

$2,500 can pay Congo staff transport to come to their annual training gathering with Lorella. 

Gifts of all amounts are helpful and appreciated.