For more than a century, a powerful civilisational myth has been sold to the world’s poorest societies: convert to Christianity, get educated, become modern, and eventually grow rich “like America." It is a narrative aggressively promoted by missionaries, amplified by Western media, and internalised by post-colonial elites. Africa was told this story repeatedly. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is what happened next.

Today, over 95 per cent of Congolese identify as Christian. This has been the case for nearly a hundred years. Yet in 2026, the country remains among the poorest on earth. Its GDP per capita hovers between $800 and $900. More than 70 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty. A staggering 97 per cent of children are unable to read and understand a simple text. This outcome is often framed as a “failure" of Christianity, as if the faith promised prosperity and somehow failed to deliver. Others blame “residual paganism" for the stagnation. Both framings are wrong.

Christian theology never promised wealth, material success, or worldly flourishing. In fact, it does the opposite. It elevates suffering, sanctifies poverty, warns against riches, and places salvation firmly outside this world. “Blessed are the poor," not the prosperous. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." The Christian worldview sees........

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