LEXINGTON, Ky. — “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me, and I stand with you."(Pope Leo IV, October 2025)
With these words last fall (and many more since), the first American-born pontiff has extended a hand of friendship to immigrants. Accordingly, Lexington—Kentucky's second-largest city—has seen an ever-growing and thriving community of African refugees and immigrants succeed with the help of Catholic supporters.
Philip Manga, 33, is one of the founders and the current director of Box2Box Tumaini Academy, or B2B, as its members commonly call it. It is an after-school program that provides tutoring, college prep, mentorship, and a competitive soccer club for 60 Congolese immigrant students, the majority of them Catholic, from across Fayette County.
The program meets at Dunbar Community Center on the city’s north side, and Sister of Providence Ellen Kehoe helped secure second-floor space with the help of Dunbar’s director, Trudy Rose. The Cathedral of Christ the King, the Lexington Diocese’s largest parish, also provides space in one of its buildings for B2B’s six-week summer recess program.
“The majority of B2B’s volunteers are Catholic as well, coming from Holy Spirit Parish, which is located on the University of Kentucky campus, and the cathedral,” Manga said.
B2B was founded in 2018 by refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who came to America as teenagers, including Manga and his brother John. Coming to a strange, new country as a refugee would prove challenging for any immigrant, but Manga said they were fortunate to have the support of local Kentuckians who supported their mission.
“We had this big group of soccer parents who took us in and made sure we had what we needed,” said Manga.
“Our kids required after-school engagement, help with homework, navigating and mastering the ACT and college admissions… Most of the families don't speak English, so our kids are learning it and helping their families figure out how to figure out appointments, pay utilities, buy groceries, etc., all while trying to figure it out themselves.”
Box2Box also offers a regular, 15-minute spiritual formation session during the program’s meetings.
“The kids participate in prayer, group discussions, and benefit from having guest speakers like Fr Anthony Muthu, an African-born priest who celebrates a Mass in Swahili every Sunday,” said Manga.
“They also engage in prayer and group discussions about faith, which is a big part of how I was driven to start the mission.”
In describing the spiritual inspiration for Box2Box, Manga referred to Micah 6:8, which says to “act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Many recent Congolese immigrants to America came due to the resurgence of violence following a failed coup in the summer of 2001. In its wake, the still-reigning government initiated a crackdown on remaining opposition voices. This displaced more than 75,000 people, forcing them to flee to neighboring countries and beyond.
Manga’s father, an ecumenical minister, was in Uganda on a mission trip at the time. Upon his return, the authorities barred him from reentering the DRC and his family had to leave the country without him due to the dangers they faced.
“He worked with all different faith communities—Catholic, Protestant, and even Baptist… Everything that I learned about [the] Catholic Church came through teachings by my dad,” Manga recalled.
“There was much opposition by the government to the Catholic missionaries being in the DRC, because they would speak up and tell people the truth, and so were seen as very powerful.”
After being separated from their father, Manga, his brothers, and his mother lived at a Catholic mission for two years. It was the target of frequent attacks and, in 2003, one of Philip’s brothers never came home from school. Eventually, the family learned that he had been killed by rebels who attacked his school after he refused to join them.
Two months later, Manga’s mother faced similar violence while fetching water, leaving her three sons without her for a time. Philip and his two surviving brothers, Jon and Pierre, traveled 300 miles to neighboring Kenya, helped along the way by the Red Cross. They lived from 2002 to 2004 at a Catholic orphanage, later moving to a refugee shelter operated by the United Nations. Sometime thereafter, the boys’ mother was released by her abductors.
“It was very difficult not having her around, and we missed the opportunity to to experience a normal childhood like other children did,” Manga said.
“Faith, however, has always been a part of my foundation, with my dad being a missionary… Through him we were taught about faith, responsibility, and honoring our gifts.”
Manga recalled how his father taught the siblings various lessons from the Bible. One lesson he particularly remembered was from James 1:27.
“It says that ‘pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world,’” Manga said.
“This is what the Lord did for us in the orphanage.”
The Manga brothers arrived in the U.S. in 2009 and today, the family is whole once again. Philip attended the University of Kentucky, graduating with a degree in sociology. Now running Box2Box, Manga said he is grateful for the support that has helped keep the work going.
“We're blessed by our dedicated tutors from the University of Kentucky’s Step Up program, the Newman Center, and the surrounding community,” Manga said.
“More than 40 students receive mentoring and tutoring at our after-school program at the Dunbar Community Center, with transportation to the program and back home provided by myself and volunteers.”
Among other accomplishments, Manga says that two recent success stories show how Box2Box is making an impact in the local community.
One is Sedrick Rugwiro, who graduated from Bryan Station High School in 2025, and the Kentucky State Police Academy earlier this year—a first for an African immigrant.
“Another of our former students was Mudege Rinyunda, who graduated from both Box2Box and Lexington's Bryan Station High School in 2019, and later enlisted in the Marine Corps”, Manga said.
“Few stories fill me with more gratitude than these in particular, because they are a testament to the resilience and potential of those we serve.”.
More than personal achievement, these stories, and the support that Box2Box receives from local Catholic parishes—including St. Peter Claver Church and Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary—also give its many young beneficiaries something else.
It provides them a place that is quiet and safe. An environment free of civil strife, autocratic oppression, or the fear of losing their own family members. Simply put: They are provided a dream fulfilled.
If you would like to donate money money or materials to B2B, please visit box2boxlexington.org
Robert Alan Glover is an alumnus of the University of Dayton where his studies included theology. He writes for The Catholic Miscellany in the Diocese of Charleston, among other media. He resides in Lexington, Kentucky.
