This paper is about gift-giving and relations of exchange in Congolese churches in Kampala, Uganda. It focuses in particular on the moral discourses of providing assistance and help, of giving, and sharing that accompany these relations of exchange. The paper is based on a research project that looked at the role of religion in the lives of urban refugees; the forms of assistance that religious institutions provide; the practices of providing assistance as well as how the provision of assistance is regulated and what norms guide this. The aim was to find out how religious institutions act as service providers in a context of displacement, more particularly in an urban context where refugees and asylum seekers are not entitled to receive humanitarian assistance.