It costs a high price to have your heart in the DRC Christine

Words from my friend in Goma

These words "it costs a high price to have you heart in the DRC Christine. The price is even higher when you have your feet on its dusty soil" were written to me by my friend who lives in Goma. If you haven't heard the fragile peace that existed (barely) in Eastern Congo was shattered a few weeks ago. The rebel forces led by Nkunda are waging war against the civilians and the Congolese army. The UN forces are practically useless at this time. Life has become so unbearable for the people in this part of Congo. My friend who works for the Conservative Baptist Church and his wife who is a counselor live in Goma and they describe the conditions there as 'unbearable'. The fighting is not far from Goma and they can hear the machine guns firing away. Thousands upon thousands of displaced people pour into the refugee camps just outside Goma and they tell horrible stories of the atrocies committed against them. Young children are being kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers. Women and children are being raped by the hundreds and thousands. It is estimated that 1.2 million people have been displaced in the last few weeks alone. My friend said the following in an email to me "When they run for their life, they leave behind gorgeous humus and lava-fertilised fields full of food and livestock to die of hunger in plastic sheet camps a bowl of porridge in hand". In an email I received yesterday he told me "Fightings continue. Every morning, we hear sad news from our vicinity. Frustration, anger, fear...were high this morning in Goma for new displaced people came in. The frontline happens to be in Sake, a small town close to Goma (27 km). Rebels are recruiting boys by force. Some refuse and they are killed on the spot, says CBCA Bitsi Church Pastor who has just run away from the flash zone with raped women and girls and no boys. He witnessed horrible things. This is but a case. Every day we hear stories like this. Thousands of displaced have found no aid so far: they cry for food, water, shelter and medecines. Lots of women are giving birth on bush lieves or litterally on the sand".

The people of Congo and in particular Eastern Congo need our prayers. Their request of me and my fellow team members and those praying in the US is literally this cry: "Do not abandon us, please!" These are not my words but theirs. We must pray for this evil to stop. My friends in Congo need relief from this horrible suffering. The women need to live without the fear of being raped and abandoned. People need to be able to live and tend to their fields and homes. Men need to be able to look after their families without worrying of being killed by the militia and young children need to be allowed to be children and not kidnapped to become soldiers to fight a battle they don't want to fight. These child soldiers live lives of pure hell - often high on drugs, forced to kill family members, friends and anyone their kidnappers tell them to. The young girls who are kidnapped by the rebels become sex slaves to the commanders. This is pure evil and hell. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for my friends and the people of Congo who are trying to just survive and live in a place where there is so much pain, suffering and evil right now. This has gone on for far too long.

My friend Daphrose

This is Daphrose with her baby daughter Josephine. Isn't Josephine such a beautiful girl? I first met Daphrose last year on my first trip to Congo. She and her husband live in Goma and work with young people and the Conservative Baptist Church. Daphrose opened up a counseling center this past year and now works full time there working with the youth and many survivors of sexual violence. She has done an amazing work and uses the teaching we taught last year. This year she came to the conference we did for the caregivers and church leaders. She and her team just soaked up all the teaching. We were able to give them some resources and materials to take back with them and they were just so grateful. She, like many others in Congo, have extremely limited resources and are just so appreciative of what little we give them. I wish there was more we could do. However, it is so great to know that the teachings and resources go so very far in the hands of our congolese brothers and sisters. Daphrose, her husband and family are my friends who live in Goma and who are finding life so very difficult at this time. They are not the only ones. It is so difficult to see the pain and suffering. When I was there it was so very difficult to hear the stories and see the pain in the people as we listened and they talked and to know and see how much they had suffered. My heart just broke for the women and men I spoke to. But to live in the middle of it is so much harder. No wonder my friend says, "it costs a high price to have you heart in the DRC Christine. The price is even higher when you have your feet on its dusty soil". My friends have no escape, it surrounds them every moment of the day and every day they hear, see and deal with horrible, horrible atrocies. My heart is even more broken as I hear of their sufferings and so wish I could be there with them at this time. Please pray for my friends and the Congolese at this time. If you want to find out more of what is going on in Congo just go to the different news websites like BBC news online and go to the Africa section. There will be several stories.

My prayer for my friends in Congo

I cling to the verses in the Bible that talk of the promises of God: The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18. This is my prayer - that my friends in Goma will feel the presence of God with them and experience HIs love embracing them at this time. I pray that God in His miraculous ways will "save" my friends and others in Congo and that He will enable all parties concerned - the army, the rebels, the DRC government, the international community and governments to work together to bring about true peace in the DRC. I have seen God do BIG things in Congo and I know God is not finished in Congo - He still has work to do and so my prayer is "God just do your thing". I remember Ephesians 3:20-21. These were the verses that came to mind as I was leaving Congo and I remember them now - because God can do MORE than what we ask of Him or can even imagine: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

We accept the pain of longing, for it is also joy…

Julian of Norwich and Congo?
I have always connected with the words of Julian of Norwich a 14th century anchorite. She desired to know more of Christ and became a spiritual advisor to many who came for her words of wisdom and spiritual direction. This morning as I reflect on my time in Congo I have come to realize that Congo is with me every moment of the day - every hour, every morning, every afternoon, every night. I see faces, hear stories, see pain and see hope. I see God in action in Congo and I get so much joy when I hear of all that continues to happen in Congo some of which I’ll tell you about today. Yet my struggle is that I feel so far away and I want to be there – to be with people who have become so dear to me and to be able, in a small way, be present with people who are so broken and wounded but who yet seek so boldly to recover and bring hope and peace. It’s not a romantic thought or feeling – because life in Congo is not easy and I am a person who loves my comforts and organized life. But I have come to realize this time that part of my heart is not with me here at home in the US – it is in Congo – I left it behind. The only joy in that is that I know I have to go back because I have to be whole again but the pain comes in longing to be there. And hence the words of Julian of Norwich: “we accept the pain of longing, for it is also joy.” Life is so paradoxical…

This may sound strange but it is true. The joy comes in the praying, the planning and the figuring out how it is going to happen again. Instead of one trip to the Congo next year, let’s plan two – or more. Instead of just waiting for the trip to come around, what can I do in the meantime to support my sisters and brothers in Congo, how does the work continue, what can I do? There is pain in the longing – because it is so hard to be here and not there and I long to be back. And then there is joy in hearing the stories of what is happening since we left.
Discipleship and training:
The women from the prostituted women’s conference that we held last July who became Christians and signed up for skill training have since then been meeting three times a week. They meet every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for discipleship training, literacy classes and skills training making soap and beads. There are over 40 women who have faithfully done this. Kassie, Mama Dorcus and Decky have been the teachers. Last week, the women had three full days (7AM to 5PM) of teaching and discipleship. These women are serious about changing their lives and living in the hope that Jesus gives them. They have discovered a new life and are determined to do their part. David Kasali the founder of Congo Initiative said to me “There is a move of the Spirit that we cannot stop”. Is that not amazing? Is that not the way it should be? That is such an encouragement to me that the work God did through us during our trip has prospered and given these women such hope. God is good. I love the redemptive power of Jesus, the hope that Jesus gives and the new life – really our original design – that Jesus gives when we call on Him. The photos show some of the women who had signed up for the skills training and discipleship.
Romans 10:11
For the Scripture says. “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”