Mission Report (Report from the Democratic Republic of Congo – 2)

In Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), Islamist rebels’ Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are constantly attacking Beni. The ADF has killed 40 people in Beni in the past one month. According to U.N., the continued violence of the ADF rebels has caused a major setback in the recent Ebola response activity in the eastern part of the Democratic Congo, and the presidential and general elections scheduled for the end of 2018 will be difficult to proceed smoothly. A source from the Democratic Congo reported the pain that residents of the region are suffering.

Beni city of Democratic Congo is being isolated due to the Civil War and Ebola(Virus). Disease, ignorance and poverty are adding to isolation. To make matters worse, I heard that the doctors in this country do not apply to hospitals in the Beni area. Even in case they go there, they ask for big labor costs ($130 a day) to be guaranteed.

Furthermore, non-humanitarian government employees flee to the provinces located below Beni. These are the reasons why the land Beni has been isolated.

Fear of Ebola is direct even at the city G, where I am staying. There is no immediate gun sound, but there is a fear without sound. Even when people have bleeding and have a high fever for other reasons, others won’t come near them. A minister who visited Beni explained the situation in the area . “As soon as we/people arrive at the airport, we needed to get vaccinated, with no exceptions, with the vaccin that has not been completed any clinical trials. I also had a fever for two days after being vaccinated.“

Beni, a city of North Kivu province, is an area that spans Uganda, Democratic Congo, and South Sudan. A number of rebel groups are competitively engaged in abundant resources. Among them, the Islamic Alliance for Democratic Forces (ADF) has been active in the region since 2014, killing hundreds of innocent people. ADF is a militant group that believes in Islam and it was formed in 1995 under the leadership of Jamil Mukulu, who was converted from Christianity to Islam in western Uganda.

The ADF conscripted boy soldiers and killed hundreds of civilians since 2014, and in December 2017 killed 15 U.N. peace-keepers from Tanzania and thus incur international indignation. The ADF has also killed 40 people in Beni in the past one month.

Time of Salvation, not Judgment 

It seems there is no love of God in this isolated land and be full of sins. People of this country also try to divert the reason to the greed of neighboring countries rather than ask God why. The news that churches that had been praying in the meantime are reaching for real help to the isolated place makes them realize it’s time for God to work. Isolation sometimes requires a lot of support, and it makes people bloodthirsty, cruel, and go visceral. But the Bible says it is not a judgment but a salvation. Looking on the reality of this isolated land, I look back on my sinful past, which had me to be isolated in the midst of my isolation from God. Every isolated situation falls on the face of the fact that we cannot open the door without the Gospel of the Cross.

Do you think Africa is enough with this gospel?” It was the call of the Lord for me and I responded, “Amen! The gospel of the cross is enough.” The Isolated Beni land is the country and my neighbor where I stand, so, I ask the Lord on my knees for the gospel of the cross be heard in the land of Beni.
At the end of December, Joseph Kabila, who has been in office for 17 years, will finish his term of office, and DR Congo will have an election to elect a new president. National Assembly elections and local elections will be held together on the same day, and buying electronic voting machines has become a source of trouble, bringing news of demonstrations here and there. It is illegal to use electronic voting machines because they cannot be used under the election law, and the people of the Democratic Congolese are not used to handling machines and so they expect rigging(foul vote) to happen sufficiently.
The night comes early due to lack of electricity, and be silent due to not much sound of traffic, but the reality of DR Congo is that it is not silent. It is in the middle of all nations. (Through) Beni’s Civil War, Ebola and presidential elections,… (God says that) I/We should not let go of the tension of praying because everything is in bound with the lives of the people of DR Congo .

More than anything else, the Lord promised to be our victory and will fight for us (Nehemiah 4:20), so we could expect that the LORD make to overflow beyond isolation.

O Lord! Let the gospel of cross be heard to the souls of the isolated Beni before they die for nothing. Put the shepherds and leaders who put aside his own welfare and take care of the people. [GNPNEWS]

Sarah K. (Democratic Congo correspondent)
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