Congo-Kinshasa (MNN) — Clashes continue between the army and M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo despite both sides calling for a ceasefire.
On Sunday, M23 forces captured a fishing town on the west coast of Lake Edward in the eastern DRC. Rebels have stepped up their offensive since December, capturing key towns and uprooting 7.8 million people.
This summer, a landmark agreement brokered with US support aims to end years of conflict between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda. Kinshasa and others accuse Rwanda of supporting M23, a claim Kigali denies.
Two World Missionary Press partners live near Goma, one of the biggest cities captured by M23. In letters to Helen Williams, WMP’s Director of Orders and Distribution, they describe difficult circumstances.
“People are starving. There are massacres, kidnappings, and people are afraid,” Williams recounts from the correspondence.
“People (soldiers) are disguised as civilians, but they’re really the danger.”
In a copy of the email obtained by MNN, one partner says:
Apart from the day-and-night massacres, another form of massacre is taking place because banks remain closed and activities have been paralyzed for 3 months; economic recovery will take time, as almost all major businesses have been looted. Another danger is that it’s difficult to know who is sowing terror in the city because there are 4 layers that seem to be uncontrollable: the new administration’s military, the hunted government’s military disguised as civilians, the patriots/populations who have taken up arms, and over 5,000 prisoners who have left the burnt-down prison.
Some believers have lost family members in the fighting, while others are struggling to share the hope of Christ.
“Their ministry is going from home to home and visiting people – that has become much more dangerous because people don’t trust anybody, and they’re just kind of paralyzed,” Williams says.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, believers are dedicated to spreading the Gospel all across this nation.
(Photo, caption courtesy of World Missionary Press)
Another partner wrote the following as part of his update:
The current situation in Goma remains very delicate. Although we do not hear regular gunfire or bombings in the city itself, insecurity is ever-present. People continue to die almost daily due to targeted assassinations, often leaving communities in fear and mourning. These acts of violence have become sadly routine. But God remains on our side to protect us.
Yet Gospel work continues with the help of WMP. Two shipments arrived in the DRC mid-March, and distribution efforts are underway despite the turmoil.
“This partner received a 40-foot container, which has 2.1 million booklets in it. They were primarily in French, but then also in Lingala and Swahili,” Williams says.
“The other distributor received pretty much the same, [so] between the two, we’ve got over 3 million pieces of literature that just arrived.”
Pray for local believers as they continue their work amid the crisis. “We need to pray for spiritual and physical strength for those who are still going out [to serve the community] because this is hard,” Williams says.
The first WMP partner shares:
When we received the new booklets, we tried to share the Gospel in one school, but we were emotionally affected when some kids shared with us that their parents died and others missed their beloved [ones] because of this war. I was touched to see others [who] don’t know who will pay school fees for them. There are some families, when you meet them to share the Gospel, you weep first by seeing what is happening in the family or the area.
We are doing our best to seize the occasion to double our effort in sharing the Gospel in this context, but we realize that many things are needed to accomplish the Great Commission in that condition. We need your prayers and compassion!
Header image is a representative photo depicting FARDC soldiers deployed in Kibumba, last position before entering into M-23 controlled zone, the 1st of September 2012. © MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti (Wikimedia Commons)
