“Nearly 20 projects have, in one way or another, been impacted” by the current unrest, Wycliffe Associates’ Sam Todd says.

“Between natural disasters or other tragedies, virtually everyone [connected to our work] is affected.”

Chaos began in this country in mid-April and hasn’t stopped since. When disasters like this strike, “teams get scattered about; translators living in the same town are now separate,” Todd says.

“Normal life stops in those instances, and you go into pure survival mode – ‘Are we safe? What do we eat? Where are we going to sleep? Are my kids okay? Where are my siblings or my extended family?’”

Pray for courage and strength as Murugo believers care for needy people.

Churches often function as makeshift hospitals or care centers in war-like situations. “They become community sanctuaries where people know they can go to be loved, protected, [and] to be cared for,” Todd says.

“When humanity is at its worst, the Church is at its best. [Christians in Murugo] talk about love, grace, hope, and kindness. These are the moments where they get to live that out to people around them.”

Pray the Lord will give wisdom to Wycliffe Associates and its partners as they decide the future of translation work in this country.

“There’s no guarantee that life will be what it was. There’s a lot of difficulty and tension in moving forward because [there are] so many unknowns,” Todd says.

“People are just in this survival mentality, which is a very difficult place to be.”

*Pseudonym

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Ninno JackJr/Unsplash.

Sam Todd of Wycliffe Associates received a text early on Monday morning. “It came in at 4:18 [am] from our partner in Northeast DRC. It says, ‘Over 600 people have died in this (flooding) because of the rains; 2,500 people are wounded,’” he says.

“Thousands of people have been displaced in the last 48 hours; their lives have been upended.”

The region desperately needs rain, but recent storms brought more than the land could handle. Nearly 200 people lost their lives by Friday.

“You have these intense storms that create flash floods, and it’s coming [during] dry season,” Todd says.

“The ground isn’t ready for it. The people weren’t prepared for it. These floods just come through ferociously and wipe everything away: homes, buildings, people.”

The same part of the country hosts thousands of people displaced by ongoing fighting between the government and rebel forces. Clashes killed more than 150 people in two weeks in April.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

Wycliffe Associates supports local Bible translation efforts in the DRC. More about that here. “We’ve worked very diligently with local teams to train and equip them to translate in a localized context,” Todd says.

“Our goal is to teach people how to translate accurately and in a way that’s not dependent upon time, place, circumstance, or anyone from the West.”

Use the prompts listed alongside this article to pray for Christians in DRC.

“We’ll mobilize relief and support as we’re able to create an opportunity for God’s people here in the States to rally around [believers] in DRC,” Todd says.

“One of the great ways that the American Church can support people internationally is to know what’s happening. Be connected, be praying for them.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of ZHANQUN CAI/Pexels.

The Human Rights Watch has previously documented atrocities committed by the rebel group, known as M23.

The DRC government accused the Rwandan military of fighting alongside the rebels, and Rwanda has accused the DRC of firing missiles into its territory.

Wycliffe Associates

But the Islamic State has carried out several terrorist attacks as well, often on refugee camps.

Sam Todd with Wycliffe Associates says in the northeastern part of the country, the fighting has halted almost all ministry. “We’ve seen pictures of just mass graves, trenches being dug, and people being thrown in. I’ve got a picture of a truck that probably has at least 100 coffins stacked up. And the violence is just brutal. It’s not just gunfire, it’s all sorts of machetes and just disturbing things.”

“It’s meant to instill fear and terror.”

But Wycliffe’s partners still want to distribute the Bible to people in their own languages. Todd says. Part of the Wycliffe model is local churches operating the translation projects themselves. “They know that people are most impacted when they read God’s word, and they hear God’s word in their unique language. It’s one of the sentiments that I hear often and all over the world is, ‘Now for the first time in my life, I know that God speaks my language.’”

Pray for an end to the violence in the DRC.

The header photo shows M23 rebels near Goma in 2013. (photo courtesy of Gabe Joselow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)