Photos courtesy of AGIR-RDC
Covenant ministry partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are filled with concern over a violent takeover in the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in the eastern region of the country, which borders the nation of Rwanda. On January 27, the rebel group M23 took control of Goma as part of a military insurgency, fueled in part by Rwandan support. Somewhere between 700 and 3,000 people were killed (the latter number is an estimate from sources within United Nations peacekeepers), and about 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes because of the fighting.
The Covenant Church of Congo, also known as Communauté Évangélique de l’Ubangi-Mongala (CEUM), has a rich heritage of ministry in the DRC. Although no CEUM partners or volunteers in the northwest region of DRC have been harmed directly, the recent violence is contributing to an overall sense of uncertainty in the region, which profoundly impacts CEUM as a whole. Due to the heightened instability, an upcoming medical ambassador trip to Congo planned for April has been indefinitely postponed as was a Covenant Kids Congo trip with pastors and Covenant leaders in March.
The resurgence of M23 is part of a complex continuation of historical tensions and geopolitical struggles that have existed in the region for decades. The roots of the conflict go as far back as the Rwandan genocide in 1994 when armed militia groups of the ethnic majority Hutus killed more than 800,000 civilians, mostly of the Tutsi minority group between April and July of that year. As a result, lingering ethnic and tribal tensions between Hutus and Tutsis have continued to fuel conflict between various armed groups in both Rwanda and the DRC.
Although the M23 forces were the aggressors in the current violence, the group takes its name from a peace agreement signed on March 23, 2009, between its predecessor group and the Congolese government. Its founding was based on what they perceived to be inadequate implementation of the peace plan. “They contend that the DRC did not respect their end of the bargain,” said longtime Covenanter Judy Anderson of ACT (Advocate, Collaborate, Transform) for Congo, a non-government organization that partners with Covenant World Relief and Development (CWRD) through AGIR-RDC to resource local ministry leaders directly in Goma.
M23 forces laid siege to Goma back in 2012 and eventually committed to a ceasefire after peace talks with the DRC government resumed. However, when the DRC ended its partnership with UN peacekeeping forces, a security vacuum ensued and M23 activity surged in the region once again. On January 28, there were reports of protests and attacks on embassies in Kinshasa, the capital city.
Agency partners and relief workers in the area hope that a resolution to the fighting can again be found. Once the city of Goma was fully under M23 control, local leaders declared a ceasefire to allow for relief workers and aid to flow into the city. They also declared a “salongo” (Lingala for “community work”), a mandatory community clean-up for the city rocked by a week’s worth of violence.
“Probably the biggest concern for everyone is the risk for what they call a regional or great lakes war,” said Phil Ditto, director of international medical and health programs for the Paul Carlson Partnership. He added that he had seen reports of neighboring Ugandan troops entering the fray. “The best way to characterize what’s happening in Congo right now is heightened instability and uncertainty.”
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis continues. The 500,000 displaced people include both those who have been internally displaced within the DRC and refugees from neighboring nations. And those numbers are on top of people previously displaced by earlier rounds of fighting. A lack of clean water and medical resources is contributing to the rapid spread of such diseases as malaria, cholera, and HIV. There’s also been a dramatic uptick in sexual and gender-based violence, mostly against women.
Becky Dangel, director of partner communications for Paul Carlson Partnership, says that although the CEUM is not in the direct path of M23, that doesn’t mean its ministries aren’t potentially affected. She and others within the Serve Globally mission priority are monitoring the situation in case of breakdowns in communication networks or banking services. CWRD and ACT for Congo partner with AGIR-RDC, which has been helping to serve internally displaced people. Anderson, who grew up in DRC where her parents served as Covenant global personnel, says AGIR’s executive director, Modestine Etoy, has traveled back to Goma and surrounding areas to help provide mental health services and emotional support. “If you don’t have that,” says Anderson, “you can’t really do anything.” Anderson, who is in regular communication with partners like AGIR-RDC and others, adds, “I still have great hope for Congo.”
More than anything, the situation in Goma is an opportunity for churches to step up their involvement. “While we partner in prayer for this period of instability, not only with the conflict itself, but for changes on the horizon, this is an opportunity for the church to step forward as it always has, to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this moment,” Ditto said.
“Now is not the time to stop praying or stop giving,” said Dangel.
“It’s such a tender situation,” said Lyndsey Watson, program manager for Covenant Kids Congo. “This is an incredibly complex and ever-evolving situation. Just this weekend, there was a temporary ceasefire and leaders gathered for negotiations. We feel the events of the next month will be critical in evaluating the overall trajectory of the conflict. We’re just trying to pray and trust and research and read.”
Click here to help bring lifesaving relief and restore hope to those suffering in Goma.
