CMS Mission Update Online

The 93-year-old bachelor's mite

Becky, a CMS mission partner, has served as a curate in Sri Lanka.  She married recently and is presently studying with her husband in Britain before their relocation as a mission partner couple.

A short while ago she wrote of a 93-year-old man, to whom she presented a Bible when, while in Sri Lanka, she learnt on his last birthday that he had never earned enough to own one.  He now "reads it diligently on a daily basis".

He has no family or relatives and is dependent for a small income on help from others – a monthly grant from a local church and a donation from church members.

He lives in a tiny room adjoining the home of a Buddhist family.

In mid-October he wrote to Becky and enclosed a 100 rupee note – worth about 50p in pounds sterling – about a tenth of his monthly income.  As a tithe, it was an extraordinarily generous gesture.

I've no doubt that Jesus would not only have approved of but also blessed him for his contribution in much the same way he did the widow's two small coins or 'mite' in Mark 12.42. 

Congo Day of Prayer responses

Some nice comments in response to the Congo Church Association and CMS Day of Prayer for DRC:

From Archbishop Dirokpa of the Anglican Church of Congo

"We organized a week of prayer and this went really well. Last Tuesday we had several hours of prayer, then Friday we had a night of prayer and the service on Sunday was especially for the situation. We had the opportunity of speaking on television as we invited radio, TV and journalists. We invited other churches to participate in this prayer in their own churches. We do want to thank you [CCA] and CMS for this initiative."

...and fascinating ones from mission partner Judy Acheson currently in Katanga, in the centre of the country...

"I was asked at the end of the day of prayer to send our thanks to you for being so concerned for DRC that you planned this day of prayer and fasting.

"People were really appreciative and it has pushed people here to take the war in the East seriously and to really pray.

"They were challenged by the fact that people from far away were that concerned that they planned this prayer whereas they have hardly prayed at all.

"There were about 40-50 present in the Cathedral from 10am-3pm and there was certainly some determined praying.

"The feeling was that this war is satanic, to take eyes away from the progress being made within Congo and the attempt by the Rwandan church to evangelise Muslims.

"We felt that the Congolese should become more responsible for their country, less passive and stand up to defend their own land and rights.

"Bukasa preached powerfully from Jeremiah 1:18-19. Much prayer was made to break the forces causing such suffering and prayer for those who are suffering. ...

"So thanks very much for initiating this idea. Much appreciated."

You can still donate through CMS and take action in support of people in Congo.

Bulgaria special - mission partners on TV!

This one's for Bulgarian speakers, but you might like to know CMS mission partners Ventzislav and Zlatina Karavaltchev have been on national TV in their homeland this past week.

They were interviewed on Bulgarian National Television's Faith and Society programme about life as a Christian family and their work with CMS. They are about to start work teaching at a mission college in Kiev, Ukraine.

You can watch the interview online - but it is in Bulgarian! Any Bulgarian speakers out there who would like to translate a few nuggets of the Karavatchev's wisdom, feel free...

Here's the link to BNT

Congo Archbishop backs Day of Prayer

Archbishop Dirokpa of the Anglican Church of Congo has issued a statement commending the Day of Prayer and Fasting to be held this Saturday Nov 22:

"This is a laudable initiative for which we thank [Congo Church Association and CMS] most sincerely and with which we are in total agreement. 

"The situation through which our beautiful country is passing, especially in the east, needs our prayers, a powerful weapon for us as Christians, and we are certain that God will change the situation in our favour, for He has promised that everything we ask for in faith will be fulfilled.

"I would therefore ask you to circulate this programme widely, not only within the Anglican churches, but also in other churches: Catholic, Protestant, Revival, Orthodox and within the Islamic community and even among State officials in order that all together with our partners, we will lift our voices towards our loving and merciful God, because the suffering of our compatriots in the east touches and calls us all. 

"At this time, I will raise awareness among my Archbishop colleagues within CAPA with a view to uniting in prayer on this day:  Saturday 22 November 2008.

In Kinshasa, we have tried to contact everyone, either by letter or through the media or even individually. 

"We know that on Saturdays, it is very difficult to bring together large groups of people; therefore we have decided to hold a big prayer service on Sunday 23 November 2008 in each parish in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. 

"However, we are devoting the week of 17-23 November to prayer for our country. 

"Therefore, in our cathedral chapel, we will hold a prayer meeting with all the members of this parish on Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 November.  On Friday we will hold a prayer vigil from 11pm until dawn and Sunday 23 November will be the closing of this week of prayer with prayer and fasting.

"Our great wish is that each in his Diocese will profit from this week of prayer and fasting for our country, D R Congo, to involve all our members in this programme for peace, in order that justice and reconciliation will reign in our country.

"I am also taking this opportunity to thank sincerely our colleagues who are living in this situation of war and have taken the excellent initiative to inform us as well as our partners about the actual situation:  Bishop Isingoma;  Bishop Bahati and Rev Désiré in Goma;  Bishop Masimango and others.... We wish you good courage, for your information complements very well the news that we receive through Congolese media and overseas media.

May Almighty God bless you in all that you are undertaking in His honour...."

The Most Revd Dr DIROKPA BALUFUGA Fidèle
Archbishop of Congo and Bishop of Kinshasa

Details and resources for the Day of Prayer

A photo set is now available on Flickr as an added prayer resource

Congo Church Leaders Deliver Peace Message to Presidents

A delegation of church leaders met Rwanda and DRC's presidents yesterday to press for peace. Read about it here:

Link: allAfrica.com: Congo-Kinshasa: Church Leaders Deliver Peace Message to Presidents (Page 1 of 1).

"We are still alive at Goma"

Another update from a contact on the ground in Goma whom I mentioned in a previous post. It's taken a few days to filter through, but is worth reproducing. Don't forget you can donate here to support the local church's efforts to help displaced people.

Greetings from Goma. We are still alive at Goma.

We thank God for healing our displaced Anglican minister who was in the hospital. He was discharged yesterday as who was been taken by cholera. Now he can move though he is still very weak. He cannot go back home and join his family because there is no way out. Thank you for your prayers up on him.

But still there are many displaced people suffering from this same sickness in the hospitals.

In some hospitals there are no blankets and essential items. For instance, we had to look for a blanket to cover our pastor in the hospital because of the crowd.

There are other problems that displaced people are facing in their temporary camp. For example, there is no sheeting for the tent, no blankets, no warming clothes, no food etc. hence starvation. Those who fled have no shelter. Some managed to get space in schools and inside the church buildings. But they are living in a horrible situation.

Some women are giving birth in the bush and on street a bit far from Goma town with no medical assistance. It is sad and awful.

In the other side, at Rutshuru 80 km from Goma, the situation is worse. Some reports state that civilians have ran to the UN peace keepers’ camp at Kiwanza for safety, because of the wild smashing undertaking over there and led by the Laurent Nkunda soldiers who are killing young people of the age groups from 15 to 40 years in doors from one house to another in the city. This has led the civilians to leave their homes. The number of the slaughtered people is big.

Our flocks living in that city at Rutshuru have also fled including the Anglican Pastors and Archdeacon’s families to the MONUC camp. So the Rutshuru church buildings are empty since yesterday but one.

Civilians are then endangered even those living in Goma town in case there is no determined sanctions and willingness from the international committee.

But note that such killings are not a surprise to civilians because it has been planned long ago by the peace breakers and this has been also been revealed to the local community.

Now the number of the Congolese deaths is increasing yet millions of people have died during the previous long war.

The situation is really alarming. So we need your prayers and action.

Congolese citizens need to live in peace like others do live and then reorganize their lives and their country as well.

Thank you.

DRC - local perspectives and fears

As Lord Malloch Brown accuses Rwanda directly of supporting Laurent Nkunda's rebels, we have heard from Bishop Isingoma of Boga, the diocese north of the affected area, which was also recently a flashpoint for violence.

We wanted to share some of the key points to inform your prayers:

The local population has completely lost confidence in both MONUC, the UN force, and the Congolese army.

Talk of more foreign forces potentially coming to enforce peace only makes local Congolese fear more, says Bishop Isingoma: "This only reinforces the logic that only war can resolve the crisis and is plunging the Congolese people into anxiety in recalling past experience, when several armies arrived to assist the country, before the arrival of UN forces. It was ghastly."

While people are happy that the international community is beginning efforts to resolve the crisis, many believe that the only way for it to end is by purging all foreign rebel groups, including the Hutu groups Nkunda is fighting, and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who have been causing havoc near Aru in the far north-east of Congo, in unrelated violence.

One more recent flashpoint was in Boga diocese in Ituri district, where yet another rebel militia had begun fighting the Congolese government forces.

But some reports indicate that the local people fear their own government's forces as much as these militias. Elements of the army, when they are losing the war, have turned to looting and killing the local population.

The situation is currently calm in Ituri, and Bishop Isingoma feels they are seeing the fruit of some of the diocese's reconciliation programme, which has been supported by CMS.

"One thing for which we are currently giving praise is the refusal of the population to return to ethnic conflict. Within the church we are profiting from the good attitude of the people to intensify awareness of tribalism, within the framework of continuing the Diocesan programme of Peace and Reconciliation."

Donations and advocacy actions for Congo

We may feel powerless in the face of the eastern DRC emergency but there are worthwhile things we can do.

On the CMS website, regional manager Stephen Burgess offers four ways to show your support for people suffering in Congo.

General Laurent Nkunda: an alloyed 'Christian'

General Laurent Nkunda has been described as “an evangelical Christian warlord” (The Times, 1 November 2008). Leaving aside the obscene contradiction in terms of that description, he is even reported to sport a badge emblazoned with the slogan “Rebels for Christ”.

He is also, apparently, a father of six.

However, after his brutal suppression of a mutiny in eastern Congo in 2002, in which 160 people were executed by callous means, he was nicknamed locally “The Butcher of Kisagani”.

His troops have, reportedly, raped women and children, murdered civilians and looted property – family and commercial premises.  His rebel force is named the Congres National pour la Defense du Peuple (CNDP) – another offensive bit of terminology given what it is doing to people in the name of ‘defense’.

For such crimes, an arrest warrant was issued in 2006 but he and his rebel forces are still at large.

An interesting sentence in the same edition of The Times mentions that he has called for a Chinese mining deal in the DRC to be scrapped, “suggesting that he is hungry for a share of east Congo’s natural wealth”.

That also suggests that rather than revealing the core deposits of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection, General Nkunda is far more invested in access to baser riches.

Local mission continues in Goma

Despite rebel attacks the local church has been doing itsbest to comfort people and to "preach them the peaceful Gospel," says Anglican bishop the Rt Rev Bahati Bali-Busane.

At the height of the tension last week, Bishop Bahati made a pastoral visit to Goma town.

He was due to do some confirmations and ordain new priests but the ordination candidates - from Rutshuru and Masisi - couldn't make it through the conflict zone. The confirmation service did take place at St Paul's church in Goma.

As the fighting grew worse and the rebels came closer to Goma, the bishop was attending an pre-arranged seminar organised by the Anglican Church of Congo's department of evangelism.

Many church members are of course among the two million people the bishop says are displaced. The bishop called for "spiritual, material and financial support from out partners and friends".

He returns to prayer as a priority in the face of years of trauma in DRC.

"For 12 years," says Bishop Bahati, "DR Congo has been victim of wars and atrocities, the  result are six millions of people died, many cases of rape against women and girls and nowadays two millions of displaced from Masisi, Rutshuru and Goma.

"Some should wonder, when will the unrighteous conflicts end in DR Congo?

"So, we request your prayer that peace may reign in our communities in particular and in the DR Congo in general."