By: NORMAN WETTERAU, M.D. - FMHF PRESIDENT
Missions, medical care, church growth, a Nobel peace prize, and now lament as there is renewed civil war. Several of our members including board member Tim Kratzer and former board member Linda Stryker were involved in the medical work in Congo in the 1980s.
Deaconess Nundu Hospital was established in the South Kivu Province of Eastern Congo and a system of rural health centers was developed. A nursing school was established to staff these clinics. Along with these medical facilities, numerous churches were planted and schools established. It was a time to praise the Lord for the work there. Members of the Free Methodist Medical Fellowship, as it was known then, were involved in this medical work in the Congo as well as work in Rwanda, Burundi, Haiti, and other countries.
Now our time of praise has turned to mourning. In several of these countries civil war broke out. The war in Congo appears to be the longest and most deadly with over 5 million people dying since 1995. This is more people than in other well-known wars including Cambodia, Syria, and Rwanda. What is worse is that this war seems to go on and on, over 25 years now. Hundreds of thousands have also fled as refugees and some have been resettled in the US. Free Methodist Churches of Congolese refugees dot our nation and add vitality to the United States Free Methodist Church, but the praise and vitality of these churches belie the fact that war and conflict continue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Civil unrest has persisted and accelerated in intensity over the past year on the plateau region west of Deaconess Nundu Hospital. This situation is very critical and the Free Methodist Church has been severely impacted. More than 80% of the villages where the FMC has churches have been destroyed. Hundreds of people have lost their lives. The conflict is ongoing with fighting reported around Minembwe, the principle town in the area. More than 35,000 have fled the area for Uvira to the north and Baraka to the south and even to neighboring countries. It is reported that 40,000 people are concentrated in Minembwe, posing a humanitarian crisis with lack of shelter, food and clothing. The Bishops Famine and Relief Fund has assisted these internally displaced people, but has not yet gotten to those who have fled to Minembwe. More assistance is needed.
In November, several congregations in the Rochester, NY area gathered in a Lament for Congo Service. As doctors, we try to fix things and so we have been attempting to help through support of Deaconess Nundu Hospital. Those that gathered in Rochester are encouraged by these efforts. Susan Uwiringiyimana, a Free Methodist who fled this region of the DRC almost twenty years ago, was also at that service. She works with displaced women in the Congo. Dr. Wetterau represented Champions for Congo and the Free Methodist Healthcare Fellowship. But the service was about lament. We need to start with prayer and call on God to act. The various plans for peace, whether brokered by the UN, the government or even the Free Methodist Church have not worked. We need to cry out and this service was a time to do that. The service began with songs of praise to God by everyone and then by an African refugee choir. Following the singing there was a time of remembering the good things of the Congo, the establishment of the church in 1963 and the tremendous growth of the church. God has been and still is working there. God will do more.
There was then confession. One person from the Congo began to recite portions of Romans. I do what I do not want to do. I am against what is happening but then I do it. He went over and over that as a confessional and helping all to realize that there are Christians from different tribes who feel what is happing is terrible yet end up participating in it. How is that possible? Paul made it clear in Romans that it is possible and we need to confess and repent. We need to beg God to help us change and help the whole country to change. This confession then moved to general confession, repentance, and lament
Scriptures of lament were read including Psalm 90. The service ended with communion. Jesus died at the hands of men, but unlike the refugees who have lost their lives, he died for the sins of humankind, people from every nation. And he was resurrected as clear evidence that God has overcome evil. We ask God to come and walk with us but in communion we join with Jesus at the table of death, forgiveness, and healing.
Many of us have been trying to solve the problem through our giving of financial resources to provide medical care or to help refugees. We need to continue to give, but let us also fall on our knees, weep, and repent. As we join with the refugees in lament, God will guide us in the ways that we can join in assisting those who are suffering with both our prayers and gifts. Can those of us who are not from the Congo and are not refugees really appreciate how good our own situation is? Can we join with those who weep? As we do that God will visit us and walk with us.