Christian Mission in a Context of Violence: Experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Fohle Lygunda li-M
“Violence is a very complex issue…. For those who are the victims, the violence against one’s person is real even though it may be hidden from the view of those who are not its victims.”1
–James H. Cone
“AlertNet asked 103 humanitarian professionals, media personalities, academics, and policymakers which ‘forgotten’ crises they would urge the media to focus on in 2005. Conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo topped the poll as the world’s worst ‘forgotten’ crisis. War in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country two-thirds the size of Western Europe, has claimed at least 10 times as many lives as the December tsunami yet remains almost unheard of outside of Africa, key players in the aid world said.”2
“It's the worst humanitarian tragedy since the Holocaust. The greatest example on the planet of man’s inhumanity to man.”3
–John O’Shea
"I was appalled by the constant flow of these defenseless casualties of a war that has stopped being noticed by the outside world."4
–Rowan Gillies
Background
The experience of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not unique in Africa. Similar experiences can be recorded from other countries such as South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Somalia, Ivory Coast, and others. However, according to International Rescue Committee reports, 31,000 die monthly in D. R. Congo, and 3.8 million have died in the past six years, more than in any other conflict since World War II.5 Many call this war “the Third World War” because it has implicated several countries: Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Chad. The number of victims will increase, since atrocities are still going on.6 Kathryn Wolford, President of Lutheran World Relief, USA, put it simply but clearly: “While peace has formally been declared, fighting, rape, torture, disappearances, displacement, ethnic cleansing, and massacres continue to take place.”7
How should we understand the mission of the church in such a context?
The purpose of this paper is to broaden the understanding of violence in Congo. We will highlight its nature, its consequences, its impact, its deep roots, and some non-exhaustive challenges that relate to the mission of church today.
a. Nature of violence in Congo
Since colonial times, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been a center of violence. Throughout King Leopold II’s control (1880-1960), the post-independence period (1960-1965), Mobutu’s reign (1965-1997), and the victory of Laurent Kabila over Mobutu’s dictatorship, many civilians have been massacred. The current violence traces its roots back to 1996 when Kabila, backed by his Rwandese and Ugandan allies, started his rebellion against Mobutu. As a report from Human Rights Watch has revealed, this current war is “the local manifestation of a complex regional conflict which has involved seven nations and many groups of armed combatants.”8 The following comments reported in July 2003 by the Human Rights Watch reveal how awful the atrocities in Congo are:
Armed groups have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law on a massive scale…They also committed summary executions, forcefully abducted persons whose whereabouts remain unknown and arbitrarily arrested and unlawfully detained others, some of whom they subjected to systematic torture…They also committed rapes and engaged in such inhumane acts as mutilations and cannibalism, a practice meant to bring ritual strength to perpetrators and to inspire terror in opponents…They have recruited children for military service, some as young as seven years old, subjecting them to the risks and rigors of military operations.9
b. The consequences of violence
The consequences of violence in Congo paint a dark picture. The reality of this country demonstrates a paradox of being a rich land where the poorest people of the world are living. The Human Rights Watch put it clearly in its 2002 report:
Five years of war has virtually eliminated what remained of Congo’s infrastructure after thirty years of mismanagement and erosion under Mobutu—its health, judicial and educational services, its road and communication networks. State employees, including health and judicial personnel, are unpaid and demoralized, unemployment is widespread, corruption has become necessary for most to survive, and, despite the country’s enormous mineral wealth, the economy has collapsed… the majority of the people in that province [North Kivu] lived on the equivalent of approximately U.S. $0.20 per day at the end of 2000. An estimated four-fifths of rural families have fled their homes at least once in the past five years.10
Arguing why the crisis in Congo must be a focus of media in 2005, a hundred humanitarian professionals, media personalities, academics, and policymakers recently described the current situation in the following terms:
Democratic Republic of Congo still smoldering after devastating 1998-2003 conflict known as “Africa’s World War”: Seven other African countries sucked in at height of war. Millions killed since 1998, mostly due to disease and malnutrition. Mortality estimates vary widely, from 3 to 5 million. 2004 study by International Rescue Committee puts toll at 3.8 million. Valuable natural resources and legacy of genocide in neighboring Rwanda still fuelling fighting in remote east [of Congo]. Violence hinders humanitarian programs in food security, health care, water and education. Some 3.3 million people now out of reach of aid groups, United Nations says.11
c. Inefficiency of provided solution
According to the same report, a solution could come from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and the Congolese political and armed factions. Unfortunately, none of these entities is able to provide a response to the crisis.
United States:
From the start of the war, the United States has professed a commitment to maintaining the national integrity of the Congo but has at the same time given political backing to Rwanda and Uganda, which both field troops of their regular armies in eastern Congo and so threaten that integrity.12
European Union:
The European Union has proved largely ineffective in influencing developments in Congo because the United Kingdom—generally supported by Germany and the Netherlands—has supported Rwanda and Uganda while France—often together with Belgium—has backed the Congo government.13
United Nations:
Both Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council have devoted much attention to ending the Congo war and frequently denounced human rights abuses and humanitarian crisis spawned by it. But the strong language of the resolutions ordinarily lacked any effective mechanisms for implementation.14
The Congolese parties in conflict:
The de facto authorities and foreign forces that support them have taken few meaningful steps to protect the population from violence.15
Some testimonies of violence in Congo
The following testimonies will help us to understand the relevance of what we have been talking about. All of these testimonies are taken from official reports published by the Human Rights Watch in 200216 and 2003.17 They provide proof that living in a world where priorities such as freedom are not respected causes terrific upheaval. The information presented in those reports comes from a team composed of Human Rights Watch researchers and members of Congolese human rights associations based in northeastern Congo. According to my own personal experience as a citizen of Congo, the testimonies excerpted from the Human Rights Watch reports are not different from what other Congolese populations have experienced in other parts of the country. We will start with my own testimony.
From 1997 to 1999, my ministry in northwestern Congo was in turmoil due to a series of wars. My position as administrative director of the denomination prevented me from fleeing until the last member of the church office escaped. I remember how often I was at risk when an armed group tried to throw out another. In 1997, as I was about to close the gate of the headquarters compound, three soldiers ordered me to lie down, and pointed guns in my ears. If they had not found the car that belonged to the church, I could have been shot. In 1998, as five colleagues and I were going to preach to a village, Kabila’s militia arrested us as spies. They took our car and put us in jail for eight days until they found that we were not guilty. In 1999 the populations of Gemena had to flee because of bombings. My family had escaped a few hours before. As I tried to save my legal documents, two soldiers appeared, one pointing his gun at me; the other started to shoot into the air. They urged me to choose either my life or my possessions. I was terribly frightened, and I told them to take all that they wanted. I joined my family during the night, and spent six months in the jungle, living in hard conditions that I had never experienced before. Holding a leadership position in a context of political instability is something I can never forget. I pray for those who are living in the same conditions all over the world.
A story from a twenty-five-year-old girl tells how she was raped by armed men and how her father was about to be shot. The family was praying for his safety:
Various armed bands have been through our area; there has been great deals of pillaging… people are really left with nothing and in some cases they have displaced… Finally it got to be so much that we went to the parish and with its help, we have had the courage to speak about this…
It started at 1:00 a.m. We were all sleeping. Ten combatants came into the compound. I wanted to hide but I could not. They said, “Get us your father”, and told me to wake everyone up. Two of the combatants who were very well armed were near me. I do not know how, but my father was able to escape by running very fast between the two of them. One said to me, “We’re going to kill you for letting him get away.” The leader told the other to shoot Papa. We were all praying. I thought they were going to kill us all too. My mother didn’t know whether to run with Papa. But she did hide under the bed and was praying with her rosary… They kept me, my two sisters, and another girl who was staying with us sitting on the ground outside. They took everything and asked us what else the family had.
I thought if the Lord says it’s our time, this is when we will die. The combatants said, “We can kill you,” and shot in air four times to show what they could do. Each combatant took one of us to one of the small houses outside the compound. There was no way to resist. They spoke Kinyarwanda and Lingala –they were both Congolese and Interahamwe. We stayed home the rest of that night, but the next night no one would sleep there. I go back to our village sometimes, but I don’t sleep well when I’m there. The neighbors know that we were robbed, but they don’t know about what happened to me.18
From a fifteen-year-old girl whose sisters were kidnapped:
It was April 25, 2001. I was in the village with my family. My father had sold a chicken. Men came during that same night and told him to give them the money from selling the chicken. They cut my father with knives. There were lots of them. Our whole compound was full of soldiers. They had knives and guns. They spoke some Lingala and some Kinyarwanda. They raped my sisters and my mother, but I was able to run. They took everything that was in our house. I hid behind some trees on a hill a bit above the house.
They took away my sisters and we still don’t know where they are. There were five or six men with each of my sisters. The next morning I went back to the house. I found my father there still injured with a neighbor who was trying to help him. After three days, my mother came back. But we still don’t know where my sisters are. My father wanted to go and find them and tried to get help, but the neighbors said that if he did that the Tutsi would exterminate the whole family. Now we are in Bukavu and some of the families of our old neighbors have helped us a little but we don’t even have clothes. There was no reason to target my father who is a good Christian man.19
From a woman, mother of four children, whose husband was targeted because of his link with another militia:
We went into the forest at the beginning of the war. My husband thought the forest was safer, and there was nothing to eat in town. But we moved back to town in 2000. In July 2000 the Mai-Mai came and took my husband. They beat me up and shot him and then cut up his body in front of me. They said my husband was a spy for the Tutsi. They were eight Mai-Mai. Two of them held me down and the others raped me. They put two knives to my eyes and told me that if I cried, they would cut out my eyes.20
From a woman whose daughter was cruelly killed.
On May 15 of this year [2001], four heavily armed combatants—they were Hutu—came to our house at 9 p.m. Everyone in the neighborhood had fled. I wanted to hide my children, but I didn’t have time. They took my husband and tied him to a pole in the house. My four-month-old baby started crying and I started breastfeeding him and then they left me alone.
They went after my daughter, and I knew they would rape her. But she resisted and said she would rather die than have relations with them. They cut off her left breast and put it in her hand. They said, “Are you still resisting us?” She said she would rather die than be with them. They cut off her genital labia and showed them to her. She said, “Please kill me.” They took a knife and put it to her neck and then made a long vertical incision down her chest and split her body open. She was crying but finally she died. She died with her breast in her hand.
I didn’t talk to other authorities because I thought it was a military matter. There is no electricity there, and we couldn’t see much, but we could hear her scream and see what happened when we saw the body in the morning.21
From a woman who hoped to keep her rape from her husband but sought advice from her pastor whose wife propagated the secret.
When I got home, I went to the pastor to tell him what had happened. His wife heard our conversation, and she went around and told everyone about it. Now I am an outcast. No one will come to see me or share anything with me. My second husband said he was unlucky with wives because he had already lost two wives before me. We don’t get along. Sometimes he says I should go back to [my first] husband… or I should go be with another man in the forest.22
From a man who reveals why he decided to enter a militia:
I decided to enter [our militia] for security reasons and not because I wanted to. I was desperate to protect my family. A lot of people were disappearing and if I felt I had no choice. Everyday I go to work and to the movement meetings, but my heart is not in it. There are many others in a similar position.23
From a man who told about violence caused by ethnic identity:
I was taken to the prison and could see out the window of my cell. The Hema [ethnic group] militia were killing people from particular groups. They were especially looking for Lendu [ethnic group]. They would pick out prisoners to kill. They took them one by one to question them, then they released them or killed them. They shot people in front of other prisoners. They tied their arms behind their backs with wires. They slashed their heads with knives. They made them sit down and then they shot them. They also shot any who tried to escape. Sometimes they took people outside and they never came back. 24
Let us explore some implications of this kind of violence that reveal its impact and its deep roots in Congo.
Some implications from the testimonies
a. Impact of violence
From observing the experience of those who have endured violence, we can draw the following conclusions:
1. Violence relates to the person as a whole entity: body, soul, and spirit.
2. Issues such as ethnicity, religion, and politics become the motivating factors for getting people involved in violence.
3. The search for one’s own security, peace, comfort, and power pushes people to impose and perpetuate violence.
4. Violence affects the whole family.
5. Despair can lead to evil practices.
6. The Christian faith, the church as a community, and the pastoral ministry are challenged.
b. Deep roots of violence in Congo
Based on my personal observation and experience, I have come to the conclusion that many factors have contributed to spread the culture of violence over the years. During the war period, many people suffered in various ways due to their ethnic identity, political adherence, and religious affiliation. A more in-depth look at all kinds of violence reveals that most of it has come about because of three other factors: the division of Africa at the Berlin Conference in 1885, the current international policy after the cold war, and the evil spirit that commends those who have committed such crimes.
1. Ethnic identity is a factor that pushes people to kill their neighbors. Hema, Lendu, Bira, Hutu, Tutsi, Banyamurenge, and others are ethnic groups implicated in the climate of violence.
2. Political adherence has been a motivation for exterminating people who do not belong to one or another political group.
3. Religious affiliation has pushed people to betray their neighbors to the point of death. Some Christians could not save other people because of their religious membership.
4. The Berlin Conference in 1885 divided Africa and thereby separated people belonging to the same ethnic groups. Country borders separated people from the same tribe. Currently some tribes are planning to unite and form their own “nations” based on their common ethnic identity.25
5. Since the cold war, international politics have changed. Some developed countries have been competing to expand their influence. Guns are made by some countries and distributed where violent acts are committed. Weapons are sent where the poor cry out for food, housing, schools, and medical care.26
6. The power of darkness is a real fact as we observe in all criminal acts that are still destroying the country. Cannibalism and other practices cannot be a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
If the church is sent into the world, to what extent can its mission be applied to this broken world?
Towards a new insight on mission in a context of violence
Knowing the difficulties that the church has endured in Congo in the midst of the kinds of atrocities described above, my suggestion is to challenge the church to take new actions. The Catholic Church has been active through Mgr Emmanuel Kataliko, who died a few weeks after his release from jail. Pastors from Protestant churches also were killed. Others, including myself, were tortured. In most places, the church has been “between the hammer and the anvil” and has become atrophied. Sometimes it has compromised and has failed to accomplish its prophetic role of being a light in the darkness, the salt of the world, and a voice for the voiceless.
The church can be more effective by preaching, promoting, and practicing the reconciling life, the message of liberation from evil, the reality of the Kingdom of God, the call for a holistic ministry, and the double movement of “going out” and “attracting in.” These five non-exhaustive components of mission could solve many problems where national and international temporary authorities have fallen.
a. Mission as reconciliation and peacemaking
The church must be involved in reconciliation and peacemaking starting by looking within itself. This war has revealed the weak side of church members who were implicated in animosity in many areas. Some Christians, even those within the same denomination, betrayed their coreligionists because of their ethnic group or political adherence. Lay people and clergy were killed because other “Christians” betrayed them. The church must help its members identify ways of ending violence. Paul Kivel and Allan Creighton suggest six questions for addressing the issue of violence prevention: Who is hurt by guns? Who use guns? How much gun violence is there? What kinds of guns are used most often? Where do people get guns? Who makes money from guns?27 Because most of combatants in Congo claim to be Christians, one of the significant approaches is to promote and practice tolerance in each local congregation. [See John 13:15; John 17:20-23; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Ephesians 2:14-20].
b. Mission as liberation from the evil powers
In regard to the testimonies above, it becomes obvious that those who committed violence were not led by principles of love, forgiveness, or the other fruits of the Holy Spirit (cp. Gal. 5:22). The powers of evil were seen through the actions described. People need to be liberated from these destructive powers. The church must demonstrate that Christ is concerned about the enslavement of humankind. His mission is to free human beings from the power of the darkness. This is how we can understand the theology of liberation today in Congo: liberation from anger, from killing, from exploitation, from conflicts, and so on. [See Matthew 10:1-2; Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 4:10].
c. Mission as experience of the Kingdom of God
Violence in Congo will not come to an end if the reign of God is still being denied in speech and deed in daily life. The message of the Kingdom of God means that by faith in Christ, we become members of a new family, citizens of a new party. Kinship and denominationalism no longer determine our worldview as members of a temporal society. The message of love and forgiveness has to be a leitmotiv for the new family of Christians, who have become children of the Kingdom of God, and light and salt of the world [See Matthew 18:15-18; John 1:12; Romans 12:1,2; 1 Peter 2:9].
d. Mission as holistic ministry
Violence affects the whole person—body, soul, and spirit. The church cannot be efficient in responding to the real needs of people unless it gets involved in holistic ministries. We remember that this was the approach Jesus promoted when he preached, taught, healed, and fed people. He then gave the same mission to his disciples based on the great commandment (Matt. 22:37-39) and on the great commission (Matt. 28:19, 20). The love of Christ and of our neighbors must urge us to share our comforts. [See Matthew 9:35; 14:15, 16; Luke 9:2].
e. Mission as a double movement of “going out” and “attracting in”
Experience has shown that because of violence, people can find safety only by hiding far away—in the jungle or in other countries. Unfortunately, there they experience an incredible time of extreme poverty or of rejection by inhabitants of the new milieu. The church must move to meet people where they live—both victims and perpetrators—and to serve as magnets to attract people to Christ by living as light and salt in the world. The church must get actively involved in centrifugal and centripetal ministry. [See John 20:21; Matthew 4:14-16; 28:19; Acts 1:8].
Experience of the Centre Missionnaire au Coeur d’Afrique (CEMICA)
The Centre Missionnaire au Coeur d’Afrique (Mission Center in the Heart of Africa) is a result of the vision of ministering in a context of violence. After the hard time of 1997-99, and after fourteen years of ministering in a denominational setting, I have been motivated by God to start a nondenominational ministry that can help us to work without barriers. The main purpose is to serve as a catalyst to the churches, regardless of their faith tradition or ethnic traits. Since 2003, our four schools located in two countries—Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic—have enrolled more than 300 pastors from fifty-five denominations for a twenty-month program in transforming church ministries.
Through this ministry, we are experiencing a new wind of transformation both inside and outside of many churches. Inside, pastors are challenged to broaden their vision of ministry based on the great commandment and the great commission. They are empowered, so that they may be able, with new insights, to lead their churches in a transformational way. In response to the inquiry we led in 2004, church members to whom our students were ministering gave favorable feedback. They testified that change had occurred in the leadership of their pastors. This change inside of their respective churches has resulted in a change in relationship between denominations. For instance, in Bangui, Central African Republic, pastors from churches in conflict are now accepting each other. During the civil war in this country, pastors were divided due to their ethnic groups. This division was also related to the politicians’ conflict. In Congo, pastors from mainline churches as well as those from independent churches (Charismatic, Pentecostal, Revival churches) have a new vision of the church. The climate of rejection that used to characterize their relationship has been transformed into acceptance and cooperation.
The next step is to integrate secular leaders—business people, members of government, and other leaders of opinion—into this dynamic transformation. A special program will address the critical issue of how to lead according to God’s will in business, government, and society in general. Since most of these leaders claim to be Christians, even though they have been instrumental in violence, the transformation of their mindset is a strategic approach to change the context of violence.
For more information about this ministry, please visit our website at www.cemica.org, which is set up in French and English.
Conclusion
My conclusion is mainly a recommendation to the church in Congo and to churches worldwide.
1. The church in Congo must transcend denominational, confessional, and ethnic barriers that desecrate the unity of the body of Christ and hinder the transformational work of the Holy Spirit. The church in Congo must rethink its mission by considering the five components suggested above: mission as reconciliation and peace-making, as liberation from the evil powers, as an experience of the Kingdom of God, as holistic ministries, and as a centrifugal and centripetal movement.
2. Bible and theological schools should review their curricula and should require following courses:a. Ethnicity, Culture, and Interpersonal Conflict
b. Reconciliation, Peacemaking, and Nonviolence
c. Ecclesiology and Interfaith Dialogue (emphasis on Christian communities)
d. Christian Leadership3. The churches worldwide need to be aware of all kinds of tragedies endured by people in Congo. Churches around the world have been mobilized to respond to genocide in Rwanda, to massacre of civilians in Sudan, or to the tsunami disaster in Asia. Could they forget the tragic and ongoing war that has produced more deaths than all the other armed conflicts since World War II? Churches all over the world should be encouraged to join the church in Congo in dealing with the new challenges of today’s mission.
4. The churches in the United States and the European Union may play a critical role by urging their governments and the United Nations to take whatever measures are necessary to end the violence and to create safety for the innocent population. The following measures are urgent:a. Admit that they have been a part of the atrocities that devastate Congo.
b. Stop sending arms to Africa and establish conditions for safety so that people may be able to participate in their own development.
c. Stop supporting leaders of countries where funds to solve humanitarian problems (HIV/AIDS and genocide) are used to buy guns for perpetuating violence, as in Congo.
These are some suggestions for which most of us would be willing to take immediate action as a part of our mission in today’s broken world. If during the atrocities under King Leopold II Protestant missionaries were “the first to alert international public opinion to the extent of cruelties visited upon the African population, and with the creation of the Congo Reform Association in 1904, the public outcry against the Congo Free State reached major proportions,”28 the church today has no reason to resign or step back from its mission responsibility of transforming the situation in today’s Congo.
