Rwandan refugees at a UN Refugee agency transit site in Goma, the main town in the province of North Kivu. The refugees are waiting to return home to Rwanda after spending years in eastern DRC where they had settled after fleeing 1994 genocide.
(Photo: © Ann Weru/IRIN)
In November 2008, we asked members to pray for three situations in DR Congo. We would ask you to continue to pray for each situation:
Goma situation
During February, there was a joint Rwanda/DRC military initiative to disarm the FDLR, a militia largely consisting of exiled Rwandan army has taken place.
Related links
Recent DR Congo stories from CMSMany who left Rwanda in 1994 have returned to Rwanda and many internally displaced people have begun to return to their villages in the areas of Ishasha and Nyakakoma, to find little remaining; 880 child soldiers have been released from various militias.
However, the FDLR are reported to have regrouped in Nyabiondo, Kibua and Kashabere, resulting in further looting, violations and displacement of populations.
The camps for internally displaced people are overcrowded and with few supplies. Please,
- pray for a peaceful resolution to this situation
- pray for open dialogue between Presidents Kagame and Kabila
Dungu situation
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have waged a 20-year war with the Ugandan army. In recent years, they have set up bases near Dungu in DR Congo, in Southern Sudan and Central African Republic (CAR).
Diplomatic efforts are continuing, along with the joint military campaign of Sudan, Uganda and Congo launched on 14 December 2008, to defeat the LRA. A number of commanders have been captured and some abducted children released.
A petition was presented to Gordon Brown in London in early March, drawn up by Archbishop Deng, Episcopal Church of Sudan, Archbishop Henry Orombi, Church of Uganda and Bishop Titre Ande, Anglican Church of Congo (Aru Diocese), to request diplomatic pressure to end brutal LRA attacks on civilians.
A meeting took place at the same time between Presidents Kabila and Museveni to discuss the joint operation to defeat the LRA and as a result, the campaign will continue.
Meanwhile, displaced people have moved into Southern Sudan, to Ariwara 40km north of Aru in DRC and into CAR. Small units of the LRA have recently been operational in CAR and Southern Sudan:
- pray for all church leaders involved in this situation
- pray also for government leaders involved.
- pray for a satisfactory outcome of all efforts aimed at ending the LRA insurrection
Situation in Ituri Region
The situation in this area is peaceful, but there is an ongoing need for reconciliation and peace:
- pray for dialogue to take place between state, church and community leaders; for initiatives towards restoration of peace to be successful
A Prayer for the People of DR Congo
O God,
Loving parent of all,
comfort your children
displaced, wounded, lost or orphaned by conflict in D R Congo;
and give the people of that country
courage to seek enduring peace with justice and freedom,
that their children might grow up without fear,
for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ
Amen
(Adapted from a
Prayer from the Congo Swahili Prayer Book 1998)