The Heat is On

It’s hard to get a full understanding of the political, physical tensions in N.E. Congo.
First hand, my friends in Goma are sitting on edge discerning when or if they need to evacuate for their own safety. Once again, women and children, the vulnerable ones…on my heart.

A Special Summit held on Friday confirmed, by the Congolese foreign minister, that Kinshasa would start fighting Ugandan rebel groups on Congolese territory. "The DRC will start an operation against the negative forces of Uganda this month", he said. The negative forces operating in N.E.Congo include Allied Deomcratic Forces (ADF), the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Congo's attempt at pushing back the forces of darkness.

From my short visit to Goma in April, I saw the long-lasting trauma of these rebel groups in the area. Bloodshed, multiple, brutal rapes, abandoned children, children born of rape referred to as hate children, children taken as soldiers, victims blinded or maimed for life, thousands of displaced people evacuating land and homes seeking shelter, only to find additional problems including a lack of food and water in the areas they hide and in the refugee camps.

I feel like vomiting, I feel weak. I feel out of touch. Knowing a little yet just enough to probe my heart and make me rise up on the inside. I hate this injustice. I hate it, I hate it! I feel like a little fly on some wall and at the moment my part is to pray. Sometimes I think these issues may germinate, ruminate over in one’s heart for awhile before knowing how to act. What to say, where to go. So – I am standing at attention, trying to keep myself from falling back asleep.