Seven days of ecumenical prayer earlier this year inspired members of the United Methodist South Lodja District to prepare a special meal for more than 130 prisoners.
Meals were given to people confined to the Central Prison in the Lodja Territory as well as prisons of the high court prosecutor’s office, the military prosecutor’s office of garrison and the Congolese National Police.
The Rev. Robert Shukaya Onakoy, who headed the delegation, said the meal was in response to Jesus’ challenge in Matthew 25:35-36, NRSV: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink … I was in prison and you visited me.”
Onakoy said the visitors also told the prisoners “that Jesus loves them all and that they must repent for a new life.”
Freedom of expression is not guaranteed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in general and the Sankura Province in particular. Onakoy said some who are arrested are innocent. The most common crimes of which they are accused include physical and sexual violence against women, political opposition and embezzlement of public funds intended for state payroll.
In April, Human Rights Watch warned of “a worsening humanitarian, human rights and security crisis” in the DRC. The report continued, “The consequences have been devastating for the Congolese people, with some 4.5 million people displaced from their homes — more than in any other country in Africa — and 2 million children at risk of starvation.”
For the incarcerated, the situation is dire. In many Congo prisons, particularly those in the Lodja Territory, prisoners do not automatically receive meals. If family members or friends fail to pay police officers or military personnel for food, prisoners may starve to death.
Prisoner Kokolomami Michel expressed appreciation to the United Methodists. “Some of us,” he said, “do not have relatives nearby.”
Julie Kombe was arrested with her toddler, after her husband accused her of adultery. Despite her own hunger, Kombe was especially concerned about her 2-year-old. “If you do not pay money to prison guards,” she explained, “your sister or brother who is in prison is not going to eat.”
When the United Methodists provided the prison meal, Kombe noted, everyone — the incarcerated, soldiers and police officers — was fed, truly modeling Jesus’ words in Matthew.
One of 14 districts of the Central Congo Conference, Lodja South District also feeds hospital patients as well as orphans and widows.
Djonga is a communicator with the Central Congo Conference.
News media contact: Vicki Brown, news editor, [email protected] or 615-742-5469. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.
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