Key Points:
- Conflict in eastern Congo has affected United Methodist families and ministries, including an attack at United Methodist Irambo Health Center in Bukavu.
- The capture of Goma and Bukavu by M23 rebels, supported by the Rwandan army, has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people displaced.
- Religious leaders, including United Methodist Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda, are calling for peace and reconciliation and strongly condemning the violence.
United Methodist families and church ministries are being affected by acts of violence and vandalism as conflict continues in eastern Congo.
In Bukavu, in the South Kivu province, the United Methodist Irambo Health Center was a target, as armed children joined clashes between the Congolese armed forces and M23 rebels, supported by the Rwandan army. Several faithful United Methodists saw their businesses vandalized and goods looted.
The capture of Goma and Bukavu by the rebels marked a significant escalation in the conflict. By late January, rebels had taken control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, and continued their advance toward South Kivu, where they captured Bukavu in early February. The events triggered a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of displaced civilians and heavy loss of life.
The Irambo Health Center, a medical facility located opposite the Saïo military camp, was attacked during the weekend of Feb. 14-16.
“Assailants, armed men, ransacked the health center, spreading terror among the health care staff and the patients,” said Dr. Jimmy Kasongo, medical director of the health center. “Material damage included the destruction of four windows, two gates, a microscope, two blood-glucose meters, a HemoCue (test), several boxes of rapid tests, as well as 26 mattresses and an ultrasound machine. In addition, $300 was stolen.”
“Our office has confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu. We are also aware that the children were in possession of weapons,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the human rights office. “We call on Rwanda and the M23 to ensure that human rights and international humanitarian law are respected.”
Shamdasani also condemned attacks on hospitals and humanitarian warehouses, as well as threats against the judiciary.
The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that 176 people with bullet wounds were treated at Bukavu’s Provincial General Reference Hospital. In addition, 26 bodies were recovered in the city.
Kasongo reported that the United Methodist hospital had treated some 52 casualties, including 16 victims of a bomb blast and 32 people with serious ballistic wounds. Three bodies were recovered, and 12 wives and 28 children of soldiers took refuge in the center, he said. The Red Cross team buried 32 victims, including 18 armed children, in the Irambo health area.
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“The nursing staff and wounded interned in this health center were traumatized,” Kasongo said. “I found myself obliged to transfer more than 10 of the wounded to Bukavu General Hospital, where they are continuing treatment.”
Meanwhile, acts of vandalism have spread to the businesses of United Methodist women, including Jolie Shabani Mulebinge and Maman Odette Aluwa. The women were robbed of their goods during the clashes.
Mulebinge, communicator for the Kivu Conference women’s agency, said her clothing store in Goma was looted. “I thank God because I’m alive, and even if I’ve lost everything, the eternal God will return other goods to me another day,” she said.
Aluwa, women’s secretary in Bukavu and a trader in Kadutu, Bukavu’s largest market, lost her entire stock of flour and rice.
“It’s all my capital that I’ve just lost because of this war,” she said. “Food was going to help me provide for my children, but I hope that God will help me in some way to find the new capital to restart my business.”
The violence reached United Methodist churches in Kadutu and Panzi Penuel, where sound equipment and generators were stolen.
“Looters succeeded in stealing baffles and mixers, while at the local Penuel church in Panzi, they took five microphones and a generator,” Pastor Joseph Toto Safari said. “It’s a great desolation for the church to lose all these goods during this war-related violence.”
Last month, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the “unconditional and immediate” withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the DRC.
Meanwhile, United Methodist Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda strongly condemned the destruction and looting of hospitals and churches in the Kivu region. “It is inadmissible to attack a hospital or a church where we are saving lives,” he said. He called for the rapid restoration of peace in the region.
Unda noted that great effort had gone into building and equipping infrastructures, and that their destruction was wiping out progress. He called for prayers for peace, stressing that without it, destruction would continue. He also expressed his hope for the peace pact in eastern Congo initiated by the Church of Christ in Congo, of which The United Methodist Church is a member, and the Roman Catholic Church.
As the M23 rebel offensive continues in the territories of Uvira and Fizi, the Rev. Rigobert Mtaka said he fears that violence will cause even more damage.
Between Feb. 12 and Feb. 15, more than 70 people were killed in the village of Maïba, Lubero territory, North Kivu. The victims — Christians — were found in a Protestant church. On Feb. 12, ADF rebels, an Islamist terrorist group originally from Uganda, entered the village and took around 100 people hostage.
Following the massacre, Unda expressed deep sadness and dismay.
“It is with a heavy heart that I learned the news of this heinous massacre,” he said. “Women, children and the elderly were brutally murdered as they gathered to pray. It is a tragedy that touches us all deeply.”
He strongly condemned the violence, calling it “unacceptable and contrary to all human and Christian values.” Such acts, he said, only sow terror and division within the community.
“In these moments of grief and sorrow,” Unda added, “our faith is put to the test. But it is in prayer and solidarity that we will find the strength to overcome this ordeal.”
He called on all members of The United Methodist Church and all people of goodwill to join in prayer for the victims, their families and the community of Maiba in particular and eastern Congo. He also urged solidarity and mutual aid with those affected by this tragedy.
“We must unite to support those who have lost loved ones, to help them rebuild their lives and for justice to be done,” Unda continued. He said he remains hopeful that peace will one day return to eastern Congo.
“We must not give in to fear and despair. We must continue to work for peace and reconciliation.”
Lolonga is a communicator for the Kivu Conference. Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News' Congo correspondent, contributed to this story.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer, news editor, [email protected] or 615-742-5469. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digests.
