We invite you to pray for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country in Central Africa, more infrequently known as Zaire (its name from 1971 to 1997)
This nation is going through immense suffering as one of the tragic failed sates in the World and we seek your prayer for transformation of this nation.
By land area, it is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world.
With a population of around 112 million, the DRC is the 4th Populated country of Africa and most populous nominally Francophone country in the world.
French is the official and most widely spoken language, though there are over 200 indigenous languages.
Human Suffering:
No modern tragedy has been so enduring and yet so ignored by the global media and the global Church.
Congo has endured intense suffering and exploitation for centuries. 19th-century Arabs raided the country for slaves. The horrific colonial rule of Belgium’s King Leopold II led to the deaths of 10 million people in the 30 years before 1908.
Belgian control and international mining companies exploited Congo’s resources, but oppressed the people. Western countries then supported the corrupt regime of the dictator Mobutu, which laid the foundation for much of the current chaos.
Wars and Fighting – 6 million displaced.
Since 1996, conflict in eastern DRC has led to approximately six million deaths.
The First Congo War (1996–1997) began in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, during which ethnic Hutu extremists killed an estimated one million minority ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda (DRC’s neighbor to the east).and has been the centre of one of the world’s longest-running conflicts for decades.
Over 100 armed groups are active in eastern Congo, and the imposition of martial law in North Kivu and Ituri provinces has facilitated abuses by government security forces. Armed groups and often abusive security forces continue to carry out massacres, abductions, rape and sexual violence, recruitment of children, and other attacks on civilians with near total impunity.
Ongoing fighting between rebel groups and government forces, systemic corruption, years of mismanagement of the country’s resources and recurring health crises like COVID-19, cholera, measles and Ebola, have left DRC in a severe humanitarian crisis. It is estimated that 27 million people are experiencing poverty and food insecurity – the highest number in any African country.
In recent months, renewed fighting between rebel groups and the DRC’s army has further exacerbated decade-old tensions throughout the country’s insecure East.
Corruption and Exploitation.
DRC is rich in natural resources like oil, diamonds, gold and other precious metals, yet over half of its population live in extreme hardship.
All the while, ruthless foreign interests exploit the poverty and chaos to plunder Congo’s rich natural resources, especially its minerals.
These evils and injustices, past and present, must be brought to light and things must be put right for this nation and its people.. Christian groups in Belgium expressed repentance for past evils their country committed, and this was a positive start.
Poverty and Starvation.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), an alarming 28 million people in DRC are now facing acute hunger – a number that has grown by 2.5 million since the most recent outbreak of violence in December; included in this group are 3.9 million people who are experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Over the past six months, a worsening food crisis has been gripping the people of DRC, where conflict, economic instability and surging food prices have put millions at risk.
Women and Children are the worst affected as they continue to suffer due to displacement and other challenges.
This woman, Safi and her children in her hometown of Sake counts among many women in northeastern Congo whose husbands have been killed or gone missing during the conflict.
Safi’s husband – a soldier – has been missing for months. She gave birth to the youngest of her three daughters without him. Like many others, she returned to find her house burnt to the ground. Today, she lives with her mother, and tries to earn enough to buy cooking charcoal as a roadside hairdresser.
Let us take a few moments to pray for women like Safi and many other Children who are suffering in the DRC.
‘O Lord , how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.’
Habakkuk 1:2-4
Persecution:
According to a BBC report, last week more than 40 people were killed in an attack by an Islamic State affiliate in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Most of them were worshippers taking part in a night vigil at a church in the town of Komanda when they were attacked by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters. Nine of those killed were children, the UN peacekeeping mission said.
Nearby shops and businesses were looted and set on fire.
The ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, accusing the government there of persecuting Muslims, but is now based over the border in DR Congo, where it regularly attacks civilians of all religions, as well as in Uganda.
The attack claimed at least 43 people, including 19 women, 15 men and nine children.
Spiritual Warfare:
The powerful spiritual evil that influences much of this land shows itself in deeper ways than wars, killings, greed, and corruption. Wicked men committed widespread rape, unspeakable brutality, cannibalism, and witchcraft against adults and children.
The DRC is the worst country in the world regarding sexual violence against women.
How could these horrors spread throughout a land with over 90% who profess Christianity?
This should moves our hearts, and calls us to spiritual warfare.
Cry out for God to deliver this land, and to bind the spirits that have such power over a suffering people.
We ask you to earnestly pray and mobilize prayer for this tragic Nation.
‘“Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, They have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, Because no one takes it to heart! Jeremiah 12:10-11.
Let us cry out to God for the People of DRC, especially for the Children and Women.
‘For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. ‘
Psalms 22:24
Sources:
Operation World.
World Food Program.
The BBC.
Wikipedia.
Human Rights Watch.
Warchild.