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Lake Kivu
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Bill with Ushindi group
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Lake Kivu
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Mt. Nyiragongo
I am writing this letter from
the shores of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the mountainous
border between Congo and Rwanda.
Ann is in the United States
preparing to travel to Ohio, Michigan, and South Dakota to speak at churches.
We started this year of furlough together with a plan to visit churches,
friends, and supporters across the United States, in what would be our first
year of home assignment since 2006. We left Maine by vehicle in mid-summer on
the first leg of a cross-country tour, sharing stories of joy and tears as we
traveled for five months through 36 states and 22,000 miles. Having spent 25 of
our past 33 years in places such as Haiti, Congo, and South Sudan, it was
interesting to be in the U.S. again... but admittedly, after our 99th speaking
engagement in a small town outside of Portland, Oregon, our hearts yearned to
return to Africa.
The call came 3 weeks later
after celebrating Christmas in Maine with our children. IMA World Health, a
partner agency, has been running a program in Eastern Congo providing care to
over 25,000 women and children, victims of sexual and gender-based violence in
the context of ongoing war in a region that has known nothing but conflict over
the past 20 years. There was a need for interim leadership and was I available
for 30 days?
When do you want me to start,
I asked?
30 days have turned to 90 and
now it seems we will be here for an extended period; the needs are
over-whelming. The work that IMA and its indigenous partners are doing in a
challenging context is inspiring, and it is humbling to take leadership of a
program that has had an indelible impact on the lives of those who have endured
what few could imagine.
Rape is a weapon of war in the persistent attacks by rebel and militia groups such as the LRA. The stories are too horrific to relate; mothers who witnessed the slaughter of their husbands and children while being raped, fathers forced to watch their young daughters brutalized before being shot… the maiming and disfiguring of women so no one will have them. The victims vary from ages 7 to 70; some are held for weeks, some escape to find their families or villages have disappeared. Others return to husbands who refuse to have them; they come to us in various stages of desperate need. For those who come on time, there are pills to prevent Aids, endemic in this context. Others in need of surgical care are sent to referral hospitals (Heal Africa and Panzi Foundation). Most need counseling, which we provide in 72 village-based clinics or in any of a dozen safe houses established for such women. Some will never be welcomed back into their communities; the victims become unjustly victimized.
Our mandate is to provide healing for the whole person; providing balm for the wounds…and hope and encouragement for the soul through Christ’s love.
This is not our typical
assignment. It differs from the usual work we have done over the past 25 years:
training of doctors and nurses, establishing clinics and schools, setting up
vaccination and clean water programs in refugee settings, etc. My credentials
and training don’t exactly meet the ‘job description’ but I find myself where I
believe I should be…and blessed that God has found a place where we can help
those in desperate need.
This is also not
the ‘safest place’ we have ever worked. Aside from the fighting and continued
culture of violence, there are ongoing episodes of kidnapping for ransom of
nationals and expatriates alike. Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children,
and others have had persons abducted and consequently pulled back to rethink
how to meet needs in such an environment.
If that is not
enough, there also are environmental threats.
An active
volcano overshadows the town of Goma where we reside. The last eruption in 2002
spewed an immense river of lava into the middle of this heavily populated border
town, leveling houses, schools, clinics, even the airport, killing scores of
people unable to escape. The threat level has recently been raised to yellow as
the lake of molten lava in the crater spews tongues of fire and smoke into the
air.
Lake Kivu,
on whose banks I sit while writing this letter, has one of the highest
concentrations of methane gas known in a natural setting, trapped under layers
of water in this deep lake, built up over the years from the underground
volcanic fissures. A similar methane-imbued lake on the other side of Africa,
erupted in a huge gaseous cloud in the 1980s, killing thousands of those who
lived by the water. The city of Goma with 500,000 persons, is tucked between
the volcano and the lake; an eruption of either would be devastating.
However, we have an abiding sense that this is
where we should be. Ann came out for a short visit before Easter and will
return in July, after these last U.S. deputation visits. She has been asked to
assist one of our indigenous partners, Heal Africa, to develop educational and
capacity building programs for orphans and abandoned street children.
In our 25 years of service
overseas, I don’t believe we have ever intentionally sought out a country or
place to work. We don’t ‘bid on assignments, strategize for posts, or compete
for positions.’ It has rather been a matter of being available and willing. However,
in all our years of service, we have been overwhelmingly blessed. Whether in
the midst of abject poverty in Haiti, rebellion in Zaire, austerity in South
Sudan, or war in Congo… we have never been alone nor could have ever imagined a
more meaningful or fulfilling work.
We don’t know when the volcano
will erupt, when the methane in the lake may bubble up, when the rebels will
reenter Goma, or if abductors linger by the path. We do know that over 25,000
women and girls have been brutally assaulted, and we have been given the
capacity, the occasion, the means, and time to make a difference. For us, this
is our time, and we are thankful for the opportunity and support to be
precisely where we are.
With love
and appreciation.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who
are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18