From CMS

"May God bring reconciliation between the rebels and the government of DR Congo so that the war can finish definitively and the displaced people may return home." 

That is the plea of two Bishops from DR Congo who have been visiting the UK to highlight the plight of people caught up in the violence and conflict in the eastern part of their country - which has been ongoing for at least 20 years. 

Both Bishop Muhindo Ise-Somo of North Kivu Diocese and Bishop Bahati Bali-Busane Sylvestre of Bukavu Diocese are from the eastern part of DR Congo. They were in the UK during May to attend CMS Ireland's 200th anniversary conference and celebrations and then on to Oxford to visit CMS's offices. 

Plea for peace

Bishop Bahati said: "Pray for peace in DR Congo; pray for the church's mission in Congo and pray for the suffering of the people. We also need to pray also for good leadership of our government and we also need prayer for the work of the mission of the church because God calls us to go everywhere and preach the gospel."

This is no mean feat in DRC – the second largest country in Africa. Bukavu Diocese is located in eastern DRC and spans 22,000 kilometres square. Bishop Bahati is the diocese's third bishop (since it was inaugurated in 1976), with 78 parishes, 107 priests, three Bible schools and nearly 96,500 Christians.

"We have a programme of evangelism - preaching the gospel in churches, hospitals, prisons, markets and schools. We also have a programme of planting new churches and baptise and confirm new believers. Because our country is a big country we have many, many areas where there are not churches," says the bishop.

Bishop Ise-Somo adds: "What are we doing as a church? We are not sitting down. We are preaching the gospel in church and are very concentrated in prayer. We are saying to people; 'Please don't lose your faith, stand firm.'"

Law but no justice

The Diocese of Bukavu also plays a huge part in attending to those affected by the conflicts - including accommodating displaced people, visiting refugee camps and promoting peace-building through seminars and counselling. The Mothers' Union of Bukavu Diocese has recently organised advocacy training for 258 sexually abused women and girls in Bukavu town and Katana village. These are victims of rape by rebels and soldiers. 

Bishop Ise-Somo, who is in his fourth year as Bishop of North Kivu diocese, continues, "Most of the rebels come into a village during the day and meet some ladies in fields and most of that rape is from rebels. The government is trying to fight against them. Sometimes they can be arrested and taken to prison but then some days later you see them moving round the village again. That is why we say we have a good law but no justice."

Bishop Bahati adds: "The problem is the fighting between the soldiers of the government and rebels," and there is also confusion about who exactly is fighting one another. 

"Because of all this war, many people have been killed. Until now about 10 million people have been killed by the war," continues the bishop. "Many, many women have been killed, have AIDS, there are orphans. Schools, churches and houses have been destroyed by the war...communication and transport are affected, people become poor. There are many, many problems in our ministry but the church is doing what it can do."

Global-local campaigning

And in terms of whether the rest of the world is listening, both Bishops say they found a visit by Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to DR Congo in February very encouraging. Bishop Bahati explains: "He wanted to see the different affected groups in eastern DR Congo. He met with refugees in camp, with government leaders of the churches and many other groups. He wanted to hear about the war in eastern Congo and he got all the truth. When we met him, we were very happy to welcome him and he was very happy to see how the church is working in the situation of conflict."

Following on from that visit, Bishop Bahati explained that there is now a network which brings together Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders from DRC, Burundi and Rwanda to encourage a grass-roots movement for peace in the region. This church-led initiative aims to bring together different denominations to work together to build peace. Both Bishops have been heavily involved with the process.

It also sends a message to the rebels that come across from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, adds the bishop. "If they see the governments of these three countries working together and they can understand our message, I think it will help the region have peace."

Gospel change can happen

Bishop Ise-Somo also has a message of hope, after the trauma and fear caused by the by the M23 bombing of Goma last August, life has returned to normal. "We have been praying for the situation in Goma (in North Kivu, eastern DRC) area where there was fighting and unrest with the M23 rebels some months ago. Now it's peaceful there and this given us hope for the rest of the country."

In addition, Bishop Ise-Somo reports that he and his team have been able to evangelise military and soldiers in different camps - "most of them repented and came to the Lord."

In every situation, God is there and at work, he adds. "I don't know exactly the numbers but I have been preaching among 16,000 - and a good percentage has repented. Some of them have been calling me to say 'thank you' for the message and now we are planning a special training for military chaplains - we like them to be well trained so they can go into camps and do more evangelism among military.

"They may not put down their weapons but the gospel will help them - as well as fighting they were also doing many bad things - raping , looting and killing - so when someone has received the gospel he cannot continue to be like he was before - there must be a change in his life."