To help Remember people in the Central African Republic in your prayers and send checks to: Lutheran Disaster Response, 39330 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-9300, or give by credit card at www.elca.org/disaster or 800-638-3522.


“We fl ed with nothing but the clothes on our back,”


Haman said. T e attack displaced 17 members of his family, none of whom have been able to return. Many houses have been destroyed and looted. T e continuing violence between armed militia groups includes kidnap- pings, torture and killings. Denou said St. Timothy’s compound and tents held


as many as 1,800 people “at the height of the crisis in December.” T e church wasn’t even spared. T e pas- tor points at a bullet hole leſt aſt er an armed group scaled the compound wall in February. T ey “took away money, TV screen, church motorcycle, a child’s bicycle … anything they could carry,” he said. “But luckily, no one was killed.”


Living in the sanctuary T ose who remain at St. Timothy are creating a posi- tive living environment despite struggling to provide for themselves and their families. “T ere is very little help coming in nowadays,” Denou said, explaining that assistance from local and international nongovernmen- tal organizations has dwindled since many displaced people have fl ed to neighboring countries. Organizing themselves into teams has helped the


displaced “make the parish compound function in an orderly manner,” he added. Angèle Vanguéré volunteers with the hygiene and


sanitation team. “As the person in charge of displaced women, I make sure the little water available is dis- tributed well, that the latrines are clean. [I] look out for those who are sick and refer them to [the] hospital, and support the others in keeping the place clean,” she said. Inside the church, Armelle Kagale spreads out a


sleeping mat and pushes aside a big basin packed with small plastic bags, each containing about 500 grams of charcoal. She buys in bulk and sells them for about $1.50 a bag. Kagale, diagnosed with tuberculosis, can’t aff ord medication and struggles to feed herself with what she earns. Near the altar, Ruth Nambeyam cuddles her son, Michel Biro, 5. Her daughter, Esther Yvele, 7, occasion-


ally touches her brother, who was recently hospitalized because of malnutrition. Vanguéré reassures Nambeyam that the church team will support her in getting treat- ment, although this will be diffi cult since continuing insecurity has forced the closure of some nongovern- mental organizations that provided free treatment. Seated on a pew, Naomie Komessé takes in the


scene around her: clothes airing on pews, slippers strewn across the fl oor, cooking utensils, water bottles in a plastic bucket, mosquito nets secured across the pews and more. She doesn’t say much but feels safe here. Denou and the security team discuss the deterio-


rating security situation amid widespread attacks by groups linked to Séleka rebels and subsequent retalia- tions by anti-Balaka militia groups. “Who would have thought it could ever come to this?” he said. “We have always lived peacefully, side by side, Muslims, Chris- tians and other faiths.” At the church headquarters in Bouar, Jean Gbami


emphasized the overwhelming need for assistance to civilians and for dialogue. “Everyone is aff ected by this crisis,” the EELRCA vice president said. Gbami said Lutheran leaders have joined with other


Christians and Muslims to form an interfaith peace platform to encourage communities to work together to restore peace. T at could make a big diff erence, said Serena


Badenhorst, leader of the Lutheran World Federation emergency team in CAR. “Religious communities play an important role in restoring peace in the Central African Republic,” she said, adding that the interfaith eff ort helps the LWF “respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people aff ected by this crisis irrespective of their faith affi liation.” 


Editor’s note: With support from ELCA Lutheran Disas- ter Response, the EELRCA provides food for thousands of people in Ouham-Péndé, Nana-Mambéré and at St. Timothy. Lutheran Disaster Response also helps provide for peace and reconciliation eff orts, psychosocial sup- port, tools, seeds and access to water.


By the numbers • 560,000 (and growing) people are internally displaced in the Central African Republic.


• 350,000 are refugees.


• 2.5 million, or 54 percent of the population, need humanitarian assistance. Source: U.N.


September 2014 41


Author bio: Mumia is a journalist for Lutheran World Federa- tion World Service.


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