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Congo Churches Called On TO TAKE ACTION

Kakule Molo, president of the Baptist

Community in Central Africa and a member of the BWA General Council, addresses a conference in

Geneva, Switzerland, in September 2015

(Photo courtesy of the WCC) A

2015 international conference on peace and security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the World Council of Churches (WCC) has led to a call for greater involvement by churches and Christians in addressing the

many problems in the Central African country. The conference, held in Geneva, Switzerland, included Baptist participation through the sponsorship of the Baptist World Alliance. DRC, the second biggest country in Africa by area, has been

bedeviled by wars and conflicts going back decades. An estimated 5.4 million persons have died as a result of the conflicts, making it the costliest in human lives since the Second World War. DRC has the second largest Baptist membership on the continent. The country has more than 2.1 million Baptists in 15 BWA member organizations. The Geneva conference identified “environmental protection, management of natural resources, and better regulation of the extractive sector” as among the wide range of concerns facing the nation. Others had to do with “human rights and humanitarian response, sexual and gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS, peacebuilding and reconstruction [and] corruption and good governance.” Churches were called upon “to inform, teach and engage their

members in reflection and action, and to work for peaceful elections – at both provincial and national levels – that can result in political leadership committed to responding to these challenges with integrity and accountability.”

In order for these to be achieved, churches made a commitment “to strengthening and widening our ecumenical cooperation for justice and peace in the DRC,” a communique from the WCC stated. This includes the establishment of a suitable mechanism to enable churches to speak with a “common prophetic voice” and to engage in “joint action of all churches in the country.” “We will seek engagement with all church families in the DRC, so

that we may speak and act together in addressing these challenges,” the WCC declared. Initiatives will address “concerns of young people in the DRC,

including education and employment, training in nonviolence and peacebuilding, and preventing gender-based violence and harassment, and to support young people as leaders of social transformation.” Kakule Molo, president of the Baptist Community in Central Africa and a member of the BWA General Council, spoke to the human rights and humanitarian landscape in the DRC. “Despite the end of the wars, peace did not come back because of externally supported rebellions, which have had perverse effects on human rights, especially in the eastern part of the country,” Molo told the conference. Molo, a former member of the country’s parliament, listed a number of factors in the DRC that call for urgent action. These include abuses

B

Lebanese and French Baptists REACT TO ATTACKS

aptists in both Lebanon and France reacted to attacks by the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, in their countries, which occurred a day apart from each other.

On November 12, two bombings took place in Bourj el- Barajneh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital city, killing more than 45 people and leaving more than 200 wounded. On the evening of November 13, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks, consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings and hostage-taking occurred in Paris, the capital of France, and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. One hundred and thirty six people were killed in the attacks, including seven perpetrators, and some 430 injured.

Nabil Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development and a former vice president of the Baptist World Alliance, said Baptists in the Middle Eastern country “were deeply saddened by the recent attacks on Beirut and Paris.” Costa stated that, “as the church, our mandate remains

the same regardless of the circumstances. We strive to remain faithful and live Christ and reflect His practical love and such values as love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemy [and] pray for those who trespass against you.” He declared that “the darker the world, the brighter should be the Light of the Church.” Marc Deroeux, general secretary of the Federation of Evangelical Baptist Churches of France (FEEBF), said his country, “where the state of emergency has been decreed, wakes up in pain, grief and bereavement.” The incidents, he said, were “beyond outrage, sadness and understanding.” Deroeux encouraged French Baptists to provide practical and prayerful support to all those who were in need. Rebecca Cuquemy, FEEBF assistant secretary general, said “we deeply appreciate the solidarity and prayers of our brothers and sisters from the Baptist World Alliance worldwide.”

Noting that terrorism “has no nationality,” Costa called on “the global church to join us in prayer for those families who have been directly affected by the recent attacks in Lebanon and in France, but also in other countries, too, where terrorists play havoc in the lives of innocent civilians.”

and corruption in the judiciary, weakness of the state in certain parts of the country, arbitrary arrests, and the lack of a proper administration of justice against those who commit human rights violations. He said “rebels in the Congolese and neighboring territory are a great danger for people; forming armed groups in the east, they are a root cause of sexual and gender-based violence, trauma for women, rape, etc.”

Marceline Mbingasani Maluavanga of the Baptist

Community in Congo and a member of the WCC Central Committee, reported on a pre-conference event held in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. She indicated that the management of natural resources, elections – past and upcoming, emergencies (violent conflict, epidemics, natural disasters) and projects involving youth (sexual violence, rape, STIs, HIV, malnutrition, entrepreneurship, capacity building, advocacy) are areas that call for major initiatives.

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