“The Conflict” in Congo

Congo 12
Originally uploaded by wycliffeimc

My time here in Bunia has led me to loath that word “conflict.” CNN likes to use it; we like to use it; I used to use it all the time. I think it’s because it’s easier to swallow.

When I was a kid, my sister and I had “conflicts.” We fought, then we would get over it and move on; now I have a great friendship with her: “conflict”.

To refer to the 10 plus years of war, pain and trauma here in Congo as a “conflict” is like referring to the monsoon floods of Bangladesh as the “wet season,” like saying war-lite, Diet War.

I think I understand why we label the things like this “conflict.” How do you compartmentalize the echoing waves of violence in the Great Lakes/Rift Valley region of Africa? They wash into neighboring countries without regard for sovereign borders. The current violence in the Kivu provinces is mostly an issue of local militias stretching out their arms over the population. But the local militias were originally a positive response to the wave of Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers that came into Congo during the tribal warfare here in Bunia and the surrounding region. Nothing exists in a vacuum here. Nothing.

Two days ago, I met a man whose wife and daughter where raped by soldiers during the most recent chapter of war here in Congo. He is part of a translation team that was displaced by the violence in his province and is now living and working in Bunia. To my amazement, he didn’t share with me his violent fantasies of revenge. Instead, he told me that he has come to a place where he has forgiven the men who violated his family, that he now prays for those soldiers. He was able to come to this conclusion, in part, with the help of the trauma healing workshop.

I would be ignorant if I said that I personally had an understanding of war or violence. But I think I understand history, and history says that true peace only comes with forgiveness. Otherwise, the hatred just sits under the surface, waiting for something to trigger it.

I am proud to work for an organization that sees how their work is tied not just to an end goal of numbers and figures, but holistically ministers to the needs of the communities that they serve.

After all, how can we say that we come in the Name of Christ if we don’t?

-Jon Shuler