From now on, I will post regular updates about the situation in the Congo, so that you can keep our Congolese friends in your prayers. Claude Nikondeha, Country Director for Burundi, reports:

Conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken the lives of 5.4 million people since 1998 and continue to leave as many as 45,000 dead every month, according to a 2008 mortality survey released by United Nations.

The Congo War, also known as Africa’s World War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire), and hasn’t ended to this date. The largest war in modern African history, it directly involved eight African nations, as well as about 25 armed groups. By 2008 the war and its aftermath had killed 5.4 million people, mostly from disease and starvation, making the Congo War the deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II. Millions more have been displaced from their homes or sought asylum in neighboring countries.

Despite a formal end to the war in July 2003 and an agreement by the former belligerents to create a government of national unity, thousands of people continue to die daily from easily preventable cases of malnutrition, disease and of course all the on-going military fighting.

Today most victims of this conflict are women and children and here you will read a sobering summary of the horror taking place.

CommunityFor is hoping that you will join the people of Congo this week and the weeks to come and share this prayer voiced by the Archbishop of Congo; Archbishop Fidèle Dirokpa:

“O God of peace and abundant life,
You call peacemakers your children.
Let your Holy Spirit guide and govern all those who are making peace in Congo,
and give them success,
So that all your people may have that abundant life promised through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the same Spirit, one God in Holy Trinity. Amen.”

If you want to get involved in what’s happening in the Congo, please visit Raise Hope.