As  Maha resumes  -  “Congo Inland Mission Trip”;

                  About DR Congo today; Oct. 27, 2010

As Maha resumes “Congo Inland Mission Trip”, we thank God for His special grace and protection

to lead us until here today. Maha Mission has been talking about Congo DR for 4 years; however,

its experience in Congo is very limited. Thus, we want to introduce you briefly about

the Democratic Republic of Congo today.

Congo is a very large country where gentle people are inhabited; 2.38 million sq.km makes 3rd largest

in Africa with natural resources such as diamonds, gold, copper, cassiterite (food packing), and coltan,

and its population of 56-65 million makes the big country as a sparsely populated place being located

in equator of sub-Sahara and half of the land is thick forest. It has at least 210-400 dialects

– French, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kikongo, Tchiluba.

Since its independence in 1960 from 80 years of Belgian colony, Mobutu became President and

his dictatorship lasted for 32 years (1965-1997), and this did not necessarily improve the life of

Congolese much.

On November of 1997, Tutsi and other anti-Mobutu rebels toppled government, and rebel leader

Laurent Kabila became president. Subsequent insurrection by rebels, linked to Rwanda and Uganda,

triggered a war involving 6 nations in 1998, UN sending troops in 2000, assassination of President Kabila

by his bodyguard in 2001, his son Joseph Kabila became President(later he had mandate through election)

saw this country in repetition of war among various rebel groups, and UN was not able to help to protect

civilians, not to talk about reconstruction of Congo DR, which were two of its main mission.

Today, hardly anything was resolved as far as rebels are concerned; UN has been alleged and

investigated gold and arms trafficking in 2007, only sector that suffered all through this chaotic period is

innocent civilians of Congo DR.

Various international organizations claim the number of victims died during so-called

“Africa’s world war” is between 4-5 millions.
On May 2010, Congo DR asked UN to leave before 2011 election.
 
During July and August of 2010, mass rape was reported in North Kivu. UN Margot Wallstrom blames

both rebels and Congo army for it, saying army raping women in the same place where rebels were

raping just 2 months ago.
 
War has disrupted farming and trade. Economy has been stifled by years of conflict and corruption. 

Lack of infrastructure affects adequate food, clean water, health care, and education. Health and

education system are in ruins, and millions are dying from preventable diseases.

Around 1,200 people die each day as a direct or indirect result of conflict – more than half of them children.
 
Amid all these difficulties, Maha Mission would like to show poor people in Congo that God loves

them. That’s why Maha Mission is going for inland mission trip; inland where no one has ever tempted

north to south vertical trip by automobile. Why? Simply because there exists none correct information

on road and weather, many times there is no road, but poor and forgotten people live in those areas

by hundreds of thousands, and we would like to reach them and tell them of Gospel.

Maha Mission has covered only first leg of 1,477.5 km of Congo beginning from extreme northeastern

city of Aru, Ituri, then zigzag to Kisangani where one of its missionary was infected by serious malaria.

Our original route has been changed frequently by ever occurring new information about rebels’ activities.

New plan will integrate previous several mission trips into one; from Aru to Lubumbashi via Kisangani

(north to south, vertical), then to westward Lubumbashi to Kinshasa via Kolwezi, Kananga, Tchikapa.

Maha will visit also Mbandaka, a center of a huge northwestern part of Congo where only motorbikes

could possibly access. Maha gained confidence by success of a pastor dispatched to "Gbadolite",

a far north western border town and its church is doing well today.
 

It is about 9,000 km. You will hear about our mission report soon.

May God bless you.

Maha Mission