General Background:
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was formerly known as Zaire. At over 2.3 million sq kilometres it is the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa and has the third largest population.
DRC lies on the equator in central Africa with an equatorial climate giving high temperatures and heavy seasonal rainfall. It has considerable mineral resources including gold, diamond and coltan but the country is nonetheless in extreme economic difficulty not least due to decades of misrule and an extended period of civil war.
Ethnic conflict in DRC was precipitated by a massive influx, in 1994, of refugees from the fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. The government of former president Mobutu Sese Seko was toppled by a rebellion led by Laurent Kabila in May 1997. Kabila was assassinated on 16 January 2001 and his son Joseph was named head of state ten days later. Political instability has marked the country to the present day.
The civil war resulted in millions dead from fighting or starvation and disease. There are over 1.7 million displaced people and even now, despite a significant decline in unrest, tens of thousands are fleeing from their homes in the north west of the country.
A step towards normality was made in 2002 with the setting up of a transitional government agreed following a meeting of political parties and rebel groups at Sun City in South Africa. This led to country wide elections in 2006 and the election of the current president Joseph Kabila (the first democratically elected president in forty years).
Mission in DRC: Challenges and Opportunities:
The legacy of almost 20 years of civil strife is a broken economy, lack of health and education services, extreme poverty and millions of widows and orphans.
It is against this background that people are trying to rebuild their lives and are looking to the Church as a constant and reliable body for support. These are the openings for mission and ministry.
At present CMS Ireland is involved in supporting our partners:
- to build primary schools and health clinics;
- to begin micro-finance programmes;
- to address difficulties in adult literacy;
- and in HIV/AIDS education.
Through these things the local Church is demonstrating the love of Christ in action.
The Anglican Church in Congo became a Province in its own right in 1992 and is growing strongly. It now has seven Dioceses, mainly in the more populated east of the country, and has a high membership of young people. As with many of CMS Ireland’s partners there is a need for more suitably trained and experienced clergy to provide adequate spiritual leadership in the face of significant challenge.
