This Labor Day weekend hold your loved ones near and take a moment to appreciate all you have even in a still dwindling economy. Before you throw words of hatred at a disagreeing political party or dare complain that our country is in bad shape, take the time to share stories of unsung heroes like Wendy Bernhard and Bill Clemmer who are missionaries in the Western Congo. Perhaps even share the stories of the women and children in the Eastern Congo who are ignored by all except God and his hardworking missionaries.
The atrocities that are occurring in the Eastern Congo are largely ignored because so little press coverage is granted to these stories and when a news story does appear in widely read newspapers like the L.A. Times, the articles are small and buried far below the front page, like the Christmas massacre of 2008. The L.A. Times articles having to do with less macabre Christmas celebrations and stories of the holiday retail world were much more widely read. The gruesome report of an entire village being massacred by Ugandan rebels who then ate their holiday feast among their corpses was just not a popular article to talk about in L.A. when dresses worn on the red carpet and at holiday parties, the stars in them, or the latest American Idol winner are so much more pleasant topics.
Last year while listening to a story on National Public Radio of a clinic where women come from miles around to receive medical treatment for horrible injuries sustained from violent rapes, I had to pull my car over till my tears subsided. I sat there and prayed for the people in the clinic and the missionaries of the Congo wishing I could do something. Not long after this I met missionary Wendy Bernhard at a local Baptist Church and learned of the tireless and inspired work she and Bill Clemmer are doing in the Western Congo. I swore to her that I would do what I could to let people know what is really going on there. Last week when a dear friend of mine forwarded an article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, that read, “Rwandan and Congolese rebels gang raped nearly two hundred women and young boys within miles of a U.N. Peace Keeper’s Base” I was reminded that this is still a common occurrence.
I plastered my Facebook account and a lot of friend’s emails with this information and of course contacted Wendy Bernhard. That is when I found out about Dr. Bill Clemmer, a physician and fellow missionary with Wendy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Clemmer stated, “Such violence against women including rape, mutilation, and worse have been ongoing since Congo’s civil war and failure to disarm rebel elements. The U.N. with 15,000 peacekeepers and international indignation has been unable to curtail the atrocities in remote settings though they have established some element of peace and security particularly in urban areas.”
He told me precisely what I did not want to hear just as many of you reading this do not want to hear such things as you go off to celebrate your holiday weekend but I, as a survivor of a violent rape can tell you that keeping such things secret helps no one but the perpetrators. We must talk about what is happening and pray together for the brave women and children who are suffering and the missionaries and U.N. forces who are there in the Congo as this goes on and on.
This is not news of the past either. Just a few weeks ago at the end of July and beginning of August, Rwandan and Congolese rebels gang-raped nearly 200 women and some young boys over four days. This happened within miles of a United Nations peacekeepers' base in an eastern Congo mining district. Will F. Cragin of the International Medical Corps told The Associated Press by telephone that his organization was only able to get into the town, after rebels ended their brutal spree of raping and looting and withdrew of their own accord on Aug. 4th. Dr. Kasimbo Charles Kacha, the district medical chief said, "Many women said they were raped in their homes in front of their children and husbands.” Others were dragged into the nearby forest. He said that by the time help arrived it was too late to administer medication against AIDS and contraception to all but three of the survivors.
Why didn’t we know about this? More than a month later, the United Nations still has not issued a statement about the atrocities and said it still is investigating.
On a silver lining, Clemmer and Bernhard are missionaries of American Baptist International Ministries (IM) which is an affiliate member organization with IMA World Health. Some of Bernhard’s work and all of Clemmer’s work is in association with IMA World Health which has recently been awarded a 16 million dollar grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to address some of these issues. IMA and its local partners in Goma, Bukavu, and Bunia (Heal Africa, Panzi Hospital) have been asked to provide critical services related to the prevention and treatment of SGBV (Sexual and Gender Based Violence) in 9 districts in Eastern Congo; areas highlighted in the above reports. The five year program will provide holistic services to victims of such violence (counseling, medical and surgical services, HIV and STI prevention, legal representation, and socio-economic support) as well as work with local and government authorities in creating safe milieus, working to change underlying attitudes, and combating the injustice and perpetuation of these crimes.
Bill Clemmer stated, “We do believe that God hears the cries of such victims and we are all privileged to be a small part of the greater plan to bring relief, reconciliation, justice, and rebirth to a land and people in need of all.” I encourage you to be a part of God’s bigger plan by praying and talking about what is happening to God’s children in the Congo.