With the support of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and other Anabaptist agencies, Mennonite Brethren are among those distributing emergency food and shelter supplies for 460 displaced families in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
About 1.4 million people from the Kasai region in south-central DR Congo fled ethnic and political violence that erupted in August 2016 between a local militia group, Kamuina Nsapu, and national security forces. An estimated 5,000 Mennonites are among those forced from their homes.
These displaced people have seen unimaginable horrors.
Innoncente Ngandu Tshalu’s husband was murdered by the local militia. Majilu Mulembo’s house was burned down by another armed group. Monique Meta was forced to leave behind everything she owns to run with nine children.
Tshalu, Mulembo, Meta and many other displaced people found safety near the town of Tshikapa, Kasai Province. They have been staying with strangers, in churches and anywhere else they can.
Nov. 29, 2017, the Mennonite Church of Congo (Communauté Mennonite au Congo or CMCo) distributed one month’s supply of flour, beans, oil, salt and sugar to 280 displaced households staying in Tshikapa. The church’s local relief committee also provided soap and tarps, which serve as shelter from the rain or privacy within cramped, temporary living conditions.
“Many people don’t have shelter, and some of them lost their fields,” says Fidele Kyanza, who, on behalf of MCC, helped coordinate the distribution. “There are real dire situations, and many have lost everything they own.”
The week before, on Nov. 20, Kyanza also worked with Mennonite Brethren Church of Congo (Communauté des Églises de Frères Mennonites au Congo or CEFMC) to distribute the same supplies to 180 displaced families in the city of Kikwit in Kwilu Province. Food quantities were based on an average seven-member family.
Both distributions were coordinated in partnership with MCC and supported by numerous Mennonite organizations around the world.
Zacharie Mputu Lukadi, a CMCo elder and member of the local relief committee, says the distribution not only helps save lives, it gives people hope.
“Now people trust the church to help them,” Lukadi says.
MCC and the Congolese Mennonite churches have been working on a response plan for several months. Security and logistical challenges along the way delayed the response until now.
Nevertheless, MCC’s representative in DR Congo, Mulanda Jimmy Juma, says the assistance came at a crucial time and met needs that weren’t being addressed by other organizations.
“Most displaced people are in very dire situations,” he says. “Very few organizations are providing assistance, despite the high level of need. In the name of Christ, MCC with other Anabaptist groups want to help meet the needs of these vulnerable people who are suffering because of the crisis in Kasai.”
Kyanza says emergency food assistance also promotes peace between displaced people and host communities because there’s less competition for limited resources. Displaced families can share with their hosts.
“Many times, a very poor family is receiving another very poor family into their home,” he says. “When you give support and aid to those families, you give harmony and peace.”
Majilu Mulembo says she will share the food that she and her seven children received with their host family. The distribution means that her children will have porridge and she will be able to eat three times a day instead of having a little food once or twice a day, says Mulembo, who is pregnant.
Organizations supporting this distribution include International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB), a global fellowship of 21 MB national conferences in 19 countries; MB Mission, the global mission agency for the MB church in North America; Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission; Caisse de Secours, the development arm of the French Mennonite Church; Mennonite Church Canada Witness; Mennonite Mission Network; Mennonite World Conference; and Swiss Mennonite Conference.
The urgent needs will continue, so MCC encourages ongoing donations. To contribute online, visit mcc.org/congo-relief. Donations also can be sent to MCC, 21 S. 12th Street, PO Box 500, Akron, PA 17501 or given by phone at 888-563-4676.
To read more about the conflict and the Anabaptist response, visit: https://christianleadermag.com/icomb-joins-effort-to-support-dr-congo/.
Mennonite Central Committee is a global, nonprofit organization that strives to share God’s love and compassion for all through relief, development and peace. MCC is committed to relationships with their local partners and churches. As an Anabaptist organization, they strive to make peace a part of everything they do.
