23.11.2022

International Solidarity with CBCA

Assistance for refugees: Our member church CBCA stands in for those who flee the violence in the eastern part of DR Congo. Foto by: CBCA.

It is part of a community to help each other. That is why the UEM, the EKiR*, the EKvW*, the EKKW* and the vBSB* are jointly donating 52,000 euros to the CBCA*. In the eastern DR Congo, in the province of North Kivu, according to media reports the rebel group M23 is currently fighting against the Congolese state. Our member church, the CBCA, reports that some 40,000 families who had already fled the fighting since June are now having to flee again because artillery fire has come too close to their temporary homes. Entire parishes are falling victim to kidnappings and many mothers are asking themselves where to put their children to sleep.

In this situation, the CBCA has identified three areas, where it needs to take particularly urgent action:

1. providing internally displaced people with food, water and shelter

2. protection of women and girls from the danger of rape

3. psychological care and psychosocial support for children.

In these areas, the CBCA supports people who are on the run. In doing so, it receives financial support from the German member churches in the UEM Communion. But solidarity is not limited to institutions: All people in the UEM communion can participate, for example by donating. But also raising awareness for this conflict can help those affected. And finally, the CBCA asks for prayers to bring the violence in eastern Congo to an end. UEM supports this request with a current Prayer Alert.

Abbreviations:

*EKiR = Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland (Evangelical church in the Rhine Area)

*EKvW = Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen (Evangelical church of Westphalia)

*EKKW = Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck (Evangelical church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck)

*vBSB = von Bodelschwinghsche Stiftungen Bethel (Foundations "von Bodelschwingh" in Bethel)

*CBCA = Communauté baptiste au centre de l’Afrique (Community of Baptist Churches in Central Africa)