Congo...

Rescue those being led away to death;

hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, "But we knew nothing about this,"

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who guards your life know it?

Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

Proverbs 24:11-12

At church on Sunday, our pastor talked about the crisis that is happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I knew that there was unrest, but I truly had not idea to what degree. Here are a few of the statistics...they are sobering.

• 5.4 million people have been killed in the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998. MOre people have died there than in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Darfur combined.
• 45,000 people die every month in what is being called Africa's World War. This is the deadliest conflict since World War II.
• One of the primary weapons used in this particular war is rape. 80% of women living in the Congo today are victims of rape and 75% of all the rapes that take place in the world happen in the Congo.
• The violence has forced civilians to flee their homes and head for already over-crowded IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps where it is virtually impossible to access health facilities, find clean water sources, and locate nutrional food. Most deaths are a result of these types of conditions, an indirect result of the violence.
• The Congo has been named as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for children, whether they are killed by the violence, die from desperate conditions, or are recruited by the rebels and forced into unspeakable acts of violence themselves.

For more information about what's happening in the Congo, watch these videos. One from CBS, one the BBC, and one from our church service Sunday. The BBC one is the shortest, and if you only watch one, watch it. It really is sobering.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3706833n

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7700111.stm

http://www.watermarkradio.com/index.php?id=153&series=113&message=0

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