Hollywood in the DRC

As the press is giving the DRC some more ink, celebrities are making their way into the pictures. In the past couple days I've heard that both Ben Affleck and George Clooney are speaking up about the DRC, and I think Ben Affleck is there right now. I'm encouraged that these celebrities are using their agency to bring awareness to the conflict. Celebrities have a repository of power that is best when it's tapped by important issues and crises. In a sense they have their unique role, which is directing people's eyes to what's going on. But on the other hand it seems to trivialize what is happening. On the UN News website there are pictures of George Clooney playing basketball with soldiers in the DRC. It's a fun picture, but if people remember that before they remember the millions of deaths and rapes that have happened there, then all George Clooney does is give us a good diversion. But all in all, I think it's good, and I think George Clooney is probably well-intentioned. I think what this shows is that raising awareness may or may not be healthy, depending on how it's done. Hopefully it will go in a good direction.

Obama and Racial Reconciliation

On Tuesday the United States elected their first African-American president, Barack Obama. We turned on the television at 10:30 to watch the networks track the status of the election. Obama was in the lead, which was no surprise since he had been winning in the polls. But at 11:00pm the screen suddenly read “Barack Obama – 44th President of the United States.” I didn’t believe that it was true at first. I actually wondered if they had jumped the gun. But after it remained on the screen it started to hit me that he truly was our new president.
When his presidency was announced I saw on the TV screen hundreds and thousands of African-Americans celebrating the results. I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind that “This is America. This is really America. These are the people who represent America.” This is a profound paradigm shift for Americans, and a humbling one for many. The prototypical American is no longer white. Having Obama as president is a jump (even a disorienting one since it seems like such a complete turnaround) toward a multiethnic America. It was a beautiful picture to see people whose ancestors were enslaved – enslaved! – and who did not even have voting rights 40 years ago, representing the United States. There is doubtlessly more to a president than race, but considering America’s past, this cannot go overlooked as a historic moment.
Still, this begs the question, “Does electing a black president really break down racial hierarchy in the Church?” No, it doesn’t. In fact, if we think it does, then having a black president is a detriment to the Church’s pursuit of racial reconciliation. We will think that we’ve arrived when really we have a long way to go on the journey. This is the mistake that was made after the civil rights movement. The Church, however, should be very humbled by what has happened. The United States, a country that cares very little about Jesus Christ, has elected a black president, while most of our churches are devastatingly segregated. Once again, the world is showing the Church how to be the Church. This should make Christians repulsed with themselves. At the same time, hopefully it can be a call for repentance and the start of a journey toward reconciliation. Hopefully more Christians, both white and black, will be inspired to take part in that journey.

Conflict in the DRC

I work at the Center for Reconciliation, where my main project is planning a gathering in Bujumbura, Burundi, that will bring together Christian leaders from the African Great Lakes region (Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Southern Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo) to talk about tribalism, ethnicity, and identity from a Christian vision. Over the past four or five years conflict and reconciliation have been some of the key issues that I have studied and sought to understand in the Church. For that reason, this job was a great opportunity to pursue those things more. For the first few weeks, I was captured by what I was learning and the chance to correspond with leaders in that region.

Nonetheless, over the last couple weeks, as the conflict in the DRC has become increasingly intensified, my theoretical “interest” in conflict and reconciliation has become a paralyzing reality. I knew before that violence is not merely theoretical – in fact seeing its impact on America with the 9/11 and the war in Iraq, and reading about the conflicts around the world, made me want to understand it better and eventually give my hand in the journey to peace in some way or another. But now that I’m communicating with people who are dealing with the consequences of the violence right now, I have paused a bit more than I do when I’m reading the news.

A couple days ago I had to correspond with pastor, Manasse Mbusa, from Goma, DRC, to ask him about transportation. After I had already sent the email, I realized that a question about conference logistics would be a bit trivial, to say the least, in light of the increase in violence. I still told him that we were praying for them at the Center for Reconciliation. The next day I was shocked to find a long email in my inbox from him. He told me that just yesterday rebels invaded Goma, looting shops, buses, and vehicles, and creating panic in the city. Mbusa and his people were hiding indoors while all this was happening. The NGO’s had fled the town for safety, and the UN troops may not be there for long, and there is a threat of humanitarian crisis, because there is very little food in the city.

Throughout this turmoil, Mbusa said he is asking the question “God, what will you have for me at home, in the street, at work, in my church, etc.?” He praying that God will provide food, and he is trying to mobilize the Church to minister to the people in the city. It is amazing to see his faith and the way that God is using him and the Church to be God’s presence amidst the violence.

I couldn’t believe that Mbusa emailed me back, but it made me realize that he wants people to know about what is going on. He wants us to pray for them. It’s amazing that we in the United States can, at least in very small degree, bear their burdens with them through our prayers. It shows how the body of Christ is global – how Christ’s body cannot experience something in Africa that doesn’t affect the rest of his body around the world. If we are not affected by that experience, we are not being Christ’s body.

We cannot deny that our experience as intercessors in the US does not compare with the trouble that the people in the DRC are experiencing. We must not romanticize what is happening there. What we can do here is have compassion for them, and pray for them. We can empathize with their pain and fear, and participate through our prayers and encouragement.