This NY Times article popped up on my news feeder and caught my eye. A major clash is brewing between the Congolese army and a rebel general, which, as the source indicates, threatens to send the unstable democratic nation into severe conflict. What caught my attention is the tension fueling this war. All of it stems back to the Rwandan genocide, an ethnic tension between the Hutu and Tutsis which several years ago brought about the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis in Congo's neighboring country Rwanda in 1994. If that doesn't mean anything to you yet, did you see the film Hotel Rwanda? The conflict never really went away. As the article explains, these Hutu rebels fled into the Congo, triggering a bloody civil war in 96, and again in 98. The growing conflict has already displaced 800,000 people, many of whom are severely malnourished children. Officials fear there just aren't enough shelters, food, or water for these refugees. But then there's the bloodshed. It's heartbreaking.
I'm sitting in a comfortable living room reading the news in a passive-complacent state of safety. As easy as it is to tune out tragedies like this one, I cannot overcome a sense of interconnectedness with them as fellow-participants in a shared humanity. As a Christian, and especially as a picture of Jesus, how do I respond? How should we? Christian, or not, we share humanity. How do we respond to human suffering like this? We, in the West, are learning to listen. But are we aware? The God I know does not ignore the cries of the oppressed. I for one, will not allow Him to ignore their cries. Adding my voice to theirs, I will pray to my Father "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations." (see Ephesians 3:20-21)
No comments:
Post a Comment