Mission in ACTION
Vol. XVII x No. 2
FEBRUARY 2005
Feedback on this article?
write to
.jpg)
Work To
Be Done
by Gerard Gough
REBUILDING THE WORLD OF A SHATTERED PEOPLE
Gerard Gough investigates the work of two priests who are making a difference to poor people in Congo.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the poorest countries in the world, the dedication of two courageous priests is bringing light and hope into the lives of some of its beleaguered people.
These two priests are Fr Simon Lumbela and Fr Laurent Mundele and their work is supported by a UK based project named “Gorsilaure”.
The Gorsilaure project takes its name from the names of the two priests, along with a three-year-old boy named Gordon from Fr Simon’s parish of Kisantu who was killed by a snake and has come to symbolize the suffering of the children in the DRC.
The basic idea behind the project is that every month, one contact person in the UK undertakes to raise and send money to the two priests whenever their month comes around.
In turn, the priests use the material aid sent to them for the welfare of their impoverished parishes.
Painful history
The history of the DRC has long been one of civil war and corruption.
After gaining independence in 1960, the army rebelled and attempts were made to capture the mineral-rich province of Katanga.
Then, one year later, its Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was seized and killed by troops loyal to army chief Joseph Mobutu.
Mobutu himself seized power in 1965, renamed the country Zaire, and allowed the country to be a US base for attacks against the Soviet-based Angola.
His reign over the country was synonymous with corruption.
Then, in 1997, when the country had long since ceased to be of interest to the USA, neighboring Rwanda invaded to flush out extremist Hutu militiamen.
This gave a boost to anti-Mobutu rebels who captured the capital, Kinshasa, installed Laurent Kabila as President and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The tensions did not end there, as a rift between Kabila and his former allies sparked a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda, which resulted in his death in 2001.
His son Joseph took power in the wake of his father’s death and surprised diplomats and observers by stating that he wanted to seek a peaceful end to the country’s civil war, and introduce a multi-party democracy.
Opposition
And so in June 2003, an interim government, including representatives from the rebel groups and the political opposition, was put in place, and the country began tentatively to take the first steps in a lengthy transitional process.
However, the wars have left the country in an extremely woeful state.
The average life expectancy for men and women doesn’t exceed their early forties, countless destitute orphans are driven to either theft or prostitution, and HIV/AIDS is on the increase.
It is in such conditions that Fr Simon and Fr Laurent have been forced to try and provide a better life for their parishioners, and it is a task which neither has baulked at.
In Fr Simon’s parish of Kisantu, money raised through Gorsilaure was responsible for: the building of the St Maurice’s Orphanage; paying school fees for his parishioners; and the renting of a small shop which provides essential survival rations for the community.
Fr Simon paid tribute to the Gorsilaure project.
He said: “We offer profound gratitude to all our Gorsilaure friends in the UK who are keeping us alive. St Maurice’s Orphanage which is their project relies completely on what it receives from them.
Building
“If they were to abandon us, life itself would be denied to these children.”
The story in Fr Laurent’s parish of Nsanda is no less remarkable.
There, the “Petits Enfants De Margaret” Orphanage has recently been built, two village churches have been rebuilt, one school is under construction, parishioners have begun to plant and maintain their own crops, and even an agricultural park is being envisaged.
Yet whilst the progress in both parishes has been astounding, Fr Laurent stressed that a constant flow of donations is needed to develop and maintain these advances.
He said: “There is a great deal of work still to be done for the parishioners, so we pray for all of you that God will bless the continued work of Gorsilaure, and each of the donors in particular.”<WMCopyright © World Mission Magazine