By Randal Dick
Superintendent of missions
The area of the world where members are suffering the most is Eastern Zaire and Rwanda in Central Africa. But, at the same time, the Holy Spirit is producing much fruit in Central Africa.
In this month's column I am responding to inquiries about brethren caught up in the latest ethnic violence.
Next month, in part 2, I plan to bring you a progress report on developments in Francophone Africa, now in the final year of its first phase.
We obtained the following information from an Oct. 5 interview with Jacques Muzalia, the church's lay leader in Eastern Zaire.
Question: Mr. Muzalia, how many members do we have in the Kivu province in Eastern Zaire and in Rwanda?
Answer: We have 34 members in the region. In Rwanda, we have three members, in Bukavu 12 and in Goma 19.
Where are they from? Were they all living in Rwanda before the 1994 ethnic war?
Four members are from Rwanda (three Hutu men and one Tutsi woman), and all others are from Zaire. Before the war, all of them lived in Rwanda, but they had to flee because of massacres throughout the country.
Could you tell us about their day-to-day living?
Most of them are unemployed. In Goma I am the only one who works. The others live on what we call here dÄbrouillardise (resourcefulness): such as the sale of fritters and small-scale stock breeding.
With money given to me by Jean Ndayambaje in Germany, I opened a private school. However, all the income goes to the rent of the building where the school operates.
Tell us about the Banzubaze family.
The seven members of the Banzubaze family live in a refugee camp near Goma.
They live in two tents sent to them by pastor Jack Brunet. These two tents are now shabby.
With the rainy season coming, they are exposed to bad weather and thus to illness, especially since their food rations (290 grams per person per day) do not give them enough strength to resist infections. They would like to go back to Rwanda, but two major obstacles prevent them:
1. Educated Hutus (Mr. Banzubaze is Hutu) are not well accepted by the new authorities in Kigali.
2. One of Mr. Banzubaze's brothers is in the FAR (Rwandan Armed Forces), which were defeated in 1994. However, it is believed that all members of the military participated in the genocide, and their families are the object of suspicion.
Is the Banzubaze family under pressure? What kind?
The only message in the camps is one of revenge and ethnic hatred. This has a negative impact on the children. One of Mr. Banzubaze's challenges is to stand firm against these heinous discourses and have the courage not to contribute to the war effort. Each refugee has to chip in $1 per person each month, for weapons and the salary of Hutu commandos who conduct destabilizing operations in neighboring Rwanda.
What can be done to help this family? Can we help them leave this camp?
In the short term, they need plastic sheets to build a shelter. They also need food. It would be good to contact Zaire authorities to obtain a visa, either for another province in Zaire or for another country. (Note: the church is taking steps to contact the appropriate authorities.)
What is the current situation in Rwanda and in the Kivu region?
This region is on the verge of being set on fire, if the international community is unable to keep a check on the ethnic violence. A persistent rumor is that the Tutsis are trying to set up a Tutsi empire from Uganda and Tanzania to Rwanda and Burundi, absorbing Eastern Zaire, with the towns of Goma and Bukavu. The presidents of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are from the Tutsi minority.
Could you explain the causes of the 1994 ethnic war?
The official version is that the Tutsis, who had been refugees since 1959-1960, wanted to come back to Rwanda. This armed homecoming was an excuse to overthrow the Hutu majority. The Tutsis consider the Hutus subhuman, only fit to work the ground for feudal princes.
Has tension decreased between Hutus and Tutsis?
The war has ended and, consequently, the tension has decreased. However, the ashes are still warm. While the winners savor their victory with their finger kept on the trigger, the Hutus brood over their defeat and dream of revenge.
Only sincere negotiations and a reconciliation without hypocrisy, followed by a fair share of political and economic power (this is utopic in my opinion), could spare the country from future genocides.
Do you have news from Burundi?
We had one member, Mr. Kamwenbusa and his family, as well as several prospective members. We haven't heard from them since the ethnic troubles. Reaching them became even more complicated with the embargo against Burundi.
Oct. 25 I received the following prayer request regarding Zaire from Olivier Carion:
"On the news, we keep hearing of the trouble in the area of Bukavu in the Kivu Province in Eastern Zaire. We have several members in Bukavu, including two prospective members from Burundi who fled their native land in June 1995 to escape the massacres.
"We haven't heard from our Bukavu members since the Feast. Prayers would be appreciated." Prayers would also be appreciated for the Banzubaze family, stranded in a refugee camp near Goma.
I received another message from Olivier Oct. 31: "I just called Benza Tsuka, our local elder. He told me that he has not heard from our people in Bukavu or in Goma. Communications seem impossible because of the trouble in Eastern Zaire.
"My conversation with Mr. Benza Tsuka lasted about three minutes. Even though I was calling him at a telecommunications company (he has no phone at home), he had to pay $3.50 per minute for receiving my call. To give you an idea of how expensive this is, one of our deacons in Kinshasa, who is an academic inspector, makes one dollar a month."
--Olivier
Finally, on Nov. 24, I received the following: "This morning, after many days of trying, I was able to reach Kinshasa by phone, only to confirm what I suspected.
"We still have no news of our people in Eastern Zaire or Rwanda. The nephew of Mr. Mpinda, our deacon in Zaire, flew to Goma on a mission for the government. Shots were fired at his plane. He said that the situation is still tense and that several small towns are being looted.
"The massive return of the population to Rwanda is perhaps a good sign. Time will tell. However, as you know, there is a new set of challenges back home for these Rwandan returnees. Will keep you posted."
And I will keep you posted through this column in The Worldwide News. A final note: It is a powerful testimony to God's love that in the 1993 Rwandan massacres, only one member died, and that was not related to the violence. God was and is mighty and merciful.
Let's remember those same brethren now, and stand ready to help them heal when this nightmare ends.
My family survived the fighting of Nov. 1. However, I have lost track of the Kabinana (*) family. Perhaps they fled to Rwanda.
I have no news of the Banzubaze (**) family. I suspect they fled somewhere farther into Zaire.
Life is difficult, but we have kept our faith in God.
Please pray for us and let brethren know we are alive.
Jacques Muzalia
PS: I have no news of our people in Bukavu and no money to go see them.
(*) Mr Kabinana is a leader in Eastern Zaire. He was unable to attend our training program in Kinshasa after the Feast.
(**) The Banzubazes were in a refugee camp near Goma. We were trying to help them leave when war broke out.
Dec. 17, 1996, Worldwide News, page 15
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