10-17-19: Are You Tuned In?
I admit, I really have not been paying attention. I’ve known, but not really tuned into the violence and displacement happening to millions of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a quick teaser, follow this link to learn more. And if you want some more facts, you can click here. For a short video news story and to see first hand some recent events, click here.
If you just followed the links, you have some idea. The reality is that this situation is hitting home for many right within our own church. The tribes discussed are the same tribes our families descend from. Family members have been lost to the violence. Many families have been displaced. I learned this week from a few of our members that it’s not just displacement, but the houses and communities they are leaving are being burned so there is nowhere left to return to. And the usual safer havens (like the cities) are not safe at all anymore. There is simply nowhere left to turn. Little food and water, no place to rest, violence all around. We need not only to tune in but to pray!
For most of us, this crisis won’t make much sense. I can read about the politics, and tribalism, and factions fighting for natural resources and power, but at the end of the day, I still get to go to work, eat, attend my kid’s soccer games, and make plans for activities that will completely ignore the realities happening over there. We can’t force ourselves to care, but what I learned this week does make it more personal. Until it becomes more personal, we really won’t have the incentive to tune in.
As a church community, we need to know each other deeply and thus push into knowing about each other. For us, that means pushing across cultures, and learning about family and tribal backgrounds that open doors to these kinds of conflicts in ways that few other people have any chance at, much less interest. But we must reach out. We must ask, even if the language isn’t easy. Ask your brother’s and sister’s how their families are doing in the DRC. How are they coping? How can you pray more specifically for them? This is a season where we must tune in and pay attention and pray. Yes, we have enough trouble of our own in this country. But, as a shared and diverse community, we cannot close off the rest of the world. The world came to us, and we can now share in it’s suffering in more personal ways. The stories in the news are very real, and very personal, to many in our congregation. Let’s tune in!
We will acknowledge this pain and struggle in prayer this coming Sunday. I encourage you to start even now praying for families, for safety, for food, for an end to the violence, for the right people to ascend to power and for control and order to be restored. Let’s pray for peace, comfort and healing for those already traumatized by these events, including our own people we will sing and pray with on Sunday.
For some longer range planning, our Genesis Conference will be holding a service of Prayer and Lament for these African tragedies and ongoing struggles on November 17 at 5p at Park Ridge Free Methodist Church. The service will include some singing and first hand sharing of what’s happening in the DRC today. Mark your calendars now to participate.
Take time today to remind yourself, in prayer and through reflection, how blessed you truly are! And then lift up a prayer for someone in our church who is struggling to find hope as they live with the reality of this situation their families are experiencing in the DRC. Follow this link for help in praying with specifics from those who are serving in that country.
Prayerfully,
Pastor Scott