The Democratic Republic of Congo is a vast area the size of Western Europe. French rather than English is spoken everywhere: Swahili is used in the East and predominantly Lingala in the West.
We know about the powerful Anglican churches in the English speaking countries of Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania, and so it was a surprise to me to discover that there is a thriving Anglican Province in the former Belgian colony.
I had heard only bad things about the Congo. This is the ‘heart of darkness’ according to Joseph Conrad writing 100 years ago, a place of tribal wars and slave trading for centuries, brutal rulers and theft of abundant resources by governing elites. More recently, the war in the East of the country, triggered by the Rwandan genocide, has over the last 20 years claimed an estimated 5million lives. People scrape a living in vast forests from subsistence farming or mining by hand, only to have what they have gained taken by marauding gangs and militias. Preventable diseases like malaria and AIDS kill thousands. A land with great potential, but consistently mismanaged, benefitting only the rich, largely out of control. Can anything good come?
An invitation to the Congo
At GAFCON in Nairobi last October, I met the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Congo, Henri Isingoma, and his Provincial Secretary, Anthonio Kibwela. Six months later I received an invitation from them to come to the Congo and give some teaching on Christian marriage to clergy and youth leaders, and to strengthen links with GAFCON and the church in England.
First to Kinshasa – about the same population as London. The centre is faded colonial buildings and new high rises; a bit further out and the streets are lined with small shopfront businesses, some of which are now owned by a new influx of Nigerians, some of whom have given new impetus to the Anglican churches. Everywhere the constant press of colourfully dressed people, queues of minibus taxis and blaring Congolese music. Further out again are shabby industrial estates and then the sprawling shanty towns.
Bible teaching
I was with a group of youth leaders, and then with clergy, lay ministers and wives the next day. Beginning with Genesis 1.26-28 we looked at God’s plan for marriage and sex according to the Bible, what has gone wrong not just in that area but in the whole of life, what Christ has done to bring forgiveness and transformation, and the importance of faithful heterosexual marriage and celibate singleness in our Christian witness.
The participants understood how the Western sexual revolution is making inroads into urban African life. They themselves made a parallel with the need to resist with a clear understanding and practice of the Bible’s teaching new heresies from Europe and America just as they continue to resist old heresies, such as temptations to mix traditional African spiritual occultism with faith. But more immediate problems face them with regard to sex and marriage: the stalking scourge of AIDS, (for girls) the threat of sexual violence, and (for the guys) how to find the money to pay the family of the bride. I wasn’t able to help with this latter problem! Both days ended with a moving time of prayer for one another and for church members.
Lubumbashi is about 1200 miles south east of the capital, near the Zambian border; that fact plus its mines and its distance from the war zones have made it relatively prosperous, but with a rapidly increasing population with serious poverty in the new shanty areas. Here Anthonio and I were warmly welcomed by the Bishop of Katanga Diocese. As before, there were two days of teaching, but this time the late afternoons were spent visiting a variety of church-based development projects, including one for street children and another to give skills such as sewing to disabled girls.
The Eglise Anglicane du Congo wants to promote Bible-based ministry where people are converted and discipled in Christ; also they are keen to be part of the rebuilding of a shattered nation through projects which aim to bring transformation. It was very clear from my visit that without the church there is no development, no hope or power for change and healing, and very little good news. The church is a key foundation of a more tolerant and secure society – will they get the support they need to fulfil their role and keep their distinctive framework of faith and ethics?
