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Congo Awareness Week
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ is committed to solidarity with Congo to address the injustices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to advocate for peace with justice. During Congo Week, Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ congregations will participate in Break the Silence: Congo Awareness Week and the Cell Out on October 20, affirming our solidarity with Congo through these actions. The Cell Out is an organized cell phone usage boycott from 12pm - 1pm on October 19 to bring awareness to the conflict over natural resources, such as the coltan in our cell phones. The purpose of the boycott is to bring awareness to the war in the Congo, which started in 1996 and continues to this day with 45,000 people dying each month. Paul wrote in I Corinthian 12:26, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." Global Ministries, as a member of the Body of Christ, suffers today because of injustice and exploitation of our Disciples of Christ sisters and brothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are committed as members of the Body of Christ to break the silence, stop the pillaging, promote justice, defend women and children, protect the environment and support Congo. As we participate in Break the Silence and the Cell Out, we seek to honor the millions who have lost their lives, those who struggle to survive and the many displaced Congolese. As we gather to raise our voices to God, we pray that God will use our voices to address the root causes of suffering in the Congo. We hope that through our participation in Break the Silence and The Cell Out that Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ congregations will begin to talk about the atrocities being committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speak a word of hope to what appears to be a hopeless situation and speak prophetically to leaders around the world to make a real difference in their policies concerning the Congo. The purpose of the Break the Silence Congo Week is to raise awareness about the devastating situation in the Congo and mobilize support on behalf of the people of the Congo. Congo Week will take place from Sunday October 16 to Saturday October 22, 2011.
The Congo is the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today where nearly 6 million people have died since 1996, half of them children under 5 yrs old and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped all as a result of the scramble for Congo's wealth. The United Nations said it is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the most mineral resource rich country in the world; yet, 80% of the population survives on $.30 a day and 75% of the population is undernourished according to the UN. Further, there are an estimated 1.3 million displaced Congolese, and estimated 1.1 million are living with HIV/AIDS, and close to two-thirds of the population cannot afford conventional health care. The Congolese live in these dire conditions because DRC is entangled in war over a natural resource, coltan, which has resulted in the death of over 5.4 million to date. This is the deadliest war since Adolf Hitler's armies marched across Europe and has been dismissed as an internal African implosion. In reality it is a battle for coltan, diamonds, cassiterite and gold, destined for sale in London, New York and Paris - the metals that make our technological society vibrate and ring and bling. In addition to high death rates, the war has lead to the use of child soldiers, child slavery in mines, a rise in HIV/AIDS, the mass displacement of peoples, and the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war. In one province alone, the United Nations has estimated that 45,000 women were raped in the last year.
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