Help nuns to survive and serve in the war-torn DRC: LifeFunder
KIVU, DRC (LifeSiteNews) – Ten nuns supported by LifeSiteNews readers have been forced to flee their home in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Angelic Sisters of St. Paul are among some six million Congolese who were displaced this month after Rwandan M23 rebels seized control of vast swathes of the mineral-rich Kivu province.
Two Sisters from the order remain behind to continue looking after orphaned children.
One of the Sisters who fled sent photos to LifeSiteNews of bullets left at their fence and begged readers for prayers and help as they struggle to look after poor villagers affected by the conflict:
Many families lost their property and homes. They have nothing left… bombs destroyed a lot of houses. We are living in total misery today. We are victims of the wealth of our country, which we don’t benefit from.
On Wednesday, 4 February, the shooting started in our neighbouring villages…bombs all over. The fighting increased and we hid for three days under the bed. Several neighbours came to take refuge in our house and school. We were obliged to leave our community for another community that is a 2-kilometre walk [away]. All schools are closed now. Parents and children have nothing left to live with. We beg you, dear readers and friends, for help for us and for these families who lost their homes. Feel free to help us please. Please, pray for us and for our country so we get peace. The international community does not help us – please do pray for us. Thank you.
The Sisters, some of whose students were educated last year thanks to LifeSiteNews readers’ support, also said that people were killed “like animals” in Bukavu last week, the second major city to fall to the rebels.
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Distressing footage has meanwhile emerged of massacred men, women and children in the village of Sake, northern Kivu, following a rebel attack on the area earlier this month.
The footage shows a baby clinging to his or her murdered mother and then crying inconsolably. LifeSiteNews has made the difficult decision not to publish the video.
The M23 rebels are thought to be backed by the Rwandan army, with President Paul Kagame recently telling reporters that he “doesn’t know” if his troops are supporting the invasion of the DRC.
Ethnically Tutsi, Kagame insists that Hutu militias, now engaged in open warfare with M23, are an “existential threat” to his country.
With thousands killed and some six million displaced, the DRC is suffering what is now thought to be the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Cobalt and coltan are among the most prized minerals currently being fought over in the DRC, with much of the electric car and smartphone industries relying on the country’s supply for their products.
Help nuns to survive and serve in the war-torn DRC: LifeFunder