To take a mental journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and conditions in the North and South Kivu provinces, consider what it would be like if the state or province in which you live was bordered by nine other countries, and refugees and militants from one or two of those nations regularly poured into your neighborhood, fighting and pursuing their own political agendas without any concern about how that might affect your life, your home, your work, your children.

For over a decade, people who live in the Kivus—two of the provinces in DRC—have had that experience. Situated in eastern DRC, they share a common border with Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. (See www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/drcongo.pdf.) North Kivu is home to the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage site that contains the endangered mountain gorillas. This writer, who lives in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, explains the devastating effects of this prolonged warlike state, and the spiritual truths he is using to pray about it.

In 1994, following the genocide in Rwanda, thousands of Rwandan Hutu troops and militia, said to be responsible for the genocide, along with civilians, fled into the Kivu provinces of my country. War broke out again in 1996 and 1998. This second war had no winner, but was settled in 2002 through a peace agreement signed by all parties in South Africa. As a result, DRC had legal institutions—an elected president, national parliament, and provincial assemblies—in place by the end of 2006 and early 2007. At the national level, the tone was set for the reconstruction of the country.

In the capital city of Kinshasa and other provinces, thoughts shifted from war to economic recovery, but the Kivus continued to suffer from the atrocities caused by militia groups from Rwanda along with local militiamen. As is often the case in war, the civilian population continues to pay a heavy toll for the conflict. According to a United Nations estimate, in 2005 alone approximately 45,000 women were raped in South Kivu. Over 370,000 people have become displaced persons in North Kivu since December 2006.

The government and the international community are working toward freedom and peace. Last December, the government called for a "national day of prayer" for peace in the Kivu, and all churches were asked to participate. In January there was a conference for peace and development in the provinces of North and South Kivu. To ensure the success of this new intiative, the Prime Minister asked all Congolese to contribute through prayer.

Prayer is a very powerful weapon. In his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (10:4, 5).In the case of the Kivus, the "imaginations" to be cast down are claims to land, to political power, and to a superior identity.

LOSS OF LAND

Even before independence, citizens of Rwanda, from both Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, settled in the DRC territory, sometimes to raise cattle on Congo's abundant land, or to work in the tea and coffee platations or in the mines. This movement was often spurred by political unrest in the countries of origin; an influx of refugees after the genocide in Rwanda is an example. All these immigrants, some in the DRC for more than one generation, have claims to land, to political power, and even to citizenship, which indigenous people and some politicians deny them.

I find it helpful to realize that Christ, Truth, reveals to each individual that we are all children of one Father, God, who is Love itself. This spiritual kinship is unbroken; ultimately, the land belongs to God who has given it to all of us for our enjoyment. We are children of God, Spirit, and so our riches are spiritual, hence limitless and accessible to all. In my prayers, I affirm that no one can be deprived of any real good. With regard to the apparent absence of law, the book of Isaiah offers a powerful reminder: "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us" (33:22).

That God, not a human being, has the final say in our governments and in our lives means a lot to me. No matter how discouraging the human scene may seem, it is right to protest mentally (and sometimes verbally) against evil and to affirm that man—and this includes men, women, and children—is indeed governed by his Maker. He abides by the divine Principle, which is Love. He reflects law and order.

SUPERIOR IDENTITY

Members of certain ethnic groups believe that they are superior to others, and this attitude is one cause of strife not just in my country, but elsewhere. The spiritual reality is that we all have the spiritual identity that is revealed to us through Christ, God's message of love for all humanity. Paul wrote, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). From this spiritual standpoint we aren't broken up into various divisions by gender, age, tribe, ethnic origin. In God's eyes there is neither Hutu nor Tutsi, nor some other tribal identity in Congo, Rwanda, or any other country. We are one in Christ, and just as Jesus' prayer referred to "Our Father," we can embrace this passage from the prophet Malachi: "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" (2:10).

We won't profane "the covenant of our fathers," when we understand that Life, and all its characteristics, is God. It follows then that we aren't mortal beings, some clinging to a particular genetic heritage that is superior to the rest of humanity and looking down on others who have been deprived of God's blessings. When God created man, male and female, He called man "very good." Each of us includes only this goodness.

RIGHT TO A PEACEFUL LIFE

The people of the North and South Kivu provinces, and actually all people everywhere, have a right to live peacefully. They need to be freed from all negative forces and thoughts, and they will be. How? Through Love. Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health that oppression is never the means to get our freedom. Instead, she spoke of the liberating power of Love, even in the face of war (see p. 225). Love is indeed able to liberate the Kivus from the scourge of war and sexual violence. In our prayers, we can claim that divine Love is in operation right now.

In the same book, Mrs. Eddy struck the keynote of all real peace, for all periods of time, all countries, all nations. She wrote: "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,—whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed" (p. 340).

If all of us can truly affirm this point and live it ourselves as well as carry it in our thoughts, we will yet be able to find and establish permanent peace for the people of my country, especially in the Kivus.

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