We Can Do This Together

I'm pretty certain there are very few out there that read this blog regularly but for those that do, I pray that you hear my urgent cry for help through my words.

In the past few days the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been, and continues to be, under attack by a rebel militia called the M-23. They are made up of men who steal, murder, turn little boys into children soldiers and rape children and women as their weapon of choice. They have entered Goma, an eastern city in the DRC and within the past 48 hours have taken over the city. Tens of thousands of people have tried to flee their homes, the United Nations who have over 1,500 soldiers there have withdrawn and let the militia take over, the Congolese army fled leaving their weapons with young men and boys in the community. And when all of that news was not hard enough to digest I found out that orphans in Goma that are supposed to be flying out of Goma to west Congo for adoption are trapped in their orphanage literally hiding under their beds with their pastor.

And here comes the kicker...R and my child could be there right now. Helpless. Your nephew, niece, grandchild, cousin, neighbor, church member could be there. Please let that sink in. Soak it up. Hold on to what that means to you, to R, to me, while you hear my cry for help below.

I have spent much of the past two days praying, crying, pleading with God, pacing and looking up every possible government official to call and email to make it known that there are people in the US that care about what is going on in Goma and praying that if enough people call and email that someone in power will step up and take action. I haven't been very good at tracking who I've called and emailed but towards the end of this afternoon I figured I should keep track (so I can keep pestering the same people and get their information out to others). I've pasted some websites and phone numbers below. It is super simple and will take just a few minutes. Consider this your Christmas gift to me and my family.

 You can look up your state officials and call and email them on this website. http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=CT http://www2.americanprogress.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=244&link=1

 Call President Obama -- 1-888-542-4146 - script: “My name is _____, and I’m calling about the current violence in Democratic Republic of Congo. I urge you to call for the immediate de-escalation of the M23 rebellion in Congo and demand an end to external support of M23 by Rwanda and Uganda. Please work with our international partners to pressure ALL parties to this conflict, including Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, to resolve the crisis through constructive negotiations.”

 Call Ambassador Rice 212-415-4062 -- same script as above.

 https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/demand-rwanda-cease-all-support-m23-and-remove-rwandan-troops-congo/JmYRbzJ8

Pray!

What if this was your child? My child? What would you do? This is a picture from Goma after M-23 entered.

This a group of people taking all they have and fleeing in hopes of finding safety.