The Living Letters team visited the Institut Médical Evangélique, which runs a 400-bed hospital and trains doctors and nurses, and the Centre Evangélique pour la Coopération in Kimpese, which is in charge of hundreds of schools and a university.
Schools perform an important role beyond academic education.
"They are seen as an important field where children can learn and practice peaceful co-existence," said Döhne. "They counterbalance the voices and actions of those who spread conflict and tension."
Under the umbrella of the ECC, a union of 62 Protestant denominations, the churches live out a practical ecumenism. "Member churches maintain their own identities, but for social services and projects they pool their resources and energies," said Legesse.
The Centre Régional d'Appui et de Formation pour le Développement, an activity of the ECC, mobilizes rural villages for community development and tackles the issues of deforestation and ecological damage.
In Kasai Oriental, where anti-personnel mines pose a severe danger and also hamper agricultural production, the ECC is working alongside an organization called Mines Advisory Group to raise awareness of the problem.
Even the seemingly everyday work of maintaining pastoral care in congregations is significant, said Döhne. For example, in spite of being impoverished, people in Mbuji-Mayi still invest in new church buildings. "It is of the utmost importance to give people hope and encouragement," said Döhne.
But the people feel keenly their isolation.
"Again and again we heard the message from church leaders in this region that they feel ignored by the international community," said Legesse. "Because the war and violence has been most intense in the eastern part of the Congo, there is a tendency to place less emphasis on the suffering of the people in other parts of the country."
Members of the delegation called for a show of solidarity from the churches of the world.
"The churches in the DRC want to continue to use their different avenues of influence in the country," said Döhne. "In doing so, they should be encouraged and supported by the worldwide ecumenical family."
[This article was written by the World Council of Churches. Printed with permission]
