Congo literacy program in demand
A campaign by Mennonites in the Democratic Republic of Congo to use literacy education as a tool for evangelization is bringing hope to educators and learners alike—and unearthing tales of suffering and repression. In its first two years of operation, the Congo Mennonite Literacy Project, initiated by the leaders of women’s groups, has trained about…
Militia lays down arms in Congo
As truckloads of militia drove into Tshikapa to lay down their arms, Joseph Nkongolo went to meet them. Nkongolo—Coordinator of the Service and Development Department of the Mennonite Church of Congo—spoke of militia members saying they want to re-enter civil life. “Pray for us,” they said to him, “we have done horrible things; forgive us…
Congolese army officer arrested in U.N. murders case
Michael J. Sharp and fellow U.N. sanctions monitor Zaida Catalán of Sweden were abducted and killed in 2017 in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo while monitoring sanctions violations and possible war crimes by the Congolese national army and various militias. The prosecutor overseeing the case told Reuters news agency that Jean de…
‘I need to go to school’
Ten-year-old Kanku Ngalamulume fled from his home in the village of Senge after armed groups beheaded his mother and father and his siblings too. He was among 1.4 million people in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have been forced from their homes as violence among local militias and the…
Congolese Mennonites suffer atrocities amid displacement of 1.4 million
WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. Dozens of Congolese Mennonites have been killed, hundreds of their homes have been burned, and thousands of them have fled, as violence consumes the Kasai region, birthplace of the Mennonite church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) reports 36 confirmed deaths of Mennonites,…
Michael J. Sharp’s journey toward peace in DR Congo
The peacebuilding career of Michael J. Sharp, a former service worker with Mennonite Central Committee, ended when he was kidnapped and killed while on a UN fact-finding mission in Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Four months after Michael J. Sharp moved to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2012, he joined a small…
Sharp among confirmed dead in DRC
Michael J. “M.J.” Sharp, a United Nations official kidnapped with five others in the Democratic Republic of Congo two weeks ago, has been confirmed as deceased by the Congolese government, according to Reuters. The bodies of two Caucasians, a male and female, were found in the Central Kasai region, where Sharp and a female colleague went…
EMU alumnus among those kidnapped in Democratic Republic of Congo
Michael J. “M.J.” Sharp, a United Nations official, was among six people kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to a press release issued Monday by the Congolese government. He was part of a UN panel of experts investigating ongoing civil conflicts in the country, according to Al Jazeera. A second UN worker,…
