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Healing Streams in the DR Congo

At Healing Streams we are passionate about healing from the trauma of gender-based violence for the women and girl children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In DR Congo rape impacts a whole community because women are the producers of food and the caregivers for the family. While many women & men are working to change this attitude, the number one response to a raped woman in DR Congo is rejection. This rejection tears at the very core of the community.  Join us in bringing hope and healing through training of trainers, advocacy, and support in partnership with local Congolese organizations and churches.
Leadership Conference in Kinshasa E-mail
Dawn Penner will be a presenter at the Leadership Conference of the Communauté Mennonite au Congo and at the University of Kinshasa 's Peace Day seminar, November 1-6, 2009.  The conference is sponsored by Mennonite Brethren Missions and Services International .
   
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The following week Dawn will accompany Pascal Kalungu, president of the Centre for Peace-Building, Leadership and Good Governance ,  to Bukavu, the heart of the area most impacted by the rebel activity of Laurent Nkunda.  They will provide consultation and training to a church seeking to expand it's community development activities. While in Bukavu, Dawn will also connect with Heal Africa and the Panzi Hospital.  A visit to Wellspring Academy in Rwanda will come at the end of the trip.

When the Communauté Mennonite au Congo (Congo Mennonite Church) first began in 1912, the founders probably never imagined that nearly 100 years later the conference would have 531 congregations with a membership of 86,600. Like most organziations that are 100 years old, the church in Congo has seen both growth and struggle. Most significantly, the church has survived through the brutal years of Belgian colonization, followed by the equally oppressive rule of autocratic leaders and the consequent upheaval of civil wars. In the last decade, DRC has been assaulted with what has been called Africa's world war. Over eight countries have been involved in the fight for DRC's rich mineral resources. In the midst of this, the church has grown.  This leadership conferences will address the unique challenges the Communauté Mennonite au Congo faces today.

Centre for Peace-Building, Leadership and Good Governance - Kinshasa, DRC

CPLB was created in 2002 to bring a Christian vision of servant leadership and peacemaking into a context of violence and conflict. The founder and main visionary behind the centre, Pacal Kulungu, believes that reconciliation is central to the gospel story and essential to a transformed and productive society.

The centre is invovled in teaching, counselling and mentoring through one-on-one sessions, workshops and seminars. Church leaders who attend such training are expected to return to their communities and make a tangible difference with the knowldege and materials that they have aquired. Pascal and his staff also offer conflict mediation to families and other socio-political groups as well as teaching curriculum in the local Christian University (UCKIN).

The centre has already made a significant impact in Kinshasa, and in Eastern Congo where war has persisted off and on for over a decade. By continually voicing a Christian ethic regarding conflict, CPLB has begun to alter people's paradigms towards violence and reconciliaiton. Also, given the prominence of Mennonite Brethren in politics, the centre is playing an increasingly significant role in the country's leadership.

 

"As Christians we have a big role helping other Christians and non-Christians to show what Jesus did in the community [when he] helped people to grow up physically and spirtually. We want to share our knowledge, and remind those who have the knowldege to put it into practice."

- Pascal Kulungu  

 
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