Dear Friends,
This week, let us join in prayer for Daniel Baraka Nyamutale in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The most populous Francophone African country, the DR Congo is home to an estimated 91.9 million people from 250 ethnic groups. Nearly 94% of Congolese are Christians: 30% Catholic, 27% Protestant, and 37% other Christian (mostly Evangelical). The Second Congo War (1998-2003), which involved nine countries and 20 armed groups, left over five million dead and displaced another two million. Despite a peace agreement, dozens of rebel groups persist in armed conflict (particularly in the northeastern regions of Ituri and Kivu) over multigenerational ethnic rivalries, the country’s rich resources (gold, diamonds, cobalt, etc.), and scarce food supplies. Ongoing violence, including attacks on health facilities, has exacerbated the country’s Ebola epidemic, which has claimed over 1,500 lives and is now the second largest outbreak of the virus on record.
In hopes of guiding the Church’s missional engagement with the Islamic community in eastern Congo, where most of the country’s Muslims live, Baraka is currently pursuing a PhD in Missiology at Shalom University of Bunia (a Vital SustainAbilityclient school) in the DR Congo. Located in northeastern Congo, Bunia is the capital of the Ituri Province, where ongoing massacres by Lendu herders (who mostly practice indigenous religions) against Hema farmers (who are mostly Christian) have driven hundreds of thousands from their homes. Due to the escalating violence, Baraka’s wife Carol Adabay and their daughters, Jemima Kobsinge (9) and Hannah Banura (6), fled to Uganda last March. Baraka’s family recently welcomed a third daughter, Abigael Katusime.
Baraka shares the following message:
I thank ScholarLeaders for this good initiative of prayer.
Concerning my studies, my research and writing are progressing well by the grace of God. At the moment, I am conducting research in Nairobi. I plan to spend a month here. I thank ScholarLeaders for supporting this research trip. Without your support, I would not be here. God bless you.
In our family, we have a newborn. Her name is Abigael Katusime Baraka. She was born on June 27, 2019 while I was traveling to Nairobi. She and her mom are healthy.
Continue to pray for peace and healing of the DR Congo at the spiritual, economic, political, health (Ebola), and security levels. The needs are still great at those levels.
May God bless ScholarLeaders and all who pray and support us in our studies.
In Christ,
Daniel Baraka Nyamutale