Christmas in the Congo?

Well, a lot has happened in the past week or two. However, there is one pressing issue that has just come up, that takes precedent over everything else, and for I can truly use your prayers.

I have been requested by the Samaritan’s Purse, through EMI staff, to serve as a sort of water/sanitation program manager in one of the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camps in Northern Congo, nearest the town of Goma.

Patrick, one of the EMI staff I worked with last summer in the Canadian office, is currently serving in that camp, with the goal of spreading to other areas, helping to install water treatment systems to provide clean water to these victims of the renewed fighting in the region. I had emailed him, asking whether there was anything that I, being so close to the region, could do to assist. Well, my name has been forwarded through the EMI ladder and into the hands of the Samaritan’s Purse management who are trying to find personnel to serve in this area of increasing need.

As of the most up to date situation (which changes several times a day), I would possibly team up with an intern from the EMI East Africa office in Kampala who has some overseas experience with water sanitation. Being junior engineers, Samaritan’s Purse would ask us just to maintain the current infrastructure rather than expand, which may be, and probably is, out of our realm of ability.

However, the issue is that ACTS has a policy that its personnel are not permitted to travel to so called “No Go” zones, even on their own time such as during Christmas holidays. Thus, I may be faced with the decision of ending my contract early with ACTS in order to assist in this mission. Personally, I believe that the situation in the Congo is far more pressing and in dire need of personnel. At the moment, there is no team yet scheduled to succeed Patrick’s team when they leave on Tuesday and unless, Samaritan’s Purse is able to confirm some workers to man their projects, they may be forced to shut the operation down, at least until after Christmas. On the other hand, I’ve made a commitment to ACTS and I’d hate to break those obligations.

Another factor, is the fact that the situation in the region is continually changing. And thus, even the work in the IDP camps can change at any moment. The underlying message in all of my correspondence has been, prepare to go, but be ready for anything to happen. So, I’m in a bit of a dilemma right now. I want to go, but I also feel obligated to stay.

I just received the first email asking for me to fill the position last night, so everything’s come up so quickly that my head’s in a bit of a blur. I don’t want to do anything on impulse or make too brash of a decision, however, the situation also requires a prompt response. And so, I would ask that you pray for the staff at EMI as they consider whether or not to make an exception to allow me to go serve with Samaritan’s Purse, with the Samaritan’s Purse and EMI staff as they try to plot and decide their plan of action, for myself as I try to choose between two very difficult choices, and for the Congolese people, who continue to suffer, and who will be the most greatly impacted by the decisions that are about to be made.