wfn.org | ABCUSA: AMERICAN BAPTISTS AID RELIEF EFFORTS IN DEMOCRATIC

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

AMERICAN BAPTISTS AID RELIEF EFFORTS IN 
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, RWANDA 
 Funds totaling $25,000 from One Great Hour of 
Sharing are being released for relief efforts in Central 
Africa in the wake of the volcanic eruption near Goma, 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), last week.  
Thousands of people have fled the lava flows in eastern 
DRC to the nearby towns of Gisenyi, Rwanda, and Sake, 
DRC. 
 "What I saw in Goma was beyond my human 
understanding," said Buzizi Claver, projects officer for the 
Baptist Union of Rwanda, after visiting Goma and Gisenyi.  
Baptists in Rwanda urgently want to help the thousands of 
refugees who are flooding their country, and the Baptist 
Union specifically is assisting the 856 families who are 
sheltered in Union-related churches and schools.  
 The outreach to the Congolese refugees in 
Rwanda is especially significant in light of the ongoing war 
in Central Africa.  Rwandan forces have occupied parts of 
eastern DRC, including Goma, for the last three years.  
 Although many have stayed in Gisenyi, tens of 
thousands of the refugees have returned to DRC hoping to 
salvage their homes in the Goma area.  Large numbers of 
them found little to save and continued traveling to the 
town of Sake (about 19 miles west of Goma), which now is 
hard pressed to handle the huge influx.  The town is 
dependent on outside relief to support the growing 
population.  
 American Baptist International Ministries staff are 
urging continued prayer for the ongoing relief efforts in 
DRC and Rwanda. 
 News updates will be available through the 
American Baptist News Service and on the International 
Ministries Web site-www.internationalministries.org.

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