DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Twenty Christians Killed in Attack on Kainama

Oct 12, 2022 | VoM

Twenty Congolese Christians were beheaded and several others kidnapped after the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) struck the village of Kainama last week on 4 October.

Among the twenty people beheaded was Sobu Mundeke, an evangelist with the Anglican Church of Congo, who had travelled to Kainama to look for food for his displaced family in Beni.

One of the first responders to the attack reported to International Christian Concern (ICC), “It pains me to inform you that we have lost 20 Christians of the Banande-Kainama camp and our evangelist, Sobu Mundeke, is one of them. Their bodies are lying all over and houses have been burnt down by the ADF rebels.

“Sobu arrived last week from Beni in search of food for his family; little did he know that he was coming to be killed. We have also confirmed that other people are missing, and we know they have been taken away by the Muslim fighters.”

Sobu and his family were displaced from the same area on 28 May this year after the ADF militia group raided the Christian village of Vido, killing 16 people and burning ten houses to the ground. Sobu and his family went to live in the town of Beni, where the ICC team met him in June.

After surviving the first attack on his home village of Vido, Sobu told the ICC: “I heard them. They were shouting in Arabic and Swahili, saying that the kafirs [nonbelievers] should be killed, all of them, and that they would make Congo an Islamic state. ‘Shoot all of the Christians, they said. ‘Kill all of them and burn their houses.’”

The ADF Islamist militant group has continued to wage attacks on Christians in eastern DRC, ceaselessly leaving behind a trail of unfathomable losses; from killing innocent Congolese believers, to destroying shelters, food stores, hospitals, and vehicles. Their aim is to impose Islamic rule on Christians.

These recent attacks have instigated a massive exodus of the displaced local population towards the supposedly secure towns of Eringeti, Oicha, Beni, and Kasindi, leading to an influx of vulnerable women, children, and men requiring huge humanitarian aid to avert their already desperate situation.

Source: International Christian Concern

Please Pray

Pray for the community of the Kainama village, especially for the family members of those who were beheaded. Pray also for the safe return of the Christians who have been taken captive by the ADF.

Pray for those who have been displaced from their homes by recent ADF attacks. Pray that the Lord would meet their physical and spiritual needs, and that the people will find hope and comfort in new communities.

Pray for an end to the violence caused by the ADF in the Democratic Republic of Congo.