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This Is the Way... The Little Country That Couldby Robin WebberSir, this is a funny war we're fighting," said an aide to General Dobey, British commander of Malta during World War I, stationed in Palestine in 1916."The Muslims won't fight on Friday, the Jews won't fight on Saturday, and the Christians won't fight on Sunday." With Solomon-like wisdom, Dobey replied, "Well, if you can find four other world religions that refuse to fight on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, because of their holy days, you have solved the problem of world peace." Masterful saying and a cute thought, but the reality is that true peacemaking doesn't wait for the right day but begins today with who we are, what we are and the big job that lies before us. Making peace is never self-convenient because it normally takes a "chunk of ourselves" and a lot of heart to make it happen. That's why many never attain this summit of achievement, and yes, it is a climb. Most of us are familiar with the children's book, The Little Engine That Could. A frail little piece of ironclad determination that against all odds and reason "huffed and puffed" its way to the summit of success while other larger engines could only begrudgingly stare in wonderment. Recently, Los Angeles Times staff writer Ann M. Simmons reported on a small nation in Africa that is setting a remarkable example to the larger nations around it. In her article titled, "In Congo Republic, Peace Calls for a Farewell to Arms," which appeared in the Los Angeles Times on August 17, 2000, Simmons describes a nation that is not looking for external solutions, but is grappling with internal dilemmas that it alone must come to terms with. Let's look at the Republic of the Congo and understand how it's endeavoring to slowly and surely climb back from war. Courting peace War very rarely leaves a nation or people where it found them. Reporter Simmons begins her story by sharing one man's return to his pre-war livelihood. As she reports, "War turned Justin Didier Kimbala into a gun-toting militiaman. When fighting based on region and ethnicity erupted in June 1997, Kimbala, a southerner, found himself trapped among northerners. He was subsequently arrested, thrown in jail for a month and tortured. When he was released, his body was riddled with burns. He could hardly walk. He was angry and began taking revenge, at first with a machete. Then he killed an Angolan mercenary, took the man's assault rifle and used it to kill and loot. But last month, without hesitation and without compensation, Kimbala handed his weapon to the government of Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who led Kimbala's rivals to victory in the short but bloody war." Let me give it to you straight. This one man, along with many others, had courage to voluntarily hand over his weapon to the enemy. Kimbala stated, "Now that there is peace I prefer to give my weapons back." Now his one wish is to return to the one job he knows best-driving a taxi. Justin Kimbala is simply one human piece of the greater mosaic of his country, which is again being glued together. Since a general amnesty has been granted to all militia, war zones are shrinking, refugees are returning and death and malnutrition are plummeting dramatically, as humanitarian aid is now able to reach those most in need. This little country has achieved the seemingly unachievable, a steady truce of seven months on a continent fractured by broken treaties. Most importantly, as Simmons points out, "It is the Congolese themselves, not regional brokers or outside powers, who decided that they had 'had enough' of war." As Emmanuel Boungouanza, head of the National Resistance Council, so aptly put it, "Having fought for a long time, we realize that war cannot solve our problems. We have to stop sometime; we can also be an example to those other countries." What other countries? The Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire), the Republic of the Congo's larger neighbor to the east, has had its peace deal collapse while never having had its fighting completely cease. An international peace deal for Sierra Leone has collapsed with the kidnapping of peacekeepers. Likewise, there is little confidence that Ethiopia and Eritrea can peaceably settle their scores regarding the Horn of Africa. This is why Colonel Boungouanza proudly exclaims, "This is what makes our case quite original." Why so original? Perhaps the great Russian novelist Tolstoy states it best in his work, War and Peace: "Drain the blood from men's veins, and put water in instead, then there will be no more war." You and I know this hasn't happened yet. The fourth century theologian Augustine of Hippo described the problem this way: "It is with the desire for peace that wars are waged.… Every man seeks peace by waging war, but no man seeks war by making peace. For even they who intentionally interrupt the peace in which they are living have no hatred of peace, but only wish it changed into a peace that suits them better..." (Great Ideas, Syntopicon 11, p. 1,015). As Colonel Boungouanza soberly reasoned, "Many people have died. Much of the infrastructure has been destroyed. We think it is useless to keep fighting." Due to raw experience, they have come to the reality of Ernest Hemingway's simple and blunt words that "in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason." The shooting stopped first The Congolese would be the first to tell you they have a long way to go towards their ultimate goal. Powersharing among rivals is still needed, the foreign mercenaries need to go and penalties for horrific war crimes still need addressing. But with this stated, Jacques Bandelier of the U.N. Development Program properly highlights this little country's achievement: "At least in Central Africa, this is the only place where there is real optimism." Reporter Simmons succinctly pinpoints the cause for this optimistic scenario. "In typical African conflicts, a political settlement usually precedes a cease-fire. But in the Congo, the shooting stopped first." Jocelyn Mouthithys-Madimgou, mayor of Dolisie, put her finger on it when she said, "The Congolese themselves have woken up and are wondering, 'Why are we killing each other?' They have decided: 'No more killing.' Nobody told the Congolese to stop. They made the decision themselves." The Congolese did not expect outside international pressure to cure what ailed them from the inside. The survivors looked one another in the eye, and dealt with the heart of the matter. As James 4:1-3 outlines, "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." Most people don't ask the right questions. They will not grow out of their dilemmas until they also ask the big questions, which move to the heart of the matter. Human renewal on a personal plane or national level has always failed where only the surroundings have changed. It must start inward and move outward to have lasting impact. From an inward notion, the Congolese had the wisdom, courage and vision to pursue peace earnestly. But peace comes not only from the absence of conflict. It requires solutions for the issues that started the strife. The marauding militias numbered nearly 31,000. Many of the former combatants were young men who were easily induced to take up arms because of unemployment and uncertainty. The militias offered prestige, power and unlimited opportunities to plunder and extort money from innocent civilians. As another former militia member, Christian Pandy, so honestly stated, "Once you have a gun in your hand, everything is possible." To yield the fruit of peace, you must be willing to replace the evil with good, and at times be willing to spend the proverbial nickel to make a "dime of peace." Some of the militiamen have been coaxed to return their weapons for a payment of 15,000 Congolese francs, or about $20. Others, like Kimbala, have voluntarily surrendered their weapons. A project sponsored by the U.N. Development Program is seeking to help about 4,700 ex-militia members regain their livelihoods. A pilot program offers the opportunity to become self-employed. Ex-combatants who present a feasible business project to the agency are awarded start-up capital of at least $500. As Christian Pandy, age 31, exclaims, "The opportunity was like a breath of fresh air. It is an opportunity to restart everything again and regain some dignity." Nobody here is a "Pollyanna." Everyone recognizes that there are still guns out there, although more are being turned in every day. As Major Andre Boussobe-Bouya, head of the mixed contingent of government and ex-resistance forces in Mossendjo pinpoints, "Our mission is to make everybody understand that peace is priceless and everyone has to give up their weapons. It's a long process. It won't end tomorrow." True, it will not end for either the Republic of the Congo, or the entire earth, until the return of Jesus Christ. Christian peace mission Christians are also on a mission of peace. As Romans 8:22 so emphatically echoes, "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." Until what? As verse 19 brings out, "The creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God." These same sons of God are in training now. They are individuals who are motivated and moving beyond "groaning" to growth. Individuals who are willing to lay down their arms in whatever conflict they find themselves. People in training who ask the big question, "Isn't enough, enough?" Individuals of note who don't have peace forced on them, but rather have peace come from within them. Individuals like you and me who recognize that we too must be willing to pay whatever cost. Students of the Bible who recognize that peace is not manufactured in a vacuum, but comes by replacing evil with good (Romans 12:21). Most importantly, visionaries who are willing to offer others entrance into a world that has eluded them until now, a world of dignity. Isaiah 32:16-20 prophetically speaks of a future time when there will be a total farewell to arms. "Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, though hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters." The work of righteousness that brings about peace is simply that-a lot of work. That normally means that you go first, and turn in the armaments that maintain your self-imposed protection that really isn't getting you anywhere. Many countries should. Many people should. Maybe you should. There is a little country that could and did. They did it by taking responsibility for their own actions. As we zoom down the crowded thoroughfares of bustling Brazzaville, we come up behind a taxi. A head pops out. It's Justin Kimbala, who's doing what he loves best-driving a taxi. He startles us with a question too few of us fully contemplate. "Where are you going?" We reply, "We're lost!" He smiles from his taxi and shouts out that millennial refrain "Follow me, this is the way." But, before you do, can I ask you a question? What's that you are holding in your hand? WNP |
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Keywords: Republic of the Congo Africa peace
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