Breaking the Silence

I’m back! I’ve been back in DRCongo 13 days, though the dirt that cakes my heels even after a lake swim and a scrub, betrays this truth. It’s glorious to be back – the sights, the sounds, the smells… I’ve absorbed every moment, breathed it all in (the dust mites that appear to be camping on my lungs indicate a little too literally). And still, it’s glorious.

I crossed the border in torrential rain – my suitcase has never had to run that fast. ever - with great expectation of what Papa is going to do in the coming months and seem to have stepped from one season of stories into the next… A really good thing.

My two and a bit months back in South Africa; a season of powerful storytelling to inspire others who desire to see the world transformed by Love and to bring healing to my own heart after months of war as well as a time of family and friends and nephew cuddles and beach cottage bliss and possibly probably definitely one too many bowls of ice-cream. I blame my cat, who likes to lick the empty bowl.

Sometimes the dust IN the car is just THAT bad...

And then here, back on the ground, as we learn the power of storytelling to bring healing and freedom from the invisible wounds of war. Our very favourite clinical psychologist who has incredible experience in working with those affected by war, Dr. Sarah Whittaker-Howe is here doing training with our team as well as educating those affected by decades of war; empowering them to recognize the symptoms and then to make the first steps on a journey towards healing and wholeness and freedom.

We’re here to end war and rebuild communities. Last season, was one of ending the war. I remember the night Papa gave the strategy to worship to end the conflict within our area… That same night, He promised that the next season would be one of rebuilding. He is faithful!

Storytelling, to quote Annette Simmons, “is a vaccine against war” – it’s through the stories of those who are courageous enough to ‘go there’, the stories of those who aren’t willing that the world simply forget, that we can ensure that the atrocities this nation has had to endure over the past twenty years won’t be repeated. To rebuild a community, the foundations need to be firm and it’s the people which make up a community that form that very foundation… Healed, whole, free men, women and children is our hearts desire… because it’s the desire of the Father who loves them passionately and chases after their hearts fervently.

“It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story” – Native American Proverb

We spent last week in the red zone, one of my favourite places in the world and we celebrate that there has been peace for the past 3 months – WHAT?!?!?! The longest period of peace experienced in years! The cabbage fields and ready-to-harvest maize, the singing and dancing children way after dark, and the pigs (one of which we were convinced was plotting to make a meal of one of us as we exited the latrine at night, blinded by headlamps) all told a story a peace. During times of war, where everything is taken during raids and where fear prevents planting and where, to take of an animal is too much of a risk and an effort when you’re trying to take care of yourself; we see little other than small piles of dried cassava – a calorie rich, nutrient depleted plant root. The growth and the life of this trip. A story of Hope.

Brothels in the Dirt

As we spent our mornings wandering through the village, greeting friends and laughing with children, visiting with the mamas of newborns and praying for the sick, we stumbled upon a red zone brothel – a small row of houses towards the edge of town. We’d just uncovered a treasure! As we squeezed into a tiny front room, the air stale with breathe and damp dark, the only light coming from the top of the doorway, where the children pressing in at the door lacked the height to fill it completely. 4 ladies, who admitted to ‘usually being enemies’, but who wanted to get along. 4 ladies who looked tired, but who giggled as we spoke. 4 ladies who were excited at the thought of future chai (tea) dates together. 4 ladies. 4 new friends.

A little Leadership League fun

Time with the Leadership League boys, always fills me with the kind of excitement that makes me want to release a small squeal. Squeal contained, this time, was no different. Powerful afternoons of young men choosing freedom and choosing life. As they were walked through the ‘hows and the whys’ of being able to share their stories. In a safe space, my heart was again wrecked by Love as slowly these young men became vulnerable with us and each other – which goes against cultural norm – as they hunger for a life free of nightmares and flashbacks and feelings of guilt and shame.

Their stories broke my heart. Stories of beheadings and family members being killed in front of them; stories of kidnappings and humiliation. And as my eyes welled, I realized that it was not only for the story of the story-teller, but for the injustice that men, women and children have to experienced any of this at all, and then at the tenderness as they offered each other words of comfort, “I’m sorry that you lost your special sister”. These young men, as they continue to move forward, chasing Freedom, fighting for Life will change this nation as they challenge the beliefs which contribute to silence, a silence which keeps people trapped in the very past they’re hoping to forget.

The thousand voices which will tell DRCongo’s story are slowly rising up. It’s a complex story to tell and is made up of stories too numerous to count. We believe that this is simply the beginning of a powerful time of healing for His favourites – “Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive” Barry Lopez And right now, in these early stages of healing, it’s those telling the stories that need them most.

It’s an exciting time. A time of courage. A time of remembering. A time governed by Hope, Himself.