Congolese Christian delegation thanks the RCH for its support

The Reformed Church in Hungary recently decided to support Christian communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which suffered one of the worst anti-Christian attacks in recent times in February, with five million forints (approx. 13,000 USD), in cooperation with the Hungary Helps programme. Seventy Christians - mostly women, children and elderly - were executed in a Protestant church by Islamist gunmen. Our church has offered its support to the families of the martyred Christians. The donations will go directly to them through the Planetrise Association, which has been active in the region for seventeen years, and its local partners.

On Wednesday, 8 April, the parties met in person at the Ráday House, where József Steinbach and the Synod Presidency hosted Péter Gergő Juhász, President of the Planetrise Association, István Bankus, one of the association's biggest supporters, and Christian Cito Cirhigiri for lunch, with whose father the association started working together almost two decades ago, and who is now also involved in the cooperation as a staff member of the International Center for Transitional Justice.

Bishop Steinbach called the meeting a great gift, and greeted the guests with the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy: "You have borne witness to Jesus Christ with a beautiful testimony." There is a level of witness when we lay down our lives for the cause of Jesus Christ, martyrdom. In the context in which we live, a welfare society, this is unknown at the moment, which is why we have enormous respect for Christians who faithfully persevere in the most difficult places and work for peace and unity in their country," the Bishop stressed. "We are saddened by what has happened recently in Congo, and in this we extend our prayerful love and sympathy," he added.

He shared that the Reformed Church in Hungary would like to support the new beginning with the modest help offered by joining the Hungary Helps program, hoping that this five million forints will also improve the situation of the Congolese brothers. “It is important to carry each other's burdens,” said the ministerial president of the Synod, adding that although this was the first time they had met Christian Cito Cirhigiri, they already saw a brother in each other.

Christian Cito Cirhigiri was very touched that József Steinbach said we should carry each other's burdens. He said that the Congolese Christians are in a difficult situation, but it is encouraging for them to experience the support they receive from their brothers and sisters. He asked the Hungarian brothers and sisters to continue to keep them in their prayers and, if they have the opportunity, to continue to support the Congolese. He shared that even in the midst of difficulties, there is hope, they hope to return to their churches, to their homes in the coming months.

Péter Gergő Juhász, president of the Planetrise Association, also thanked for the support. According to him, the first to break the silence in the international community following the massacre in Congo were the Reformed Church in Hungary and the Hungary Helps Agency, and their action then attracted the attention of other NGOs. Their association has been present in Congo since 2008, where Péter Gergő Juhász was a researcher on food security, but with his father Christian, Dieudonné Cirhigiri Ziririrana, they wanted to put theory into practice, first setting up a pig farm and later several other agricultural enterprises. They also provided several Congolese with study opportunities in Hungary. Péter Gergő Juhász is also an elder of the Reformed congregation of Kisvárda (in Eastern Hungary) and a researcher on Africa at the University of Óbuda.

"As believers, we have been taught to be a light in the darkness, and especially now that Easter is coming, as Christians we must believe in the resurrection," Christian Cito Cirhigiri told us after the meeting, who also hopes that some kind of resurrection will take place in Congo. He said that they hoped that the efforts of the international community, which have been multiplying in recent weeks, would be successful and that they might be able to get certain politicians and armed groups to sit down at the table with a view to peace and an end to human suffering. He also said it was hopeful that Christians in Hungary and around the world were thinking of them and helping them.

He stressed that the help of the Hungarian government and the Hungarian Reformed community is particularly important to them, and helps to dispel the negative idea that the Congolese conflict and the fate of the Congolese people are not important to others. And he hopes that they will be able to use the financial support to ensure that they no longer need external help once the conflict is over.

At the end of the meeting, Bishop József Steinbach shared with us that he himself is shaken again and again when he encounters the "numbers" of persecution of Christians, which are shocking: fifteen to twenty Christians are killed for their faith every day, and countless people are imprisoned, deported or simply discriminated against. He said that when he heard the news from the Congo, the decision to help the Christian brothers and sisters there was quickly taken.

"In addition to giving assistance, it would be very good if during Lent we could pray, in introspection, that we, as welfare societies, may be shown by the Lord how we can have a common, worldwide commitment, where we can serve life, Christians and all people, with a little more attention to one another," said the Ministerial President. He added that this five million forints is only symbolic help, but it is an expression of "counting our Christian brothers and sisters, being one, praying and doing for each other.”