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Article: Congo's cautious hope: churches play a positive role in the first democratic elections in more than 40 years.
- Article from:
- Sojourners Magazine
- Article date:
- February 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Sojourners. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On outdoor benches in a poor neighborhood of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a small congregation prayed for wisdom as they prepared to vote in their country's first democratic elections in more than 40 years.
"If we choose a good leader, after five years we will be doing well," Rev. Fumunguya Muenekuangu preached at Manenga Mennonite Church, a congregation of about 15 adults and many more small children who meet under a tarp in a vacant lot. The earnest, soft-spoken pastor continued: "If we choose wrong, after five years we will be suffering."
Many Congolese churches shared this sober assessment as their country held ...