A Westbrook clergyman is pleading for prayer help for thousands left starving because of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa.

The Rev. Mutima Peter, pastor of International Christian Church in Portland, called the situation “terrible” for the Christmas season in the Congo.

“How do they celebrate if they’re running away and living in makeshift houses or a tent that has been destroyed?” Peter said.

The Congo suffers from a long history of civil strife among tribes. The United Nations reported on Dec. 10 that conflict “has uprooted an estimated 250,000 people since late August, mainly in the North Kivu province.” The United Nations also reported that thousands there can’t be reached by aid workers.

Peter, who brought his family from central Africa to the United States in 1993 and to Westbrook in 1998, has returned to Africa each year in efforts to reconcile warring factions. Central Africa Vision, a ministry that Peter founded, sends relief into the Congo and aids widows and children mostly in neighboring nations of Rwanda and Burundi.

Peter, a Congo native, recently was honored with the first Planetary Chaplain Award from the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. Peter received the award for his efforts in Africa, which include a micro-loan program to help women left widows by genocide launch businesses.

“Nearly 3,000 widows who support approximately 15,800 children have benefited from this micro-loan program,” said Mike Miles, a board member of the Chaplaincy Institute. “Maine should be proud to have in its midst a leader who has such a tremendous impact on economic development in his native Africa.”

But, Peter said last week, the numbers of widows and orphans are increasing. In eastern Congo, he said, many people have been left with nothing because of fighting. “People aren’t cultivating because of the war,” Peter said.

In recent years, many Congolese sought refuge in camps, and Peter said living in refugee camps is tough.

“Any refugee camp is like being in prison,” Peter said.

Many people, including Peter’s mother-in-law, were driven out of eastern Congo cities and fled to Rwanda and Burundi four years ago. In 2004, he witnessed the aftermath of a massacre by rebels at a refugee camp in Burundi.

Peter hopes for peace in his homeland. He said last week a cease-fire existed in the Congo but sometimes “it doesn’t hold.” The United Nations sent an envoy as a mediator and reported talks were under way in Nairobi, Kenya.

Peter said the United Nations has approved 3,000 additional peacekeeping troops to augment 17,000 on duty in the Congo. But Peter said many people in the Congo are bitter about U.N. troops, whom they say are raping women and paying children for sex.

Peter said thousands in the Congo are suffering from hunger. “We are in need of people to pray and respond,” Peter said. “The widows and the poorest of the poor suffer the most.”

Central Africa Vision can be reached at 773-8811 or by mail at P.O. Box 1975, Portland, Maine 04104.

(mutima file photo)