ATLANTA – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has given $10,000 to ease the growing humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where increased violence from rebel fighters is killing thousands of civilians and forcing even more to flee to refugee camps and neighboring African countries.

Half the Fellowship’s relief funds will aid CBF field personnel Jade and Shelah Acker, who serve in Uganda and are aiding Congolese refugees fleeing into the nearby country.

"The situation seems to be getting worse, and if fighting intensifies, then there will be many more refugees entering Uganda," said Jade Acker.

The Fellowship’s remaining $5,000 will assist Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, with their response to the crisis in the Kivu area of eastern Congo. There, Baptist leaders have reported violence, few resources, children being forced to join rebel armies, and Baptists being arrested and imprisoned on false charges. There is an urgent need for relief supplies such as food, medicine, blankets and clothing.

Baptist World Aid has worked in Kivu province since the 1994 genocide crisis in Rwanda, which neighbors Kivu. According to the Associated Press, ethnic fighting and violence in Congo worsened in late August when rebel fighters advanced to Goma, the capital of Kivu province. Now, doctors are working to contain cholera outbreaks in refugee camps, and United Nations peacekeepers are trying to ease the violence, according to AP reports.

To contribute to relief efforts in Congo, send a check payable to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA. 30392, indicating fund No. 170017 "Sub-Sahara Africa Response" in the memo line or call (800) 352-8741.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.