War has further cut the supply of medicines, food, and other necessities. It has kept the Congolese government from meeting its goal to vaccinate all children for polio by the year 2000. D Children of Nyembo Umpungu, the D. R. of the Congo. Photo by Pat Waugh. The missionaries at Nyembo Umpungu have been evacuated five times in the past 11 years because of war.
Scarcity always forces painful choices.
During a cholera epidemic, the mission clinic was running out of intravenous medical supplies needed for rehydrating victims. We prayed a lot. We cried a lot, too. Epidemics, floods, poverty, and war keep the mission dependent on Advance Special funds and donations of equipment and supplies. Each successive struggle has been more destructive, with more sophisticated weapons and greater involvement by neighboring countries.