Adventist Leaders Disavow Any Connection to Rebel Congo Leader

[CGMedley]

Adventist leaders say a rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has no connection to the church. Read the latest update.

http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=2247

[John317]

Good to see that. We definitely don't want the world to view our church in that light.

[Woody]

Former Adventist Pastor, Now Rebel Leader, Vows to Keep Fighting in Congo

Posted November 13th, 2008 by News Editor

Excerpted from a report by the Associated Press

Gen. Laurent Nkunda (pictured), extolled by backers as a gift from God, has been trying to show the world that he is a responsible, compassionate leader whose only ambition is to bring freedom to his people in the mineral-rich Congo. The rebels are battling Congolese soldiers in a conflict many fear will spread.

Even as he was giving an Associated Press interview last week, his fighters an hour's drive away were killing unarmed civilians, looting and burning, according to witnesses and a human rights body. Among those shot in the head: a 25-year-old radio reporter who angered the rebels with his broadcasts.

"I was born into a Christian family and I have always believed," he said.

The man blamed for a 10-week offensive that has forced 250,000 people from their homes as his fighters captured great swathes of eastern Congo says he's a born-again Christian and one-time Adventist pastor who'd rather be teaching than soldiering. He's often seen wearing a lapel button reading: "Rebels for Christ."

The conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by festering ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of a half-million Tutsis in Rwanda, and Congo's civil wars from 1996-2002, which drew its neighbors into a rush to plunder Congo's mineral wealth. Nkunda defected from the army in 2004, saying he needed to protect his tiny Tutsi minority. He has since expanded his mission to "liberating" Congo.

"We will continue fighting and we will fight all the way to (the capital) Kinshasa," Nkunda, 41, pledged Thursday.

Nkunda says he wants to change the mentality of Congo's people, which he ways has been polluted by exploitation and corruption.

"There's a problem here. Everyone is for themselves. We have to learn "... to want to serve our country. There is this lack of love of our country."

[Woody]

Good to see that. We definitely don't want the world to view our church in that light.

Notice that the Review says the following:

He "is not regarded as an active church member"

This does not say that he is not a member ... just that he is not 'regarded' 'active'.

And the report did not state that he was an ordained pastor ... just a pastor. Africa has many lay pastors and pastors who serve the church but are not 'ordained'. Even in the States ... many pastors who serve our churches ... are not 'ordained'.