Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Missionary Life
The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo reflected on Lake Kivu from Tchegera Island. Photo credit: © REUTERS - STRINGER
On May 22, Mount Nyiragongo erupted, sending the city of Goma and its surrounding areas into a week of non-stop earthquakes and fear, but life and ministry don’t stop for this GlobalGrace missionary. Read Michelle’s story.
On May 22, the volcano that fills the horizon over Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, began erupting. About 7 PM the entire Northern sky was a brilliant orange as lava began flowing from a fissure after Mount Nyiragongo began releasing pressure. At first, the city of Goma was not affected, but within a few hours, a separate fissure opened, and quickly, the city was in danger as lava began flowing towards our airport. Within moments of hearing this news, my “go” bags were packed and I found myself with a backpack and carry-on bag waiting on the side of the road for evacuation.
As the rain fell, thousands of people were streaming past me, carrying mattresses and a few belongings. The fear could be felt, with each passing person, all of us looking at one another and saying “courage”, not knowing what the results of the lava flow would be. In 2002, during the last eruption, 80% of the city was destroyed. To add to the confusion, there was very little news from the government. The evacuation plan has always been to leave for the neighboring country of Rwanda. However, due to COVID restrictions, the borders are closely monitored and require negative COVID tests before crossing. Rwanda closed its border and refused to re-open until after midnight. By that time we had taken shelter in a school a few miles outside of town.
The night was spent on a cold, hard concrete floor of a private school – but we had safety, electricity, and proper toilets. We were a group of three children, one toddler, a newborn infant, and 14 adults. Someone made the great decision to grab a cake on the way out, but I, unfortunately, failed to grab my sleeping bag. It was the perfect place for us to gather and make a good decision about evacuation. Around 5 AM we heard that the lava had stopped flowing and we made the decision to return to our homes. Soon after this, the earthquakes began. Every 15-20 minutes, the city was rocked with 3.5 magnitude earthquakes. each one followed by tremors and aftershocks.
As I am writing this, we are still being bombarded with earthquakes. Many people have begun evacuating the city again, fearful of building collapses or of another volcanic eruption. The Rwanda border is taking hours to cross, the roads leading out of the city are packed, and boats crossing the lake are overcrowded and unsafe. At this moment, I am staying. I have made a commitment to the people of Congo, and when we run, we will run together.
Photo: EPA/EFE
The Volcano
Mount Nyiragongo is known for having the world’s largest lava lake. In 2016, I climbed this volcano and spent the night on top. The lava lake is mesmerizing, with heat coming off of it and the smell of sulfur. A few feet away from the lava lake it is freezing since it rises to over 11,000 feet in altitude. Tourists from all over the world come to Virunga National Park to scale the volcano.
Mount Nyiragongo has about a 20-year cycle for eruptions. These are not typical eruptions, as the lava does not flow from the top, but instead from fissures that will open along the sides of the volcano. Multiple fissures can open at once, sending lava in multiple directions. It has been 19 years since the last eruption in 2002. Mount Nyiragongo is unique as a volcano. It generally does not tremble, cause earthquakes or give many indications that an eruption is coming before the actual eruption. The lava lake in the crater will empty during the eruption and then start refilling once the lava pressure is released.
There are volcanists who monitor the volcano. The World Bank cut the funding to the monitors last year, claiming there had been fraud. Thus far, their investigation has not proven fraud but more of a lack of good bookkeeping (so they are not stealing but are just not good at administrative forms). This decision is what directly led to there being no warning about the volcano and a lack of good information once the eruption began.
The first fissure that opened was releasing lava into the Virunga Park and towards Rwanda, away from Goma. This made us feel better, although there was a pain in the heart for the villages along that route and the people in Rwanda. Within a few hours, a separate fissure opened and lava began quickly flowing towards Goma. By the time people were contacted and “go” bags were packed and by the door, we heard the news that the lava had almost reached the airport – a distance of 15.7 km (nearly 10 miles). Without much warning, a city of 2 million people began evacuating, most of them by foot. The roads were packed with cars taking up all lanes moving away from the city, people steadily filing past with their few belongings and motorbikes weaving their way through the cars and people. It is the rainy season, and it had begun raining earlier in the evening, so all of this was taking place in the rain with one of our horizons lit up orange as far as we could see.
Photo: Moses Sawasawa/AFP
Constant Earthquakes
We have experienced constant earthquakes since the eruption. The first was about 5 am on May 23. The last one was just moments ago while writing this. There have been so many, they can not be counted. I would estimate between 100 – 200 since May 23 that actually rock the house and cause me to tense up and pray. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” has been coming out of my mouth for days, every 15-30 minutes. There is nothing else I can think to say during these episodes.
For the first day of the earthquakes, I felt very nauseous, almost as if I were seasick. After each one, I would get stomach cramps and feel ill. This has subsided as my body has just adjusted to nothing feeling stable under my feet.
There have been multiple building collapses here in Congo and also in Rwanda. There is structural damage to many homes and buildings and there have been cracks opening in the roads. Every time I see a report of a new crack in the road, it makes me so sad, since we just got roads here! I love these roads, and it is a representation of the brokenness around us.
Many people are now re-evacuating the city because of the earthquakes and fear that another fissure will open and lava will begin to flow again. Also, the fear of building collapse is very real. Currently, my Congolese sister and her newborn are staying with me after their ceiling collapsed with one of the big earthquakes. Her husband, Emmanuel, is staying with the house because thieves are roaming the city looking for any opportunity they can find to steal.
Pastor Roland has had considerable damage to the compound wall surrounding his house after the house next to his collapsed. I have friends in Rwanda that have begun evacuation after their wall collapsed this morning.
Many people are choosing to sleep outside or inside of their vehicle in case a big one comes along and collapses their home or their neighbors home. It is still the rainy season, so this means that they are choosing to sleep in the rain rather than risk death by earthquake.
My thoughts were jumbled and confused as I stood, in the rain, watching thousands of people file past me and cars fill up the road. I jumped into the car of a friend and then began to process the situation. I rolled down the window and as I looked out I realized that I was a refugee at that moment. I was feeling 1% of what the people I work with every day have experienced their entire lives.
For 20+ years, life in Congo has been unstable. Citizens are constantly packing up a few belongings and fleeing to the next town. People have had to make the hardest decisions of their lives about what to leave behind – and worse – who to leave behind. I will never be Congolese, but for a fraction of a moment, I could feel what they felt, see what they had been witnessing for decades, and fear what they feared.
Photo: Justin Kabumba/AP/SIPA
Current Situation
The tectonic plates here are very unstable. They are shifting and causing the earthquakes. No one can predict when this will end, or even lessen. No one can predict if another eruption could result from this. For now, we wait and see.
Ash is settling all over the city from the eruption. This is coating everything in thick dust but is so fine we can not see it in the air. We wear masks outside to try and protect our lungs, but I am already starting to feel a heaviness in my chest and am sneezing frequently and starting to get a deep cough. I keep sweeping and wiping down furniture. I know it seems silly, but it is a small thing that I can (kind of) control – so that helps with my anxiety. I will sweep upstairs and then down and then go back up and start sweeping again. That is how fast the ash falls.
The water company has not been releasing water, so homes are not getting water. I have a 2000L tank but am trying to be conservative in water use so I can stretch out the tank for as long as possible, in the hope that they will begin releasing water soon. If they do not, I will have to pay a water truck to come and fill my tank. Most of the people here are just making their way down to the lake to fill jerry cans. The beach (I use this term loosely – please do not think of a beautiful Florida beach, but more of a place with lake access) down the road is absolute chaos with water trucks, private cars, and people filling up any plastic container they can find.
I still have power and actually don’t think we ever lost it during the eruption. I also have a solar-powered system that does supply some light at night. However, one of the major electric companies had considerable damage to their lines and many people are without power.
The death count is constantly being adjusted. At first, the majority of deaths were from car and motorbike accidents. As more of the directly affected villages are being assessed, the death toll is going up. People had to run quickly from the lava, leaving family members behind. As these reports come in the death rate is changed. As of this morning, the reports are that nearly 50 people died in the lava flow. There have been deaths from the fumes of the hardening lava as people venture out in curiosity. There are now deaths occurring from the collapsing of buildings.
There have been multiple conflicting reports of the missing and separated children. The first reports said 150-200 children were missing from their families, but this morning we are getting reports that the count is close to 100,000 children who have either been reported missing or have appeared in the city missing their families.
The majority of the NGO’s (humanitarian organizations) have left Goma. They began evacuating to South Kivu and to Rwanda. Some of the UN non-essential staff has also been relocated as well as many of their vehicles (helicopters, planes).
Life Goes On
I have moved once again. A few months ago, I thought I had found a good house. Unfortunately, soon after moving in, the place turned into a nightmare. The owner decided that he wanted to build another house in my compound. There was constant chaos at my house all day, with workers everywhere. My dog had to be confined to a small area of the yard and began to become very aggressive. I couldn’t be in my yard without people staring at me and saying rude things. After complaining over and over, and receiving a very bad response, I began looking for a new house.
My co-worker saved the day by telling me about an incredible house that was twice the size of the one I was in, and for the same price! I went to look at it, and within moments I knew that I wanted this house. I am so tired of moving and really just want a place I can call home. For nearly two years I have been house hopping and never completely unpacked – then I found a place that turned out to be a house of horrors…. So I am so thankful for this new house. My pets are very happy here and my dog is so happy and he is (almost) not aggressive anymore. I have nearly finished unpacking, and only have a few more furniture purchases to be able to finish. I think that I have found a place to call home – now just hoping that we survive the earthquakes.
Ministry Continues
Hope School
Despite all of the closings of schools throughout the past year, the CSE school continues to educate more than 300 students. The schools here originally closed for COVID but since then many have closed due to political reasons, instability in the city, and now the volcano. As soon as school re-opens, the students will come pouring into the classroom to be greeted by their incredible teachers. In early May I was able to send the teachers out for a day of teacher appreciation. This is a small thing that I can do to show the teachers how much they are truly appreciated. Typically, they like to go to Rwanda for the day, but with COVID, it is very difficult to cross the border, so they stayed local but still really enjoyed their day.
We would like to give the teachers at the CSE school a raise. Currently, they are making $113 per month. We would like to see this raised to at least $150 per month.
Hope School Feeding Program
The Hope School feeding program is going well. Before the feeding program began, many students would come to school hungry, having not eaten in over 24 hours. This contributed to students' poor attention span, discipline problems, and low scores in the classroom.
After beginning the program, students were able to concentrate in school, and thus have better grades. Students stopped fighting over food and parents reported feeling less stress in the home knowing that their children would get a good meal at school. Teachers have also reported that the students are healthier and missing less school as a result of the program.
At-risk Street Kids Rehabilitation House
The rehabilitation house for street children is full of energetic boys who are learning to live together. They receive counseling, daily Bible and school lessons, and weekly art lessons. One area of the home is designed for teaching carpentry skills. So far, they have made really excellent benches!
The street kids’ programs continue to have unexpected costs and we would like to expand them to reach more vulnerable children. Currently, we house 13 children and are feeding 75 additional children. We are employing multiple people in both of these programs and would like to be able to hire more for the rehabilitation house so we can house more boys.
The feeding program for the street children through Un Jour Nouveau church is still going strong, with about 75 children arriving multiple times a week to be fed.
PRAYER
Through volcanoes, lava flow, earthquakes, unbreathable air, evacuations, house changes, and uncertain tomorrows, and underfunded ministry and personal support, life and ministry don’t stop or even slow down. If anything, they become more intense and more fulfilling.
Pray for Congo and Rwanda and areas affected by the volcano and earthquakes. It may be weeks before we get a true picture of how many people have been killed and displaced from this disaster and can start to rebuild.
Pray for ME, that I can find some peace in this turmoil and make good decisions about staying versus evacuation.
Pray for funding for a vehicle. I see the reality of this need now that I have been forced to evacuate and make evacuation plans without a vehicle.
My personal funding is running below my monthly needs. My incredible missions organization, GlobalGrace, has been making up for the balance each month and at some point, I need to get back into the black and become more financially stable. Pray for additional monthly supporters. My personal funding helps me to not only live here but to run the training and therapy programs that are a part of my ministry here.
