America yawns as Africa burns

International | Will the gospel of peace penetrate a violent, war-torn continent? | Mindy Belz

In a month of important deaths, former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko died nearly unnoticed. His was another real-life parable. In 30 years of rule over Zaire, Mobutu skimmed for himself the fat of the country's mining resources and cruised the Congo in a yacht while the masses sank further into poverty and the country's infrastructure rotted. He died friendless in Morocco after a lengthy battle with cancer, his riches drained by his lifestyle and his mining interests in the hands of Laurent Kabila, the rebel leader who now rules what has been named the Democratic Republic of Congo.

News of Mobutu's death was received like a lot of other news from Africa-with indifference. "The general U.S. public is ready to dump Africa," missionary Karl Dortzbach complained to WORLD. Meanwhile, missionary activity and Christian-based relief work across the continent's seething middle-from war-torn Sierra Leone to the riotous coast of Kenya-continues apart from North American apathy.