This article appeared as a response to Mindy Belz’s article “Inside the Crowded Hospital Full of Congo’s Rape Victims” and petitions God for justice regarding rape victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Loving and righteous God,
we cry out to you.
Have mercy upon your children.
You say, “Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
May those who suffer at the hands of evil be
strengthened, helped, and upheld by you.
We pray for survivors of abuse, the “walking wounded,”
in the aftermath of the unthinkable.
Make clear the way for healing of mind, body, and soul.
Just as you raised Lazarus from the dead, resurrect the “living dead”
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, by the power
of the Holy Spirit, create in them new life.
Bless your servant Denis Mukwege and others
working at Panzi Hospital.
We give you thanks for their faithful service
and loving-kindness.
Grant them a peace that surpasses all understanding.
In the moments of “My God, tell us what we are seeing
isn’t true,” when all hope seems lost,
strengthen them and draw them near to you.
Turn the eyes of the world to the atrocities
in the DRC.
May we never grow comfortable hearing stories of evil
and suffering, for it is in the faces of those suffering that we see
your face. Grant us wisdom in how to respond, O God.
Liberator God, by your mighty power, execute justice for the
oppressed throughout the world, and may we live in the
knowledge that darkness and evil will not prevail;
it is you who will have the last word.
Come soon, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Kimberly Deckel is a priest in the Anglican Church of North America. She lives in Pflugerville, Texas, with her family and serves at Church of the Cross Austin.
This article appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Christianity Today as "A Prayer for the Walking Wounded".
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