In Goma it’s now very early morning, Christmas Day. On this, the day upon which we celebrate the birth of our Lord and our Savior, may each and every one of you have a safe, peaceful, merry Christmas.🙏⛪️🙏

9 services, spread across 7 rural parishes, each missing a celebrant or a preacher or both cuz measles/Covid/M23. Added up to 355km. 1 tire change (jagged lava), had to dig myself out of mud just twice, 2 bullet holes this year. A really good day, but I think I’ll lie down now.👍

Past few yrs I’ve done sort of a circuit rider thing on Christmas Day, moving from rural parish to parish filling in for absent clergy. 5 is easy; last yr I did 6; this yr I committed to 7 and that was probably 1 too many. Got them all done, but it was a really close run thing.

DRC: Why Ituri province’s war-displaced fear a UN peacekeeper pullout thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2…

Adrenaline high kept me awake after I got home last night, so to pass the time I went ahead and made the apple pie I was going to do later today. Early start on my own Feast of St Stephen. If you stop by you’re welcome to a slice.🍎🥧🍏

If it is your practice, please pray for the repose of the immortal soul of James Earl Carter Jr, 39th President of the United States. Remarkable life, superbly lived. May he rest in peace. He will most certainly rise in glory.

Usually make these for Christmas, but just didn’t have time this year. So I’ve done 6 tins for the New Year. Everybody from the Archbishop on down has let it be known that they’re expected (if I know what’s good for me). Only soaked in bourbon for four days, but that should do.👍

Eastern Congo is as wretched as ever economist.com/middle-east-an…

DR Congo conflict displaces more than 100,000 people in a week voanews.com/a/dr-congo-con…

Garber installed as Harvard’s 31st president news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

Still here. Plenty of work to do. Not leaving. A rebel group is advancing on eastern Congo's largest city and over 100,000 people have fled apnews.com/article/congo-…

Out in the streets here most of the day, but still time to remind you that today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. So remember.

Things have gotten pretty bad here pretty quickly. Worst I’ve seen since Bangui ten or so years ago. Many deaths, many serious injuries, many wounded with injuries typical of modern small arms fire. Looting of essential supplies. Lots to do.

This is a fine summary of the broader ramifications of what’s happening here: Risk of Regional Conflict Following Fall of Goma and M23 Offensive in the DRC africacenter.org/spotlight/risk…

So sorry to hear of the death of Bill Moyers a few days ago. Extraordinary person. Given all the achievements of his remarkable lifetime it’s often forgotten that he was an alumnus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary back when a SBTS degree actually meant something.

I’ve been out of circulation for several months because of certain aspects of ongoing conditions in Goma. I’ll try posting here a little bit again. Maybe some of my old friends here will also come find me on the other platform.

To anyone with functioning eyes this has been obvious for years: Exclusive: Rwanda exercises command and control over M23 rebels, say UN experts reuters.com/world/africa/r…

M23 rebels killed 319 civilians in east Congo in July, reuters.com/world/africa/m…

M23 rebels commit widespread abuses in DR Congo’s Goma thenewhumanitarian.org/investigations…