A United Methodist youth leader in the city of Beni came home from shopping on Aug. 13 to find members of his family and neighbors massacred in an attack blamed on the rebel Allied Democratic Forces, a group linked to Islamists in Uganda.
The group that attacked Beni, a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reportedly killed 60 people. A United Methodist pastor also reported two of his sisters were killed in the attack and said the number of dead was closer to 100.
The youth leader, whose name is being withheld for his protection, said he had tarried at his usual Saturday morning shopping and arrived home to find his family dead. Neighbors who heard the family being attacked came to help and were also killed.
“I tell you it is the grace of God that I am alive today. I could also be part of the list of the dead,” he said.
