Stephan Bauman, former Madison resident and graduate of the University of Wisconsin as well as President and CEO of World Relief, has just ridden a bicycle across the U.S. in seven days, as part of a team of riders drawing attention to the desperate conditions in the Congo.
Stephan was named president of World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, earlier in 2011. Stephan was called to the mission field almost 20 years ago, while living and working in Madison and attending Madison Gospel Tabernacle (which has since changed names to Lake City Church and then City Church).
Prior to joining World Relief Stephan worked with World Hope International, and before that with Mercy Ships International.
Conditions in eastern Africa are going from bad to worse, as the drought spreads famine and Al Qaeda-linked guerillas in Somalia wage war on Christian relief efforts. But Congo is its own unique case. As World Relief reports: “Over the past eleven years, an ongoing civil war in Congo has claimed the lives of more than five million people and led to the displacement of millions more.” Displacement and sexual violence have torn apart the fabric of the country.
Stephan writes about the conditions in the Congo and the reasons behind the ambitious bicycle rideat his blog.
The Great Race
“Today someone used the word audacious in describing our ride,” he wrote. “Audacious, perhaps, but not nearly as audacious as the suffering in the Congo.”
The team of eight riders left Bend, Oregon, last Monday at 6:30pm. Riding in turns, non-stop, the Race for Congo arrived at the World Relief offices in Baltimore at about 6pm today, according to the race account.
The Race Reason
The bike ride aimed to raise funds to bring relief and hope to the Congo, where 45,000 people die each month, most from conditions that are preventable and easily treatable. The local church is one of the few remaining sources of stability in the deeply fractured country. World Relief works through local pastors to provide food, medicine, small business loans, and the gospel message of peace.
“When I first visited our staff in the Congo in 2005, I had no idea that a decade of conflict had claimed over 5.5 million lives, the worst loss of life since World War II,” Stephan wrote. “I was stunned to learn that nine out of ten women have been raped in Eastern DRC, giving it the name, ‘The Rape Capital of the World.'”
At another place on his blog Stephan wrote, “For those on the edge, hope is often the only thing worth living for. As one theologian puts it, ‘Christ is completely and utterly and entirely hope.'”