Am I doing all that I that I can?

Rape Victims in Congo Raid Now More Than 240 - NY Times
Excerpts from this article are below. The full story can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/world/africa/03congo.html?ref=africa

The number of rape victims from a four-day rebel attack in eastern Congo a month ago has risen to more than 240 and will likely go higher, aid officials said Thursday.
[...]
On July 30, hundreds of members of Rwandan and Congolese rebel groups occupied villages in the Walikale region of North Kivu, assaulting their victims in groups of two to six.
Countering reports from the area that some victims were male infants, Mr. Trombatore said that all were female and that the youngest was 16 years old and the oldest 75.
[...]
Since the United Nations first publicly reported the mass rapes on Aug. 22, questions have arisen over how much the United Nations knew about the attacks as they were under way.
United Nations officials have said the peacekeepers did not know about the rapes until Aug. 12.
But a leaked United Nations e-mail dated July 30 shows that officials there were aware that the rebels had taken over one of the villages and raped one woman within the first day of the attack. By Aug. 10, the United Nations was aware that at least 25 women had been raped, according to another United Nations bulletin, published online.

They knew. And yet they still didn't act. They knew one woman had been harmed and villages taken over. But they told others to stay away. And they didn't try to stop it or to help.

How often do we, do I, act in a similar way, with other things? Knowing someone is in need, seeing them in their pain, their struggle... Yet there I am, frozen. Unwilling or unsympathetic to move. Afraid of what I might find or might I might have to give up, in order to help someone else.

Ah Lord, that my heart would break for the things that break yours. And that I would act in response to the brokenness that I see and that I know about. Even if it's in a small way, but the best I can manage. I should not remain silent. I must act.