wfn.org | Liberian bishop returns

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3237 notes).

Note 3236 by UMNS on Oct. 16, 1996 at 15:54 Eastern (3422 characters).

SEARCH: Liberia, United Methodist
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                      522(10-21-31-71B){3236}
          New York (212)870-3803                     Oct. 16, 1996

With new peace, Liberian
bishop returns to his country

     NEW YORK (UMNS) -- With renewed hopes for peace, the United
Methodist bishop of Liberia is re-establishing his office in that
African country.
     Bishop Arthur Kulah and his family left their home in the
capital city of Monrovia in April after fighting erupted between
government soldiers and members of one of the rebel factions.
Liberia has suffered through death and devastation since a civil
war began in December, 1989.
     Now, with another ceasefire agreement in place and a new
transitional leader -- Ruth Sando Perry, the first female head of
state in Africa -- Kulah plans to stay, although his family
currently remains in the Ivory Coast.
     "We Liberians are a very hopeful people ... even though we
have been let down many times," Kulah said during an Oct. 15
interview. A new director with the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries, he was attending its annual meeting here.
     Upon his return to Monrovia in September, the bishop found
his residence basically intact, but his office thoroughly looted.
"Everything they could carry they took," he said.
     United Methodist schools also were stripped bare. "There are
no chairs, no desks, not even chalkboards to write on," he added.
     But Kulah's primary concern is not equipment or furnishings
but keeping people -- church members included -- alive. "People
are so hungry, many are dying of starvation," he said.
     Shelter also is a major concern. Among the congregation at
J.J. Powell United Methodist Church, for example -- one of 27
local churches in the Monrovia area -- 35 members lost their
homes.
     The bishop attributes his renewed hope for peace to several
factors, including the plain fact that people are tired of the
fighting. He believes continued pressure from the international
community, such as the threat of establishing a war crimes
tribunal for Liberia, will exert influence.
     "The U.S. government is taking a very decisive stand to ban
the warlords and their families and supporters from coming to the
United States," he said as another example of that pressure.
     The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) now has
several representatives back in Liberia, according to F. Lloyd
Rollins, UMCOR's assistant general secretary for emergency
response. Its regional office, however, will remain in Sierra
Leone until Liberia becomes more stabilized, he said.
     UMCOR has joined with other nongovernmental organizations in
asking for guarantees from the transitional government before
relief operations are re-established in the country. "The April
incident ... cost the relief community literally millions and
millions of dollars," Rollins explained.
     In the meantime, several United Methodist annual (regional)
conferences in the United States have given emergency grants to
allow the Liberian church to purchase food, according to Kulah.
     All donations for the crisis in Liberia can be channeled
through UMCOR Advance No. 150300-7.
                              #  #  #

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