wfn.org | Zaire Meeting Planned

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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 (3445 notes).

Note 3444 by UMNS on Feb. 19, 1997 at 15:29 Eastern (2387 characters).

SEARCH: Zaire, United Methodist, missionaries, Lubumbashi        

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the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                          90(10-21-71B){3444}
New York (212) 870-3803                              Feb. 19, 1997

Mission board sets meeting
with Zaire bishops, missionaries

                    by United Methodist News Service

     A United Methodist Board of Global Ministries executive plans
to leave Feb. 20 for Zaire to meet with the denomination's bishops
and missionaries there.
     The Rev. John McCullough, associate general secretary for
mission personnel, said the meeting in Lubumbashi will focus on a
discussion of the civil conflict in Zaire and the development of
"any contingency plans that need to be made [for evacuation]."
     United Methodist bishops in Zaire are Bishop Onema Fama of
Central Zaire; Bishop Ntambu Nkulu Ntanda of North Shaba and
Bishop Katembo Kainda of Southern Zaire.
     Board officials originally had announced on Feb. 11 their
intention to evacuate all missionaries in Zaire. But only those
based in North Shaba have left. "That is the affected area as far
as the civil conflict is concerned," McCullough added.
     He said he intends to meet in Zambia with the missionaries
who evacuated earlier in the month.
     McCullough explained it was decided later that the remaining
16 missionaries were under "no unusual risk" at this time, noting
that Zaire "is an enormous area. What's going on in the eastern
corridor is far distant from what's going on in the western part
of the country."
     Even if a complete evacuation eventually occurs, the Board of
Global Ministries will maintain its commitments there.
"Ultimately, our concern is about the ministry and mission in
Zaire progressing," he stressed.
     United Methodist personnel were removed from Zaire's eastern
corridor last fall as rebels began their assault. On Feb. 17,
Zairian military jets bombed the rebel-held city of Bukavu, where
United Methodists have a 300-member "storefront church" and a
medical clinic currently operating on a skeletal staff. "At this
point, we have no reliable sources of information from Bukavu,"
McCullough said.
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