wfn.org | LWF President, General Secretary Visit Member Churches in West

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

LWF President, General Secretary Visit Member Churches in West Africa
LWF Delegation Affirms Solidarity with Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone

GENEVA, 10 February 2005 (LWI) * A high-level delegation of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) led by LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson and LWF
General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, is visiting Liberia, Nigeria and
Sierra Leone, February 10-17, to meet with LWF member representatives
there, their ecumenical partners, and political leaders.

Their visit, aimed at strengthening expression of the identity of the
Lutheran communion in West Africa, is an opportunity for the LWF president
and general secretary to bear witness to the experiences and challenges of
the region’s member churches.

On the delegation’s first stop, Nigeria, the challenges, difficulties
and new opportunities for the region will be presented during a seminar of
the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa, with a major focus on HIV/AIDS.
The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, and Lutheran Church of Nigeria,
will host a joint festive worship service attended by representatives of
other denominations and leaders of the LWF member churches in Liberia and
Sierra Leone. The delegation will also meet with local government
officials.

Liberia and Sierra Leone have experienced long periods of internal strife
and violence in the wake of civil war in the 1990s. The LWF continues
active engagement in peace building and overall development efforts in
both countries.

In Liberia, the LWF delegation hosted by the Lutheran Church in Liberia,
will, among other activities, meet with staff of the LWF Department for
World Service (DWS) program there, and with staff of the Phebe Hospital,
which was built in 1921 with Lutheran support, but was extensively damaged
and looted during the fighting. A major highlight of the visit will be
Hanson’s and Noko’s reopening of the recently-reconstructed hospital.

In Sierra Leone, the delegation will meet with officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone, representatives of the Inter-Religious
Council of Sierra Leone, and officials of the HIV/AIDS National Secretariat..

Throughout their visit, the president and general secretary will reaffirm
the solidarity of the global Lutheran communion with the people of Liberia
and Sierra Leone who have suffered war, and assure continued support.

The visit to this region also will be an opportunity for the LWF leaders
to reflect on the 50th anniversary celebrations of the All Africa Lutheran
Consultation planned for the latter half of this year. (396 words)

(By Julia Heyde, youth intern, LWF Office for Communication Services.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 65 million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches
in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations,
theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the
various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is
located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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