wfn.org | Telephone call with Burundi Bishop

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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 (2914 notes).

Note 2914 by SUSAN PEEK on April 25, 1996 at 14:45 Eastern (1622 characters).

SEARCH: telephone, refugee, civil war, Burundi, General
Conference, United Methodist

052  {2916}                                         April 25, 1996

General Conference '96

General Conference delegates talk 
to exiled bishop by telephone

     DENVER (UMNS) -- A dramatic telephone call linked the 998
General Conference delegates here April 25 with United Methodist
Bishop J. Alfred Ndoricimpa, who was denied an entry visa to
attend the conference by the U.S. State Department. 

     Ndoricimpa, bishop of Eastern/Central Africa -- Burundi
Annual Conference, was reportedly accused of running arms by the
U.S. government. When the conference communicated with him, he was
in Nairobi, Kenya.

     Bishop Dan Solomon of Oklahoma City, president of the Board
of Global Ministries' World Division, issued a "profound apology"
to the Burundian Bishop for the denial of a visa preventing him
from being with the worldwide congregation here.

     Delegates asked the bishop questions about the condition of
Burundian refugees, the type of assistance needed to alleviate
their suffering and the condition of the church there.

     Responding to Lamark Cox, a lay delegate from Liberia, the
bishop said conditions in Burundi are similar to Liberia today.
"The people in power in Burundi are a minority group," he said.
"It is similar to the group in control of Liberia." 

     "Our churches are growing," Ndorcimpa said. "God has been
taking care of our people."
                               # # #
                                                    -- Linda Green
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