wfn.org | Zaire Missionaries to Evacuate

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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 (3428 notes).

Note 3428 by UMNS on Feb. 11, 1997 at 16:30 Eastern (2822 characters).

SEARCH: Zaire, United Methodist, missionaries, civil war,
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CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                          74(10-21-71B){3428}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    Feb. 11, 1997

Methodist missionaries
to evacuate from Zaire

     NEW YORK (UMNS) -- Because of the advancing civil war in
eastern Zaire, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries is
evacuating its missionary personnel from that African country.
     The evacuation was advised by the U.S. State Department,
according to Curtis Grund, assistant general secretary of the
board's mission personnel unit. He announced the withdrawal during
a Feb. 11 briefing on Zaire at the agency's headquarters here.
     Several missionary pilots already had left Zaire because of
threats that the Zairian army would confiscate their planes and
force the pilots to fly them for the army, according to Doreen
Tilghman, another board executive.
     In October, rebels invaded the border towns of eastern Zaire,
an area overflowing with refugees from Rwanda and Burundi.
Recently, with support from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, according
to the New York Times, they have advanced on separate fronts,
gaining strong footholds in four of the country's 11 provinces.
     Led by Laurent Desire Kabila, a longtime foe of Zaire
President Mobutu Sese Seko, the rebels are moving toward the major
cities of Kisangani and Lubumbashi.
     Tilghman said that Kabila has many sympathizers in the
mineral-rich Shaba Province who don't like being dictated to by
Mobutu from the far-off capital of Kinshasa. Zairians also fear
the ill-paid Zairian Army, known for widespread looting, she
added.
     As of Feb. 11, nine missionary couples and one individual
were preparing to leave Zaire. Based in Lubumbashi are Douglas and
Beth Gipe, Jeffrey and Ellen Hoover, Glenn and Roberta Hupprich
and Tom and Elizabeth Ryder. Based in Mulungwishi are David and
Lorene Persons and Vivian Woodyard.
     The others are Larry and Laura Hills, Kilwa; Fred and Lanie
Price, Licasi; Stephen and Gail Quigg, Kananga; and Paul and
Roxanne Webster, Musakatanda.
     Missionaries who had left Zaire previously are Stephen and
Deborah Wolford, Marvin and Jean Wolford and Gaston Nkulu Ntambo,
a Zairian person-in-mission, all currently in Ndola, Zambia, and
Kenneth and Deborah Vance, and John and Kendra Enright, currently
in Zimbabwe.
     Four missionary couples assigned to Zaire currently are on
leave in the United States. They are Delbert and Sandy Groves,
Donald and Joan Woodward, Dan and Crystal Hammond, and Tom and
Sharon Crowe.
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