wfn.org | Tensions don't stop East African churches

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 12, 1999	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-31-71B{135}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Ethnic tensions and economic woes have not halted United
Methodist church growth in East Africa.

But such tensions have prevented visits to fledgling congregations in the
Sudan, according to United Methodist Bishop Forrest Stith, currently on
special assignment for the East Africa Annual Conference. He spoke at a
March 9 briefing to United Methodist Board of Global Ministries staff.

"On two or three occasions, I have tried to get in (to Sudan) and have been
refused for security reasons," he said. 

Although Stith was not allowed to cross the border from Uganda into southern
Sudan, Sudanese members have  been able to cross for meetings in Uganda.
Stith said he might try to enter the country by flying into north Sudan and
then traveling south.

The United Methodist Church of Sudan, officially organized in 1996, has
about 3,000 members in the southern part of the country, near the border
with Uganda. Many live in or near refugee camps and have basic needs for
food, water, housing and church buildings. The drawn-out civil war between
Muslim Arabs in the north and African Christians and animists in the south
continues, as well as the death and starvation in southern Sudan.

In Kenya, the United Methodist Church continues to assist refugees from
Burundi and Rwanda. "They come by the thousands into Kenya with very little
support," Stith explained, adding that refugees have little chance of
finding work there. "The economy of Kenya is very, very bad, and what jobs
are available - at $100 a month for teachers and policemen - go to Kenyans."

United Methodists have established a hospitality center and school for
refugees, staffed with volunteer teachers.

United Methodists in Rwanda also have established two new schools, one in
Gisenyi, a city on the border of Rwanda and the Congo, and one just outside
the city. The government has been persuaded to provide lunch for the
schoolchildren, the bishop said.

Despite the uncertain political climate in Rwanda, the church continues to
grow. Stith estimated that the current United Methodist membership is about
30,000. "The ethnic tensions are still present," Stith said, "but it's
exciting what's going on there."

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