wfn.org | Pastor sees Africa University as hope against further polarization

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

Sept. 14, 1999   Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71B{464}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - In a church fragmented by issues pitting liberals
against conservatives, a United Methodist pastor sees Africa University as
the key to decreasing the denomination's divisions.

"Africa University will bring the church together," the Rev. Kent Millard
told the Africa University Development Committee in a Sept. 10 keynote
address. Millard, pastor of St. Luke United Methodist Church in
Indianapolis, discussed how polarized the denomination has become. The
church needs something all people can focus on together, and Africa
University is the answer, he said.

"Everyone in our church, whether you are a liberal or conservative, whatever
they are, can focus on Africa University," he said. "People support Africa
University because it is seen as God's mission in this world." 

Millard described the school as the instrument God has provided to "hold us
together when there are many forces trying to pull us apart. Union does not
come by people looking at each other but by people looking together in the
same direction," he said. "If we look together in the same direction at
Africa University and see what God is calling us to do there, it may help us
hold together (despite) some of the other differences that separate us."

Africa University, in Mutare, Zimbabwe, is the only United Methodist-related
university on the continent. The school opened in 1992, and about 820
students from 17 African countries are enrolled. By the 2000 academic year,
enrollment is expected to be more than 900.  

Since 1988, United Methodist congregations have supported the school's
operations and development through an apportioned fund of $10 million every
four years. The university offers bachelor's degree programs in five
faculties, or departments -- agriculture and natural resources, education,
humanities and social sciences, management and administration, and theology.
Africa University also offers master's degrees in theological studies and
business administration. The school is expected to have at least seven
academic disciplines by the year 2004. An international planning committee
is studying the feasibility of establishing a school of medicine and
dentistry, and work is under way for a school of science and technology.

The 50-member development committee, established in 1993, works with the
Africa University Development Office in Nashville and with agencies of the
United Methodist Church to raise money for capital, endowment and
operational needs.

The unity that Millard described was reflected in many of the reports during
the development committee's Sept. 10-11 meeting. 

Millard highlighted the campaign by the South Indiana Annual (regional)
Conference to build two three-story residence halls on the university's
campus.  The North Indiana Annual Conference is constructing two three-story
dormitories that will be dedicated Nov. 13. Another is to be built by Ben
Hill United Methodist Church of Atlanta by 2002. Seven residence halls
currently house students at the university.

When the meeting turned to scholarships and endowments, the committee
learned that an anonymous donor has given $500,000 to endow a chair at the
university beginning Jan. 1, 2001. The donation is unique because it is
undesignated, and the donor wanted the vice chancellor, school President
Rukudzo Murapa, to designate how the gift will be used, said James Salley,
vice president for development.

Salley also reported that the United Nations will endow a chair in good
governance, honoring the work of Murapa. During the inaugural ceremonies for
Murapa last November, Thelma Awori, the assistant to United Nations
President Kofi Annan, described the need for continued work in the area of
governance and assisting countries to have appropriate management strategies
in place to govern on the continent. She announced recently that a good
governance chair will be based at the university. The United Nations Chair
on Good Governance in Africa is being funded by the United Nations
Development Project. The school currently has six endowed chairs.

The committee also learned that the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference is
the 12th conference to endow a scholarship for Africa University. Direct
scholarship support increased this academic year, and more than  $540,000 or
Z$21 billion has been given to 378 students to finance their education.

In other conference action, the South Carolina Annual Conference will launch
a $1.5 million yearlong campaign in June 2000 to build a facility for the
faculty of theology. 

Salley told committee members of the interest of corporations and
foundations that want to assist Africa University in achieving its threefold
mission of instruction, research and public service.

"By providing the kind of academic excellence that is relevant, other people
are interested in providing support to the continent and see Africa
University as a conduit to assist in the international effort of training
leaders for the future," Salley said.

He announced that the Kellogg Co. is providing the way for Africa University
to become a center for fertilizer development on the continent. The center
will be housed in the faculty of agriculture and natural resources. 

"The company was attracted to us because of the diversity within the student
body and faculty," Salley said. "The institution is truly moving in the area
of international development, and we are being true to our mission."

Another company, the Ford Foundation, gave the university $50,000 in August
to help with proposal development, which will better enable the foundation
to support programs in various academic areas.

Salley reported on the involvement of the Rockefeller Foundation, which has
funded research initiatives through the department of agriculture and
natural resources. He also highlighted corporations and foundations in the
United Kingdom and Canada that are considering investing in the work of the
university.

"By assisting us, these companies are saying that the institution is
providing the expertise necessary to change the face of Africa," Salley
said. 

"We don't exist to operation in a vacuum," he said. "We are an integral part
of the local community and the continent, and therefore we should provide
programs and services that lift the community and the continent. ...We want
to be a world-class institution."

Murapa's vision of establishing an office of outreach has drawn the
university out into the continent and has enhanced its capabilities to
recruit students and faculty, Salley said.

Committee members also learned that:
	*	a new staff person will be added to the development office
on Oct. 15;
	*	16 students from American University in Washington and
Kalamazoo (Mich.) College are enrolled at Africa University this year to
help begin an international exchange program.

The committee also heard: 
	*	tributes to longtime university benefactor Richard Reeves,
who died June 2;
	*	plans and strategies for General Conference, the top
lawmaking body of the church, which meets next May;
	*	a report on the Africa University Choir's summer tour in the
northeast;
	*	a presentation on planned giving by Rhonnie Hemphill of
Church World Service; and
	*	a report by Ann and Ed Wimberly about their experiences as
visiting professors at the university.

# # #

______________
United Methodist News Service
http://www.umc.org/umns/
newsdesk@umcom.umc.org
(615)742-5472