wfn.org | United Methodists dedicate orphanage in Congo

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Sept. 18, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-31-71B{419}

NOTE:  Photo available for use with this story. 

By United Methodist News Service

United Methodists are building an orphanage in Kinshasa, the capital city of
the Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of a commitment to African
children.

The building, which should be completed by November or December, is the
first to be dedicated under a special appeal, "Hope for the Children of
Africa." The cost of the orphanage is $225,000.

Clyde Anderson, a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries executive, was
present at the Aug. 23 dedication, along with about 300 spectators and three
representatives of the cabinet of Congo President Laurent Kabila.

"The strongest message I heard from each of them was that President Kabila
was overwhelmed by the response of the United Methodist Church," Anderson
said, adding that the denomination also operates schools and health centers
in Congo.

The government officials also praised the church's efforts in restoring
peace and bringing reconciliation and expressed support for a "ministry of
mutuality" between the government and the church, he said.

Although a peace accord was signed in August 1999, violence has surged again
in some parts of the country, according to a Sept. 18 article in the New
York Times, with the number of refugees increasing rapidly.

"The war still exists," Anderson said. "The only two safe places you can go
in the Congo right now are Lubumbashi and Kinshasa."

Kinshasa, which had a population of about 6 million before the war, is now
at the bursting point with 11 million. Children, in particular, are dying of
AIDS, malaria, cholera and typhoid.

More than 250 children eventually will live at the new orphanage, which will
be run by the church, he said. The first group to move in will include 50
children who have parents unable to care for them; 50 children who have lost
their parents to war; and 50 children who have lost their parents to other
causes, such as disease.

While in the Kinshasa area, Anderson visited a refugee center holding more
than 1,000 people in Changa Changa, a nearby village. The center consists of
five warehouse-type buildings where families have created makeshift living
quarters on raised cement slabs. Disease is so rampant that staff at a tent
hospital treat 100 patients a day. A mass grave lies only 500 feet from that
hospital. "On a daily basis, they carry folks to that grave," he reported.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) provides nutritional meals
at Changa Changa for more than 500 children each day, according to Anderson.
"These children walk for miles because they know they're going to get a meal
when they get there," he added.

While no United Methodist church building exists in the village, there is a
meeting place for worship.

In another village, Socrita, UMCOR has established an office and nutrition
center, where another 500 to 600 children receive a daily hot meal.

Besides better nutrition, there is an urgent need for more health care
facilities in Congo. Unless that need is attended to, Anderson declared,
"We're going to be losing a generation very rapidly." 

The United Methodist Council of Bishops established its appeal, "Hope for
the Children of Africa," as a way of "rebuilding the church in Africa and
renewing and restoring spiritual and material ministries for children." The
council hopes to raise $12 million through the appeal.

United Methodists can make donations by placing a check, earmarked Bishops'
Appeal: Advance No. 101000-4, in church collection plates or by mail to The
Advance, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1400, New York, NY 10115. . More
information also is available on the Web at http://gbgm-umc.org/hope/.
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United Methodist News Service
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