wfn.org | FEATURE - Sierra Leone: 'Coping as an Emergency Church'

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

FEATURE
Sierra Leone: Coping as an 'Emergency Church'

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone/GENEVA, 11 May 2001 (LWI) - When the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sierra Leone (ELCSL) was officially
registered on 11 May 1988, it envisaged contribution to the
propagation of the Gospel as well as involvement in activities
that respond to the needs of the community in which it lives.

But then civil war broke out in the early 90s pitting Sierra
Leone's government forces against rebels led by the Revolutionary
United Front (RUF). Control of strategic diamond mining areas has
been central in the struggle that goes on to date. The insurgency
has brought mineral extraction and agricultural production to a
near standstill in a country with abundant natural resources
including minerals and large tracts of fertile land.

For the ELCSL like the rest of the local community, the last ten
years have been a period of unimaginable despair, unbearable loss
in human lives and property. Rev. Tom J. Barnett, the ELCSL
president, describes his home country as a challenging place for
the church. "So many lives have been senselessly lost and
countless people have been deeply scarred by this war."

The ELCSL initially had 21 congregations which have been reduced
to 15 with an estimated membership of 2,000. It joined the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 1990.

Barnett likens the Lutheran church to 'an emergency church', and
hastens to add this description is also valid for other churches
as well as mosques in Sierra Leone. "Since the fighting began,
churches have continuously responded to war-related concerns.
Worse still, they are direct victims of this conflict," he said.
In January 1997, the Lutheran church had just finished renovating
its secretariat in eastern Freetown when RUF rebels invaded the
center. They killed and beat up people residing there at the time,
raped women and girls and abducted some of them, carrying away
whatever they could before setting the buildings ablaze. The
gutted structures stand as a stark reminder of the incident.

Responding to people's needs is part of the church's holistic
mission, Barnett concedes. But in a war situation, "the community
relates emergency and relief to church so much so that the image
of church as a community of believers is somehow made less
visible." Moreover, when emergency persists, there is the danger
to be overwhelmed by it and lose sight of the church's long term
plans and their implementation.

Barnett acknowledges the solidarity shown by churches in other
countries. Commenting on the situation in the West African
country, Bishop Kevin S. Kanouse of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod,
a companion synod with the ELCSL, says of the Sierra Leonean
church: It is " a vital, vibrant, growing voice in the country. We
need to keep supporting the ELCSL in significant ways, for the
proclamation of the Good News there is more important than I have
ever seen anywhere else."

Kanouse who visited Sierra Leone during the ordination of the
ELCSL's first five pastors in 1996 says the country has
experienced some of the harshest human rights violations
imaginable in the past 10 years. On "the deeply reciprocal
relationship" between the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod
and the ELCSL, he singles out "prayer as the most important
spiritual gift shared. We are regularly in prayer for each other's
ministries and this gift is uplifted frequently in many
congregations throughout our synod." The synod has assisted the
ELCSL in other ways including training of lay evangelists and
provision of relief supplies.

During the war rebels raped, maimed and killed tens of thousands
of civilians. Some of the individuals who had their limbs
amputated are receiving special assistance from various local and
international organizations. At the Aberdeen Road Amputee Camp in
Freetown, the ELCSL with support from the ELCA and LWF offers
vocational training to amputees to enable them acquire new work
skills. It also conducts trauma counseling and a feeding program,
and provides worship service every Sunday evening. But, says
Barnett, relocating the amputees from Freetown would help put
emphasis on the national dimension of this problem.

Barnett speaks of the war's overall challenge to religious
leaders-Sierra Leone's five million people include 65 percent
Muslims and 30 percent Christians. There is increasing cooperation
among churches through the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone
(CCSL), to which belong most of the Protestant churches. Through
an ecumenical committee, the CCSL works with the Roman Catholic
Church in areas of common concern. Christians and Muslims jointly
advocate for peace through the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra
Leone (IRC-SL), a forum that was instrumental in bringing together
the rebels and government to a dialogue that eventually led to the
July 1999 Lome Peace Agreement.

Following an ELCSL request, the LWF Department for World Service
started activities in Sierra Leone in 2000 to support relief
operations of the Lutheran church within the CCSL framework.

Barnett admits there is immense anger among the aggrieved
population but admits "there is room for reconciliation. However
that depends on how much we succeed in helping people feel a sense
of justice."

He is cautiously optimistic about the peace process, given that
past pacts have been abandoned. Notwithstanding the prevailing
uncertainty, Barnett has hope that concerted international support
will help restore lasting peace to Sierra Leone.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 131 member churches in 72 countries representing over 60.2
million of the nearly 64 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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