wfn.org | Liberian Leader Thanks US Churches in NY Meeting

["Ann Walle" <awalle@churchworldservice.org>]

HEADLINE:

Liberian Leader Thanks US Churches; Hails His Nation's Continued Resilience

By Chris Herlinger

NEW YORK -- "Keep praying for us. That's what's carried us so far."

With that, Gyude Bryant, the chairman of Liberia's interim government,
thanked U.S. church leaders and representatives Thursday (Feb. 5) for their
continued support as the west African nation continues to rebuild after more
than a decade of civil war.

Bryant, a long-time lay leader of Liberia's Episcopal Church, is in New York
for a meeting of international donors at the United Nations that he hopes
will raise $500 million in assistance to Liberia.

Bryant's words of greetings and thanks - laced with the evocative religious
language that is a trademark of Liberian society and culture -- signaled the
continued importance of moral and financial support by U.S. churches in
Liberia's long-term rebuilding and reconstruction efforts.

Though he underlined the seriousness of Liberia's continued humanitarian
problems, Bryant expressed optimism about the long-term resilience of the
Liberian people. Noting the widespread looting that spared no class or
station, Bryant said: "One thing they did not take away was our resilience or
strength."

Bryant also pointed to progress made since he took over the reins of the
two-year interim government, which will hold office until 2006, shortly after
planned national elections in 2005.

Among progress the government has made, he said, is in a wide-spread
disarmament program that has already netted an astonishing 2,000 AK-47
rifles; the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by a
fellow Episcopal leader, the Rev. Canon Burgess Carr; and lowering the prices
of such essentials as rice and gasoline.

"Chairman Bryant's message resonated deeply because he sees the church as a
strong link between the peoples of Liberia and the United States," said the
Rev. John L. McCullough, executive director of Church World Service and one
of the U.S. church leaders who attended the event, held at New York's
Episcopal Church Center.

"His visit to the United States and his words of hope underline the continued
attention we in the United States need to pay to Liberia and to west Africa,"
said McCullough. "Aside from his thanks, Chairman Bryant is saying, 'Don't
forget Liberia. Don't forget west Africa.' "

McCullough led an eight-member ecumenical delegation to four west African
countries in July 2002 in response to calls from African church leaders who
were trying to mediate a comprehensive peace settlement in the region. 

This was one of many efforts CWS has initiated and supported to help secure
peace in west Africa; in January, CWS sponsored its first Seminars in Trauma
Awareness and Recovery (STAR) outside of the United States in Freetown,
Sierra Leone. The trauma counseling training seminar included participants
from Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

In the initial weeks after the end of Liberia's civil war in 2003, CWS also
provided $200,000 worth of material goods - including blankets, food, medical
supplies and CWS "Gift of the Heart" Health and School Kits - to the Liberian
Council of Churches (LCC and two LCC members, the Concerned Christian
Community (CCC) and the Liberian YMCA. 

Among the other representatives at the Feb. 5 meeting were Victor Hsu, CWS
Senior Advisor, and the Rev. Canon J. Patrick Mauney, former chair of the CWS
Board of Directors.

end text
[Photo available of Gyude Bryant and John McCullough]

FOR INFORMATION: Ann Walle, Church World Service, 212 870 2654
awalle@churchworldservice.org 

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