LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
LWI news online: www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html
Staff Changes in the LWF Department for World Service - Waddell Is DWS Consultant for Resource Mobilization - Lejebo Heads New DWS Program in Sudan - Kamstra Is the New LWF Representative in Burundi - Wijmans Moves from Mozambique to Lead Kenyan Program - Mutamba Heads Mozambican Program - Raulo Succeeds Kuehn in Caribbean and Haiti - Update on LWF/DWS Operations in Chad - Local NGO to Replace Ecumenical Consortium in Sudan - General Secretary Affirms Minority Churches Contribution to
LWF
- Building Bridges in Faith - Geneva Lutheran Church Marks 300 Years - ELCA, EKD Leaders Sign Bilateral Agreement - LWF Youth at Orthodox Event Stress Dialogue for Ecumenical Growth * * * Waddell Is DWS Consultant for Resource Mobilization
Mr Robert (Bobby) W. Waddell is the new Consultant for Resource Mobilization at the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) Geneva offices. Waddell, 47, of British nationality, assumed his new responsibilities early August 2007.
Waddell's 21-year working experience with the LWF/DWS includes heading the Nairobi-based Kenya/Sudan country program as LWF representative from 2000 until June this year. He managed a staff team that also strategically positioned the new DWS operations in South Sudan to re-establish a country program as of late 2007.
As the World Service resource mobilization consultant, he is responsible for ensuring that effective fund raising mechanisms are established at global, regional and program level.
Full article at:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2116.EN.html
* * *
Lejebo Heads New DWS Program in Sudan
Dr Messeret Lejebo Madebo is the first LWF/DWS representative for the new country program in Sudan. Lejebo, 47, of Ethiopian and German nationalities, assumed his new position on 1 September 2007.
Before joining the LWF, Lejebo was program advisor for one-and-a-half years with SudanAid, the relief and development department of the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference. From 2003 to 2005, he worked with a consultancy firm, Initiatives and Promotions International, in Ingelheim, Germany, with responsibility for training and program design, among other tasks.
His 17-years' employment with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) included responsibility for policy-related issues on emergency relief, community development and capacity building in Ethiopia.
The DWS country program is based in the southern town of Torit, near Juba. Its main objective is to facilitate the smooth reintegration of returnees to their home areas.
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2113.EN.html
* * *
Kamstra Is the New LWF Representative in Burundi
Effective 1 October 2007, Mr Jesse Klaas H. Kamstra is the LWF/DWS representative for the recently established program in Burundi. Before taking up his new position, the 38-year-old Dutch citizen worked for 11 years with the Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service (TCRS), the DWS associate program in Tanzania.
Prior to his new position, Kamstra was the TCRS refugee program coordinator for the western district of Kibondo since 2001. The groundwork to set up the Bujumbura-based LWF/DWS program office began in 2006, in close cooperation with the local ecumenical partner, National Council of Churches of Burundi (CNEB).
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2112.EN.html
* * *
Wijmans Moves from Mozambique to Lead Kenyan Program
Mr Philip Wijmans, who led the LWF/DWS Mozambique country program from 1999 to mid-2007, moved to the Kenya program as country representative effective August 2007.
The 59-year-old Dutch citizen had served as DWS representative in Cambodia, 1994 to 1998, and in Swaziland, 1991 to 1994.
Full article at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2118.EN.html
* *
*
Mutamba Heads Mozambican Program
Effective 1 October 2007, Mr Jean L. Mutamba is the LWF/DWS representative in Mozambique. A Swiss national, Mutamba, 57, has worked in the humanitarian and development fields for the last 30 years, with postings in 12 African countries.
Prior to his current position with DWS, he worked with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) as a program officer seconded to the World Food Program in Guinea (Conakry) in 2006.
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2120.EN.html
* * * Raulo Succeeds Kuehn in Caribbean and Haiti
Ms Sylvia T. Raulo is the new LWF/DWS representative for the Caribbean and Haiti program. Raulo, 46, began her new job on 1 September 2007, taking over from Mr Michael Kuehn who had led the program from 1999 to early 2007.
Before taking up the Port-au-Prince-based post, Raulo, from Finland, had worked for 16 years with FinnChurchAid (FCA), the relief and development agency of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF).
Full article at:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2115.EN.html
* * *
Update on LWF/DWS Operations in Chad
The LWF Department for World Service (DWS) has intensified its response to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Chad. The decision to start operations there followed the May/June 2007 Action by Churches Together (ACT) International joint assessment mission. The IDPs mainly include people who fled cross-border violence spilling over from Darfur, western Sudan.
From its operational base in Koukou, DWS intervention includes
site planning, community services, protection, psychosocial support. As the June-September rainy season ended, the Koukou evacuation site was relocated to Habile 1, with vulnerable individuals and female-headed households receiving additional support. But the flood-prone site at Habile 3 remains a major concern, to which alternative relocations are being considered.
Since the beginning of October, a team comprising a water and sanitation engineer has been in the country carrying out further assessments into the scope of the ACT teams work in eastern Chad. A revised ACT appeal is expected in early November.
The Chad operations are headed by Dutch citizen Mr Jaap Aantjes, the regional supervisor for new DWS programs in East Africa.
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2108.EN.html
* * *
Local NGO to Replace Ecumenical Consortium in Sudan
The September 2007 board meeting of the Church Ecumenical Action in Sudan (CEAS) agreed the dissolution of the present CEAS consortium comprising Caritas Internationalis, the Lutheran World Federation, Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), New Sudan Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2109.EN.html
* * *
General Secretary Affirms Minority Churchesâ Contribution to LWF
During a mid-August meeting in Geneva with visiting heads of churches in minority contexts in Europe, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) underscored their important contribution of human and theological resources to the LWF's work.
Three days of sharing and dialogue among the five heads of LWF member churches in Central Western Europe - from the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Slovak Republic and Switzerland - and Geneva secretariat staff focused mainly on the challenges of being in communion amidst contemporary challenges.
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2111.EN.html
* * *
"Building Bridges in Faith" - Geneva Lutheran Church Marks 300 Years
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva (ELCG) celebrated "300 years of Lutherans worshipping in Geneva" with commemorations in late August and early September. The highlight of the two-week festivities marking the oldest foreign-founded church in Geneva was a ceremonial act on 28 August, precisely 300 years after Lutherans held their first worship service in Geneva in 1707. The previous weekend, an international celebratory worship was held in Geneva's Reformed Madeleine Church, after which participants joined hands to build a âhuman bridgeâ extending to the nearby Lutheran church. This was followed by a large street party where all residents of Geneva were welcomed. More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2107.EN.html
* * *
Bilateral Agreement Between ELCA, EKD Leaders
ELCA, EKD Leaders Sign Bilateral Agreement Top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) signed an agreement that commits the churches to mutual exchange of information and provides assistance and care for English-speaking Lutheran congregations in Germany and German-speaking congregations in the United States.
Signed in Chicago on 24 September, the agreement also provides for mutual exchange of pastors, (EKD) deacons, (ELCA) diaconal ministers and Christian education teachers. It becomes effective on 1 January 2008.
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2110.EN.html
* * *
LWF Youth at Orthodox Event Stress Dialogue for Ecumenical Growth
Two young adults representing the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at the 2007 Second International Orthodox Youth Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, stressed dialogue between Christian youth contributes significantly to the growth of ecumenism.
Ms Yegnawoin Ebebe Kebede, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, said she experienced the "motivation of the Orthodox youth to uphold their [faith] tradition while at the same time being ready to dialogue with other Christian confessions."
More at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2114.EN.html
* * *
(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of nearly 66.7 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith 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 LWF's information service. 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.]
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION P. O. Box 2100 CH-1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland
Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69 Fax: +41/22-791 66 30 Editors E-Mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
WCC ID:
nJoBWU5exi1qWrutF9UPe3zxFO1kvkS1uXQ4WDHV1NjMpf3OQUc2W1yD9KlKiEs