Rowan Watch (ABC): ‘We need your vision’ Williams tells Congolese and Kenyans

 http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=115027

‘We need your vision’ Williams tells Congolese and Kenyans

by Ed Beavan

Biretta action: Dr Williams with (left to right): the Assistant Bishop of Kinshasa, the Rt Revd Molanga Botola; the Bishop of Kisangani, the Rt Revd Funga Botolome; and the Bishop of Aru, the Rt Revd George Titre Ande LAMBETH PALACE

THE Archbishop of Canterbury returned to the UK on Monday, after a ten-day visit to Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); he described the work of the Anglican Church in both countries as “inspiring”. Dr Williams started the trip in Kenya, where he joined the Arch­bishop of the province, Dr Eliud Wabukala, in a eucharist to celebrate the 50th annivers­ary of the diocese of Nakuru. In his sermon at the service, Dr Williams urged Christians to be courageous when facing opposition, and praised the courage of Chris­tians in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Pakis­tan, Egypt, and Sudan, who contin­ued to show “fearlessness in the face of terrible danger”. The two Archbishops also laid the foundation stone on the site of the first Anglican University in Kenya, at Kanyuambora. Dr Williams saw at first hand some of the transforming work being done by Holy Trinity, Kibera, which is situated in one of Africa’s largest slums. It has a population of 700,000, in an area of 600 acres. He toured several church initiatives there, including a tailoring project for vulnerable women and a chil­dren’s homework club. He described the work as “inspiring”. He also visited a sustainable-development project in a village in the diocese of Machakos, which has been set up in partnership with CMS Africa; it processes cow dung to create bio-gas. Dr Williams had a meeting with the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, and discussed the place of the Church in promoting community development. Both Archbishops described the visit as “a joyful and fruitful” exper­ience, which “had strengthened the historic fellowship between our two provinces”. After five days in Kenya, Dr Wil­liams flew on to the DRC for a pastoral visit. He arrived in Bunia in the north-east of the country, where he visited the AGAPE church or­ganisation, which helps to reunite with their families young men who had been taken from school to join the militia. In Boga, the birthplace of the Church of the Province of Congo, Dr Wil­liams took part in a celebration at St Apolo Cathedral, and heard the stories of pygmies who had been driven from their homes. He also met women who had been raped by the militia in the civil war, and heard how the Anglican Church in Congo has established an Asso­ciation of Women, working in col­lab­oration with the Mothers’ Union, to cam­paign against sexual violence and to offer practical help to sur­vivors. The Archbishop of Congo, the Rt Revd Henri Isingoma, described Dr Williams’s visit as “a historical occasion”. His wife, Musiga, said that it put Congo “on the map”, and helped to give the Church there a voice. Dr Williams said the work of the Anglican Church in Congo which he experienced was “intensely moving and inspiring. This is a Church which really makes a difference for the most damaged and vulnerable people, in a society emerging — still precariously — from a period of terrible collective trauma. They need encouragement and support — but we need their vision and compassion even more.” The British Ambassador to the DRC, Neil Wigan, accompanied the Archbishop. He praised the Anglican Church for its “amazing” work in the country, and said that, where “often the State has ceased to exist, the Church has still been there, provid­ing education and social services. “And the Church plays a role in reconciliation and standards in public life, encouraging politicians to behave and leaders to take their responsibilities seriously. The An­glican Church is very much part of that tradition.”