Chairman's Letter
Dear Friends and fellow pray-ers for the Congo,
The news media have a great facility for focusing on trouble spots for a brief while. Then they lose interest and attention shifts elsewhere. When the Congo civil war raged there was daily news. Now it has settled to a steady stalemate, and other theatres of action are much more interesting.
But for us it is different. The life of the church goes on. The mission of Jesus and our part in it goes on in the Congo. Our task, responsibility and joy is to support in every way, not least in our prayers.
Since our last letter went out there have been huge changes for the church, and indeed for the Association. The Diocese of Kisangani has lost both its assistant bishop in Kinshasa, Rt Revd Mavatikwa Kany, and very recently, we heard news of the death of Rt Revd Tibafa Mugera, the Bishop of Kisangani and Dean of the Province. Sadly, Bishop Tibafa, the longest serving of the bishops in PEAC, and well-known to many friends from his visits to Britain, was on the point of retirement when he fell ill for the last time. Bishop Tibafa was a pastor at heart, and had trained for the ministry in Uganda, serving with distinction in the Boga diocese before being elected the first Bishop of Kisangani. We send our condolences particularly to Mme Edreda Tibafa, and to his family.
Bishop Tibafa is to be succeeded as Bishop of the diocese by Rt Revd Funga Botolome. Bishop Funga is a graduate of the ISThA, and has served for a number of years as the Diocesan Secretary for Kisangani diocese. Bishop Mavatikwa's place in Kinshasa has been filled in a temporary fashion by the Bishop of Katanga, Rt Revd Isingoma Kahwa. Bishop Isingoma has been unable for security reasons to return to Lubumbashi permanently, and in accepting the Archbishop's invitation to go to Kinshasa he is working to forward the preparation of a new diocese based round the capital. In this he builds on the work begun by Bishop Mavatikwa.
For the Association the greatest sadness in recent months has been the death of Bishop Philip Ridsdale. You will read elswhere in this newsletter of Philip's ministry. However let me say here that very many of us will miss his loving, self-deprecating presence at the Association's meetings. even more we will miss his wisdom and his experience. It is true that if Apolo Kivebulaya was the Peter of the church in the Congo then Philip was in some senses its Paul - it was under him that the great expansion of the church took place. Or perhaps better he was its Barnabas, its great encourager. He will be sorely missed, and we send Lucy Ridsdale our sincere condolences in her loss.
Philip Ridsdale was one of the Patrons of the Association. The other was the former Archbishop of Uganda, Leslie Brown, who also died earlier this year. This left the Association patronless. We are very pleased to announce that the present Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, has agreed to become our Patron. We are most grateful to him for his support for the Association and our work in support of brothers and sisters in the Congo. News from there you will find within. Please, please, above all pray for the peace and security of that land and for the growth and health of the Christ's kingdom in and through the Anglican church there.
With best wishes,
Jeremy Pemberton
Chairman.