November 27, 2003
By Val Pauquet AACC

Yaounde, Cameroon - Taking on the significant role of World Council of Churches General Secretary in January 2004 presents enormous challenges for Dr. Samuel Kobia.

A priority that has been endorsed over and over again at the All Africa Conference of Churches 8th Assembly, meeting here, is the pressing issue of violence which continues to affect not only Africa, but the world.

Dr. Kobia said the WCC's program to overcome violence intends to provide leadership as well as a basis for networking between countries that have been successful in their own context of stemming violence.

He cites the example of a project undertaken by churches in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., where two rival gangs pursued each other into a church service and one member was shot dead in front of shocked parishioners. As a result the congregation resolved to take charge of the street themselves. Ministers went into the ghettos and talked to members of the community and provided them with conflict resolutions skills for the community.

Utilizing the Urban Rural Mission Programme in Senegal, both Christians and Muslims have been working together to resolve the conflict in Southern Senegal, which was threatening to tear apart two communities. They sat down with the leadership in both communities to agree to pursue dialogue rather than fighting.

"It is vital to teach conflict resolutions skills to young people at an early age. Therein lies the solution," Dr. Kobia says.

The WCC's program to overcome violence was a direct response to problems brought to the WCC by South Africa.

"It was Bishop Stanley Mogoba during a service in Johannesburg who challenged the WCC to accompany South Africa on such a program," he said. "When a Methodist Church in Durban was burned down, Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists who had been working together, took the initiative and used the charred wood as a cross, symbolising the self- destruction of communities. For Christians, this was a powerful image of the death and resurrection of Christ."

That a solution needs to be found soon to the violence and intimidation that continues unabated in Zimbabwe, Dr. Kobia is only too aware. While he appeared to be reticent about specifics, it is obvious from what he did reveal that the WCC is seriously engaged in addressing the issue.

The WCC has been in contact with the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and has reached a point, he says, that makes it absolutely essential for churches to come out boldly and say that the situation can no longer be tolerated.

"It is risky and takes courage, but it is a gospel imperative. They will have to stand up as the churches did in South Africa to overcome Apartheid," he said.

The WCC has also written to the Minister of Justice to express concern for the lawlessness and disregard for law and order, even naming people who can identify their tormentors and ask that they be dealt with.

In the weeks and months ahead, he said, the WCC will engage on behalf of the ecumenical movement in serious consultations with the Zimbabwe Council of churches and other ecumenical bodies to express their readiness to search for a just solution.

This, he said, lies in the Government of Zimbabwe accepting to respect the wishes of the Zimbabwean people, which means dealing with the elections, which have not been free and fair. It will mean giving the Zimbabwe people the right to choose their own leaders, a process that will have to be monitored by international bodies. Christian in neighboring countries should also show their solidarity by monitoring such a process.

"I am aware of and clearly appreciate the urgency and for that reason I have been consulting here with the General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and also with Bishop Sebastian Bokare," Dr. Kobia said. "They have assured us that initiatives have been taken to promote dialogue between the MDC and the government. It is happening now as we speak and is a process which is likely to take weeks and not months," he said.

NCCC News Service