General Board of Global Ministries News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Connie Nelson
(404) 727-8880
United Methodist missionaries have returned to Lubumbashi, Zaire to resume the work of the church under the direction of Bishop Kainda Katembo, episcopal leader of the Southern Zaire Area.
The missionaries, along with other mission personnel in Zaire, had been relocated to Zambia after the March 15 takeover of the city of Kisangani by rebel forces. Those forces, led by Laurent Kabila, now control the entire country and have renamed it the Democratic Republic of Congo.
All General Board of Global Ministries mission personnel working in the DRC are confined to Lubumbashi because of potential danger in other parts of the country. The U.S.State Department already has advised all Americans to leave the country until the politicl situation there is more settled.
Lubumbashi, which is reported "calm", is located more than one thousand miles from Kinshasa, the capital city and seat of the new government-in-formation. It is reported that relatively little bloodshed accompanied the rebel takeover of Kinshasa, however some journalists on the scene have reported seeing executions of people believed to be supporters of deposed President Mobutu Sese Seko.
In the event that it becomes necessary to remove mission personnel from the country, it is expected that an evacuation of from Lubumbashi could be accomplished in less than an hour.
Mission personnel who have returned to Lubumbashi from neighboring Zambia include Tom and Elizabeth Ryder; Ellen and Jeffrey Hoover; Vivian Woodyard; Paul and Roxanne Webster. They will continue the work of the church and lay the groundwork for full resumption of the church's work throughout the DRC.
Other Global Ministries mission personnel who recently returned to the DRC are Fred and Lanie Price; David and Lorene Persons; and Steve and Gail Quigg. They are now in Lubumbashi
May 21,1997
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