General Board of Global Ministries News Release
For Immediate Release
March 20, 1997
Contact: Connie Nelson
New York--All General Board of Global Ministries mission personnel remaining in Zaire have relocated to neighboring Zambia at the request of African church leaders, following the takeover March 15 of Kisangani, Zaire's third largest city. Opposition forces indicated their intent to push ahead to Lubumbashi, episcopal headquarters for the Souther Zaire Area and a primary site of assignment for GBGM missionaries.
GBGM executives have received word that all families have arrived safely in Ndola, Zambia. The 16 missionaries and other missionaries still in the area after leaving Zaire weeks ago, will meet next week with Curtis Grund and Richard Williams, both Assistant General Secretaries of the Board's Mission Personnel Unit. The executives are expected to arrive in Ndola, March 23.
The following United Methodist missionaries arrived in Zambia March 19: Ursula Hollinweger (Switzerland/Southern France); Jeff and Ellen Hoover and family; Claus Nielson (Denmark); Fred and Lanie Price and family; Steve and Gail Quigg and family; Tom and Elizabeth Ryder; Amy Wahl (Volunteer in Mission, Southeaster Jurisdiction); Paul and Roxanne Webster, Summer Webster; Beatrice Wittlinger (Switzerland/Southern France); and Vivian Woodyard.
Personnel who previously left Zaire and remain in the region include: David and Lorene Persons; Steve and Debbie Wolford and sons; Marvin and Jean Wolford; John and Kendra Enright and sons; Debbie and Kenneth Vance and sons. All remaining GBGM mission personnel assigned within Zaire are currently in the U.S.
Episcopal leaders of the Southern Zaire and North Shaba Areas currently remain within the region: Bishop Kainda Katembo in Lubumbashi and Bishop Nkulu Ntanda Ntambo in Tanzania. Bishop Onema Fama, Central Zaire Area, is attending meetings in the U.S.
The missionary community will meet with church leaders and GBGM executives over the next week, to assess the situation in Zaire and determine the next steps.
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