News media contact: Linda Bloom · (212) 870-3803 · New York

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - Stories of conflict and despair in Africa, along with hopes for reconstruction of the continent, were shared during the April 19-22 meeting of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

The Rev. Ngoy Daniel Mulunda-Nyanga, executive secretary of international affairs for the All-Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi, Kenya, outlined the conflicts that plague Africa and stressed that peace is a priority of the conference.

"The continent of Africa is known today from its political situation of conflicts, poverty and misery," Mulunda said. "The process of the destruction of the African continent started with the slave trade, when many of our ancestors were uprooted from our land."

Colonization, he added, had the effect of making some Africans slaves in their own land. And the expectation of reconstruction after African countries gained independence "gave way to dismay and despair when it was realized that many leaders who were supposed to serve our people were only puppets of the colonial masters."

Countries involved in the cold war used Africa "as a battlefield," Mulunda continued. And the end of the cold war has led to more refugees and displaced people on the continent, and more wars and internal conflicts.

The plight of women especially has worsened. In Sierra Leone, for example, women and children continue to bear the brunt of atrocities committed, according to Elmira Sellu, the wife of Board of Global Ministries director Abraham Sellu. Of the 5,000 residents killed during a two-week rebel invasion of the capital city of Freetown in January, she said, "the majority were women." The rebels used other women as sex slaves or human shields.

"Our women have lost their self-esteem and self-worth," she added.

Poto Valentine Umembudi Shutsha, a director from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said women also have suffered rape and other atrocities during the conflict in her country. "We regret the silence of the international community and the United Nations," she declared. She called upon directors to urge the United Nations and U.S. government to help find a resolution for the Congo war.

Children also have become targets. The Lord's Resistance Army kidnaps children in northern Uganda and takes them to the Sudan. The All-Africa Conference of Churches has been negotiating for two years with the group "to get some of the children back," according to Mulunda. But if they have to pay to retrieve the children - mostly girls under the age of 12 - "what will be the use of the money?" he wondered. He's afraid it will be used for weapons.

Angola, Uganda and Burundi are besieged by conflict from an assortment of rebel forces, and a "shameful war" has erupted between two close allies, Ethiopia and Eritrea, he said.

But in the formerly war-ravaged Mozambique, there are signs of hope. Zacarias Uqueio, a board director, told of a program in his country that demonstrated how "the instrument of war can be an instrument of peace."

When it was realized that weapons were still being stockpiled after peace was achieved in 1994, the Christian Council of Churches in Mozambique decided to offer an incentive. The council announced that it would provide a choice of a bicycle, sewing machine or plow to anyone who turned in a weapon.

That program has been very successful, but the problem of landmines remains. Uqueio said he hoped the church could help with the removal of the mines.

Even African countries that have enjoyed periods of long stability, such as Zimbabwe, have problems to resolve. Director Edith Jokomo pointed to the issues of the economy, land ownership and the devastation wrought by HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe as examples.

The speakers thanked the Board of Global Ministries for the support it already has given to the African people - among them, Mulunda, who received scholarships allowing him to attend graduate school at American University and Wesley Seminary in Washington, D.C. Mulunda believes the church has a continuing mandate in Africa "to make sure that religious principles and values are respected in all spheres of life."

United Methodist Bishop Arthur Kulah of Liberia has led his church through that country's civil war and has been a part of the national peacemaking process. "The church ... is that force that can unite," he said. "It's a reconciling force that can bring even bitter enemies together."

Mulunda agreed the church should take the lead in the reconstruction of Africa. "We Africans know that we are in the wilderness of conflicts and wars, but we need not die there," he concluded. "With the help of God, we must resume our walk for freedom and democracy."

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New York, and Washington.