Q: Bishop, could you please state your name?

A: My name is Katembo Kainda.

Q: Which conference, do you preside over?

A: I am the Bishop of South Congo. The south Congo Annual Conference has four different conferences with about 600 churches, 400 pastors and 300,000 members.

Q: Were you raised as a United Methodist?

A: I was not born in a United Methodist family, in fact, my parents were not even Christians. My mother converted to Christianity only a year before she died. When I was a little boy, I went to a mission school. While in school, we were asked to go to church every Sunday and in the process, I joined the church.

Q: How many children do you have?

A: I have six children all together, including a set of twins.

Q: One of the trademarks of the United Methodist Church is the fact that they care both about the social and spiritual development of their people. Could you please tell me about some of the ministries that your conference is implementing?

A: Our conference is very involved in the social development of our young people, especially children. We have been feeding many of the children in this area, who are lacking food. In fact, we are planning to open an orphanage for those children who have lost their parents as a result of the war. We have schools, hospitals, clinics etc...we are very much engaged in the social development of our people. Spiritually, we have dynamic people both men and women involved in evangelism and prayer meetings. Most of our churches are filled to capacity every Sunday. In April, we had speakers visit from all over Africa preaching in many of our churches. This was a great time for our church. Our people are interested in revivals. I know that you have visited one of our churches and I am sure you saw how much many of our people love worshipping.

Q: Can you please give details about some of the projects that your are running?

A: We have approximately 50 secondary schools, many primary schools and one theological seminary. We have some institutions of higher learning similar to colleges. We are also in the process of starting a university. I know that there is alreadyAfrica University in Zimbabwe, but we need something similar here. We hope that by the year 2004, we would have started our own university.

Q: Speaking of Africa University, what in your view would be the reason to start another United Methodist university, when one already exists?

A: The language is a big problem for our people. They must spend a year at the university just learning how to speak English. Sometimes, our people also have a hard time obtaining visas. I have missed three meetings scheduled in Zimbabwe three times, because I was not able to get a visa. When that university first opened, it was understood that the university would use three different languages, including English, French and Portuguese. But that has not been the case, only English is being used. In addition, Africa is a big continent and one university is not enough to serve United Methodists members from across the continent.

Q: The Democratic Republic of Congo has been at war since August 1998. Can you give us your point of view about this war?

A: What I can tell you is that we feel very bad about this war. Our country has been aggressed by our neighbors. This is a known fact all over the world that Congo is the victim of an aggression. We are also disappointed by the international community's indifference to the problem of Congo. The United Nations and other international organizations know what has happened to us, but they do not want to help us. Yet in Kosovo and East Timor, they were quick to respond. I can not understand the reason why they can not do the same thing here. This country is a member of the United Nations and has been aggressed by our neighbors who are also members of the United nations. We have hope that this war will be finished one day. How and when, we do not know, but we are praying that God will do something.

Q: What has been the impact of the war on the activities of the United Methodist Church?

A: Before this war, when Congolese President Laurent Kabila first came to power, things had begun to improve, the economy was getting better, but when the war started the economy became affected. Now our people do not have money, because the economy is ` bad. Many of our people have been displaced as a result of the war. The church must use whatever resources at their disposal to feed and take care of the displaced. Many of our people are dying, and it is very sad, because we do not have enough resources to help everyone that is suffering as a result of this war.

Q: In your view, how many United Methodists have been displaced by this war?

A: My conference has not been directly affected. We do not have any displaced people from our area. Most of the displaced come from the North Katanga Conference and other parts of the country. But those that have been displaced are being taken care of by our conference. If you have a chance to go back to some of our churches, you will see that our people have been collecting clothes and other items to distribute to the displaced people. Some of the pastors from other conferences who have been displaced, we now have them working in our churches here. But many more are in the displaced people camps, managed by the government. Together with other churches, we are doing our best. ACT has also helped us get some money from Geneva, which we are using to buy food, blankets, medicines and whatever we can do to help them. We received someone from Geneva recently who came to assess what we are doing. We are hoping that his visit will generate interest from other people around the world to look at the plight of the displaced people in this country.

Q: Before coming to visit you, I met with some of your pastors and other members who told me that they were disappointed that United Methodists missionaries working in Congo left without consulting with you. Would you like to comment on this issue?

A: This is a problem. I have been a Bishop in this area for a long time. In the past, whenever a problem occurred, the board consulted with me. This time around, the board took their decision and ordered the missionaries to leave. I was out of town visiting different churches, when I came back, I found all missionaries packing their belongings and ready to leave this country. I could not understand why and wanted to know who had ordered them to leave. I asked my colleague Bishop Ntambo Nkulu, if he was consulted before the decision to evacuate the missionary was taken. He told me that he was never consulted. This was bad. We know the board has the right to protect the missionaries, but these missionaries were not alone here. They were here serving the church. The board should have consulted and notified us before the decision to evacuate the missionaries was taken. I was very happy with the Swiss board. While I was in the United States for the Council of Bishops meeting, I contacted them and told them that their counterparts in New York have asked all the missionaries to leave the country. I asked them, if they were palnning to do the same.They said that their missionaries in Congo were in the hands of the church. It is up to the church in Congo to assess the situation and make their decision accordingly. I appreciate their trust in our ability to protect their missionaries.

Q: Do you still have missionaries from Switzerland here?

A: Of course! (pointing out) The lady that you see there on your left typing is a missionary from Switzerland. Others have left to go on vacation, but they will be back soon. In the future, our missionaries should not leave they way our American missionaries left. We are running the risk that one day the government may say that we can no longer have American missionaries in this country. People are always asking us why these missionaries left. Many times they want to know if there is anything that we know that our people do not know. This is the situation. It was a bad situation and to be honest with you, we were not too happy about the departure of our missionaries.

Q: Has the missionaries's departure put you in trouble with your people?

A: The fact that someone asked you about this issue is already a problem. These people were with the church. What do I tell people when they ask me. What if the government asked me why these missionaries left, what do you think that my response should be. In fact, the minister of the interior is aware of this situation and has mentionned that issue to one of my pastors. We are not against the safety of our missionaries, because this is not the first time that we have had a war, but there is always a way to deal with these issues. You know that many of these missionaries did not want to leave, but they were forced by New York to leave.

Q: What are the prospects for peace in this country?

A: I do not know what to say, but I can tell you that if this war had been initiated by Congolese people, then it could have been easy to find a solution. But this war is organized from the outside by powerful countries. How can you explain that a small country like Rwanda can fight this country for as long as they have without assistance from somewhere else. We know who is pushing Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi to fight this country. The best way in my view to end this war is for those countries helping Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi to stop this war. We are sick and tired of this war. This is the time for us to build our country and we do not need a war here. Those providing guns and other weapons should stop.

Q: Bishop Ndoricimpa of the East Africa Annual Conference says that the war in Congo is all about minerals. Do you share the same view?

A: Those countries fighting us claim that they are here to liberate our people. But the contrary is happening. They have been stealing our minerals and sending them to their respective countries. Even though, they have signed a ceasefire, they are still sending troops to this country.

Q: Is there anything that the General Board of Global Ministries can do to end this war?

A: They need to contact decision makers in the United States, because we know that the United States is one of the countries pushing Rwanda and Uganda to attack this country. Without the United States, Rwanda and Uganda could not sustain a prolonged armed campaign in this country. The reaction to this war from U.S. officials is proof enough that they are behind this war. If they were not behind this war, this aggression would have already ended.

Q: Do you have any other message for the General Board of Global Ministries?

A: First we ask them to keep praying for this country and for our people. We would also appreciate it if they can continue helping our people with materials, such as, food, clothes etc...Whatever they can do to help our church respond to the current crisi will be deeply appreciated. As I told you, our people are trying to do whatever they can, including collecting clothes to help. But as you know, we are at war, and we do not have enough. The board can help us by sending us used clothes, medicines, food and other things to help us respond to these needs. The board also needs to be involved in evangelism in this country. We are preparing our millenium projects, which will be forwarded to the board soon.

Q: Thank you for talking to me on short notice, but is there something else that you would like to add?

A: I just want to thank you for stopping by. I am very touched by your visit, you are really a true African, because as you know, in Africa, you can not go to a village without visiting the chief. Please give our greetings to our people in New York, and special thanks to your boss for making this visit possible.

November 15, 1999