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SEE
ALSO
Consultation
breaks new ground on drug abuse and violence
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Natercia Inacio
(left), of Luanda, Angola, and Priscilla Muranda
(right), of Harare, Zimbabwe discuss substance
abuse and related concerns, with the help of
Timothy Yuan (center), a Portuguese translator
from New York |
Nearly
150 United Methodist Church leaders from 26 countries
across two continents explored the destructive causes
and consequences of alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse
in their societies at an historic consultation here,
May 28-June 4.
The leaders,
including youth and adults, were chosen by their
bishops in Africa and Northern and Central Europe
because of their involvement and interest in efforts
to reduce substance abuse and addiction. At the
week-long consultation, titled Hope for the World:
Making a Christian Witness to Eliminate Alcohol,
Other Drugs and Related Violence, they also examined
strategies churches and communities can use to develop
solutions to these problems.
Sponsored
by the United Methodist Special Program on Substance
Abuse and Related Violence, (SPSARV), the consultation
took place at Soltun Folkehrgskole, a United Methodist
school in northern Norway.
"This
event brought United Methodists from Europe and
Africa together for the first time ever to respond
to a crisis that has inflicted unbearable pain on
many of their communities," said Melissa H.
Davis, director of SPSARV, a program administered
by the General Board of Global Ministries.
While
the pervasive and lethal effects of drug abuse were
acknowledged, much attention was placed on the widespread
use and damage caused by alcohol and tobacco.
"In
Sweden we have approximately 27,000 narcotic addicts
but 800,000 people with serious alcohol problems,
out of a population of 9 million. This is the case
all over the world except in Muslim countries,"
said the Rev. Anders Hägglund, a leading authority
and social worker on drug and alcohol concerns in
Sweden.
Delegates
from Liberia and Sierra Leone told of rebel soldiers
using drugs to induce thousands of abducted youth
to fight in civil conflicts. A Russian delegate,
meanwhile, reported that years of war with Afghanistan
and Chechnya have demoralized young soldiers and
lured them into drug and alcohol abuse.
HIV/AIDS
transmission often involves prostitutes trying to
obtain money for drugs. Yema Luhahi, a Kenyan missionary
nurse and health educator, reported trends in the
global spread of the disease and current efforts
to abate its growth.
Several
speakers and participants, especially from African
countries, discussed the cultural, economic and
religious traditions that perpetuate alcohol consumption
and, therefore, make it difficult to eliminate its
use and abuse.
"We
must examine these traditions honestly, understanding
the importance of spirituality in African life and
culture, if we are to confront alcohol abuse in
our societies," said the Rev. Joseph Ghunney,
a Methodist pastor and educator in Ghana.
"No
nation or tribe is going to escape these problems
we are addressing," warned the Rev. Vienna
Mutezo Bundo, a Zimbabwean pastor, in her closing
sermon. "Yet, there is still hope for the addict
to be delivered and to start a new life. The hope
is there if you and I open our minds and hands for
them to take refuge in us. They are not outcasts,
but brothers and sisters of our families."
by
John Coleman
June
14, 2001
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