Africa Lutheran Communion

        Delegates from all the Lutheran member churches in the Africa Region will begin to arrive in the coming week for the Africa Regional Pre-Assembly holding in Abuja, Nigeria.

      The Assembly which will take place from the 23-28th March will be formally declared open by the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko.

     The  meeting is a pre-requisite and tradition in the Lutheran communion before formal Assemblies which take place once every seven years. Issues for discussion at the Pre-Assembly will revolve around the central theme of this year,s Assembly which is "GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD" scheduled for Stuttgart, Germany in July, 2010.

    Other deliberations will address issues of common interest to the churches in Africa, their relationship with other ecumenical bodies and their focus in the coming years especially in relation to the current restructuring process in the Lutheran World Federation.

The Executive Committee of the Lutheran World Federation has begun its meeting in Geneva.

The meeting which iwill last three days is, among other issues, preparing grounds for the Assembly of the Federation which begins in Stuttgart, Germany in July this year.

The three -day meeting was declared open by the LWF President, Bishop Hanson who spoke of the need for cooperation and mutual support between and among member churches and other ecumenical bodies inorder to foster a strong LWF for posterity. 

In a Statement issued through the LWF Office for Human Rights and International Affairs, Dr. Noko
conveyed the prayers and condolences of the Lutheran World Federation to all those who
have suffered and lost loved ones in the latest violent attacks in northern Nigeria, as well as in
the many previous reprisals by one community against the other.

"I am shocked and saddened at the continued cycle of violent attacks in northern Nigeria. The
horrifying images of death, injury, pain and destruction shown in the media give a tragically
vivid picture of the intolerable consequences of violence and revenge. This cycle of bloodshed
contradicts the leading role that Nigeria has played in conflict resolution and peace promotion
initiatives in the region.  It is clear that these attacks do not take place in the heat of the moment.
They are obviously orchestrated and carefully planned in advance. I call on the government and authorities of
Nigeria to fulfill their duty to protect all citizens of Nigeria and to take urgent action to ensure
that sectarian violence such as has occurred in Jos, Plateau State, is rooted out. I further call on
the authorities to bring to justice those who by their actions or inaction have been responsible
for the bloodshed".

Nigeria is a richly diverse nation, ethnically and religiously and at most times and in most places Nigeria’s diverse peoples have coexisted in harmony, and this
history is testament to the possibility of peaceful co-existence. However the eruptions of
violence that have repeatedly occurred in northern Nigeria point to unresolved – but resolvable
– issues in the nation-building process.

ADr. Noko recalled a statement delivered on 24 February 2010 by the
Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi a Nigeria (TEKAN) – a 13-member church fellowship spread
across the country – comprehensively outlined the root causes of violence and immediate
obstacles to peace in the region. Issues concerning Nigerian identity, the ‘indigene-settler’
question, and underlying religious questions are constitutional matters that are the responsibility
of and require decisive action by the Nigerian government as a whole.

He then  called on the political and religious leadership in Nigeria  and Africa to cooperate in finally grappling with these issues and in
providing meaningful responses, without which peace and justice cannot take secure root.
Conflicts cannot be resolved – and will only be worsened – by retaliatory acts of violence. I
therefore call on the religious and community leaders of northern Nigeria to earnestly seek
dialogue as the only means to promote peaceful co-existence and reconciliation of divergent
interests.

 The psychological trauma which attended the first grips of the Karonga earthquake scene was followed by sorrow, despair, rejection on the faces of the affected communities.

Although Bishop Joseph Bvumbwe offered the word of comfort to the tremor’s victims in that evening of January 23^rd, 2010,  his expressions  showed that the church delegation was deeply touched by the incident. 

The delegation of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi lead by Bishop Bvumbwe from its Head Office arrived late in the evening and the first signal of shock to the disaster in the district was the crack on the new road, the government of Malawi is constructing and the only road that would win the favour of politics of Malawi. The road that extends for almost 100 kilometres (80 miles) to Chitipa the farthest northern district of Malawi.The 20^th December 2009, tremor that hit the district was believed to have its epicenter at around Rukulu Primary School.

According to Mr Mtsunji, the Project Officer of Karonga field office of Evangelical Lutheran Development Service (ELDS) one of the residents of Rukulu had a shock on the day of earthquake when seconds after the family vacated the house, water fully covered his damaged residence. The man heard cries outside and many people were left displaced on that day and upon return from the scenery he was shocked to see water running in out of cracks of his house.The ELCM group arrived at Karonga town very late in the evening but the saddest welcome is small simple shelters of weak plastic paper shades, which are outside every household, as if they are for showcasing. Since the president of Malawi declared that Karonga is an earthquake disaster district thousands of people have been sleeping outside their houses.