Bishop Josias Sendageya
Bishop Josias SendageyaThe
preacher at our Ash Wednesday service was Bishop Josias Sendegeya, Bishop of
Kibungo diocese in Rwanda.
Kibungo
was established as a new diocese in Rwanda in 1993, the year before the
genocide. Bishop Josias was made
Bishop last June and he describes himself as a ‘baby Bishop’.
Kibungo
originally included the whole area which is now Gahini diocese. However,
after the genocide large numbers of people began to settle in the northern half
of Kibungo diocese; it was decided to split the diocese into two and the new
diocese of Gahini was ‘carved’ out of the northern half of Kibungo in 1997.
At that time Bishop Alexis Balindabagabo, who is well known to us, was
made Bishop of Gahini.
The
diocesan office and Bishop’s house for the original diocese of Kibungo, were
situated in the northern part and became the property of Gahini when it was
formed. Bishop Josias explained the
efforts being made to establish new offices from which to coordinate the work of
the diocese.
Before
becoming Bishop of Kibungo, he was Provincial Secretary of the Church of Rwanda,
a role which he will continue to fulfil until a new Provincial Secretary is
elected next year.
The
team who visited Rwanda in 1999 met him briefly as we passed through Kibungo
diocese. We very much appreciate
his short visit to Dungiven and Bovevagh and pray for God’s blessing on the
work of the diocese of Kibungo.
Recycling Mission Partners …CMSIreland
has begun recycling its mission partners. Two
families, who were formerly mission partners, are returning to work in the same
places where they worked in the past.
Ronnie
& Maggie Briggs
– are returning to work in the diocese of Kajiado in Kenya.
Ronnie and Maggie worked in Kajiado during the 1980’s and early
1990’s. Their three children were
brought up there and think of Kenya as ‘home’.
Ronnie has, since 1994, worked as Mission Development Coordinator of
CMSIreland, based in Belfast. He
has visited our parish several times. Ronnie
will take up the post of Planning and Development Coordinator for Kajiado.
Maggie will utilize her office management skills and be involved in staff
training. They explain their new
role as follows:
Spiritual
and Physical growth are seen as two sides of the same coin in the African
church. Bishop Taama (of Kajiado)
now recognizes that physical development needs to be given greater priority as
the diocese continues to grow. Issues
such as health, education, training, water development, farming techniques, are
very much the concern of the church.
Mark
& Ali Gill,
formerly mission partners in Nepal, are returning to work there.
Mark worked as head of a hydro-electric project and Ali as a mid-wife for
many years until they had to return to Ireland for health reasons a few years
ago. Mark is now taking up the post
of Engineering and Development Director for U.M.N. (the United Mission to
Nepal). Some people may remember
that Dungiven and Bovevagh supported Mark and Ali as link mission partners
during the late 1980’s.
CMSIreland
have, for the past few years, been working with the Diocese of Down and Dromore
and the Diocese of Albany in the United States to support the Church in Southern
Sudan. Under the title ADD-Mission
(i.e. Albany / Down & Dromore Mission) they have been helping the
Sudanese church in their work amongst refugees and people whose lives have been
destroyed by civil war.
As
part of this link they have sent several teams to Southern Sudan over the past
few years, just as we sent a team to Rwanda in 1999 as part of our link with
Gahini.
CMSIreland
has been sending dozens of people per year to various parts of the world for
well over fifteen years now. Members
of teams such as these go because they want to be involved in mission and often
they make great sacrifices because of their commitment to mission.
However, the tragic consequences of the most recent team to visit Sudan
act as a stark reminder of the full extent of that commitment.
One
of the members of the most recent ADD-Mission team to Sudan, was the Rev. Maria
Fenty, a deaconess in Albany Diocese. Maria
contracted malaria while in Sudan and, on returning to America, tragically lost
her life due to the combined effects of malaria and epilepsy.
A
memorial service will be held for Maria during March.
Canon Cecil Wilson will travel to Albany to represent CMSIreland at the
service.
We
can thank God for commitment to mission which Maria showed and pray for those
who mourn her death.
Friday
1st March is the Women’s World Day of Prayer.
The service for this area will be held in Banagher Parish Church at 8pm.
The preacher will be the Rev. Irene Lyttle, the auxiliary curate of
Drumachose Parish.
The
theme for this year’s Women’s World Day of Prayer is ‘Challenged to
Reconcile’ and the service has been prepared by the Christian women of
Romania.
All
women will be most welcome at the service in Banagher.
Volunteers are being sought to form a choir for the service and there
will be a practice in Banagher on Monday 25th February at 8pm for
those who are willing to help in this way.