Equipping Church leaders to
guide peace and reconciliation
The Church is at the forefront of peace efforts in many conflict-ridden parts of the world. All over Africa and the Middle East, Feed the Minds supports partner churches and organisations that are facilitating reconciliation in the aftermath of terrible violence.
In Rwanda, for example, the Church is playing an important part in creating healing and reconciliation for a population suffering the effects of the 1994 genocide, in which a million people were killed within a 90-day civil conflict.
Feed the Minds supports the Anglican Diocese of Cyangugu which provides ongoing theological training to pastors living in far-flung areas. Through remote learning and regular seminars, lay and religious leaders are able to enhance their knowledge of their faith. They also learn practical skills that help them support people in congregations experiencing extreme deprivation, physical isolation and posttraumatic syndromes.
Through our Books for Life programme, Feed the Minds supports education for emerging Church leaders in poor countries. We do this because we understand how challenging ministry can be in impoverished and marginalised communities, and because we know that local Church leaders are experiencing the same problems as the communities they lead.
The Rwandan genocide and the Congolese civil war have had a major impact on the entire Great Lakes region of East Africa.
Another of our partners is the Bishop Bayla Theological College at the foothills of the Ruwenzori Mountains in Uganda, bordering the DR Congo.
This ecumenical college closed during the war because the area was unstable – refugees were congregating in United Nations camps and there was regular movement of armed groups nearby. Although the college re-opened three years ago, it is taking time to rebuild their student body and stock their library. Through Books for Life, they are making progress.
The Bishop Barham Theological College in Kabale, Uganda, accepts students from all over the region and from different denominations. Many students are from Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi and the DR Congo. In the course of their learning, and in their future work, these students are confronted with the realities of their own experiences during previous conflicts as well as the experiences of their congregations.
The Books for Life programme supplies students in these colleges with International Study Guides to support them in their learning. We are currently reviewing the books in this collection, to update them and make them even more relevant to the issues facing students in developing countries. For example, we will be publishing a volume on practical interfaith work and collating contributions from different religions for an update on the Other Religions title.
We are also commissioning writing on practical interfaith work, which we hope will better meet the needs of ministers and Church leaders facing the challenges of poverty and conflict worldwide.
Dr René Padilla endorses Books for Life
Dr René Padilla, a well-known Christian leader, theologian and social activist based in Buenos Aires, has endorsed the Books for Life programme. Dr Padilla has been filmed speaking about the role of the Church in combating poverty and helping to meet spiritual, physical and social needs in poor countries. “Theology, to be relevant to life, has to be contextual,” comments Dr Padilla. “The Study Guides published by SPCK can be a tremendous help to people to broaden their concept of their religion or church.” To view this short film, go to www.booksforlife.info
