Lambeth Daily - Spouses Plenary: Friday 1 August

[Worldwide Faith News]

Lambeth Daily
Spouses Plenary: Friday 1 August
Posted On : August 2, 2008 5:03 PM | Posted By : Webmaster
Related Categories: News

‘It’s never women who start wars – but women and 
children are always the first victims’

Lives in war torn parts of Africa are being 
transformed thanks to the hard work of the 
Anglican Church, the Spouses Conference heard yesterday.

In a session called ‘Equipping God’s church: 
Empowering ourselves and others for service’, 
they heard stories from across the continent of 
imaginative and life- changing social projects 
spearheaded by the spouses and their co-workers.

Mugisa Isingoma, from Boga in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo, talked about the vital work of 
the Mothers’ Union in helping widows, the victims 
of rape and other forms of violence. They found, 
she said, that teaching girls literacy helped transform their life chances.

‘God is helping all of us, even the poor,’ she 
said. ‘His goodness extends to all of us, and 
that is why we need to show them love. Together 
we can take note of their needs. They have assets 
and gifts and we are there to help them. And we 
are very encouraged by the results.’

Alice Chung Po Chuen, whose husband is the Bishop 
of Antsiranana in Madagascar, told the audience 
how, when her husband was appointed, she left her 
job in product development in a knitwear factory 
in Mauritius. She now lived in Madagascar – the 
fourth largest island in the world – which was a land of huge contrasts.

‘I was shocked by the prevailing poverty,’ she 
said. Their own home was very cut off from any 
other cities and the infrastructure was extremely 
poor. ‘God showed me I couldn’t remain 
insensitive to people’s needs,’ she said.

With the support of the Mothers’ Union in London, 
she had set up ‘The Ruth Project’, an income 
generating project for women.  Based from the 
Cathedral, the women of the Ruth project produced 
embroidered cotton table cloths and pillow cases. 
‘God gave us the resources,’ she said.

The Ruth Project had given women opportunities to 
support themselves, she said.  It also offered an 
opportunity for literacy classes, and to attend 
to the women’s spiritual needs. ‘I praise God as 
I find much joy and fulfilment.’

The final story from Africa came from Mathilde 
Ntahoturi, the wife of the Archbishop of Burundi, 
who gave an account of her work caring for 
children orphaned by civil unrest and HIV/AIDS. 
This had grown out of her work as a lawyer – and 
now she ran a number of social care projects, 
working through the Mothers’ Union.

  ‘It’s never women who start wars – but women 
and children are always the first victims,’ she said.

She also said how important literacy was, 
especially for girls. ‘I must tell you my dream,’ 
she said. ‘I have a dream where all women would 
be literate. Young girls who are soon to be 
mothers need to understand, so that they can 
fight AIDS, so that they can be confident in [dealing with] domestic violence.’