| Consultation calls for Africa plan By Larry Hollon United Methodist News Service  If the United Methodist Church is to claim its history and be the people of God in Africa, it must minister to the spiritual and urgent physical needs of African people, according to the leader of the churchs mission in Dakar. Speaking to 60 participants in a Sept. 4-6 Consultation on Holistic Strategy for Africa, the Rev. Nkemba Ndjunga said the church must educate, persuade and be a voice for justice as it seeks to restore conditions favorable for self-development. Ndjungas comments came as conferees grappled with the challenge of meeting human needs where life hangs in the balance while also focusing on long-term strategies to change systems that perpetuate injustice. A comprehensive plan to coordinate the work of general agencies and other church entities will increase effectiveness and efficiency, the group agreed. The consultation drew bishops from Africa, Asia and the United States; lay people from several African central conferences; and top executives and other staff from general boards and agencies. In addition to encouraging spiritual development and congregational growth, the church must support democratic government and peace initiatives, Ndjunga said. He challenged the church to follow John Wesleys example as a prophetic voice. Basing his remarks on Matthew 21, the story of Jesus entry into Jerusalem, he said the cry Hosanna! is really a cry for liberation. The people were crying to Jesus, Save us; heal us; restore us. It was a cry of help to a savior for redemption, he said.  Conference participants will ask the United Methodist Council of Bishops to sponsor an inventory of church work in the denominations central conferences, which include Africa. The inventory is to be completed by mid-October and reported to the bishops by the Holistic Strategy Task Force. An ad hoc task group will use the information as it considers how to coordinate African United Methodist mission and ministry.
This will be an eye-opener, said Bishop John Innis of Liberia. The inventory will show how much we are already doing and how much more we need to do. I feel this will be a helpful step toward transparency and accountability. The ad hoc groups effort will be aimed at increasing effectiveness and accountability, enabling cooperation and developing long-term strategic planning for ministry on the continent. U.S. and African bishops and top staff executives of United Methodist agencies are included in the group. Sustainable development and developmental evangelism are parallel tracks of the same gospel of Jesus Christ, said Bishop Felton Edwin May, chairman of the consultation. He added that the church must also deal with poverty, pestilence, disease, social injustice and economic exploitation, which he called weapons of mass destruction. The Holistic Strategy Task Force will report to the bishops when the council meets in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in early November. During the consultation, conferees worshiped with 100 members of the 6-year-old Senegal United Methodist mission church and visited programs the church has successfully created in Dakar. The mission church, which started with eight members, now has 12 local churches in 10 cities and towns with about 600 members. Relying on open-air neighborhood worship services to attract people in this 95-percent Muslim nation, the mission also conducts Christian education programs and operates a residential safe house for young girls who are estranged from their families and, in some cases, have become prostitutes to survive. The missions microenterprise training teaches women sewing, embroidery and marketing skills to run their own business. It operates a workshop that crafts exercise equipment and other metal products. Its three fitness centers are directed at filling the high priority of many young Senegalese for physical fitness. The churchs centers are priced to be affordable to low-income neighborhoods. | 
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