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Sanguma Assumes CEUM Leadership
GEMENA, CONGO (March 29, 2005) - Dr. Mossai Sanguma recently was installed as
the fifth president of the Congo Covenant Church (CEUM), succeeding
Gbuda Luyada. The accompanying photo shows Sanguma (right) and Luyada
just prior to the installation service.
Sanguma had just returned to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in
January with his wife, Sabuli, and their youngest son, Gene. They had
spent five years at Fuller Theological Seminary in California where he
earned a doctorate in mission. He was elected by an overwhelming
majority, reported Keith Gustafson, country coordinator for Congo.
Sanguma will continue to serve as a professor of mission at the
Protestant Theological Seminary of Kinshasa until July. At that time the
family will relocate to be near the CEUM headquarters in Gemena. Four
of their children remain in the United States studying in high school
and universities.
Rev. Sema Mawe and Rev. Liwawa Elenga were elected vice presidents. Mawe
will leave his position as professor at the Superior Evangelical
Theological Institute of the Ubangi to take his post coordinating the
Life of the Church and ministerium of the CEUM. Elenga will leave his
position as the director of the Bozogi Bible School and
will coordinate all of CEUM's Biblical and Theological Education.
Others elected include Rev Langba Duale, evangelism and mission; Pastor
Mandio, Christian education; Rev. Wagbala, Christian communication; Dr.
Zambite, medical; Mr. Mayangana, education; and Mbio, development engineer.
Luyada served the CEUM for 12 years, a period that included two
missionary evacuations and two wars in Congo. He plans to move to his
hometown to lead a quieter life for several months before taking another
position. Vice President Kafi Nubea will become a professor at the
Superior Evangelical Theological Institute of the Ubangi.
The theme of the new administration is unity in the midst of a diverse
nation that has been racked by war, coupled with a new vision for the
future. In meetings with denominational and regional leaders, President
Sanguma read from Ephesians 4:1-7 and then gave the following example:
"Unity can be good or bad. The unity of the tower of Babel led people to
try to be greater than God. Many people think that the many languages
that came from God because of the tower of Babel was a punishment. I
don't see it as that. I see it as an adjustment, a reorientation. When
Jonah was swallowed by the whale, was that a punishment? No, he was
being turned around. At Babel, people were speaking the same thing in
many different languages. Languages weren't made to divide people, but
to turn them to
God. Among Christians, sometimes unity is used to exclude people, but
that is not what our unity is for.
"I remember a sermon that Luyada preached," he continued. "He talked
about the hands, feet and eyes all going on strike against the stomach.
It didn't seem fair to them that they did so much work in the garden,
but only the stomach got the food. The strike went on for a few days and
the eyes could no longer stay open, the feet wouldn't walk and the arms
couldn't work. Unity that excludes diversity is against God."
Many people expressed thankfulness for the peaceful transition between
the outgoing and incoming presidents. In a country that has known 30
years of dictatorship with no dissent allowed, followed by seven years
of war and the effects of war, this peaceful transition has been
praised, Gustafson observed. Because of the war and traditional
conflicts among peoples of various language groups, the new
administration is stressing forgiveness, openness, brotherhood and
rebuilding for the future. They are also stressing not just survival in
the midst of difficulty, but dreaming about what new can be done with
the resources they have.
"Many times during the five days of meetings and celebration, the
Covenant Church was thanked for their presence in bringing the Gospel
beginning in 1937 and for the multifaceted ministries of the mission and
now the CEUM Church," Gustafson reported. President Luyada said, "Thank
you to the Covenant. We have had good collaboration. All of us have
worked together through great difficulties. I became vice president
during the Zaire national conference. We asked when this period of
transition would end. The Covenant has not left us alone during any of
it. We will keep our relationship. We are sister Churches working
together in mission, but we are not exactly like each other. During the
war, the way we worshipped and prayed has become a model for the
Covenant. Because we are human, not everything has worked well, but our
relationship is good. The Covenant has put us in contact with many other
organizations that help us. We will keep working to improve our
relationship with the Covenant."
President Sanguma would like to again see many Covenant missionaries
working in Congo, according to Gustafson. "He has stressed the need for
doctors, nurses, people to
train in administration, someone to teach English to leaders, help with
schools and organize technical services in a country where the
infrastructure is very poor. More meetings were held earlier this week
and are planned for May to lay out the groundwork for the new
administration."
Sanguma is scheduled to attend the 119th Annual Meeting in June in
Minneapolis to represent the CEUM and share its vision.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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