Children groom one another and play with a baby goat in Kanana village, a pygmy community outside Tunda, Democratic Republic of Congo, in October, 2015. Reconciliation between indigenous pygmy tribes and another ethnic group is part of a larger goal for newly elected Bishop Mande Muyombo.
Reconciliation between indigenous pygmy tribes and another ethnic group is part of a larger goal for a new United Methodist bishop in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As Bishop Mande Muyombo wrote in an Easter letter to church members in the North Katanga area, the resurrection of Christ offers hope and the renewal of life, including “bringing back peace in the Tanganyika Area and the reconciliation between the (Bantus) and pygmies. All of us were created in God’s image.”
His call for “spiritual renewal through sanctification, prayers and forgiveness with one another” extends to a hope for peace and stability across the African nation, manifested in a “move towards free and fair elections.”
This desire is not new. The United Methodist Church has been at the forefront of peace, reconciliation and development work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Muyombo said during an interview last month in Atlanta, where he was honored by staff and directors of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
