Discipleship in Conflict

Over the last few years, CMS-Africa and CMS have been intentional about making disciples of Christ in contexts where the church and Christians struggle to be, what you may call the edges or margins.  This is what we refer to as the “hub of conflict”. 

 

We define the Hub as a focused engagement in an area where different organisations, churches and individuals create a mission movement by sharing their experiences, resources, and actively collaborate with a common theme of making new disciples for Christ in difficult contexts. 

• Several partners coming together (so that more than a bilateral partnership it’s about building a movement of the many committed to collaborate actively) 
 

• At the “edges” of Christianity (in a context of minimal and marginal Christianity, hard places for the church to be) 
 

• To take action together (so more than learning or loose network, this is about having an agreed, practical, joint, action plan)
 

• To achieve a common goal/theme (new disciples and wholistic community transformation) 
 

• In a focused way – (focused by place (Geography), or a particular way (Methodology), or around a specific cause (Theme), or ideally a mixture of all 3).  

 

The first Hub identified armed conflict as a theme, and focused on the countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.  

 

To set off the work, CMS and CMS-Africa organised stakeholder consultations with church leaders, partner organisations, NGOs, and various people in mission affiliated to mission agencies.  The first of these was for DR Congo in November 2021 and took place online using Zoom.  The represented entities were the Anglican dioceses of Aru, Beni, Boga, Butembo, Goma and Kamango, and the two organisations - the Anglican University of Congo and the Peace Center both situated in Bunia.

Follow up actions after this consultation included a workshop in Bunia and CMS-Africa conducting training in Boga Diocese for church leaders and youth from different denominations using both the Wholistic Transformational Leadership and the Youth (3D) training programmes.  

 

A consultation for South Sudan was convened in Wau in May 2022 and gathered again church leaders from different denominations and representatives of the youth, women, NGOs and some government officials.  The church leaders committed themselves to work for peace, and to continue fostering the church unity that has been evident right through the recent history of that country.  
 

1. The need for discipleship and engagement with leaders at different levels and key sectors, and individual congregational discipleship through the pulpit and/or pastoral ministries that broader demographic sections of communities. 
 

2. Trauma healing and counselling  
 

3. Economic empowerment of women and young people to enable them have healthy and resilient, thriving households. 

 

A meeting of senior Christian denominational leaders from the eastern part of DR Congo was convened in Bunia in December 2022.  The church leaders determined to work together and developed some action plans to implement the Hub Strategy in partnership with CMS and CMS-Africa.