Mekane Yesus severs relationship with ELCA, CofS

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is severing its relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Church of Sweden and “those churches who have openly accepted same-sex marriage.”
The action for “all Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus departments and institutions (at every level) to implement this decision” was ratified at the denomination’s general assembly, which met Jan. 27-Feb. 2 in Addis Ababa. The denomination’s church council took action at its July 2012 meeting to initially sever these relationships.
“The ELCA is very saddened by this decision,” said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director for ELCA Global Mission. [...]
To ensure that the decisions by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus are implemented, members of the denomination “will not receive Holy Communion from the leadership and pastors of the (ELCA and the Church of Sweden). The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus will not distribute communion to these churches,” as stated in the minutes of the denomination’s July 2012 council meeting. [...]
While the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is “closing the door to this partnership,” Malpica Padilla said that the ELCA and the Church of Sweden “are not locking the doors from our side. It is open for when you decide it is time to resume this journey together. It is my hope that in the near future, we will again walk together in Christian love. We will do this not because of doctrinal agreements or consensus, but because the gospel compels us to do so.” [...]
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said the actions of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus are “deeply troubling.”
“Our own statement on human sexuality acknowledges that the position held by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is also held by members of the ELCA. We are not of one mind, but we are one in Christ, in faith and in baptism,” said Hanson, adding that the relationships between Lutherans in North America and in Ethiopia “has been sustained through periods of oppression, divisions within the Ethiopian church and in times of turmoil among Lutherans in North America. The action of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus church diminishes our capacity together to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, to serve our neighbors and to care for the creation. [...]” 

ELCA 7.2.13

Nigeria: Dune James Rike, David Usman, Mark Ojunta, Monday Hassan et al.

Examples of violent acts of the Muslim extremists from the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria during the last months:

4.5.11. Muslim extremists attacked Kurum village (Bauchi state) in a rampage that began at midnight. James Musa Rike, pastor of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in Kurum, said that after killing two of the couple’s children, Faith and 1-year-old Fyali, the assailants cut his wife’s abdomen with a machete. Dune James Rike was aged 35 when she died.
Pastor Rike next heard the cries of his 13-year-old daughter, Sum, a few meters away. He rushed to her, only to discover that she too was cut with a machete on her stomach, and her intestines were all around her. She said that the Muslim militants told her they would kill her and “see how your Jesus will save you.” The girl told her father that she responded by telling them that Jesus had already saved her, and that by killing her they would only be making it possible for her to be with Him. Pastor Rike prayed for her as she died.
Shooting and setting homes on fire, the Muslim extremists killed 12 other Christians in the attack. Bauchi police reported 16 people dead – one man, three women and 12 children.
Pastor Rike and his son survived the attack, and his adopted daughter, Whulham, was injured and receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Bogoro.

7.6.11. The Rev. David Usman, 45, a COCIN pastor, and church secretary Hamman Andrew were shot and killed by members of Boko Haram in an area of Maiduguri (Borno state) called the Railway Quarters. The area was the base of Boko Haram until 2009, when Nigerian security agencies and the military demolished its headquarters and captured and killed the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, and some of his followers.

27.8.11. Mark Ojunta, a 36-year-old evangelist from southern Nigeria who was ministering amid the Kotoko people of Borno state with Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) was shot and killed in Maiduguri by Boko Haram.
CAPRO International Director Amos Aderonmu said Ojunta died “as a martyr on his field among the Kotokos.” CAPRO had learned that all its staff members working among the Shuwa Arab, Kotoko and Kanuri peoples were on a Boko Haram list of people to be killed and had evacuated them, Aderonmu said.
Ojunta had returned to teach a class after the evacuation of his family. He is survived by his wife and two children, besides his parents and sisters. He was buried in his home state of Abia.

17.9.11. In guerrilla style typical of recent Islamic extremist attacks in northern Nigeria, about 15 gunmen stormed three houses in Ungwan Rana Bitaro village (Kaduna state) at midnight, leaving three dead and eight wounded.
Three houses were attacked by before the attackers retreated into surrounding bushes. When they came, they brought out the members of these families and started shooting them and cutting some of them with machetes. Killed were Monday Hassan (55), his daughter Godiya (13), and his nephew, Istifanus Daniel (35).

22.9.11. In the town of Madala (Niger state), suspected militants from Boko Haram went to shops owned by Christians at a market at about 8 p.m., ordering them to recite verses from the Quran. If the Christian traders were unable to recite the verses, the gunmen shot and killed them. The sound of the gunshots compelled Christians to call the police, and officers arrived to find five Christians had already been killed.

Nigerian Pastor’s Wife, Children among Christians Killed in Attack (CDN 10.5.11)
Pastor, Church Official Shot Dead in Nigeria (CDN 10.6.11)
Muslim Extremists from Niger Help Kill Christians in Nigeria (CDN 31.8.11)
Muslim Extremists in Nigeria Kill Christians in Two States (CDN 27.9.11)
Islamic Extremist Group Kills Another Christian in Nigeria (CDN 17.10.11)
Nigeria: Den muslimska sekten Boko Haram dödar kristna (Kalles kyrkliga kommentarer 18.10.11)

Uganda: Susan Ithungu

Susan Ithungu, a 14-year-old girl in western Uganda, was hospitalized in October 2010 after neighbours with police help rescued her from her muslim father, Beya Baluku, who had locked her in a room with almost no food or water for months. He was arrested shortly afterward but quickly released, sources said. Ten months later, she was still unable to walk.

Susan and her younger brother lived alone with their father after he divorced their mother. In March 2010 an evangelist spoke at Susan’s school, and she decided to trust Christ for her salvation.
After a month, news reached her father that she had converted to Christianity. He warned his children not to attend church or listen to the gospel message. He also threatened them with a sharp knife that he was ready to kill them in broad daylight in case we converted.
He then locked Susan up in a room for six months without seeing sunlight. Her brother was warned not to tell anyone that Susan was locked up in a room and not being given any food. When their father was away, the brother roasted bananas for his sister and dug a hole under the door to pour water through. Susan could drink the water using her tongue, but most days she could only feed on mud.

Neighbours became concerned after not seeing Susan for several months. After they reported the case, the police went to the house, broke down the door, and took Susan to hospital. Her hair had turned yellow, she had long fingernails and sunken eyes, and weighed less than 20 kg. It is unknown when she will be released. Though she can’t walk, she can now talk. She is still feeding on soft foods, but is still strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. She needs prayers and support, so that she can resume her education soon.

Girl in Uganda Loses Use of Legs after Leaving Islam for Christ (CDN 11.8.11) 

A UN enquiry

The UN sent out an enquiry:
WOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE YOUR HONEST OPINION ABOUT SOLUTIONS TO THE FOOD SHORTAGE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD?

It was a fiasco:
Eastern Europe didn't know what “honest” meant.
Western Europe didn't know what “shortage” meant.
Africa didn't know what “food” meant.
China didn't know what “opinion” meant.
The Middle East didn't know what “solution” meant.
The USA didn't know what “the rest of the world” meant. 

Found it on Facebook.
Thank you, Karin!

Algeria: Siaghi Krimo

Convicting a Christian convert for insulting the prophet of Islam, a judge in Algeria stunned the Christian community by sentencing him beyond what a prosecutor recommended.
In Oran, 470 kilometers west of Algiers, a criminal court in the city’s Djamel district on May 25, 2011 sentenced Siaghi Krimo to a prison term of five years for giving a CD about Christianity to a neighbour who subsequently claimed he had insulted Muhammad. Krimo was also fined 200,000 Algerian dinars (US$2,760), according to Algerian news reports.
The prosecutor had reportedly requested the judge sentence him to a two-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (US$690).
The court tried Krimo based solely on the complaint filed by his neighbour, who accused him of attempting to convert him to Christianity.
“He gave a CD to a neighbour, and for that he has to spend five years in prison,” said the president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), Mustapha Krim, trying to contain his disbelief. “The hearing went well, and the lawyer defended well, yet in the end the judge gave him the maximum punishment.”

Authorities arrested Krimo on April 14 and held him in jail for three days. On May 4 he appeared before the court in Djamel, where the prosecutor requested the two-year sentence in the absence of the neighbour who had accused him – the only witness – and any evidence.
The punishment the prosecutor requested is the minimum for Algerians found guilty of insulting Muhammad or “the messengers of God,” or anyone who “denigrates the dogma or precepts of Islam, be it via writings, drawings, statements or any other means,” according to Article 144 of the Algerian Penal Code.
Krim said that if the courts start interpreting the law as it did in Krimo’s case, then the future of Algeria’s Christians is grim.
“If they start applying the law like that, it means there is no respect for Christianity,” Krim said, “and pretty soon all the Christians of Algeria will find themselves in prison. If the simple fact of giving a CD to your neighbour costs five years in prison, this is catastrophic.”

The court delivered its verdict the same week that the governor of the province of Bejaia ordered the closing of seven Protestant churches.
Asked if he thought the court had instructions from higher officials to hand down such heavy punishment to Krimo, Krim responded with no hesitation: “It’s certain!”

Algerian Christian Sentenced Beyond Prosecutor’s Request (CDN 30.5.11)

Sudan: Omar Hassan and Amouna Ahamdi

In Khartoum, (North) Sudan, a Christian couple with a newborn son said they have come under attack for converting from Islam to Christianity. Omar Hassan and Amouna Ahamdi fled Nyala, 120 km southwest of Al-Fashir, for Khartoum in June 2010, but knife-wielding, masked assailants on May 4th, 2011, attacked the couple after relatives learned that they had converted from Islam to Christianity. Hassan and his wife were renting a house from her uncle in Khartoum, but he ordered them to leave after learning they had left Islam. His wife was injured trying to protect him during the attack.
“I have been in Khartoum for six months, with no job to support my sick wife,” Hassan said. “Muslims invaded our house and, in an attempt to kill me, they knifed my wife Ahamdi in the hand.” Ahamdi said her brother had stabbed her three times in the stomach nine months ago, seriously injuring her spleen, after she told him she had become a Christian. “I feel pain, but my husband is alive, and we are praying that we get money for treatment for both my hand and the spleen,” she said.

In a violent outburst, her brother also broke her left leg. She was rushed to a local hospital, where personnel were reluctant to treat her because of her conversion. Ultimately she was hospitalized in Nyala Teaching Hospital for three weeks – where she met Hassan, a recent convert who had also suffered for his faith who visited her after hearing how her family hurt her. He said he found no one caring for her in her agony. He called an Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) pastor to help her, and she was discharged after partial recovery – to the hostile home where she had been attacked. “You don’t deserve to be a member of my family,” her angry father had shouted at her. Her family locked her in a room, shackled to a wooden chair, and severely beat her for a month. “I was badly mistreated – they shaved all my hair and my father whipped my head,” Ahamdi said. “But neighbors used to sneak in secretly and provided me food and water.” After freeing her from the chair, they restricted her movement to the property.
“I found a chance to escape to the ECS church, where I got married to Hassan,” she said. “My health continued deteriorating, and the doctors recommended that I be transferred to Khartoum for specialized treatment for my ailing spleen. With a small amount of money, we managed to reach Khartoum by train, where my uncle hosted us not knowing that we were Christians.” In Khartoum, they were unable to afford the medicine prescribed for her spleen. They depend on friends to provide them occasional food, and sometimes go without eating for two days. “We cannot deny Christ – this is a big challenge to us, because we do not have a place to go,” she said, through tears. “We have no food, and we are jobless. I am still in pain, besides having a 2-month-old baby boy to care for.”

(Friends of the Martyred Church)

South Africa: Millicent Gaika

From Avaaz.org:
Millicent Gaika was bound, strangled, tortured and raped for five hours by a man who crowed that he was ‘curing’ her of her lesbianism.
She barely survived, but she is not alone - this vicious crime is recurrent in South Africa, where lesbians live in terror of attack. But no one has ever been convicted of 'corrective rape'.
Amazingly, from a tiny Cape Town safehouse a few brave activists are risking their lives to ensure that Millicent’s case sparks change. Their appeal to the Minister of Justice has exploded to over 140,000 signatures, forcing him to respond on national television. But the Minister has not yet answered their demands for action.
Let's shine a light on this horror from all corners of the world - if enough of us join in to amplify and escalate this campaign, we can reach President Zuma, who is ultimately responsible to uphold constitutional rights. Let’s call on Zuma and the Minister of Justice to publicly condemn ‘corrective rape’, criminalise hate crimes, and ensure immediate enforcement, public education and protection for survivors. Sign the petition now and share it with everyone - we’ll deliver it to the South African government with our partners in Cape Town.

South Africa, often called the Rainbow Nation, is revered globally for its post-apartheid efforts to protect against discrimination. It was the first country to constitutionally protect citizens from discrimination based on sexuality. But in Cape Town alone, the local organization Luleki Sizwe has recorded more than one 'corrective rape' per day, and impunity reigns.
'Corrective rape' is based on the outrageous and utterly false notion that a lesbian woman can be raped to 'make her straight', but this heinous act is not even classified as a hate crime in South Africa. The victims are often black, poor, lesbian women, and profoundly marginalised. But even the 2008 gang rape and murder of Eudy Simelane, the national hero and former star of the South Africa women's national football team, did not turn the tide. And just last week Minister Radebe insisted that motive is irrelevant in crimes like 'corrective rape.'

South Africa is the rape capital of the world. A South African girl born today is more likely to be raped than she is to learn to read. Astoundingly, one quarter of South African girls are raped before turning 16. This has many roots: masculine entitlement (62 per cent of boys over 11 believe that forcing someone to have sex is not an act of violence), poverty, crammed settlements, unemployed and disenfranchised men, community acceptance - and, for the few cases that are courageously reported to authorities, a dismal police response and lax sentencing.
This is a human catastrophe. But Luleki Sizwe and partners at Change.org have opened a small window of hope in the fight against it. If the whole world weighs in now, we could get justice for Millicent and national action to end 'corrective rape'.

This is ultimately a battle with poverty, patriarchy, and homophobia. Ending the tide of rape will require bold leadership and concerted action to spearhead transformative change in South Africa and across the continent. President Zuma is a a Zulu traditionalist, who has himself stood trial for rape. But he condemned the arrest of a gay couple in Malawi last year, and, after massive national and international civic pressure, South Africa finally approved a UN resolution opposing extra-judicial killing in relation to sexual orientation.
If enough of us join this global call for action, we could push Zuma to speak out, drive much-needed government action, and begin a national conversation that could fundamentally shift public attitudes toward rape and homophobia in South Africa.
A case like Millicent’s makes it easy to lose hope. But when citizens come together with one voice, we can succeed in shifting fundamentally unjust, but deeply ingrained practices and norms. Last year, in Uganda, we succeeded in building such a massive wave of public pressure that the government was forced to shelve legislation that would have sentenced gay Ugandans to death. And it was global pressure in support of bold national activists that pushed South African leaders to address the AIDS crisis that was engulfing their country. Let’s join together now and speak out for a world where each and every human being can live without fear of abuse.

SOURCES:
Blog of Luleki Sizwe, South African organization leading the call to their government to stop 'corrective rape', and providing support to victims
Minister of Justice Radebe’s nationally televised interview (South African Broadcasting Corporation; published on YouTube 13.1.11)
Protest against ‘corrective rape’ (The Sowetan 6.1.11)
Petition launched on Change.org by activists from Luleki Sizwe
South Africa's shame: the rise of child rape (The Independent 16.5.10)
Exploring homophobic victimisation in Gauteng, South Africa: issues, impacts, and responses (Centre for Applied Psychology, University of South Africa 2008)
"We have a major problem in South Africa" (The Guardian 18.11.10)
South Africa: Rape Facts (Channel 4 11.5.10)
Understanding men’s health and use of violence: interface of rape and HIV in South Africa (Medical Research Council, South Africa, June 2009)
Preventing Rape and Violence in South Africa (Medical Research Council, South Africa, November 2009)

Uganda: David Kato

On Wednesday 26th January, 2011, gay rights activist David Kato was murdered in his house in Kampala, Uganda. He had been hacked on the head with a hammer.
Kato’s murder comes only weeks after the Uganda Supreme Court told the local magazine Rolling Stone (not to be confused with the music magazine) to stop publishing names of prominent Ugandan alleged homosexuals and calling for them to be hanged. It now seems someone apparently took up the magazine’s call and David Kato, who was out already as gay man and LGBTI activist, has become the first lethal victim of the magazine’s hate call.
Kato said in an interview last year: "I can’t run away and leave the people I am protecting. People might die, but me, I will be the last one to run out of here."
He did not run, and he died.
David Kato was arrested three times for his activism and faced innumerable other forms of harassment and assault. A long-time activist, Kato had earned the title of ‘grandfather of the kuchus’ – as gay men in Kampala call themselves – for his work on behalf of people in the LGBT community. In the past he has sheltered many people in his home, visited them in prison and worked for their release. He worked as the advocacy and litigation officer for SMUG, Sexual Minorities Uganda, Uganda’s main LGBTI Rights group. David Kato’s murder ironically comes on the same day that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon made the strongest call ever by the UN for an end to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

At David Kato's funeral on Friday, January 28, there was a sad turn of events. Since Kato was an Anglican, the local parish church of Nagojje was responsible for his funeral rites to be read from the Book of Common Prayer. Although tributes have been pouring into the Kato family from President Barack Obama and other international leaders, the Church of Uganda sent no priest, no bishop, but a Lay Reader to conduct the service.
Bishop Christopher Senyonjo arrived in his purple cassock accompanied by his wife Mary and let the master of ceremonies know he would like to say a few words at some point in the service. He was going to read a message from Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) where David worked tirelessly since 2004. As an excommunicated bishop of the Church of Uganda, Senyonjo has no standing in the official hierarchy of the church.
The Lay Reader, Thomas Musoke, began to make inappropriate remarks condemning homosexuality quite graphically and stating the Church of Uganda’s position that homosexuality was a sin and against the Bible. The crowd began to cheer him on and the event was turning into an anti-gay rally. The bishop was never called upon to speak. He felt for the LGBT community having to suffer yet another public humiliation. The (Anglican) Church of Uganda took a pastoral opportunity for healing and reconciliation with family members and LGBT people and allies and turned the event into an anti-gay political rally. Musoke was, however, finally thrown out from the funeral.
Following this horrific incident, Bishop Senyonjo, as a bishop of the church and wearing his purple cassock, walked behind the coffin carried by Kato’s friends and family to the graveside. There, although he was disinvited by the Church to speak at the funeral, he found a way to bring words of comfort to the mourners and said the final blessing over David’s battered remains.

In this one sad occasion, we can see there are two churches in Uganda and indeed elsewhere - one following the love of the law, and the other following the law of love.

R.I.P. DAVID KATO (symbolic event)
COMMENTARY: David Kato's funeral illustrates schism of Anglican Church (San Diego Gay and Lesbian News 28.1.11)
Which side are you on? or - They fucked up the Anglican Communion for this? (OCICBW 28.1.11)
MadPriest's thought for the day (OCICBW 29.1.11)
Präst utkastad från Katos begravning (Dagen 29.1.11)

A new secessionary bishop in Sweden

Arne Olsson, the bishop of the so-called Mission Province whom bishop Walter Obare from Kenya consecrated in 2005, turns 80 in 2010 and steps down from his episcopate. In his place, the ever meddlesome Obare will consecrate Roland Gustafsson, 57, who up till now has worked as a missionary in Kenya, mainly teaching at the seminary of the ELCK.
Gustafsson is not an ordained pastor as yet, so he will be ordained on January 16, 2010, awaiting his consecration on March 20.

God bless him and the Mission Province. It is good that there is an alternative for those conservative members of the CofS and the ELCF that feel as if their space is shrinking.
As well they might feel, since it no longer are the misogynistic and homophobic fundamentalists who call the shots in the large Lutheran churches in Sweden or Finland. I don't bear them ill will. I just don't really want them around.

Gustafsson vald till ny biskop i Missionsprovinsen (Kyrkans Tidning 30.11.09)
Missionsprovinsen fick biskop efter tufft förhör (Dagen 1.12.09)

Kenyan Lutheran bishop rebukes Swedish church on lesbian bishop

Nairobi (ENI 16.11.09). The executive committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya has expressed shock, dismay and disappointment at the consecration of the Rev. Eva Brunne, a lesbian who lives with her partner, as a bishop in the Church of Sweden.
"We condemn in the strongest terms possible this unfortunate and anti-scriptural development in a church body that bears the name of the great reformer, Dr Martin Luther," said Archbishop Walter Obare, the leader of the ELCK in a statement on 13 November, after the church's executive committee meeting in Nairobi.

Geneva (ENI 17.11.09). Church of Sweden Archbishop Anders Wejryd triggered outrage from a Lutheran church in Africa when he ordained an openly lesbian woman as bishop of Stockholm on 8 November. The archbishop asserts, however, that neither his church nor his country supports promiscuity, but that Sweden is a "surprisingly moral society". He said the Swedish church encourages faithful and stable relationships between people whatever their sexual orientation may be.

Comment: Bishop Obare is, once again, meddling in the affairs of the Church of Sweden. I wonder who put him up to it this time.
By the way, Wejryd is an Archbishop, but Obare's title is "Presiding Bishop". If you want to be exact. And why wouldn't you?

On a different note, there was another bishop consecrated on the same day (8.11.09) as bishop Brunne of Stockholm. Bishop Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund of Härnösand (northern Sweden) was born in Finland but moved to Sweden in order to be able to be ordained, as the ELCF didn't ordain women at the time. The ELCF still hasn't any female bishops, so bishop Koivunen Bylund is the first Finnish woman to become a bishop. Which is quite as historical as bishop Brunne's being the first lesbian to reach that august position.

Norwegian bankrupt bishop resigns

Bishop Ernst Baasland of the Diocese of Stavanger in the (Lutheran) Church of Norway has announced his resignation from June 2009. He and his wife were made bankrupt by their 34-year-old son's extensive Internet gambling activity. He said the situation would affect his work as a bishop.
"Becoming aware of the numerous loans and witnessing the pain inflicted upon the lenders has been very hard," bishop Baasland said in a press release issued by the Church of Norway. "On top of this came the bankruptcy petition, which is difficult to live with as a bishop."
In total, the bishop's son has debts of NOK 50M (5.4 M€), the bishop's wife NOK 33.7M (3.6 M€) and the bishop himself NOK 16.6M (1.8 M€). Most of the money is owed to friends of the family, which naturally makes the situation even harder for all concerned.

There are many addictions that can ruin a family. Most known are addictions to alcohol or different drugs, but these have a psychological side, too, in addition to the physical addiction.
Someone who is addicted to gambling (ludomania) doesn't have any obvious physical craving, but on a psychological level, the situation is similar to substance abuse. The addict can't stop, and just has to have more and more until the situation is totally out of hand, as with the Baasland family. And the addicts don't hurt themselves only, but everyone around them is affected. As in this tragic case.
Please pray for the Baaslands and others in similar dire straits.

Bishop Baasland is at the moment in Stellenbosch, South Africa, where he teaches New Testament exegetics at the university. He will return to Stavanger on March 15, 2009, and his resignation will be effective June 15.

Baasland velger å søke avskjed sommeren 2009 (kirken.no 10.12.08)
– Vanskelig å være biskop under konkursbehandling (Vårt Land 10.12.08)
Norwegian bishop bankrupted by son's Internet gambling debt (ENI 11.12.08)
– Er ikke du rik og berømt? (Aftenbladet 11.12.08)
Spelskulder tvingar norsk biskop avgå (Kyrkans Tidning 12.12.08)

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

Alexander McCall Smith: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. Edinburgh 2007.

Having heard so many good things about Alexander McCall Smith's books about the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana and its proprietor, Mma Ramotswe, I became curious. Finally, I was able to find one book in the series in the local library here in Porvoo. They are available in the local book stores as well, of course, but usually in translations. And out of principle, I always read books in the original language, if possible. Luckily, McCall Smith writes in English and not in Setswana...

The book I found, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, is the eighth book in this particular series (there is a ninth, and a tenth is due to be published in 2009). Not having read the others (yet!), I cannot compare them, but this was an absolutely charming novel. To my European eyes, the African setting seemed genuine - and McCall Smith was born in 1948 in Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe) and has worked in Botswana, so why shouldn't it be?
The characters in the book - Mma Ramotswe herself, her husband, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, her associate, Mma Makusi, and all the others, are warmly sketched with all the little flaws that people have. They are no sterile superheroes, but real people, that live in Botswana, but could equally well live in Finland or the U.S. Were it not for the African background, however. Their culture, their language, their city and their landscapes are African, of course, and so are these characters, as well. Universal - but African.
Ah, the language! It is clear that the characters actually speak Setswana, but the dialogue is in English, nevertheless. Luckily for me. The form of English used by the author is very colourful and full of Africanisms - technical terms, of course, such as names of animals and plants, but also the titels "Mma" and "Rra" for ladies and gentlemen, respectively, and notably the expression "to become late", meaning "to die". "The boy's mother is late" sounds far warmer than to say that "she is dead" or that "she kicked the bucket". I suppose the background of this novel expression is speaking of "the late Mr. Jones", but this form of it was new to me. And I liked it; not that I intend to use it.

This is, naturally, a detective story. The crimes that Mma Ramotswe investigates are not the high society murders of an Agatha Christie or a Ngaio Marsh, nor the brutal incidents of other more contemporary writers. They are, rather, small scale incidents that can make life miserable for those involved, but do not affect society as a whole - a theft of office supplies here, an unfaithful husband there. And that just makes the book the more charming.

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive is no thriller. If you seek adrenaline and testosterone, seek elsewhere. If you, on the other hand, seek realistic people that you would like to befriend, you'd be well adviced to try the warm embrace of Mma Ramotswe!

"No homosexuals in the Sudan" - oh, really?

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak, primate of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and bishop of Juba, said at the Lambeth conference on July 22, 2008, that there are no homosexuals in the Sudan. "They have not come to the surface. We don’t have them." The Anglican Journal (of Canada) reported this.

Is the archbishop being obtuse, is he stupid, or is he deliberately twisting things, I wonder? If I were gay and Sudanese (like the blogger, Ali), I would not come "to the surface" or "out of the closet" either - it would simply not be healthy!

"Christian" Nigeria letter

A form of spam that's been floating around for some years is the so-called Nigeria letters. They are, of course, a kind of con, trying to get greedy people to pay out a medium amount of money in order to get a great amount of money. Usually, the story is that some millions are just sitting in a bank account in Nigeria or some similar country, but the sender of the letter lacks the funds for the necessary stamp tax or bribes or whatever to get at it - please send the money and I'll split the loot with you!
Yeah, right!
Most people on the Internet are aware of this kind of confidence trick, but apparently it sometimes works, since the letters keep coming. And why wouldn't it work? "A fool and his money are soon parted" - and there are plenty of fools around. Since the brighter fools usually aren't all that interested in divulging their folly, relatively few cases are reported to the police...

I recieved a new version of Nigeria letter last week. To me, it was particularly heinous, since it was coated in Christian terminology and reeked of Christian faith - but since the letter was sent with a criminal intent, it was more or less blasphemous!
But judge for yourself. I enclose the (slightly censored) letter; its bad English naturally makes it all the more believable. Also note that the letter does not ask for money; that will surely come later...

From Mrs N.N.
[Street address]
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

ATTN: DEAREST ONE OF GOD

I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr N.N., who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.
Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million Five Hundred U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account.
Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained.
The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don't want my husband's efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.
I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband's relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life.
Contact me on the above e-mail address for more information, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply.

Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs N.N.

Arrggh!
I've been conned like this before, but on a much smaller scale ("Hello, Pastor! Would you pray for me, please - oh, and I could use a fiver!") but this lays it on so thick that I'm afraid someone with a good heart will fall for it! Please don't!

Tutu does it again!

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a person I have the utmost respect for. He has been stalwart in battling for human rights and human dignity, first during the apartheid regime of South Africa, and now during the homophobic regime of the leaders of the Anglican church. For the first, he received the Nobel Peace Prize, and for the second, he also recieved a prize last spring.
A report states:

The former Archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu is to be honoured by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. [...]
He will [...] accept the OUTSPOKEN Award "in honour of the unprecedented impact of his leadership as a human rights advocate."
In November 2007 Archbishop Tutu told the BBC that if he believed that God was homophobic, he wouldn't be a Christian. The Nobel Peace Prize winner said he was ashamed of his church because of its treatment of gays. [...]
"Our world is facing problems, poverty, HIV and AIDS, a devastating pandemic, and conflict," Tutu said. "God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.
"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
[...] "If God as they say is homophobic I wouldn't worship that God."
"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual.
"You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race infected society."
In December he apologised to gay people all around the world for the way they have been treated by the Church.

When he accepted the award in April,

Archbishop Tutu said that for his part it was impossible to keep quiet "when people were frequently hounded ... vilified, molested and even killed as targets of homophobia ... for something they did not choose - their sexual orientation."

Archbishop Tutu has vocally challenged discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In a 2004 article in The Times of London, he condemned persecution on the basis of sexual orientation, comparing it to apartheid.
"We struggled against apartheid in South Africa, supported by people the world over, because black people were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about - our very skins," he wrote. "It is the same with sexual orientation. It is a given. I could not have fought against the discrimination of apartheid and not also fight against the discrimination that homosexuals endure, even in our churches and faith groups."

Amen to that! Thank you, Archbishop!

Tutu calls on Ugandans to protect LGBT community (PinkNews 27.2.08)
Tutu to accept award from LGBT rights group (PinkNews 29.2.08)
Tutu Speaks Out On Gay Civil Rights (365gay 9.4.08)
Tutu inspires gay audience in San Francisco (PinkNews 10.4.08)

"Behead all gays," says Gambian president

The Gambia is the smallest country on the African continental mainland and is bordered to the north, east, and south by Senegal, and has a small coast on the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The country, with an area of 10,380 sq.km. and a population of 1,7 million, is ruled by president Yahya Jammeh (born in 1965). He took power in a bloodless coup in 1994 and was elected president two years later.

The president likes to be portrayed as a devout Moslem, and has done some interesting stunts to prove his spiritual worth. The most dangerous of these are his alleged healing of people with AIDS and his recent threat to behead any homosexuals that hadn't left the country within 24 hours.
To my knowledge, his threat hasn't been fulfilled - yet - but it can't have any positive impact on the human rights situation in his country or in Africa in general. Moreover, if he goes ahead with his homophobic plans, the Gambia's economy will suffer, with a decline in foreign aid, in trade, and in tourism. Two Spanish tourists have already been arrested.

But that hasn't stopped madmen before. What remains to be seen is whether president Jammeh is one or not.

Sources:
President plans to kill off every single homosexual (Afrik.com 19.5.08)
President Jammeh Gives Ultimatum for Homosexuals to Leave (Gambia News 19.5.08)
Doom awaits gays in Gambia (Gambia News 21.5.08)
Gambias president tar bladet från munnen (Antigayretorik 21.5.08)
Gambias president hotar döda landets homosexuella (Dagen 22.5.08)
Gambia gay death threat condemned (BBC News 23.5.08)
Two Spanish caught in the Gambia after President called for the death of Homosexuals (Afrik.com 2.6.08)
Two Alleged Homosexuals Arrested (Gambia News 2.6.08)

Update 5.6.08: The Spanish tourists have been released, Advocate News reports.

News from ENI

Differ, but stay together, says gay U.S. bishop
Hong Kong (ENI 24.10.07). The first Anglican bishop to live openly in a same-sex relationship has described his consecration as a "remarkable experiment", and said it offered the worldwide Anglican Communion a chance to show that people with different experiences could coexist. "In this global village, while we have different experiences and histories, how are we going to live together?" Bishop V. Gene Robinson said in a speech in Hong Kong on 20 October. Robinson's consecration in 2003 by the US Episcopal (Anglican) Church as a bishop in the state of New Hampshire triggered the ire of many Anglican leaders particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Study by church-backed group links freer rice trade to hunger
Geneva (ENI 5.11.07). Trade liberalisation in rice has led to more hunger and poverty among subsistence farmers in at least three developing countries, the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance has found in a study it carried out. The study into the effect of decisions to open national rice markets to foreign imports in Ghana, Honduras and Indonesia was released to coincide with a critical stage in world trade talks that continue in Geneva this week. "Access to adequate food and the means to acquire it are a basic human right which virtually all countries have agreed to defend," said Linda Hartke, the EAA coordinator. "This study confirms what we have suspected, that trade liberalisation has been used to create unfair conditions that directly violate this right which is fundamental for life."

Anglican leaders praise religion decision by Chinese communists
Hong Kong (ENI 7.11.07). A group of Asian and African Anglican leaders recently returned from a visit to China have praised a decision by the country's ruling Communist Party to include the word "religion" in its constitution. "This is a recognition of the increasing role that the Church plays in the nation's economic and social development," the Anglican leaders said in a statement issued after their 21-30 October visit. State media said the change had been made to meet the demands posed by the "new situation and new tasks". The Communist Party for a long time discouraged religion, because it was officially atheist. In recent years, however, Chinese leaders have said that religion can play an important role in creating a "harmonious society". The term is used by the Chinese leaders to refer to the need for economic growth to be accompanied by social cohesion.

Polish Protestants deplore posters denouncing Luther
Warsaw (ENI 7.11.07). Protestant leaders in one of Poland's largest cities have condemned a poster campaign denouncing Martin Luther, the 16th century German Protestant leader, as a blasphemer and heretic. "What would happen if someone hung placards outside a Catholic church attacking the 'blasphemy and heresy of John Paul II,' or the 'blasphemy of Muhammad' at a mosque? These actions are clearly illegal, yet the local council has said and done nothing," said Mariusz Maikowski, a pastor with the Seventh-day Adventist church in Lublin in eastern Poland. The posters were displayed throughout Lublin to advertise lectures by Ryszard Mozgol, an official with Poland's National Remembrance Institute, the body charged with dealing with the records of the communist-era secret police.

Churches must offer hope says HIV-positive Zimbabwe pastor
Harare (ENI 8.11.07). The Rev. Maxwell Kapachawo is the first known religious leader in Zimbabwe to declare publicly that he is living with HIV and he is using radio and television to spearhead a campaign to combat stigmatisation of those who have the disease. The pastor is national coordinator of the Zimbabwe Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (ZINERELA). It has 181 members but Kapachawo is the only one to have publicly declared his HIV status.

ENI Online - http://www.eni.ch/