The World Council of Churches General Secretary, Rev Samuel Kobia has helped in a record-breaking fund-raising appeal for Africa. Over the past two weeks Kobia has undertaken a tour of north Europe Scandinavian countries and on his final stop in Copenhagen he assisted in the DanChurchAid Lenten Appeal, which raised a record 15 million Danish Krones (Ł1.4 million) in just one day.
Kobia was joyful at the way in which people emptied themselves to aid poverty and hunger in Africa, and in particular was amazed at how simple ordinary people were giving endlessly to the appeal.
"It is nice to see how the money for aid to Africa comes from ordinary people," said Kobia. "Some Africans rather associate help from Europe with big organisations and states."
The Danish appeal was titled ‘Stop the Silent Hunger’ and has the aim of easing the suffering of the huge number of Africans that have found themselves in poverty and despair.
Denmark was the final stop to complete Kobia’s tour of WCC member churches, which also included Sweden and Norway. Kobia visited Denmark from 4-7 March and across the country he met with WCC partners, Church leaders and government representatives.
Whilst in Denmark, Kobia visited representatives from the National Council of Danish Churches – Baptist and Methodist churches – and had a meeting with Bertel Haarder, the minister for church affairs.
Initially the tour began in Sweden, from 26th September until 1st March, and during his stay Kobia preached the Eucharist service at Uppsala Cathedral, which was also presided over by Archbishop Karl Gustav Hammar. In addition to this, Kobia also held a public lecture, which was hosted by the Nordic Africa Institute, and the Faculty of Theology at Uppsala University. The lecture discussed 'The Church in Africa and the new Global Realities.'
The tour then moved on to Norway from March 1-4, where Kobia met Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik who expressed a great interest in the WCC’s role in inter-faith dialogue. Bondevik highlighted to Kobia, the need for an increased dialogue between international communities.
Sudan’s peace process was also discussed between the major figures, and both articulated their thankful hearts to the churches, organisations and countries that had been involved in progressing the peace-process. Both were very optimistic regarding the future likelihood of peace be brought about in the troubled African state.
Others that Kobia was able to convene with during his Norwegian visit were: Oddvar Andersen – leader of the Church of Norway Sami Council, and HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, who is also the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations (UN) Development Programme.