Congregational Chronicle April 2015

by Global Ministries | published on May 12, 2015

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the April 2015 issue of the UCCSA Newsletter.

It has been a busy month at the UCCSA Central Office, I trust you had a blessed Easter.

In this month’s featured articles is the response to the recurrence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.We see it is an indication of some of the deep-seated problems that continue to bubble at the surface of our countries. The attacks against foreign nationals from the African continent were and are an indication of serious socio-political problems that continue to grip our continent. Unfortunately some of our governments have simply dismissed these attacks as merely a matter of criminal activity by some people.

Xenophobia brings us shame as Africans. It is a sign of self-hate .As a church we should teach our members to be proud of their Africanness and celebrate their belonging to the continent. The UCCSA as a pan-African church has to reject xenophobia in all its forms and should challenge our governments to pride themselves in building relations and extending hospitality to fellow Africans. As church we have an evangelistic responsibility to promote tolerance, acceptance of the stranger among us and the promotion of better living conditions for refugees in our communities. We have to encourage our local churches to go out of their way to be
welcoming to the strangers in our neighbourhoods.

We hope you enjoy reading this month’s Newsletter. Thank you for reading and we look forward to your comments and feedback.