I feel a sense of satisfaction that I am coming to the end of what I really consider to have been a long journey. The last six years as General Secretary, and before then having worked for the WCC for a long time, it gives me a sense of satisfaction that I have served and have given as much as I could give to an organisation from which I have also received a lot. It has been a very enriching experience for me and coming to the end I do feel ready for the next phase of my ecumenical journey.
What does that look like exactly?
My plan is to start in January 2010 a period where I can just rest, relax and not feel pressured to wake up every morning wondering whether I have fulfilled this or what is in store for me today. I feel my life and work as General Secretary of the WCC has been so hectic that I look forward very much to a time where I can feel I have a schedule that I am in total control of and I am not pressured with deadlines. So the first two or three months of 2010 are really to rest and recover!
But then my plan for later in the year is to also to do some serious reflection, to do some study, and to write about the WCC’s involvement in Africa. The WCC has accompanied Africa over many years and in different ways. We don’t have a record in writing of what that has meant. I would like, while it is still fresh in my mind rather than waiting until I write my memoirs, to use 2010 to document that and I think this is going to be a very useful documentation for the WCC and for Africa.
Is Africa where you will be rooted from now on?
For the first year or year and a half, because of most of what I want to do, it’s best to do it in Geneva but eventually I will relocate to Africa. I want to focus on Africa but when it comes to recording the WCC’s engagement with Africa I will use categories and themes that will be relevant for reflecting on the WCC in other areas and one of them is peace, reconciliation and healing. This is for me more or less the area of my work in the coming phase in my ecumenical ministry.
