Biblical approach key to lasting peace in West Africa

|PIC1|One Christian leader believes the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi can help West Africans fight hunger and poverty, while an “honest talk about the issues” will help them achieve a long lasting peace and prosperity in the region.

The Rev John L McCullough, head of the US-based humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) said: “The biblical story of Ruth and Naomi is a story of a people dispossessed - first because of the drought, followed by poverty and finally famine. It is a story with which most of the people, whom God has called you to love, and under your care, can identify."

Rev McCullough was speaking to West African church leaders and government officials at a weeklong conference on climate change, human rights, and peace and security held last week in Monrovia, Liberia.

He said, "Boaz was inspired by the love and commitment that Ruth, a Moabite (an outsider) showed toward Naomi, a woman from Judah. How much more can you lead your people to love and accept each other above and beyond those things that would divide them - to help transform bitterness back into joy?”

The way forward for West Africa, Rev McCullough said, “lies in honestly assessing and combating problems of bad governance, corruption, conflict, dislocation, and poverty. Those continue to plague the region.”

He implored the assembled church leaders to advocate for "policies that empower people to reach their fullest potential".

"Most of all, help the people to achieve the kind and quality of vision that honours and values the dignity of all," he said.

Rev McCullough interwove the scriptural message of faith in God's grace, even in the face of immense hardship, with the West Africa's experience of wars, devastation, dislocation, poverty - and the resulting assaults on human dignity.

He described climate change as a manmade phenomenon and "the antithesis of the creation story". Climate change in the region has resulted in extreme weather, failed crops, the forced relocation of people and poverty. He said it presented "a theological dilemma that must place it at the top of the agenda for the faith community".

In West Africa, Rev McCullough said he believed that values fostered by faith - namely compassion, reconciliation and restoration - should play an important role in helping people meet the challenges of living in a region where the actions of one nation have a profound effect on the wellbeing of its neighbours.

Rev McCullough and other executives from ecumenical organisations welcomed Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to the conference. Elected in 2006, Johnson-Sirleaf is the continent's first female president and is the architect of its current efforts to rebuild after nearly two decades of civil war.

The conference was co-sponsored by the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA) in collaboration with the Liberian Council of Churches.