CMS Ireland Niall Manogue

Mid-Africa Focus Night

2008-05-14T00:00:00Z

Well, final touches are being put together for the Mid-Africa focus night that is happening 2 weeks today. Focusing on a theme of “Transformation”, it is looking like a really engaging program with different speakers encouraging us to think about mission across the Mid-Africa region.

Alison Gill will be sharing stories from her recent trip to Burundi, Niall Manogue will be chatting about his experience in Rwanda and his hopes for the youth team heading out this summer. We’ve assembled some technological kit to allow us to have a live link up with Archbishop Bernard in Burundi, and find out about how the church is involved in transforming a country torn apart by conflict.

Neil Brittain is going to be tying the whole night together, and getting the chance to interview a few folk who have been involved in short term mission experiences in Uganda. Finally, Rev. Andrew Forster will be making to a return to the Oasis to help us think about how a local church in Ireland can benefit from an engagement with the global church.

It would be great to see you there – 7.00 start for a summer buffet (that’s salad type things I’m informed) with the program starting at 7.30pm. We’ll be at the Oasis cafe – at the Church of Ireland Centre at QUB, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast.

Feel free to get in touch if you need any more information.

Goat kebabs and some rather angry men.

2008-03-31T00:00:00Z

We’ve finished my mini road trip visiting some of our Global partners in the more rural parts of Burundi, and as we were retuning to Bujumbura tonight, we encountered something rather odd. We’d stopped to have a brochette (goat kebabs – very fresh – the meat was cut from the beast in front of my eyes) when suddenly a large group of men, carrying suitcases, started up the hill towards us. They were clearly angry about something and were chastising two senior looking soldiers traveling with them. I turned to Pascal (the provincial education co-ordinator and my guide/ driver for the weekend) to find out what was going on. He told me that these men were being ‘demobbed’ (demobilised) and that they weren’t happy about getting left at the side of the road by the army, who were meant to be taking them to their villages. Decades of conflict have come to an end in Burundi, with many of those involved in the army and rebel groups, being paid off to leave their guns behind and reintegrate into normal life.

Over our surprisingly tender kebab, he went on to tell me about their situation, and as he spoke he referred back to conversations that we had been having all weekend about education, and it’s transformative role in post-conflict settings.

Burundi is moving out of a very dark period in its history. A long running civil war, punctuated by genocidal killings, has taken its toll upon infrastructure, communities and individuals. I have seen more clearly than ever, over the past week, the need for whole scale transformation if Burundi is to continue its path towards a more prosperous, stable future. The role that the church plays is vital in this.

I have seen how our partnerships can play a small role in helping the church as it grapples with very real and complicated challenges. Everywhere I have gone, I have seen the benefit of long term, holistic involvement. Improving schools infrastructure and training for education providers helps give young people education and hope for a better future. Training church leaders produces pastors who will disciple local Christians and stand up against racial and tribal division. Partnering with the church in Burundi shows them that they are not alone, that they have not been forgotten and that Christians around the world care for them.

Partnership ain’t sexy. Often it carries on unseen without grabbing the headlines. But this week, I have seen its potential – If Burundi is to continue upon its path towards recovery, if the church is to play a role in that journey, then partnership, long term holistic involvement, is going to prove to be very significant indeed.

Just a couple more days in Burundi for me, then off to Uganda later on this week.

Mum's the word

2008-03-10T00:00:00Z

I wanted to take a minute and write something about a scheme we ran a few months ago – belated I agree but important nonetheless…

For most of us in Ireland, Christmas is a time when we receive more than enough nutrition. My New Year is often spent trying to correct the results of my festive overindulgence! Christmas 2007 saw CMS Ireland running an alternative gift scheme focused around nutrition needs in one of our global partner locations.

Kiwoko Hospital, in Luwero Diocese, is a 250 bed facility trying to provide quality, affordable healthcare to some 500,000 people in Central Uganda. Though Uganda is a lush and fertile country, malnutrition remains a real issue, particularly for young children. As such, Kiwoko has a specific ward that deals with paediatric malnutrition.

Building on the success of the alternative Christmas gift in 2006 (mosquito nets!), CMS Ireland volunteer Yvonne Manogue (who happens to be my Mum!), agreed to coordinate a similar scheme this year. Individuals were given the chance to purchase the equivalent of 1 week’s admission and treatment on the hospital’s paediatric malnutrition ward. As a result of this over £3,000 was raised; this means that Kiwoko will be able to continue providing affordable nutrition treatment to those children most in need.

If you are my mum, then thank you for pulling everything together. If you were someone who bought a week’s worth of treatment then thank you! If you, or indeed the person the receiving the gift, would like to find out more about the work of CMS Ireland or Kiwoko Hospital, please give me a shout.

All I Wanted Was Some Branston

2008-02-27T00:00:00Z

March 2008. It’s now just over 6 months since I came back from Kiwoko to work for CMS Ireland. It is often commented that coming back from Africa and readjusting to life in the West is more difficult than going out to Africa in the first place – there is more than a grain of truth in this. On one hand, I have loved picking up aspects of my life here again – friendships, family, a job that excites and enthuses me. And yet, there is a part of me that finds being here, just a little bit uncomfortable.

I remember going into Newtownbreda Tesco about 6 weeks after I returned home. I was looking to buy some Branston pickle, but was overwhelmed with the choice of pickles, sauces, tapenades, chutneys, relishes and conserves! The range was staggering. Though it’s quite funny now, at the time, I remember being more than a little disturbed and having to leave without my Branston.

There are many things I could write and reflect on about this – there are lots of things to say about simplicity in our lives; we could contrast this with the abject lack of choice about food that most of my friends in Africa had; I could go on about Newtownbreda Tesco as the modern day cathedral in our consumerist religion.

But I don’t want to do any of that.

I just want to put down a record that someone found it uncomfortable – I do this in the hope that someone else will open their eyes and look on the rows upon rows and feel something. So often we just operate on autopilot, feeling nothing, and carry on without really looking around us. My autopilot still functions for most of the time, but as a result of my time in Africa, it malfunctions every so often. When it does, it makes me feel uncomfortable, it disturbs me. And yet. It makes me feel alive.

I'll be brief

2007-08-19T00:00:00Z

...because things are very very busy here at Kiwoko. We have the Ekisa team here working at the minute so all my time has been taken up prepping and running things with them. They have finished the first of their 2 kids clubs, the first one being a 3 day program with our Kids living with HIV. They have done an amazing job – it was wonderful seeing them working alongside Ugandan staff to show love to the children that came along.

Remember us in your prayers this week – we are beginning our second kids club – a 5 day program with children of staff members in the hospital. Response from staff has been great – we had 350 children registered when we closed registration on Friday. The next week should interesting…

I'm Back

2007-06-25T00:00:00Z

Well that was unpleasant! After a particularly nasty stomach thing last week, I am back at the desk feeling great again. Stephanie is continuing to take on more responsibility and the plan is that next week she will be running things completely. She’s doing a great job, but pray for her as she builds relationships with staff. So I have to tie up all the loose ends this week – it feels rather strange… My standard answer at the minute is “Speak to Stephanie about that!” Pray for me, as I move from the centre of the decisions and allow someone else to make them!

new job...

2007-06-12T00:00:00Z

sorry for the blog silence over the last month or so…

But I return with news! As some of you already know, I'll be returning back to Ireland in September of this year having spent the last 18 months working at Kiwoko. Upon my return I'll be taking up the post of Regional Mission Partner for the Mid-Africa region. I'll be based in Ireland, but travelling overseas a few times a year to visit partners in the countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. I will be responsible for managing and developing the links between the Church in Ireland and dioceses and projects we support in those countries.

I am very excited about the new challenges that lie ahead. In the meantime, we have a new Community Development Officer at Kiwoko, who I am working with over the next few months to hand over responsibilities. Please pray for her as she beings to take over here and builds relationships with staff.

Will update you more soon.

mission?.. is it evangelism or social action?

2007-05-13T11:56:00Z

It is not simply that evangelism and social involvement are to be done alongside each other. Rather, in integral mission our proclamation has social consequences as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life. And our social involvement has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.As in the life of Jesus, being, doing and saying are at the heart of our integral task Extract from Micah Network Declaration on Integral Mission 2001

...it's both…you can't separate them…

wedding time...

2007-05-07T08:42:00Z

A good friend Dan, was married to Susan last weekend. Our esteemed MS and I played the role of drivers… a great day was had… all 550 of the guests… seeing as you all enjoyed my previous photo post.. i thought i'd treat you to another..

judith complained i had no photos...

2007-05-01T08:44:00Z

Mrs Finch, in the UK at the minute, said she had appreciated my recent blog entries, but that they could have done with a photo… so.. I've taken the opportunity of using the bank holiday and resulting extra bandwidth to put one up…Me and my brother, after quad biking in Jinja over the Easter Break… that's mud.. not a dodgy fake tan gone wrong.