The Visit of Fr John and Christine Ochola

At the end of June we will be welcoming The Revd John Ochola and his wife Christine to the parish. John is director of Education for the diocese of Northern Uganda, based around the town of Gulu, as well as a primary school headteacher and a member of the staff at Archbishop Jamie Luwum Theological College where he teaches African Theology.

Personally it will be a delight for me to welcome them as John was our host when Alan Wright and I visited Uganda last year. In four days we were privileged to see something of the ministry of the church in this part of the world devastated by a conflict between government forces and the ‘Lord’s resistance army’ over these last 18 years. The majority of the population has had to be resettled in refugee camps, the economy has collapsed with many living on food provided through the United Nations and other aid agencies, children, especially, live in fear of being abducted, abused and made to fight, while others live with the scars of such abduction both physical and mental. Despite this the ministry of the church continues in worship and in a focus on education, preparing the young for a better future and I found such a determination not to loose hope and a strong determination among the children to study and learn.

Such a visit must though have a clear purpose for the wider church since as I said at the Annual Meeting, if it becomes just the Rectors ‘pet project’ it will have failed. To be a success this visit needs to allow us to build relationships that go beyond photographs and words to a real engagement that promotes understanding and support. It will be important for us to gain a sense of the context in which the African church is working but it will also be important for the Ochola’s to understand something of our context and why we may be approaching some issues in a very different way. In a small way at a time of great tension for the Anglican communion I believe that this visit can play a part in promoting tolerance and a mutual understanding.

Thus during their time in Wanstead 30 June – 5 July and 13 July – 21 July there will be opportunities to meet them in church and at an evening meeting on Monday 4th July, but I hope also there will be opportunities to talk informally – perhaps you could invite them for a meal or take them out to show them something of our country and to promote a friendship, a friendship that will enlarge our horizons as a church and bind us closer in our communion.

This visit will not though I hope be simply an end in itself, though quite how we develop this relationship will need to come from the experience of this visit itself. One possibility might be a structured support for some of the work of the church in Northern Uganda. What was clear to me last year was how a small sum of money goes a very long way there. However such support if it is right must not be ad hock but planned and targeted in a way that maximises its impact and ensure our mutual engagement. A second possibility that would like to peruse would be a return visit by a small group from our congregation, perhaps visiting the schools partner school in Kampala as well, allowing a yet further building of relationship. This however is for the future, meanwhile I am looking forward to John and Christines visit very much and hope that we will make them very welcome indeed.