Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - Moderator begins month-long visit to South Africa and Malawi today

20th August 2010

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rt Rev Dr Norman Hamilton, and his family have today begun a month-long visit to the African subcontinent.

Over the next few weeks, the Moderator, his wife, Evelyn, and daughter, Julie, will be travelling to various places in both South Africa and Malawi.

They visit South Africa first, where they will be meeting with church leaders in a number of places, in particular talking to people who have been at the vanguard of efforts to bring about reconciliation to a divided nation following the ending of apartheid in 1994.

One of the objectives for their time in South Africa is to seek to learn from what has been experienced and achieved by those who've been involved in working for reconciliation, and specifically to explore the link between evangelism and reconciliation.

Amongst those they hope to meet, is Michael Cassidy, who prior to and since the collapse of apartheid, has played a key role in bringing Church leaders together to pray and strive for reconciliation.  

Michael Cassidy is also the founder of African Enterprise (AE), which has as its mission: “To evangelise the cities of Africa through word and deed in partnership with the Church.” AE seeks to do this through: Evangelism, Reconciliation, Community Development and Leadership Training.

Moving on to Malawi on 4 September, the Moderator and his family have a busy schedule of engagements with a variety of people and institutions, and an itinerary that includes visits to Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Ekwendeni and Livingstonia.

Those they will meet include leaders of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), in the Blantyre, Nkhoma and Livingstonia Synods, as well as mission personnel serving through PCI’s Board of Mission Overseas.

Amongst their appointments are visits to Zomba Theological College (ZTC), Theological Education by Extension in Malawi (TEEM) and the Bible Society of Malawi (BSM) in Blantyre.

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