Central African Republic

During the Mission Council in Vienna (May 15-17, 2003) I met pasteur Paul Changé, president of the Baptist union UFEB in the Central African Republic. When a collegue from the Dutch mission board and I visited the Dutch missionary Jeannette Baas, living and working in the capital Bangui, we met Paul Changé a lot of times. We, in the Netherlands, had heard of the troubles in the Central African Republic by the letters from Jeannette Baas, who is now studying in England.

I asked Paul: “How are you?” - “Thanks to God that I am still alive”, he said. “It was a bad time. But our churches are alive!”And then he told me the following occurence:

On a Sunday morning in April the service was held in his church in Ngoubagara, where over 1,000 people attend the service. Then during this service the president, who became a president by revolution, came forward. There he apologized for his soldiers who had plundered several churches up-country and in the capital, Bangui. He promised that his soldiers would be stopped bothering the churches anymore.

Then Paul accepted the apologies of the president and he gave him his own bible. Up till now the soldiers don’t bother the christians and the churches.

Pastor Paul thanked for our prayers for his people.
We have to keep on praying for the people of this country.

The EBM is supporting the ETEB, the Bible school for evangelists in Bangui.

Anneke Blaauw-Tijman, Netherlands

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