Communicating the Gospel Message in a War Context: The Case of Burundi.

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dc.contributor.authorMinani, Alberic
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-27T07:04:35Z
dc.date.available2021-07-27T07:04:35Z
dc.date.issued2005
dc.description.abstractBackground "Communicating the Gospel message in a war context: the case of Burundi" is but an exposition of my long personal inner meditation on the unique, hard and complex historical journey of the Burundian people. For quite a number of years, diverse happenings, inner and outside questions have been at the origin of this topic. It is dear to me because what is happening is the history of my people, it is my history: since my childhood, I have been told of my family members, and neighbours who have been victims of the ethnic conflicts. For a couple of times, I myself have been victim of this ethnic hatred (I have run away from school fleeing those who wanted to kill me, my school material have been burnt by my fellow students, just to name a few). Wherever I have been, outside my country, people have always asked me why such a war could break out while most people are Christians. Therefore, this double pressure could not result but to a concern to give my personal contribution in the understanding of the problem in order to foster reconciliation. Motivations The motivations and objectives of this essay are to incite people of good will to stand up and say no to those who fight for their selfish interests. I also intend to give my personal contribution in the process of peace-building and reconciliation among the people of Burundi. I remain convinced that the Church, in her pastoral ministry is invited to be more aware that whatever affects her faithful is part and parcel of her evangelizing task. Methodology As for the methodology used in this essay, the main work has been that of classical research (books and other writings in relation to the topic). Interviews have been carried out as well. However, to be clear since the beginning, though it keeps its 4 importance, this last method was not the core of the essay. It was done in order not only to verify whether what was written was closer to the truth, but also to be able to give some recommendations which would be well founded. Therefore the I wanted to get rid of rumours and half-truths. The interviews have been carried out with six different categories of people: church people, youth ministers, media people, refugees, young people (orphans), and members of the Small Christian Communities. Practically, in carrying out the interviews, the author was more concerned about the effects of the war and the realizations of the church achieved so far. Hence, to help the reader to have a full scope of what the essay is all about, some interview-related tables as well as the questionnaire of the interviews have been provided in the Appendix part of the work. As for the biblical quotations, the author chose to use the Jerusalem Bible and the African Bible. Limitations In the following pages, I do not intend to give a socio-political description of the conflict, nor do I pretend to give absolute solutions. Rather, mine is a humble, modest and personal reflection on the causes and effects of the moral and spiritual crisis that the Burundian society is undergoing. Being Burundian, it might be difficult to be completely neutral in my views here and there. It is normal for the simple reasons that I have not been the least affected. I beg the reader to be understanding. Yet, despite all these limitations, my innermost desire is not to cultivate or stimulate any ethnic sentiment of hatred or vengeance. Rather, my dream is a new Burundi in which conflict would have given place to truth, concord, unity and pacific cohabitation, like the place that Isaiah dreams about: "Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbours, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play with the cobra's den, and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea" (Is 11:6-9). Structure of the essay After elucidating the causes and effects of the war in the first chapter, I intend to reflect on what is the role of the church, as she proclaims the Gospel message, in seeking for lasting solutions to the conflicts. This will be dealt with in the second chapter. Lastly, in the third chapter, my intention is to see how the church and all the people of good will can make recourse to the strategies of communication in order to effectively restore peace.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12342/1310
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherTangaza University Collegeen_US
dc.subjectBurundi.en_US
dc.subjectCommunicating the Gospel Message.en_US
dc.subjectWar context.en_US
dc.titleCommunicating the Gospel Message in a War Context: The Case of Burundi.en_US
dc.typeLong Essayen_US
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