Final year visit to the Church of the Internal Province of West Africa
Doug Ingram
continued to develop the Relay Trust’s relationship with the Internal Province
of West Africa with a visit to the dioceses of Guinea, Bo and Freetown from the
end of November through to the beginning of December 2022.
The aim of the visit was to continue to reframe the relationship between the Relay Trust and the Dioceses, helping develop strategies for the continued development of training across the Province and supporting the church in its continuing efforts to become more self-governing, financing and propagating.
The visit started in Guinea, with visits to the churches around Conakry and its neighbouring islands of Kassa and Futoba. It then continued with reviewing potential infrastructure and income generation projects. On the Friday, hugely successfully Mount Zion committee meetings took place, with representatives from across the dioceses of the Internal Province. Mount Zion is a practical ministry training centre for the Internal Province of West Africa, whose development the Relay Trust is supporting.
Following the meetings in Conakry, the visit moved to Sierra Leone, were Doug met with the staff of the diocese of Bo, before attending an excellent ordination service in the cathedral. During the meetings, the relationship with the diocese was confirmed, with a commitment from both parties to maintain the emphasis on theological training within the diocese.
The focus of the visit then moved to Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city. Over the next couple of days considerable work was done on the development of Mount Zion, with the scoping of equipment for the site and the hiring of its first Chief Executive Officer.
Throughout the team from the Relay Trust was, as always, expertly hosted and supported by the church, whose joy and kindness, in some of the toughest situations, is always faultless. A good final visit of the year to West Africa, with so much for us to thank God for and so even more to be excited about in 2023.
