MALAWI: Christians Need to Change from the “Do for Us Mentality” to “Doing Everything for Themselves,” Says ECM Chairman
Most Rev Thomas Luke Msusa, The Chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)
The Chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), Most Rev Thomas Luke Msusa has called on all the Catholics in the country to a mind-set change towards self-reliance and self-administering as the Church is experiencing donor fatigue.
The call came as all the Catholic Bishops in the country were undergoing a capacity building workshop on financial management which aims at helping the local church achieve self-sustainability. The workshop was a result of the AMECEA 2018 in Addis Ababa which resolved that conferences in the region need trainings in Financial management if they are to stop being donor dependent.
Archbishop Msusa said the training is timely and necessary because the Church has depended on donors on every project for a long time. He said time has come for the bishops, priests, the Religious and the laity to embrace a self-reliance and self-supportive church by taking ownership of the needs of the dioceses they belong to.
“As a local church, we have depended on donors on every work we undertake be it in development, health, education and evangelization. The donors are now tired, and they ask if we don’t have anything to add on our own. Therefore, we are undergoing this capacity building training in financial management for us to lead and teach all Catholics to be responsible as the Church is ours. We have realized that we haven’t been on a way to achieving self-reliance as most of our collaborators think the bishop who goes to Europe to beg comes with a lot of money to construct schools, churches, health Centres and converts for them, which is not the case. I urge all Catholics to stop this kind of thinking but together initiate big projects locally for generation of funds.” Said Archbishop Msusa.
He continued that the Bishops realized the need to initiate change among Catholics in the country a long time ago and they have been discussing ways on how they can improve the financial situation of the Church together with the Christians. He alluded to last year’s pastoral letter titled “A Call for a New Era in Malawi” that it is not only for the political situation as many think, but it is also calling the people in the church to a mind-set change of independence.
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By: ECM’s Stella Zulu, ECM Communications Officer
