Kampala, Uganda
Hundreds of the Anglican Church clergy in Uganda who are facing food shortages as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in the country have a cause to smile.
The Diocese of Bristol in England has donated cash worth more than $US45,000 (163 million Ugandan shillings) to the Anglican Church of Uganda to buy food for the vulnerable clergy during the lockdown.
Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu handing over food aid to the clergy and their families in Kampala last week. PICTURE: Courtesy of the Church of Uganda.
Sight has learned that each of the 36 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Uganda, has received 3.5 million Ugandan shillings ($US985) to buy food items such as rice, beans, cooking oil, and sugar.
The lockdowns imposed by the Ugandan Government in March to October, 2020, and then from 18th June to 30th July this year, have hit the churches’ revenues hard and left hundreds of the clergy in dire economic situation.
Before the lockdowns, churches in Uganda relied mainly on tithing and offerings collected during physical church services for their operations and sustaining clergy. The closure of physical churches has blocked that revenue channel.
As a result, most clergy have resorted to subsistence farming in order to meet daily food requirements, among other basic needs. However, many of those in urban areas do not have access to land to grow food. Moreover, those working in the poorest areas such as slums are especially vulnerable – some of their families eat only one meal a day.
Last year during the lockdown, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda. the Most Rev Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu. launched the Archbishop of Uganda’s Emergency Fund to mobilise food for the vulnerable clergy.
Among the friends of the province that Kaziimba reached out to for help was the Bishop Vivienne Faull of the English diocese of Bristol. On 6th October last year, Bishop Vivienne launched an appeal to Christians in the UK diocese to help clergy in Uganda and their families in their time of crisis. The faithful contributed to the fund through their churches or directly through a ‘Give A Little’ appeal page.
Recently, according to the Diocesan website, Faull wrote to Kaziimba informing him about the money the diocese had collected for Ugandan clergy.
“It is with great joy and delight that I am able to share with you that…we transferred the sum of £33,326 to your Archbishop’s Emergency Fund which, as was agreed with you, is intended to be used to support vulnerable clergy families, particularly those living in areas of poverty and who are therefore struggling to survive. We pray that this gift of love will be an encouragement to many and a lifeline in times of darkness.”
According to the Diocese of Bristol, Archbishop Kaziimba also wrote back thanking her.
“What a joy it was to receive your letter and the great gift of love and sacrifice from the Christians in the Diocese of Bristol,” he reportedly said. “To have initiated such an appeal and brought in such a harvest during these dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic can only be a testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Kaziimba handed over some of the food aid bought using the donation to the beneficiaries in Kampala last week. He stressed that his leadership was aware of the hardships the clergy in the province were going through.
“We are aware that the clergy’s salaries have been cut down for more than a year because of the lockdown,” he said.
In his speech at the event, Balaam Muheebwa, the Acting Provincial Secretary of the Church of Uganda, noted that they decided to give the dioceses cash instead of food items so that they could prioritise the type of food they wanted, making note of Hebrews 13:16: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God…”
