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- Chalk, not Wi-Fi, is used to tally the votes. Chalk has never had a connection problem.
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- For most attending the assembly in the building without air conditioning, seating is on benches.
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- Traveling for many in the Central African Republic can be a dangerous task. Space is at a premium, and the tops of vehicles provide necessary, although precarious, seating. These people were not going to the assembly, but their mode of travel is common.
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- Benches were set up outside for the overflow crowd, who could hear the proceedings thanks to the generator-run speakers inside the building.
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- Besides the five voting members from each of the church’s 28 districts, many pastors attended the assembly.
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- Rebecca Miminza (left) was ordained during the last day of the assembly.
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- The assembly elected Ndanga-Toue, right, to be the new president. Next to him is Willie Langdji, an ELCA missionary.
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- Three regional leaders were given motorcycles, an important means of transportation, purchased with money provided by an ELCA synod that partners with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Central African Republic.
The churchwide assemblies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Central African Republic have the same purpose as the ELCA’s, but in many ways they’re quite different. Just getting to the assembly can be a long, and sometimes hazardous, journey. Once there, the local flavor of the joyous gathering helps those attending accomplish their important work under sometimes less-than-ideal conditions. Susan Smith, an ELCA missionary in the Central African Republic, attended and helped at this spring’s assembly in Bouar. A recent entry to her blog describes the gathering. Here are some of her photos taken at the assembly. (Photos/Susan Smith)
