Tragedy struck members of the North West Zambia Conference last week when a car accident claimed the lives of nine people. The group was returning home after a meeting of the North West Zambia Annual Conference in Mansa, Zambia on September 16. Four Itinerant Elders, three Licentiates who were also Pastors and two Stewards died in the accident.
Funerals began on September 18. Three laypersons are still hospitalized in critical condition, while eighteen others are recovering from injuries in Mambillima Hospital, Mwense.
The Right Reverend Wilfred Jacobus Messiah has visited the injured in the hospital and has provided some assistance with the care for those affected by providing funds for the hospitalization of those still injured as well as transport and funeral costs for the deceased.
The World Methodist Council asks that each of its member churches continue to pray for the injured as well as for the families of those lost in this terrible accident. The Council asks that the lives of those who died; the Reverend James Mwila, the Reverend Muyambo Chimba, the Reverend Patson Mwewa, the Reverend Jackson Ng’ona, Licentiate Kasongo Lumbwe, Licentiate Morgan Chipasha, Lazarous Mungo and Musondo Chinyangwha be remembered for their service to the church and to their community, where through their work with the church they helped spread the call for peace and community through Christ’s love.
In a letter of condolence to Bishop Messiah and all of those effected in the tragedy, General Secretary Ivan Abrahams stated that “We pray that those mourning as well as those recovering from their injuries will know God’s love and comfort in a very special way at this time when we are reminded very forcefully that death is woven in the very fabric of our fragile human existence.”
