This paper focuses on the career of Frederick Chiluba from his election as President of Zambia in October 1991 to his renunciation of standing for a third term in April 2001. The paper argues first that, in his book on democracy and in his declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation, Chiluba set up the criteria by which his presidency would be judged and ultimately found wanting. Second, it argues that the Christian nation concept has had the inadvertent consequence of giving evangelicals a clear basis on which to judge Chiluba and the Zambian state, and hence has served as a catalyst for more energetic and extensive evangelical political engagement.

The aim of this article is to present a critical analysis of how far the Circle of African Women Theologians have addressed the three initial challenges that face African women who are receiving theological education in African theological institutions and to identify new problems. The problem statement of this article is as follows: After nineteen years of the Circle's existence, the African women theologians who constitute the Circle still face the challenges of: self-definition, fewer female student enrolments in theology, poorly represented at academic institutions (few women on staff), resistance to the engendering of the theological curriculum, and lack of greater collaboration with African male theologians in research and publication. The methodology of the article is based on conceptual analysis which, in turn, is based on my personal experiences as a former coordinator of the Circle.

No abstract

No abstract

Every first Saturday afternoon of the month a group of twenty ecumenical women from different parts of Africa meet at my house in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, to discuss issues that affect women in the church and society. We call ourselves "Women of Faith", who are implementing the mission of Jesus as described in Luke 4:18-19. As participants in God's mission, we equip ourselves with knowledge of what is happening in our churches and societies so that our responses may be contextual. On 6 March 2004, we chose to talk about HIVIAIDS and African women. One of us passionately argued that we need not worry about being infected with the virus, because as long as we remained faithful to our husbands and prayed for our protection, God was going to hear our prayers and protect us from the virus. She equated the HI-virus with punishment from God for the disobedient. Yet within our group there was one woman who had shared with us that she was living with the HIvirus, which she got while she was already a committed Christian and faithful wife. Her husband died in 2002 of AIDS and she lamented over why her husband did not disclose his status soon enough to take advantage of availability of anti-retroviral therapy in South Africa as she has done. She also told us how every day she wakes up at 4.00 in the morning to go to her Pentecostal church to pray for healing.The discussion of this day left us divided in our responses to HIV/AIDS because it raised deep issues that required a theological reflection that is contextual to the continent of Africa; ecumenical in nature and dealing with the problems of African women. The central theological issue that the women battled with was: "Why do human beings suffer and how does one conduct mission in the context of suffering?" While it was clear to the women that our role is to participate in Gods mission to the oppressed and the poor of our communities so that all people can experience the presence of God's reign here on earth, which is also yet to 424 I.fabel Apnulo P h i r i HIV/AIDS: AN A F R I C A N RESPONSEchurches, para-church organizations and ecumenical partners in responding to the plague of AIDS.At the consultation, the church admitted that knowingly and unknowingly it has contributed to the spread of the HIV. They acknowledged that the way scriptures have been interpreted and the emphasis on the theology of sin, among other issues, have helped to promote the stigmatization, exclusion and suffering of people with HIV or AIDS. They also came to the realization that HIV/AIDS is there in the church among the children of God. Therefore, they said, Given the extreme urgency of this situation, and the conviction that the churches do have a distinctive role to play in the response to the pandemic, what is needed is a rethinking of our mission, and the transformation of our structures and ways of working?The consultation outlined a plan of action in the areas of theology and ethics, Women are also care-givers of the infected with HIV/AIDS and they take care of the orphans with...