South African Lutheran Becomes Director of ACT Coordinating Office
Effective February 15, Rev. White M. Rakuba, an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) is the new director of the Geneva-based Coordinating Office of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. The Lutheran World Federation is a founding member of ACT, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.
Prior to joining ACT, Rakuba served as director of the emergency relief and refugee program of the Johannesburg-based South African Council of Churches (SACC). He has been a member of ACT's Emergency Committee, its highest governing body. He joined SACC in 1990, starting as a field officer in the refugee ministry. He completed a program in disaster management through Charles Sturt University, Australia. Rakuba attended Marang Lutheran Theological Seminary in Rustenburg, South Africa. Ordained in 1981, he was a parish pastor in various locations of ELCSA's Northern Diocese in the 1980s.
Rakuba succeeds Thor-Arne Prois, who served as director until September last year. Jenny Borden, a former senior staff member of United Kingdom-based ACT member Christian Aid, and who served as co-moderator of the ACT executive committee, has been interim director.
Rakuba is married and has four children. (210 words)
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