A new appointment has been announced for the Director of the Coordinating Office of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. The Rev White M. Rakuba, an African Evangelical Lutheran will officially begin his duty on 15th February.

Currently, Rev Rekuba is the director of the emergency-relief and refugee program of the Johannesburg-based South African Council of Churches (SACC), responsible for directing the overall program and developing the capacity of SACC member churches in responding to the needs of people in emergency or refugee situations.

Rev Rekuba is also very experienced in ACT’s relief work. He has been a member of ACT’s emergency committee, its highest governing body. He was also on the roster of ACT’s Coordination Assessment Teams (CAT), which can be deployed rapidly to a disaster zone to assist ACT members in preparing for a response. In August 2003, he led a CAT mission to Liberia to assist the members in coordinating their response to the civil war there.

Kathryn Wolford, President of Lutheran World Relief, a US-based ACT member, congratulated Rev Rekuba on the appointment, "The ACT executive committee was impressed by White’s demonstrated commitment to ACT’s values and vision, to high ethical and professional standards, and his strong knowledge of the ecumenical movement. He brings significant experience in capacity assessment and strengthening local organisations engaged in emergency response and disaster preparedness, high priority areas for ACT. He brings direct experience as director of an implementer of ACT programs."

With a strong pastoral care and evangelical background, Rev Rekuba hoped that he would be led by God in his new role as the biblical prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were. The instructions given by God to these prophets to help the poor and people in need, found in the Bible, are words of inspiration to him, he said.

"I am excited to lead the team that coordinates the work of the ACT alliance, and I hope together we can make life better for those affected by disasters."

Ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1981, Rev Rakuba attended Marang Lutheran Theological Seminary in Rustenburg, South Africa. He has also completed a program in disaster management through Charles Sturt University, Australia. Rev Rakuba held positions during the 1980s as a parish pastor in various locations for the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.

Rev Rakuba will manage a staff of 12 in the ACT Coordinating Office at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. He succeeds Thor-Arne Prois, who served as director until September last year. Jenny Borden, a former senior staff member of U.K-based ACT member Christian Aid, and who served as co-moderator of the ACT executive committee after its founding in 1995, has been serving as interim director.