Bishops and archbishops from Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand spoke to attentive listeners around the Dallas-Fort Worth area Sept. 25-26 with great fervor for Jesus Christ and, in many cases, horrific stories of deprivation and oppression in their own dioceses. Several were outspoken in their concerns about actions of the church "in the north" - Europe and, primarily, the United States.

Three or four bishops spoke at four sessions in 10 different churches in the two dioceses. At each session, one was principal speaker, with comments by the others and questions from audience members. Speakers did not object to being addressed as "Bishop Peter" or "Bishop George," as American tongues tangled on "Ntukamazina" or "Onyemelukwe."

At Christ Church, Dallas, the Rt. Rev. Peter Njenga, Bishop of Mount Kenya South, gave an impassioned address on "one common Savior, one common God."

He told an African story about a meeting in heaven at which God asked the towering figures of the Old Testament for a volunteer to go and save mankind ("No, I must say 'humankind.'") The mission would require birth, life and death as a human. "Only human blood" would suffice. No one volunteered, until "Jesus stood up and said, 'I will go.' God described all the trials and torments which would occur. "Jesus said, 'Yes, I will go, for them.' Out of sheer love!

"But out of love comes judgment. Intellect reasons out our sin. Only through humility and grace, Jesus' work begins. The process may take years."

Bishop Jonathan (the Rt. Rev. Jonathan Onyemelukwe, Bishop of The Niger, Nigeria) spoke of how proud his people were that "the gospel came to the River Niger in 1857 brought by a Nigerian. If the gospel is in your heart, you have no other choice but to preach it."

He, too, talked of a fear that "people ... are distorting the word of God," making it a sort of "gospel is whatever you make it." To prepare for the Lambeth Conference of bishops in 1998, he said, we must "capture the gospel, uncluttered by the traditions of men. We must rediscover ... the centrality of the Bible, [make it] shine again with newness and put darkness to flight.

"Accept Jesus Christ, accept his mission, where you are, anywhere."

During the question and answer period, Bishop Peter was asked about the influence of Western money on the church in poorer countries. His response was unequivocal: "It is better to remain poor and go on with our convictions."

The principal conviction under indictment by these bishops was the Episcopal Church's perceived tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality. Bishop Njenga said Kenyan Christians "cannot understand" the decision by American psychiatrists to change homosexuality from "a disease to a group needing help to live." He said, "The Book is clear. Do not let the world squeeze you into its mold. If it means [the Episcopal Church] breaking away from the [Anglican] Communion, that will be."

The Rt. Rev. Anand Chandu Lal of India, in the strongest criticism in this session, said Christians in his country have "a challenge to proclaim and to model the Christian way of life. It is disastrous to be influenced by such a heresy. The church has a responsibility to recognize ... sin, in many incarnations. Be compassionate, reach out [to sinners]."

The Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti of Brazil mentioned ruefully that his diocese was still upset by the stories of "priests in New York and young Brazilians. We were shocked by the scandal." Following the others' remarks, he said, "When the church is busy, moving, there is no time for controversy. In Brazil we say, "First the women's decade, now the gay decade - what will be the next decade?'"

Bishop Njenga was one of many who alluded to a possible rift in the Anglican Communion. The Rt. Rev. Peter Chiswell, Bishop of Armidale, Australia, speaking at St. Andrew's, Fort Worth, said, "The Eames Commission (on ordination of women), for example, advised 'Go slowly,' but the United States, England, Australia didn't." Any province must be accountable to the Anglican Communion. A province that goes "over the top can be kicked right out!"

A carefully outlined examination of the causes and effects of "the Western virus ... a way of looking at life that moves God off center stage [and is] infectious, like AIDS" was delineated at St. Mark's, Arlington, by the Rt. Rev. Brian Carrell, Suffragan Bishop of Wellington, New Zealand, who listed "good things with negative side effects" from the Renaissance and the Reformation through today's "technological revolution that asks, 'Is God really necessary?" All these events have "moved God out of public life" and taken away the foundation of public morality.

"Choice has become a prime virtue," he said, "reality a human construct." Even in the arts, "the glory of God is supplanted by the glory of the world; the transcendent by the temporal. There is no more mystery."

This emphasis on the person places "an intolerable burden on fragile individuals, without clear guidelines and boundaries."

Powerful witness to the devastations of war were given by a bishop from Congo (the former Zaire) and a bishop, perhaps the newest and youngest, from Rwanda, the Rt. Rev. Fidele Dirokpa and the Rt. Rev. Prudence Ngarambe. Bishop Dirokpa, in melodic French with a skillful interpreter, said ancestor worship still exists in Africa. "And do you not worship idols here? Money, pleasure, entertainment - basketball. People check their watches in church. Thank God our people do not have watches!

"Your country is in a period of spiritual dryness. There are many examples of this in history. Wesley and others brought people back. Your problem is our problem ... [we all] need open minds."

Asked about conditions in Congo after the civil war, the bishop said, "Our country is rich but our people are poor - President Mobutu took it all." Corruption had become so widespread, he said, it had come to be called "encouragement bonus." Chief problems for clergy are communication and transportation. Because there are few buses or cars, when he wants to visit one of the churches, "I stand in the road and wait for a truck to pass ... maybe three or four days." Money to buy bicycles, he said, would be a blessing.

Continuing Bishop Simon Makundi's theme of healing the man who was deaf and dumb, Bishop Prudence said, "The devil is cunning. He creates noise. We are created to be whole, not deaf, not blind, to give God glory." He drew chuckles when he said that "a degree of deafness may be created by a boring sermon."

The Bishop of Lahore, Pakistan, the Rt. Rev. Alexander Malik, had a different type of story. His country, he said, has "big Gothic churches built by the British." But in this Moslem country, "Christians have only four seats in the Assembly. There are regular courts and Islamic courts; a Christian marriage is dissolved if the woman becomes Moslem, and many are kidnapped. And there is a law against blasphemy: death for anything against Mohammed. A Moslem cannot become Christian - some are shot."

He was often asked, he said, if Moslems find salvation in Islam, and Hindus in Hinduism, why do Christians attempt to evangelize?

"Because Christianity is not a religion but the experience of knowing Christ," he said. "The disciples preached Jesus only; Christianity is the person of Jesus Christ, Lord, Savior, role model. We are in Christ as a fish is in water, or we are in oxygen."

The evangelism of Pakistani Christians was "quiet ways of telling stories, he said, "no arm-twisting.

"A deep pious life impresses Moslems. Conversion is from the Holy Spirit."

Following Bishop Malik's description of faith exemplified by proclamation, service, fellowship and martyrdom, the Archbishop of Australia, the Most Rev. Harry Goodhew, said in awe, "They've faced real dangers. We've just faced attitudes."

For three days before the parish sessions, the visiting primates and several American bishops had heard presentations on Third World debt and on the issue of sexuality, and drafted the Dallas Statement, to be taken back to their own dioceses and churches, and eventually to be presented at Lambeth. Bishop Carrell summed it up: "We meet together for common ground pre-Lambeth. Here the Anglican Church must survive and thrive."

But it was a Kenyan bishop, the Rt. Rev. Joseph Wasonga, Bishop of Maseno West, who had a novel proposal for extending understanding: "North and south bishops should switch pulpits, switch sees, for a year! If he preaches not about Christ, the people will raise their hands!"