1. Bishop Desmond Tutu – A message of Hope
Reflection week beginning 14th September 2015

2. Bishop Desmond Tutu
Famous for his smile, his faith in God, his message of reconciliation and his dance moves during the opening of the 2010 World Cup, Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a reverent and warm man. Nelson Mandela described this South African Activist and Christian minister as: “sometimes strident, often tender, never afraid and seldom without humour”.

3. Opposing Apartheid
Born in 1931 in South Africa, he was exposed to the oppressive white regime of Apartheid (blacks and whites kept separate by law) from an early age. Becoming a teacher was one of the few opportunities that were available to black people, and he ended up working at a High School in Johannesburg until the Bantu Education Act was passed. This Act stated black children should have a limited education, suitable for the life of a servant only. This prompted Tutu to quit out of protest. “For goodness sake, this is God’s world! We live in a moral universe.”

4. Fighting injustice
His life took a new course when he took on theology and met the black priest Trevor Huddleston, whose anti-Apartheid message inspired Tutu to follow his footsteps. He left South Africa for London to study the Bible. Staying in London beyond his studies was no option. He wanted to fight Apartheid with a message of non-violent resistance that echoed everywhere: “Stability and peace in our land will not come from the barrel of a gun,” he said, “because peace without justice is an impossibility”.

5. A message of Hope
In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and one year later he became the Archbishop of Cape Town. In 1986, his star rose further as Leader of the Anglican Church of South Africa. Tutu kept teaching and preaching equality. His ideals made him a leading personality in reconciliation processes worldwide. When Nelson Mandela was chosen as the leader of the new South Africa in 1994, Desmond Tutu worked for Truth Reconcilliation between blacks and whites to prevent violence and retaliation. He continued his work even when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997.

6. To think about…..
Desmond Tutu believes that young people are the future of our world, and in this clip he speaks of his great hope for the future, even in our troubled times. What is your response to his words?