“We’ve had a sad and terrible event,” read the brief, stark email from Bishop Pie Ntukamazina of the Episcopal Church of Burundi to friends around the world in the wake of last month’s massacre of 159 Congolese refugees sleeping in a border camp in Burundi by rebel forces. Five pastors were among the dead, according to reports.

Bishop Pie himself was caught in an ambush by the armed militia after returning home from a confirmation service. He escaped being killed by hiding in nearby bushland for the night.
“We saw in front of us five gunmen pointing their guns. We were then forced into nearby countryside, were robbed of our possessions and held captives,” he recalled.

The Burundi Church has close links to the Diocese of Sydney. Former Bishop of Western Sydney Brian King lectured to theology students at Bishop Pie’s invitation two years ago and Archbishop Harry Goodhew in March this year.

Archbishop Goodhew said the attack “represents the fragility of life in Burundi and the uncertainty that Christians face as they try to live and witness there”.