Professor Dave Velloney Visits Africa

Sharing Vision for a Christian Law School

In April, Regent Law Professor Dave Velloney joined a team of Christian lawyers from the Congo Initiative-USA to travel to Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC) in Beni, DR Congo, for a Christian lawyers and judges conference.

UCBC is a bilingual Christian University dedicated to training men and women in various fields of study from a biblical worldview.

Currently, UCBC does not have a law school, but is very interested in creating a school that will train Christian lawyers to promote the rule of law and seek justice for the oppressed.

The Center for Global Justice was invited to participate in the conference and to explore the possibility of assisting UCBC in creating a law school. During his stay, Professor Velloney had the opportunity to share with and encourage Congolese lawyers from three of the major cities in North Kivu Province: Beni, Bunia, and Butembo.

UCBC Rector Dr. David Kasali visiting Congo-Initiative
Primary School for Children of Disadvantaged Mothers

"Lawyers and judges in Congo face serious corruption and ethical dilemmas on a daily basis that we simply do not have to confront in the United States," said Velloney, "but it was incredibly encouraging to dialogue with and pray for these courageous and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are fully committed to Christian values, unquestioned integrity, and rule of law development in the region."

This was Velloney's fourth trip to Africa.  In March 2012, he and Dean Jeffrey Brauch visited and taught at Uganda Christian University (UCU), located about 15 miles from the country's capital city of Kampala. Their goal was to explore future partnership opportunities between Regent and the law program at UCU.

In 2013, Velloney attended the Christian lawyers and judges conference at UCBC and later that year he led Regent Law's Uganda Study Abroad Program in International Human Rights & the Rule of Law. The Study Abroad Program in Uganda will run again in May 22-June 18, 2016. Center for Global Justice Executive Director Craig Stern will lead the program.

Since 2012, the Center for Global Justice has also sent 15 interns to Africa. Interns have worked on advancing the rule of law, combatting child sacrifice, and protecting widows and orphans from the scourge of land grabbing.

This summer, interns Courtney Marasigan and Chelsea Mack are working to uphold the rule of Law in Uganda. Courtney is interning with the Department of Public Prosecutions (the equivalent of our Attorney General/Department of Justice). Chelsea is interning with the Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) in Kampala, Uganda. LEMU focuses on increasing access to land rights for the poor and vulnerable.

Read more about Courtneyand our other interns at regent.edu/centerinterns >