SHEFFIELD, UK (ANS) -- In my 41 years as a journalist, I have had the privilege of interviewing some of the great heroes of the world such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., and now I had the joy of meeting and talking with another world changer, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Archbishop Tuto speaking at Church Army event

Tutu is one of the most recognizable faces in the world and I traveled from Kiev, Ukraine, where I had been reporting, to meet this delightful and charming man who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid.

In 1984, Tutu became the second South African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and he was also the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa).

This extraordinary man chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is currently the chairman of The Elders and is vocal in his defense of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed.

As he sat there, a huge smile over his face, I asked him what on earth he was doing in Sheffield, England.

The Archbishop with his hoodie and a couple of the Xplorers

“I have come as president of Church Army which is part of the Church of England,” he began with that disarming charm he has when he speaks. “It's what we would call its evangelistic arm. They do fantastic things like working with prostitutes, asylum seekers, and old people who are on the fringe.

“But what I came for specifically was to launch this program called Xplore. It's a kind of what do you do with your ‘gap’ year. When students finish high school, before going to university, they often have one year where they do all kinds of strange things. This one is saying we want to give some training to the young people and then they are sent to different parts of the world or to the US, Canada, New Zealand, or they come back home where they are put into different situations and help to get young people interested in slightly more serious things.”

Even though he is now 78, Archbishop Tutu has a sprightly demeanor and a twinkle in his eyes that would charm even the most gnarled old journalist, including myself.

So I asked him what advice he would like to give to young people today who face so many more challenges than in the times we grew up. I asked him to address a young person as if he was speaking directly to them face to face.

Dan Wooding interviews Archbishop Tuto with Mark Russell, CEO of Church Army looking on

“One is aware that you are under very considerable pressure, but remember that you are able to say no,” he began. “You are able to say no to drugs. You are able to say no to crime and all the other challenges. It is difficult, but it can be done and we hope that you would be able to turn your hands to something more useful.

“How about helping old people? How about going to an old age home and saying, ‘Can I do something to help here? Can I maybe clean or mow the lawn?’ Or perhaps help to go and get groceries for the old people. To go and help those who are less fortunate than yourself because you may be down but there are others who are lower than you are. Once you say you know that you have all of your life in front of you, make it beautiful.”

Archbishop Tutu’s smiling face and gentle manner belies the horror he has witnessed in his lifetime, including the apartheid years in South Africa. So I asked him how he has been able to deal with that and still display such a joyful persona.

“There is a lot of horror, that is true, but that's not the whole story,” he said. “There are so many incredible things going on at the same time. I mean, you go to Darfur, and you've heard it is one of the most awful places. I can tell you the descriptions you've heard don't match the reality. The reality is even more awful. And yet there are humanitarian workers there who come from countries where they could have lived comfortably. The goodness there and that goodness makes your heart leap. We spoke to the displaced persons; they can still love. There is a resilience in the human spirit that is just amazing to behold.”

And Desmond Tutu is a perfect example of that. A man who has overcome evil with love – and doesn’t slow down at a time he should be in retirement. Come to think of it, I don’t think he would be able to just sit back – he is too much of a Christian activist for that.

Note: Church Army is a society of evangelists linked to the Anglican Church and is committed to sharing faith in word and action, to enable people to come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. For more information go to www.churcharmy.org.uk 

Note to the broadcast media from Dan Wooding: If you would like to run the audio of this five-minute interview, just send me an e-mail at assistnews@aol.com and tell me your name and who you represent and I’ll e-mail it to you.

I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.

Dan Wooding, 68, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.