CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (ANS) -- The UK-based website, Ekklesia (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/), has revealed that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu has announced his intention to wind down his public engagements, when he turns 79 in October 2010.

Dan Wooding interviews Archbishop Tutu as Church Army's Chief Executive Mark Russell looks on

"I think I have done as much as I can, and I really do need time for other things that I have wanted to do," Dr Tutu told a media briefing at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town.

He also thanked South Africans for their contribution to the world.

"The internationally renowned campaigner for social justice, peace and human rights has recently been an active member of 'the elders,' an informal group of senior statespersons. who have built up great personal influence and are now able to use it to make humanitarian interventions across the globe," said the Ekklesia story.

"Archbishop Emeritus Tutu is also a key figure in world Christianity. Former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, and a strong anti-apartheid activist in South Africa and internationally, he is a figure even those who are critical or organized religion and belief frequently warm to."

Their story said that Dr Tutu played a key role in the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, which has acted as an inspiration to other similar initiatives in conflict situations across the globe.

He was an enthusiastic backer of the recent football World Cup in South Africa, but has argued that combating poverty and exclusion is the real "legacy" issue.

"Desmond Tutu has had his own personal struggles too - including one against cancer," the Ekklesia story concluded. "In his later years he has continued to write and lecture across the world."

He is also President of Church Army and I had the privilege of interviewing him last November during a visit he made to Sheffield in the UK.

He was there to launch a cutting edge new evangelistic program at the Wilson Carlile Center for Church Army called Xplore, a global gap-year program for young people aged 18-25.

This delightful and charming man with an infection sense of fun, said, "I am passionate about helping young people realize how important they are to God and how he can use them to make the world a better place. As Church Army's President I'm excited to be in Sheffield to launch Xplore as I believe it is a wonderful program. I encourage young people to join Xplore!"

He went on to say, "Young people are some of the greatest of God's workers. They really believe that we should make poverty history."

He certainly is one person who has worked tirelessly around the world to make poverty history!