Summer 2007 - Focus on Africa - Brethren in Christ Church

might establish a longer-term compassionatepartnership with the church in SouthernAfrica. We knew we wanted to partner, butto do so we needed to learn from nationalleaders, as well as international workers, onhow best to do this. We understood thisarea is complex and we wanted to proceedslowly and wisely.Julianne had been to Africa severalyears before and continued to have a deeplove for this continent and its people.Through her vision and the rising desireof The Meeting House to be involved inthe need created by HIV/AIDS, Joel andJulianne agreed to spend up to one year inZimbabwe. The BIC Church in Zimbabwegraciously consented to partner with us andassigned Julianne and Joel to Mtshabezi toserve alongside the HIV/AIDS team there.The Percys left in the early fall of 2006.During these past months Joel andJulianne have been able to interact withBIC leaders in Zimbabwe and Zambia, aswell as interact with leadership from MCC,personnel serving with BICWM, and staffof World Vision. These months of servingand learning have been very useful andencouraging.Critical to continuing our efforts tobe educated and to further this globalcompassionate initiative, we decided wealso needed to send a team of senior staffto Southern Africa to personally experiencethe context there and to meet withnational and local leaders. Five membersof our management team had the greatprivilege of traveling June 3-17, <strong>2007</strong> toZimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. Theteam members were Tim Day, Rich Birch,Verdele Polson, Sandra Nicholas and DarrellWinger. We were thrilled to meet upwith Joel and Julianne in Bulawayo andspend two weeks with them.The purpose of this trip was to learn,interact with leaders, and strengthenrelationships with our church family inSouthern Africa. In Zimbabwe we wereable to spend time at Mtshabezi and inBulawayo. In these areas we interacted withGordon Sitole and Obert Ndlovu who giveleadership to the HIV/AIDS ministry associatedwith the hospital and wider churchcommunity. We enjoyed many hours withRichard Ndlovu, director of the MtshabeziHospital. In Bulawayo we appreciated longconversations with Bishop Danisa Ndlovu,as well as enjoying the hospitality of theNdlovu family. In the city we toured severalHIV/AIDS projects supported bythe MCC “Generationsat Risk” program. MCCcountry directors, Jethroand Doris Dube, sacrificed much time interactwith us and help us betterunderstand the needs inZimbabwe. We were also ableto see the World Vision AreaDevelopment Program at Lupanein northwest Zimbabwe.Spending a few days in Zambiaallowed us to meet with BishopHamukang’andu and his family and tohear the bishop’s heart for his country andthe church. We were thrilled to see thesolid leadership of Gimwell Yooma whodirects the compassion ministry of theBIC Church, along with support from Ronand Erma Herr. What an honor to visitin two different congregational settingsto see local teams who had been equippedby Gimwell and Ron to serve communityneeds created by the AIDS pandemic! Hereare women and men reaching out into thecommunity and showing that the church ison the front-lines of this challenge. It wasgreat to hear how the MCC AIDS kits arebeing put to good use. Many of our HomeChurches had invested signifi cantly in puttingnearly 100 of these kits together in thepast year.Our time in Johannesburg had to becut short, but we still were able to spend aday in one of the largest townships observingthe work of the Khanyisile CommunityCentre and the HIV/AIDS projects there.This work is supported by MCC and wesaw the vitality and variety of the workwith children, youth and their families inthis area.All in all, during these two weeks,we were able to observe seven differentHIV/AIDS projects in the three differentnational settings, most supported by a creativepartnership between the church andMCC. What an honor to meet with womenand men who were leading and serving inthese diverse ministries. We were humbledby their sacrifi ce, dedication and vision.Here were Christ-followers who were refusingto be discouraged and who were fi ndingcreative and appropriate waysto meet the huge need createdby HIV/AIDS, economicpoverty and political instability.We came away remindedthere are many complexities.A “one size fi tsall” approach simply doesnot work. We are brothers andsisters serving together. Wemove forward in humility andlove, not with any easy answers. We desireto be in relationship, as well as desiring to“do” something. We also came away remindedthat we have “generations at risk”in areas of rampant materialism, greed, andselfi shness. We need our African brothersand sisters to help us, as much, if not more,than they need our assistance. To be whoGod is calling us to be, we must fi gure outhow to be in relationship and partnership.We valued this tremendous opportunityto enter into and deepen relationshipswith so many sisters and brothers.By spending time with our BIC familymembers there, we better understand theircultural realities and unique opportunitiesand needs; to feel their passion and pain; toobserve their vision and strength; to experiencetheir warmth, grace, and hospitality.Through the work of Joel and Julianne,as well as our team visit, our desireat The Meeting House has only beenstrengthened to establish a long-term partnershipwith the church in southern Africa.We are determined to come alongside thesecommitted leaders and workers as theyface many challenges. In wanting to blessothers, we know that in fact we will be somuch more richly blessed. ❦Darrell Winger is community development pastorat The Meeting House in Ontario, and previouslyserved as bishop of the Canadian Conferenceand as General Secretary of the Brethren inChrist Church.<strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2007</strong> • Page 7