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Church can do more to help poor in Africa, commissioners
find
By Linda Green*
MARANGE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - The daily life of a rural
African woman is heavy-laden, and the governing members
of United Methodist Communications experienced that
firsthand.
Members of the Commission on Communication spent hours
doing what is known in rural Africa as "woman's work."
They hauled water, broke wood and built fires, cooked
meals for schoolchildren over an open flame and made
drinks. They also unloaded tons of staples and delivered
foodstuffs to homes in the countryside.
The commission was in Zimbabwe Jan. 4-11 for its first
board meeting outside the continental United States. The
members observed the living conditions of people in the
Mutare area, and saw the impact that the Zimbabwe
Orphans Endeavor - a United Methodist-supported ministry
- is having in helping children orphaned by AIDS. Some
of the commissioners held a two-day communications
training for pastors and lay people at United
Methodist-related Africa University.
Commission member Gary Henderson, pastor of
East Shore United Methodist Church in Euclid, Ohio,
got a firsthand taste of the hardship many people
experience.
Zimbabwe is a country in economic turmoil, and Henderson
wanted to know how the people coped with hyperinflation
"at rates that we as Americans would not even begin to
understand."
As he moved through the countryside, he saw "a lot of
need but also people who were willing to share in the
midst of their own need," he said. "… There is a sense
that people are in the struggle together. They are doing
what they can to be a community, to be a family and work
together."
Henderson said he was carrying a message back to his
Ohio congregation and network of friends and
acquaintances that there is something for them to do.
"We have to do more ... and challenge people to make a
difference."
Poverty and its effects have been identified by the
church's African bishops as the most significant issue
in daily life, but "poverty" is not a term the people
use to describe their circumstances. "It does not define
who they are nor define their communities," said the
Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive at United Methodist
Communications.
Americans think of poverty in financial terms, but it is
bigger than that, Henderson noted. "Poverty is the
absence of basic, essential kinds of things. In so many
ways in our own country, we are missing some basic kinds
of things." People have become anesthetized to violence
and "how we really love each other," he said. "(We) have
become a nation of the living dead. We have become
numb."
ZOE makes a difference
Commission members visited two mission centers outside
Mutare that are operated through the Zimbabwe Orphans
Endeavor. ZOE is an advance special program of the North
Carolina Annual Conference that seeks to embrace and
assist children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic through
providing school fees, purchasing uniforms and feeding
them. The program is supported by partners from across
the United Methodist connection.
Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned in Africa because
of AIDS, and 6,000 children become orphans every day,
according to ZOE literature. Africa has 12 million
orphans, and that number could reach 40 million by 2010.
As the commission visited with orphans and people
suffering from AIDS, "I felt that I walked to the very
brink of suffering and despair," Henderson said. "But I
also found it a holy time to be present with people who
were living with that kind of suffering that would be
hard to imagine in America."
The nearly two-and-a-half-year-old ministry is led by
North Carolina clergyman Greg Jenks. He was introduced
to the plight of AIDS in 2001 by a 15-year-old girl who
said her calling was to help AIDS orphans in Zambia.
In 2003, "I sensed that Christ was calling me to offer
leadership in The United Methodist Church in caring for
these suffering children," Jenks said in a testimonial.
"I am convinced that this is the hour that the church
needs to respond to the devastating suffering of the
little ones in southern Africa.
"As God has begun opening doors, ZOE Ministry has
responded by offering care to thousands of suffering
orphans," he said. "Hungry children are being fed, eager
children are being educated, and little ones are finding
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
The ministry's infrastructure in Zimbabwe is under the
leadership of the Zimbabwe United Methodist Church. ZOE
is also branching out to assist AIDS orphans in Kenya
through the Maua Methodist Mission, and it is involved
in an inner-city ministry in Zambia.
The vision of the ministry, according to its Web site,
includes:
-
Establishing care for orphans and vulnerable
children in cooperation with United Methodist and
ecumenical ministries in Africa.
-
Equipping orphans with essential life skills.
-
Linking churches with ministries caring for orphans
in Africa.
-
Reaching children for Christ.
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Coordinating work teams from the United States.
'The work of God'
At United Methodist-related Marange Mission Center, the
commission members arrived for the first day of school
and assisted mothers of the schoolchildren attending Mt.
Makomwe Primary School in preparing the noon meal for
500 children. Nearly 40 percent of the students have
been orphaned by AIDS.
Across Zimbabwe, nearly 15,000 children are fed daily
through ZOE. For some of the children, this will be the
only meal they receive on some days, Jenks said.
"This is the work of God," he said. "When I look at what
is going on, I do not ever sit back and say, 'Look at
what I have done.' It is more of feeling like an
observer of something that God is doing. It is a
calling, and it is a lot easier than being a pastor."
Before he was appointed to lead ZOE, Jenks was pastor at
Christ Community United Methodist Church in Clayton,
N.C.
Commission members arrived early in the morning, like
the mothers do, to begin the process of making porridge.
While some broke wood for a fire, others hauled water to
fill a large cast-iron pot.
In sweltering heat, they stood over the fire, stirring
the porridge until it was done. They also carried water
to fill a large barrel to make mahewu, a
vitamin-fortified, cereal beverage that is served to
students ranging from 2 to 14 years old.
A different way
Elnora Hamb, the pan-Methodist representative to the
commission from Chicago, is no stranger to circumstances
in Africa. A member of the Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church, she is involved in ministries across the
continent and supervises 380,000 women in Africa, Haiti
and Jamaica.
She came with the commission, she said, "to do outreach
ministry that would strengthen the people in this area."
She was impressed by the warmth and hospitality of the
people, she said. "Although they may be deprived by our
standards, I saw joy in them because they do not know
the other side."
"The trip for me was about finding something different,
a different culture, and a different way of doing
things." Upon returning home, she will convey her
findings so that her women's organization can become
even more mission minded.
Hamb, who participated in the "life of a rural African
woman" experience, said "it is a hard day for them. It
is a hard way of living."
Richard Mawondo, headmaster of the primary school, said
ZOE provides funding for student uniforms, medicine,
stationery and other necessities. More than 1,500
children across Zimbabwe have received school fees and
uniforms from ZOE, and the ministry has donated more
than $500,000 in medical supplies and served at least
3,000 children in the past year.
ZOE is establishing sewing projects to empower local
communities as they are paid to produce the uniforms. It
provides sewing machines for the women at these
projects, and they are expected to train orphan girls to
participate in the endeavor. The commission visited a
cooperative while in Mutare, and members distributed
uniforms to children at the Marange center.
"ZOE assists orphans within the school who would
otherwise not come to school because they don't have
fees and things needed for learning to take place,"
Mawondo said. Last year, ZOE helped 197 orphans from
around the area to attend school.
United Methodists can assist AIDS orphans by
contributing to the "ZOE Advance Special S00148." Checks
to can be mailed to North Carolina Conference/Raleigh
Area, The United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 60053,
Charlotte N.C. 28260-0053.
*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer
based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.
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