Mozambican Bishop
When we first arrived in the country, we were met by Armindo, who is the Mozambican ‘Volunteers In Mission’ (VIM) coordinator for the United Methodist Church. He had arranged meetings for us with several government officials, and he would also be our driver for most of the next week (except on those occasions where he let me drive: it was fun to get to drive on the left side of the road again!).
After dropping off our bags at the Methodist Guesthouse where we stayed, the first thing we did was drive out to the UM Bishop’s house in the outskirts of the city. The Bishop had recently had foot surgery, so he was at home rather than at the office. It’s hard to explain what it meant for me to meet Bishop João Somane Machado. I don’t toss around the word ‘hero’ lightly, but he is one of my heroes. He played a pivotal role in bringing peace to the country of Mozambique after 15 years of civil warfare between Frelimo (the ruling party) and Renamo (the rebel faction, now the minority political party). The two parties were not willing to come to the table because neither trusted the other after fighting started in 1977. After much work by Bishop Machado and a couple other Christian leaders, including the Catholic Archbishop, they were able to help assure each side that they would be heard and treated fairly if they came to the negotiating table.
After many years of meeting with each of the two parties, the finally brought them to the same table. With the help of a Catholic organization in Italy, they were able to negotiate a peace in 1992 which has lasted to this day. I am fascinated by the role of the church in international peacemaking. Jesus came to reconcile the world to himself and bring peace to his Kingdom, and this bishop played a role in doing that in Mozambique. And I had the opportunity to sit in his home office and talk with him about the possibility of us working in Mozambique. How amazing is that?!?
Friday, June 06, 2008
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Nothing But Nets
The New York Times has a great article today (here) on Nothing But Nets, the coalition between many organizations, including the United Methodist Church, the NBA and the United Nations Foundation, that gets insecticide treated bed nets into the hands of people in malaria-affected areas. $10 buys a net and trains a family to use it. It can literally save a life, particularly of a child under 5, who are at the highest risk. The UM Bishop who is mentioned, Tom Bickerton, is the bishop of our Western Pennsylvania Conference.
If you would like to give nets to Mozambique in particular, you can do that through the Missouri Conference of the UMC. You can make your contribution (payable to "Missouri Conference UMC") and send it to Missouri Conference Treasurer's Office, 3601 Amron Court, Columbia, MO 65202, marked "#7390 Nothing But Nets."
The New York Times has a great article today (here) on Nothing But Nets, the coalition between many organizations, including the United Methodist Church, the NBA and the United Nations Foundation, that gets insecticide treated bed nets into the hands of people in malaria-affected areas. $10 buys a net and trains a family to use it. It can literally save a life, particularly of a child under 5, who are at the highest risk. The UM Bishop who is mentioned, Tom Bickerton, is the bishop of our Western Pennsylvania Conference.
If you would like to give nets to Mozambique in particular, you can do that through the Missouri Conference of the UMC. You can make your contribution (payable to "Missouri Conference UMC") and send it to Missouri Conference Treasurer's Office, 3601 Amron Court, Columbia, MO 65202, marked "#7390 Nothing But Nets."
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Mozambican Muslims
We had the chance to meet with a couple of key Muslim leaders in the country. It came about without us intending to (one of the many times we could tell people were praying for us!). We were meeting with a United Methodist pastor who was talking about the need for Christians of different denominations to work together for the cause of Christ. As part of the follow-up to that conversation, Steve asked about the relationship between Muslims and Christians in the country in general. Pastor Guilherme (pronounced ‘Gill-yair-may’) responded that there was not much tension between the two groups in the country, but rather they were just focused in different directions. They did not interact much. Steve asked if Guilherme knew any Muslim leader, and Guilherme told us that if we were interested he could have several leaders meet with us the next day in his office if we were interested. We were excited to have the chance to meet with them.
We were interested in this meeting for several reasons. For one thing, even though we do not agree on matters of theology, there are still many things we do agree on. Just as we can find common ground with secular organizations that are trying to improve the quality of life in the world, we can also find that with Muslims who are doing good things in the community. We might view the work in different ways, but we can still work side by side for some common goals.
Secondly, we think it’s a good thing if there can continue to be a positive co-existence between members of two of the three largest religious groups in Mozambique. If we can be a part of keeping people on good terms rather than taking up arms against each other, that is a benefit for the country and for the entire planet. Some people frame the new/coming world order as one of conflict between “Christian” nations and Islamic nations. It does not have to be that way, and one way we can affect that is by reaching out in the circles in which we have influence.
The meeting itself went really well. Of the two leaders, one was the head of the Islamic Counsel of Mozambique and the other is one of the two Mozambican Peace Ambassadors to the United Nations. They told us of ways their organizations are working to help their people, and many of them lined up with things we heard from the government and other churches. Some things were charitable, and some were more oriented towards training and development (I talked a little about how we have been struggling with that tension in my post on May 26). We are still discerning if and how we would partner with them, but the ability to even have the conversation was encouraging.
One thing they mentioned that excited me was the need for religious leaders to be involved in the election process as neutral observers. Mozambique will have national elections toward the end of 2009. One of the needs is always for observers for the voting processes. Religious leaders have the advantage of being respected members in the community. The people know them to be honest and trustworthy, so their opinions on the election process would not be taken lightly.
Often in elections in countries such as Mozambique, the election results are contested. In the Mozambican elections of 2004, international observers noted some irregularities, but not large enough to affect the outcome of the election. The minority party then refused to take their seats in parliament in the first days after the election because they were protesting the results. By providing religious leaders to be election observers, some of this might be able to be prevented, which could help set a positive political tone in the country for the next 5 years.
The European Parliamentary Group is apparently training observers for Mozambique. They would be willing to train religious leaders, but there would need to be a comprehensive plan in place for making it happen. This is one of the opportunities we are praying about participating in as a church.
There are a lot of opportunities for us as a church to work in the country, so now our challenge is discerning which ones are right for our church. Which ones does God have lined up for us to participate in?
We had the chance to meet with a couple of key Muslim leaders in the country. It came about without us intending to (one of the many times we could tell people were praying for us!). We were meeting with a United Methodist pastor who was talking about the need for Christians of different denominations to work together for the cause of Christ. As part of the follow-up to that conversation, Steve asked about the relationship between Muslims and Christians in the country in general. Pastor Guilherme (pronounced ‘Gill-yair-may’) responded that there was not much tension between the two groups in the country, but rather they were just focused in different directions. They did not interact much. Steve asked if Guilherme knew any Muslim leader, and Guilherme told us that if we were interested he could have several leaders meet with us the next day in his office if we were interested. We were excited to have the chance to meet with them.
We were interested in this meeting for several reasons. For one thing, even though we do not agree on matters of theology, there are still many things we do agree on. Just as we can find common ground with secular organizations that are trying to improve the quality of life in the world, we can also find that with Muslims who are doing good things in the community. We might view the work in different ways, but we can still work side by side for some common goals.
Secondly, we think it’s a good thing if there can continue to be a positive co-existence between members of two of the three largest religious groups in Mozambique. If we can be a part of keeping people on good terms rather than taking up arms against each other, that is a benefit for the country and for the entire planet. Some people frame the new/coming world order as one of conflict between “Christian” nations and Islamic nations. It does not have to be that way, and one way we can affect that is by reaching out in the circles in which we have influence.
The meeting itself went really well. Of the two leaders, one was the head of the Islamic Counsel of Mozambique and the other is one of the two Mozambican Peace Ambassadors to the United Nations. They told us of ways their organizations are working to help their people, and many of them lined up with things we heard from the government and other churches. Some things were charitable, and some were more oriented towards training and development (I talked a little about how we have been struggling with that tension in my post on May 26). We are still discerning if and how we would partner with them, but the ability to even have the conversation was encouraging.
One thing they mentioned that excited me was the need for religious leaders to be involved in the election process as neutral observers. Mozambique will have national elections toward the end of 2009. One of the needs is always for observers for the voting processes. Religious leaders have the advantage of being respected members in the community. The people know them to be honest and trustworthy, so their opinions on the election process would not be taken lightly.
Often in elections in countries such as Mozambique, the election results are contested. In the Mozambican elections of 2004, international observers noted some irregularities, but not large enough to affect the outcome of the election. The minority party then refused to take their seats in parliament in the first days after the election because they were protesting the results. By providing religious leaders to be election observers, some of this might be able to be prevented, which could help set a positive political tone in the country for the next 5 years.
The European Parliamentary Group is apparently training observers for Mozambique. They would be willing to train religious leaders, but there would need to be a comprehensive plan in place for making it happen. This is one of the opportunities we are praying about participating in as a church.
There are a lot of opportunities for us as a church to work in the country, so now our challenge is discerning which ones are right for our church. Which ones does God have lined up for us to participate in?
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