One in the Spirit
Ukama Sunday, October 19, 2008
Micah 7:14-20; 1 Cor. 12:12-26
I wonder how much you know about the origins of what is now the country of Zimbabwe. I knew that at one time it had been a very fertile, rich place, called the bread basket of Africa. As I did further research I learned that the name Zimbabwe came from the area called Great Zimbabwe, located in the southeastern part of the country. The ruins of this area, which had been a great Shona Empire between the 11th and 15th centuries, were encountered in the 16th century by the Portuguese explorers but never officially confirmed till the 19th century. The ruins of this former city extend more than 60 acres, include a hilltop fortress and walls of stone monoliths. Between 12 to 20000 people lived here. The huge structures at the Great Zimbabwe were a symbol of the power and wealth of those who lived there. The Shona kings became very wealthy and powerful by controlling trade between the southern Africa interior and the East African coast.
From the 1830’s to 1890’s traders and missionaries, including Cecil John Rhodes explored the region. In 1889 Rhodes was a given a British mandate to colonize what was then named Southern Rhodesia and eventually the white minority opted for self-government. From the 1930’s to 1960’s black opposition to colonial rule grew with two black Nationalist groups emerging, one of which was Mugabe’s Zanu group. Ian Smith became Prime minister in 1964 and tried to get Britain to declare the country independent which they refused to do. Finally in 1965 he unilaterally declared independence—of course under white minority rule, causing much international outrage. Yet it was not until the early 70’s that saw an intensification of black guerrilla warfare against the white rule and that extended on till 1980, when British supervised elections named Mugabe as prime minister. Mugabe was then seen as a hero among the predominantly black nations in Africa. Mugabe soon began trying to get rid of any opposition; and economic crises, strikes, and riots filled the next 20 years, getting increasingly worse in 2000 when squatters seized hundreds of white-owned farms. reclaiming what they believe were stolen from them earlier In 2000 Morgan Tsvangirai almost beat Mugabe in elections which observers say were seriously flawed and then we know the most recent election was won by Tsvangirai but Mugabe insisted on a run off election. The opposition party had been so scared by Mugabe’s people who had carried out severe beatings and kidnappings that there was no such thing as a fair election in the runoff. Most recently S.African’s Mbeki has tried to help workout power sharing but it seems that Mugabe is not willing to give up any of his power.
The history of all this is much more complex than I have time to share with you. There’s an excellent a timeline of Zimbabwe’s historical events if you wish to google it. But now let’s get on with some history of the UCCZ and our Ukama partnership. On October 19, 1893, the Mission Station at Mt. Selinda was established and the United Church of Christ Zimbabwe was born. In 1996 the NH Conference of the UCC and the Zimbabwe UCC established a partnership for the purpose of promoting a deep friendship (Ukama) between the two settings of the United Church of Christ. We have been partners ourselves with the Rimbi church since ? and have enjoyed both Rev. Foroma and Balance Chimbangwa from that church visiting with us. Originally, there was not to be any financial exchange between the two settings or the individual churches, mostly due to how money can often change relationships from equal to one up, one down. Because of the terrible economic hardships in the past five years, there has been a change where donations are very much needed and welcomed. Still the main reason for the partnership is to grow in Ukama (friendship) and be One in the Spirit. The Ukama website lists the different aspects of our covenant relationship. The number one item is “to give and receive spiritual nourishment through prayer, moral support in times of joy, sorrow, hardships, and celebrations. One way we do this is through letters and I urge you to write a letter this coming week so that we can send it with our Conference leaders that are planning a trip there next month. You may also feel called to share some financial gifts with them. There is an insert explaining the Ways you may give if you wish to do so.
One of the things I admire most about our Zimbabwe sisters and brothers is their joy in worship and their great faithfulness. The Micah passage was chosen for today by Rev. Chapola, a Zimbabwean that has been studying at Bangor Theological Seminary for several years and has recently been called to a church in Maine. He chose this passage because of its emphasis on prayer. There is no doubt about it that the UCCZ members are praying people. Micah is imploring God to do again the wonderful things God’s done for his people in the past. In verses 18 to 20 Micah reminds God and the people that God is not angry forever, God is gracious, loyal, compassionate, forgiving, and keeps promises. Just like in Zimbabwe today, the nation was on its knees, both literally in praying and figuratively because they were at a very low point. Micah asked God to shepherd his sheep and to remember God’s promises to the ancestors. The people in Zimbabwe may be asking, God, why is all this happening? Yet they trust just as Micah does that God’s compassion is with them. God is their hope. They do believe that God will provide just as he has done for the Hebrew people in the desert. In Zimbabwe we have so many people hungry, most have only one meal a day and sometimes that is just wild fruit. The hyperinflation continues and cash itself has become scarce. People line up at the bank, starting at 3 am to get their daily withdrawal. One woman calculated the price of goods by the number of days she had to spend in line at the bank: a day for a bar of soap, another day for a bag of salt, and four days for a sack of cornmeal. (NY Times article 10-2 ) The new $50,000 dollar bill, the limit that can be withdrawn doesn’t even pay the transportation to get to the job. Some business owners are trying to give transport tickets daily in order for their employees to come to work; no workers, production stops, economics worsen, more hunger and so forth.
How hard it must be to continue suffering so much and still have faith that God loves them and will never leave them! Our Ukama partnership means that their suffering is our suffering; however, we still eat three meals a day and have relative safety wherever we go. The burdens of our partners weigh heavy on our minds. We must walk with them in prayer and by continuing to encourage them with letters and sharing resources as appropriate. Ukama is a word that means “We are like family”. The Zimbabweans take great comfort in knowing our concern and caring. With them as with so many situations today, I often find myself saying “All I can do is pray.” It is so important that we lift them up to the Spirit. The Rev. Kim McKerley says that “God has blessed us richly over these 12 years of Ukama/Partnership. Through this holy relationship, we have learned, by God’s grace, how much we need each other, and how much we love one another.” As Paul’s letter reminds us in v. 26, “If one member suffers, all suffer with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
Jesus in John17:21 prays that we may all be one. He prays that we will be one with God, one with him and one with each other. . His prayer for oneness was not about sameness. Jesus is praying that above all else, all of his followers all over the world, for years to come, would be one in their relationships with each other, and with God. As some of you know that same scripture was the spirit that led the UCC to be born 50 years ago from 4 different denominations. But we don’t all have to be one organizationally. Different strokes for different folks! The important thing is that we love and honor each other and God. If we have oneness in purpose, Jesus says that the world will know that God loves us just as God loves Jesus. So I invite you to join with me in opening our hands to pray: Loving God, we are ukama with our Zimbabwe partners. We lift up their burdens and our burdens. We all have difficulties and we all are differently gifted. As Paul reminds us we are all one in the body of Christ. Together we are a whole. Make us one in the Spirit. Let us share each others joys and sorrows as we pray to our brother Jesus and our parent God. Amen
Micah 7:14-20; 1 Cor. 12:12-26
I wonder how much you know about the origins of what is now the country of Zimbabwe. I knew that at one time it had been a very fertile, rich place, called the bread basket of Africa. As I did further research I learned that the name Zimbabwe came from the area called Great Zimbabwe, located in the southeastern part of the country. The ruins of this area, which had been a great Shona Empire between the 11th and 15th centuries, were encountered in the 16th century by the Portuguese explorers but never officially confirmed till the 19th century. The ruins of this former city extend more than 60 acres, include a hilltop fortress and walls of stone monoliths. Between 12 to 20000 people lived here. The huge structures at the Great Zimbabwe were a symbol of the power and wealth of those who lived there. The Shona kings became very wealthy and powerful by controlling trade between the southern Africa interior and the East African coast.
From the 1830’s to 1890’s traders and missionaries, including Cecil John Rhodes explored the region. In 1889 Rhodes was a given a British mandate to colonize what was then named Southern Rhodesia and eventually the white minority opted for self-government. From the 1930’s to 1960’s black opposition to colonial rule grew with two black Nationalist groups emerging, one of which was Mugabe’s Zanu group. Ian Smith became Prime minister in 1964 and tried to get Britain to declare the country independent which they refused to do. Finally in 1965 he unilaterally declared independence—of course under white minority rule, causing much international outrage. Yet it was not until the early 70’s that saw an intensification of black guerrilla warfare against the white rule and that extended on till 1980, when British supervised elections named Mugabe as prime minister. Mugabe was then seen as a hero among the predominantly black nations in Africa. Mugabe soon began trying to get rid of any opposition; and economic crises, strikes, and riots filled the next 20 years, getting increasingly worse in 2000 when squatters seized hundreds of white-owned farms. reclaiming what they believe were stolen from them earlier In 2000 Morgan Tsvangirai almost beat Mugabe in elections which observers say were seriously flawed and then we know the most recent election was won by Tsvangirai but Mugabe insisted on a run off election. The opposition party had been so scared by Mugabe’s people who had carried out severe beatings and kidnappings that there was no such thing as a fair election in the runoff. Most recently S.African’s Mbeki has tried to help workout power sharing but it seems that Mugabe is not willing to give up any of his power.
The history of all this is much more complex than I have time to share with you. There’s an excellent a timeline of Zimbabwe’s historical events if you wish to google it. But now let’s get on with some history of the UCCZ and our Ukama partnership. On October 19, 1893, the Mission Station at Mt. Selinda was established and the United Church of Christ Zimbabwe was born. In 1996 the NH Conference of the UCC and the Zimbabwe UCC established a partnership for the purpose of promoting a deep friendship (Ukama) between the two settings of the United Church of Christ. We have been partners ourselves with the Rimbi church since ? and have enjoyed both Rev. Foroma and Balance Chimbangwa from that church visiting with us. Originally, there was not to be any financial exchange between the two settings or the individual churches, mostly due to how money can often change relationships from equal to one up, one down. Because of the terrible economic hardships in the past five years, there has been a change where donations are very much needed and welcomed. Still the main reason for the partnership is to grow in Ukama (friendship) and be One in the Spirit. The Ukama website lists the different aspects of our covenant relationship. The number one item is “to give and receive spiritual nourishment through prayer, moral support in times of joy, sorrow, hardships, and celebrations. One way we do this is through letters and I urge you to write a letter this coming week so that we can send it with our Conference leaders that are planning a trip there next month. You may also feel called to share some financial gifts with them. There is an insert explaining the Ways you may give if you wish to do so.
One of the things I admire most about our Zimbabwe sisters and brothers is their joy in worship and their great faithfulness. The Micah passage was chosen for today by Rev. Chapola, a Zimbabwean that has been studying at Bangor Theological Seminary for several years and has recently been called to a church in Maine. He chose this passage because of its emphasis on prayer. There is no doubt about it that the UCCZ members are praying people. Micah is imploring God to do again the wonderful things God’s done for his people in the past. In verses 18 to 20 Micah reminds God and the people that God is not angry forever, God is gracious, loyal, compassionate, forgiving, and keeps promises. Just like in Zimbabwe today, the nation was on its knees, both literally in praying and figuratively because they were at a very low point. Micah asked God to shepherd his sheep and to remember God’s promises to the ancestors. The people in Zimbabwe may be asking, God, why is all this happening? Yet they trust just as Micah does that God’s compassion is with them. God is their hope. They do believe that God will provide just as he has done for the Hebrew people in the desert. In Zimbabwe we have so many people hungry, most have only one meal a day and sometimes that is just wild fruit. The hyperinflation continues and cash itself has become scarce. People line up at the bank, starting at 3 am to get their daily withdrawal. One woman calculated the price of goods by the number of days she had to spend in line at the bank: a day for a bar of soap, another day for a bag of salt, and four days for a sack of cornmeal. (NY Times article 10-2 ) The new $50,000 dollar bill, the limit that can be withdrawn doesn’t even pay the transportation to get to the job. Some business owners are trying to give transport tickets daily in order for their employees to come to work; no workers, production stops, economics worsen, more hunger and so forth.
How hard it must be to continue suffering so much and still have faith that God loves them and will never leave them! Our Ukama partnership means that their suffering is our suffering; however, we still eat three meals a day and have relative safety wherever we go. The burdens of our partners weigh heavy on our minds. We must walk with them in prayer and by continuing to encourage them with letters and sharing resources as appropriate. Ukama is a word that means “We are like family”. The Zimbabweans take great comfort in knowing our concern and caring. With them as with so many situations today, I often find myself saying “All I can do is pray.” It is so important that we lift them up to the Spirit. The Rev. Kim McKerley says that “God has blessed us richly over these 12 years of Ukama/Partnership. Through this holy relationship, we have learned, by God’s grace, how much we need each other, and how much we love one another.” As Paul’s letter reminds us in v. 26, “If one member suffers, all suffer with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
Jesus in John17:21 prays that we may all be one. He prays that we will be one with God, one with him and one with each other. . His prayer for oneness was not about sameness. Jesus is praying that above all else, all of his followers all over the world, for years to come, would be one in their relationships with each other, and with God. As some of you know that same scripture was the spirit that led the UCC to be born 50 years ago from 4 different denominations. But we don’t all have to be one organizationally. Different strokes for different folks! The important thing is that we love and honor each other and God. If we have oneness in purpose, Jesus says that the world will know that God loves us just as God loves Jesus. So I invite you to join with me in opening our hands to pray: Loving God, we are ukama with our Zimbabwe partners. We lift up their burdens and our burdens. We all have difficulties and we all are differently gifted. As Paul reminds us we are all one in the body of Christ. Together we are a whole. Make us one in the Spirit. Let us share each others joys and sorrows as we pray to our brother Jesus and our parent God. Amen
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 10:00 AM
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