From our street to yours ...
Glyn, Susan, Maeyken, Adriaena
August 2008 #5.3
Please Come and
Join Us...
“Please come and join
us. Perhaps you will be able to offer us some help.” These were the
words of Rra
Noge, Chairperson of Revelation
Blessed Peace Church. Rra Noge
was interested in participating in
a
Bible Study but as he talked it was
clear he had other agenda in mind.
Revelation Blessed Peace is a growing Independent Church. On July 19th and 20th the leaders of the church (members of the executive, pastors, Bishops etc) met at their headquarters in Kgagodi to talk about the future of the church. The critical question for the leaders of the church was “How can we maintain our traditional understandings of leadership and accountability yet be open to the change that is needed to meet the needs of the younger people in the church and the issues that are becoming evident in our more urban centres?”
A spirit of oneness and openness to each other’s comments and questions was very evident at the meetings in Kgagodi. All participants wanted a church that would meet the needs of their people. Much time was spent talking about their structures. When pressed to describe the church structure two lists were made. On one side of the room a list was made of the accountability of the “pastoral leadership” of the church listing the Pastors, Regional Pastors, Bishops and Arch Bishop. On the other side a list was complied of the various elected administrative groups in the church (Executive, Youth, Women’s etc). It became clear that while complete respect was given for the ultimate authority of the Arch Bishop there were areas where clarification was needed in order to make the work of these committees more effective to meet the needs of the younger people in the church.
Much time was spent
talking about Biblical knowledge and training for the pastors and other
leaders. If one
has a congregation of educated young people how do you provide biblical
teaching that nourishes and
challenges them if your leaders do not have formal biblical training?
Yet the uniqueness of the Independent
Churches has been that leaders come from within and that God’s spirit
enables
and equips them for
ministry.
We learned a lot as we
sat and listened to the conversations around us. Once
again we were reminded of the important yet careful work that needs to
be
done to help churches grapple with the changes that modernization
brings to
them. Some of the
struggles these
people named
reflected
conversations that I
have had with my
father about church
and change. Echos
of our youth ministry
days as we helped
churches to be more
inclusive of youth in
their structures and
in the gathering times
of the church were
there as well. When a society makes a
shift from being primarily rural and
agrarian to an urban, more educated one,
the church also needs to make a shift if it
is to survive. The Revelation
Blessed Peace Church clearly wants to survive and thrive. There was no feeling of resistance to change in the conversations in Kgagodi that weekend. Instead there was an atmosphere of openness and a desire to understand the issues that the church is facing and be proactive on a response.
We were also asked to
contribute our
insights. We were able to share that the
struggles of leadership - traditional vs
modern, appointed vs elected - were not unique to them, but a struggle
for all African Independent Churches and to
some extent all churches in Botswana.
Responding to the voice of people in the church
is important, but so is listening and responding
to the voice of God’s spirit in
discerning direction.
There was also much excitement to begin Bible Studies. We will be working with the youth and young adults of the Gaborone branch to begin a study there. Over 13 people want to gather on Sunday morning before Church to study the Bible! Leaders from Selebi Phikwe want us to come and minister in their churches and look at resurrecting the Bible Study programme in that area. The Lead Minister from the Kanye area wants us to come visit his congregations. We also talked with the leaders of the Youth Organization and requests were made for help with Children’s Sunday school both in training teachers and providing resources. Earlier we also talked with Rra Noge about the need for premarital counselling.
It is exciting how God is moving in the Revelation Blessed Peace Church and many other AIC’s here in Botswana. We are humbled that we can be part of God’s plan for these churches to grow and change in order to be more effective in their ministries among their people. We recognize that our ministry does not sit in isolation. All previous Mennonite workers have contributed to a feeling of openness and trust. The name Mennonite is a good thing in the minds of AIC leaders. We are also aware that it takes time to build up your own trust and ministry. This month we complete 5 years in Botswana. We’ve had many times when we have wondered about the contribution we have been able to make given the language barrier and our own limited understanding of the culture. But as time has gone on we stand in awe of how God has and is using our gifts to further the Kingdom here in Botswana!
Susan
Upcoming Events
Sept. 3rd Dessert Party for Marriage Course Participants and other guests
Sept. 13th The Wedding of Bishop and Mma Bishopo Kokoro’s daughter in Serowe (Spiritual Healing Church)
Family:
Perhaps this could be
described as the best term yet! Maeyken has eased into the IGCE
programme and has
relaxed into a balanced schedule of school, study and spending time
with her friends!
(The later being by far
the most important in her mind!)
We have problems keeping up with her
social life on the weekends.
Adriaena gets the prize for
being the busiest member of the
family this term. The school
part of life has gone well. But
even better a wide range of
afternoon activities: ballroom
dancing, girl guides, school
play, netball and marimba band!
Wow! Last week we were all at
a morning assembly for a final
performance by the ballroom
dancers. It was amazing to see
how much they have learned
and improved during the term.
Then last night and tonight we
take turns going to see the
school musical production
entitled “Gel...”
Friday is the last day of term and we are all looking forward to heading off to Namibia on Saturday. It will be a long drive but we’re told the drive will be worth it all. We’ll be staying at the coast for a week and a half before doing some camping at a couple of game reserves. Then we’ll go to Windhoek for a couple of days and visit friends in D’Kar (Ghantzi) on our way back. We are all looking forward to this holiday break and being able to be near water again!
Amy Susanna our
volunteer young adult
from Ontario leaves today
(Wednesday - well
actually her flight was
delayed and she leaves
Thursday) for Canada.
She’s had an amazing six
months here and we will
miss having her around.
Maeyken and Adriaena
have both enjoyed having
an “older” sister. As with
all of our volunteers she’s
etched a place in our list
of extended family
members!
Contact us
Mail us at:
Box 33, Gaborone,
Botswana
Phone us at:
Botswana: 267-390-5554
(Just remember that we are 6 hours earlier than Ontario!)
Skype at: susanglyn
Our web site: which includes pictures and previous newsletters:
http://www.thegatheringsite.ca/susanglyn/
We have actually been posting to our blog at
http://thegatheringsite.ca/botswana/index.html
We welcome your financial contributions for our support and invite you to send these to:
Mennonite Church Canada WITNESS
600 Shaftesbury Blvd
Winnipeg MB
Canada R3P 0M4
Please Thank God for...
... Amy Susanna and her willingness to be used by God here in Botswana. During her time with Face the Nation she led several young women to Christ and around 200 students at the school she volunteered at signed the True Love Waits Abstinence Cards!
... the couples that participated in the Marriage Course who all responded enthusiastically on the last night to the question “Has this made a difference in your marriage?”!
... the great term of school and activities that both the girls had.
We ask you to pray for...
...Melanie as she gets her house set up, studies language and begins to work with the Youth Centre in Francistown.
...the dessert party for participants in the Marriage Course and for others who are interested in participating in a course. Pray for us as we also discern with the Batswana participants the feasibility of this English speaking course with British based assumptions in an AIC setting.
...the new classes that are emerging. Pray for us that we may be able to respond to all of the locations interested in starting classes in a timely fashion.
...the unrest in the countries around Botswana. Continue to pray for the needs of the various countries that make up Southern Africa. The Botswana government is pushing for resolution of the political issues of Zimbabwe. They do not recognize Mugabe as the president and will boycott the upcoming SADAC meetings if Mugabe is invited.
...rest, relaxation, fun and safety as we go on our annual vacation.