Being global: A southern African experience (from Rock Spring News April 2012)
Susan Peters and Charles Spencer of Rock Spring joined a UCC Central Atlantic Conference (CAC) team visiting southern Africa to renew ties between the CAC and the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). Visit the website to read fascinating accounts written by both Charles and Susan [INSERT HYPERLINKS]. Learn more about their visit, and its significance for the work of the Global Mission Task Force, by attending discussion sessions after EACH of the services on April 15 (details nearer the time).
Their visit, blessed during worship on February 26, was to travel, enter dialogue with church leaders and members in the region, learn of the strengths and needs of the churches, and assess whether there was potential for Rock Spring to join in partnership with organizations in the region. We also hoped we might learn from existing partnerships what works and what does not.
Their visit took them to Johannesburg, Durban, Kuruman, and Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa; Maputo in Mozambique; and Gabarone and Kanye in Botswana. Charles and Susan tell of a moving and sobering visit to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, the celebration in Kanye of a wedding with both church and tribal traditions, and worship in many different settings, cultures and languages.
They also speak of inspiring leadership training, whether in the tiny Ricatla Seminary in Maputo, or the Inanda Seminary, a boarding high school for girls founded in 1816 by American Congregationalist missionaries, and still turning out strong, Christ-centered young women ready for leadership in today’s South Africa. They note the challenges that the UCCSA confronts, as a church seeking justice in a country emerging from a history of racism and struggling with the issues of the 21st century.
Many of the partnership ideas involved the training and development of church leadership, with a particular focus on women and youth. The ideas usually require the exchange of people rather than money. And the conversations often revealed that North American churches have much to learn from southern Africa.
The Global Mission Task Force views the information and insights gained as an input to its continuing work, not as the basis for an immediate recommendation about a specific partnership. Other options are under review including a possible focal points centered on the Middle East and Islam, as well as on Latin America (Colombia). We continue to welcome feedback from members and friends of Rock Spring.