NEWSLETTER
South Africa |
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Times of sharing, learning and fellowship The SAMP (South Africa Mission Partnership) coordinating team for Joining Hands is grateful for the recent visit of SMI network members Rev. Christopher Saaiman, Rev. Welile Sigabi and Mrs. Mati Mathabatha to the Presbytery of the Western Reserve. Our hopes for times of sharing, learning and fellowship were far surpassed. by Jan Beeman, Co-Chair SAMP |
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Profile JH partner network Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (SMI) >>>
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Christopher, Welile, and Mati generously told about the work of Sisonke through sermons, presentations and small group conversations.They were also eager to learn as much as possible about northeast Ohio to take back to South Africa.
Most of our team participated in many of the planned activities with our South African guests. We realized we were often learning new things about our own communities along with our South African brothers and sister. Another positive surprise for both groups was the joy experienced in getting to know the members within our own groups. Full meeting agendas often take each group’s time when together, leaving little time to “get acquainted”. Both SAMP and Sisonke members appreciated the opportunity provided by this extended time together.
The Sisonke network members were honest and forthright with their questions and feedback. Our conversations went far beyond land justice and eliminating hunger. We enjoyed “translating” some of our cultural and language differences when confusion arose, often accompanied by much laughter. As our visitors returned home we felt we had experienced “ubuntu” – people really are people through other people.
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A Testimonial from Jenny Himmelman People often ask me how and why I became involved with Joining Hands - South Africa Mission Partnership. It is a rather interesting story that began far from the greater Cleveland area during a business trip to Sydney, Australia.
After business was concluded, I had a few days of R & R scheduled. Through an American waiter at my hotel, my coworker and I ended up at a party for him. Our hostess was a 65-year-old Aboriginal activist named Shireen. Her beautiful house was not in a good part of town and our cab driver was very hesitant to leave us there. The night ended up being an evening I will never forget. We were received with such gracious hospitality. As we were sitting around her table, she asked us, “Well, girls, how are we going to change the world tonight? You know change always starts around the table… it starts small and takes off from here! Let’s talk!” Her quote as well as her directness and knowledge of issues beyond her small house in Sydney really made an impression on me. She knew more about our political system and problems than I did! How could I know so little? Flash forward a few months to a small table set up in our church’s fellowship hall where there were some fellow SAMPer’s with pamphlets about Joining Hands with South Africa. Wow, I think I found something I needed to be involved in! This could be my table! I have been involved and learning for over 4 years now. Had it not been for SAMP, accompanying our partners in South Africa on their journeys and taking the chance of getting to know an Aboriginal activist, I would never have learned what is going on in my own backyard. I am finding out about issues related to the US Farm Bill because of questions and concerns raised by our South African colleagues. I am learning more every day, some good and some bad. I now ask myself often “What can I do to change the world tonight?” Jenny Himmelman recently was chair of the Hospitality Team of SAMP, the South Africa Mission Partnership in the Presbytery of the Western Reserve. Her team prepared to welcome three visitors from South Africa in late September and arranged for a program which was most meaningful and ran extremely smoothly. |
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A Reflection on the Launch of the Sisonke Masilwe Indlala Network Bisho, South Africa by Andy Jacob, Associate Presbyter for Church Transformation and Justice Ministries Presbytery of the Western Reserve
The Psalmist envisioned the day of God’s restoration as the day on which all of God’s goodness and gifts would be received at once and as one. On that day, the promises of God will be realized in complete fullness and in holy union with one another. Occasionally we are granted a foretaste of what that day will be like. Even more occasionally we are blessed to witness the union of God’s plan for the future with God’s path in the present. On October 25, 2007 I received such a blessing, and witnessed such a union. On that day the South African network Sisonke Masilwe Indlala – Together Let Us Fight Hunger – held its official launch. On that day there was the union of old and young, wealthy and oppressed, black and white, those from near and those from afar. There was the meeting of east and west, north and south. And there was the covenant of words and ideas with practice and experience. There was the marriage of peace and justice. On that day steadfast love met faithfulness and righteousness embraced peace.
In sacramental language the launch was an outward sign of an inward grace. Like a sacrament, it was not a beginning as much as a recognition and blessing of that which already is. The labors of Sisonke Masilwe Indlala for land justice and against hunger have already produced an increase in the harvest of hope, partnership, and peace. Like all sacramental moments, the launch also transcended time: joyously expressing gratitude for what is, and prayerfully petitioning for what is yet to come.
The seminary adventure is filled with words, ideas, and concepts that can be used to define or deny faith in God. The first time I was exposed to the concept of “eschatology” – the study of what will occur on the day God restores creation – I was lost; not because I could not understand the concept, but because I could not imagine what it would be like.
Later I was exposed to a refined concept called “realized eschatology” – that part of God’s restoration that is happening here and now. Suddenly I was found. Suddenly I realized that God’s intervening presence in the world need not be left to imagination. On that day I realized that, by the grace of God, we are granted present glimpses of God’s future plans. The launch of the Sisonke Masilwe Indlala network was nothing less than a sacramental moment of realized eschatology; a glorious taste of God’s goodness now and yet to come. May God continue to richly bless the work and ministry of Sisonke Masilwe Indlala and her partners; that faithfulness would continue to spring up from the ground. |
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