Reading Revelation in Africa

Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church is a leading experiment in what is being called the emergent or missional church. The congregation is lay led by young adults who are drawing on ancient traditions and a strong dose of John Wesley to rethink doing and being church. They include gifted musicians and passionate community organizers.

During the month of January, we will be telling the remarkable story of peace building by the United Methodist pastors and lay leaders in the North Katanga and Tanganyika Conferences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If you're in the central Indiana area, come out on Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm for these special presentations. Come early at 5:00 for our pitch-in dinner.

Here's the text of our community announcement:

Reading Revelation in Africa

Between 1995 and 1999, life in the Congo matched the visions of Revelation, terror for terror, affliction for affliction. Bob Walters and Ntambo Nkulu preached sermons of hope and encouragement straight out of these powerful texts. The result? The Church stood strong against the rage of a war that has killed over 4 million, turned the war with heroic peace building, and emerged as the recognized leaders of community development.

Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, Earth House Collective, and Friendly Planet Missiology bring these sermons to Indiananpolis during the month of January. You'll be inspired by the stories of courage in the face of terror, and be pleasantly surprised at how hope-filled and helpful this apocalyptic message can be.

Bonuses:

There are over 30 hymns in Revelation. Many of the great hymns of the Church come from the texts of Revelation. Our musicians are having the great fun of creating new and ancient music for us.

Worship at Lockerbie Central is interactive and participatory. The Book of Revelation is dramatic in its literary form. Come expecting to be a part of the sermon.

Revelation takes us through the worst of our fears into an incredible peace. It carries us through our greatest life struggles and into a future that only God can guarantee. You'll find strength for your own journey.


See you on Sunday nights at Lockerbie Central in January.
Bob

Advent in the Congo

The one gift of preaching scripture in the Congo is that I don't have to say, "In Jesus' day, things were like this. . . " Congolese congregations know exactly what the text is saying. It jumps off the page as a picture of everyday life.

The Gospel of Luke has John the Baptist quoting the prophet Isaiah, "Make the road straight. Prepare the way for the Lord's coming." Both in biblical days and in present day Congo, when someone important is coming, the road gets repaired.

Back in 1999, just before being evacuated as the war heated up, I made a visit up to the mountain town of Sampwe. It was rough driving. Our 4wd Land Cruiser spent much of the time on two wheels and ruts were as deep as the truck itself.

As we approached Sampwe, I noticed two things: fields filled with green rice and a smooth road. For the first, Sampwe is a potential breadbasket for the Congo and should be exporting food to all of Africa. However, the road to the markets of Kolwesi and Likasi is impossible in the dry season and impassable in the rainy season. For the second observation, I had to ask how the local road had been repaired and was in such good shape. For the answer, we went to visit the local chief.

Following appropriate protocol, we were taken to the chief's armed camp. Nothing cute about this visit to an African chief's home. We found a well educated, articulate leader who had learned well the lessons of patronage, how to get the resources his community needs. He had invited the governor to come visit. The governor had agreed. The chief had all his people out working on the road. They were ready for the visit of a very important person, one who would see the needs of the suffering people and give great gifts of patronage. This is how the system works. The only problem is that the governor did not come.

If that were not enough of a lesson, he took me out to a field where 12 years prior, the United Methodist missionary pilot, Stan Ridgeway, had made the off hand comment that this field would make a good landing strip. The chief had prepared the field as a runway and was awaiting the coming United Methodist planes. Stan Ridgeway was shot and killed by Mubutu's soldiers in 1987 for refusing to fly an army payroll. The United Methodist planes will not be coming any time soon.

The people of the Congo know what it's like to prepare the road for the coming patron. They know what the prophet is calling us to do in preparation. They know what it is like to wait, and to be disappointed.

Jesus came into a world waiting for a savior. His message to this world? The kingdom of God is already here. "The kingdom of God is within you." The incredible irony of the Gospel is that when our savior arrives, he tells us that God is already here, that God has already given us everything we need.

Bob

Death of Assistant Bishop Rev. Jean Kalonga

Photos from Rev. Jean's last Sunday sermon, November 8, 2009

I am sad to report that The United Methodist Church's assistant bishop over Zambia, Rev. Jean Kalonga, passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning in the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. An open-casket service was held this morning outside the home of the District Superintendent of Lusaka. The main funeral will be held either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week in Kitwe.

Rev. Jean served as the de facto bishop of the Zambia provisional conference, having been appointed by Bishop Katembo of the South Congo Conference. The loss will be greatly felt here in Zambia and across the church.

Life in Luska: Part II

above: United Methodist young adult choir hang outing out after worship.
Most live in Matero (an impoverished part of Lusaka).

Hard to believe it has been two months since I moved to Lusaka, Zambia. Rainy season has begun, and my schedule has become overflowing with activity.

My District Superintendent continues to itinerate me between the five United Methodist congregations/preaching posts in Lusaka. It feels a bit like having a “five-point charge” (being the pastor of five communities at once); I’ve already been called to respond to everything from anguish within clergy families to disharmony within the district. –So much so that much of what I’m busy doing these days cannot be shared in detail.

The Spirit has continued to provide the appropriate lectionary text for each congregation I visit. Much to my surprise, the impact of these sermons is already becoming visible through the dramatic shift in mood and collaboration between congregations.

For the first time, the clergy of the Lusaka district are (of their own initiative) gathering regularly to support each other. Within a month after my itinerate sermon series began, the district’s pastors went from not being on speaking terms to proposing they start a business together and make loans to one another to alleviate clergy poverty. I am looking forward to hosting their next gathering at my house next week.

A few hours after I left the October 31st laity training day & district council meeting (where I had taught a workshop on Methodist History and Doctrine—particularly emphasizing our heritage of ministry with the downtrodden), the district voted to form a district-level projects committee and elected me as its chair. I am humbled to be chairing a committee whose members own children sleep on the ground, yet they desire to contribute their time and resources to assist the ‘less fortunate.” We have a lot of work to do, but there is a spirit of optimism in the air.

Yesterday, I met with the bishop’s representative over Zambia (Zambia is a “provisional” United Methodist conference; its official bishop is the bishop of South Congo conference). He was in town to complete the purchase a piece of property in Lusaka where we will someday have a training center, chapel, offices, and housing. There is much excitement, since all but one of our congregations currently meet on rented property—mostly in classrooms.

above: DS Rev. John Ilunga and his wife Pastor Mary.
They struggle to finance their ministry and are supporting several orphaned children despite that they themselves are surviving on God's "daily bread."

On a sad note, I am becoming increasingly aware of how high blood pressure is killing our church leadership here in Zambia and Congo. Their daily stress, poor diet and lack of quality medical care combine with other factors in a deadly way. On All Saints Day, we lost another United Methodist pastor up in Chingola to this disease; he collapsed mid-sermon.

I ask that you continue to keep our church leaders around the world and Friendly Planet Missiology in your daily prayers. With your financial support, we continue in this ministry.

Natasha [Thank you in Nyanja],

Taylor

Update on Lubudi construction

Photo: congregation in Lubudi showing some of the thousands of bricks they've made for construction project.

This just in from our friends in the Lubudi District:

Dear Reverends Bob WALTERS and Taylor WALTERS,

Today, we finished our construction planning. In the meeting, we have decided to build the church 20 meters long and 10 meters wide. Tomorrow we will receive from treasurer Reverend MALOBA $3,000 dollars in order to start the construction. If the Lubudi cement company will be able to provide cement and sell it easily to us, then the work will speedily go ahead. The staff committee members of this company are here in Lubumbashi; tomorrow we will meet them to discuss with them buying the cement home in Lubudi.

Every time we will inform you about the evolution of the work and send reports. We say thank you. We are waiting for you in February as you promise us. Welcome home.

From Reverend Kyungu.

[Taylor's note: Lubudi has a cement factory, but it doesn't always sell to the local population. Production levels are low due to neglected equipment, so people in Lubudi must import cement from great distances. Please pray for the health of this factory. If it reaches its potential production levels, Lubudi could become a world exporter of cement--and construction in the region could go into full speed]

The Widow's Mite

In this week's Gospel lesson, the "Widow's Mite," Jesus is observing the parade of Temple goers as they bring their offerings.

He watches the prominent religious leaders make a show of their generosity out of their wealth. (Let's not hate them too quickly. Maybe they just read the most recent book on church stewardship that encouraged modeling by the community leaders, and they were announcing the lead gifts to begin the fall campaign.)

Then came the widow who gave her two small coins, giving all that she had out of her poverty. She, according to Jesus, out gave them all on that day.

In worship one Sunday in a church in the Kamina District, I was sitting where I had an unobstructed view of the offering box. The Tithe Offering was called for. The choir sang, the pastor exhorted, but no one came. Like a ton of hand made bricks, it hit me: These people tithe in real time. No one got paid this week. There are very few jobs, and those who have them, don't always get paid what is promised.

The Thank Offering came later in the service. Every one came, even those who had no money. With singing and dancing, it was clear that many had much to be thankful for, and those who had nothing took joy in thanking God before hand.

There was another offering that day: the harvest in-gathering for the pastors' families. Church members were extremely generous in providing for their pastors and their families. There was very little money for salaries, but there were bags and bags of manioc and maize that day.

The people of the Congo live somewhere between the Thank Offering and the Tithe Offering, trusting in God for all that they need, not yet rewarded for their hard work. This is where we are appointed: to sit with, walk with, to stand in the gap, as the Church and community move boldly toward sustainability and a hearty Sunday morning parade of tithers.

Bob

Projects for 2010

It was pretty exciting to work this summer with the district superintendents, pastors, and lay leaders in both the North Katanga Conference and the Tanganyika Conference on proposed projects for 2010. The good news is that they/we have some great projects in the pipeline. The hard news is that the price tag breaks through the $500,000 ceiling. (We’re all trusting that God will provide enough friends; the friends will provide the money.)







1. Church and parsonage construction tops the list, along with construction of schools and clinics. Folk continue to ask us how much it costs to build a church. The answer is, “a lot more than it used to.” Costs for cement are climbing faster than oil prices. Transportation is the big problem in getting cement and roofing to the churches. All of our churches (hundreds of them) are building. We don’t build one church at a time. When a congregation gets to a place in construction where they need the cement or roofing, they petition the district superintendent, who in turn, petitions the conference construction coordinator. The answer is “yes,” if we have the cement and roofing and if we can get it to them. Often, we can’t. 2009 donations from the Evansville District have made it possible to answer “yes,” but even then only to accessible locations. Getting materials to churches in the remote districts of the Tanganyika Conference is the challenge for 2010.



2. Transportation is second. The bicycle program continues to be our best investment. However, the availability and low cost of motorcycles have invited us to think about providing motorcycles for our district superintendents, who have large districts to cover. In addition, some of our districts are accessible only by water, those along Lake Tanganyika or the Congo River. We’re looking at two boat projects. One will resurrect and repurpose (for evangelism and community health) an old commercial fishing boat on Lake Tanganyika and the other is the construction of a new boat for the Congo River. Together, the projects will cost over $100,000.



3. Education for the children of our United Methodist pastors and lay leaders is a great concern. Our pastors and lay leaders, who are highly educated, are not making enough to keep their children in school. We are in danger of having a generation less educated than their parents, at a time when education is critical. It is particularly disconcerting, as these families are our friends and their children are like nieces and nephews to us.




The needs expand from our short list: safe drinking water, medicines for our clinics, agricultural development, women’s centers, orphanages, on and on. The three major projects we’re working on in 2010 are platform projects for the others and are about as much as we can say grace over.

Your generosity puts us in the field there to work with these wonderful folk and provides the cash to purchase needed materials. Thanks so much for every gift.


Bob

Preaching in Lebanon

This Sunday morning, I'm preaching in Lebanon, Indiana, at Centenary United Methodist Church for two very good friends, Pastors David and Marcy Patrick. They follow the lectionary, so in an effort to make my arrival not a time-out-for-a-mission-infomercial, I'll use the epistle lesson, Hebrews 4:12-16, as the sermon text. The title of the sermon: Jesus Is the Answer. Now, What Was the Question?

The text presents an opportunity to talk about how we use scripture (the word of God) to reflect back to the community the issues they are struggling with and lay "naked" their generative themes. In other words, scripture texts make obvious what we've been hiding from ourselves. When the questions become clear, the answers flow freely.

The second half of the text allows us to connect what we are doing today in war weary Congo (and in county seat Lebanon) with the high priestly work of Jesus on our behalf. The biggest theological struggle for Congolese Christians is puzzling through the question of how much of our future is dependent upon God and how much of it is built by our own hard work. Texts like this one link our own hard work with God's grace. It becomes not an either-or, but a both-and.


Here's a homework exercise for friends of Friendly Planet Missiology:

Cholera is killing our children. Why? Answer #1: The drinking water is contaminated.

Why is the drinking water contaminated? Because we are drawing water from the lake that is receiving our waste water.

Why are we doing that? Because there is no electricity to run the pumps.

Ask the Why? question at least six times and see what you come up with. Eventually, it becomes a theological question. If you are a pastor or Sunday school teacher, think of a scripture passage that asks the same question.

Now you're doing missiology. Congratulations, you are a missiologist!


Bob
Plainfield (Amitydale)

Exhausted

This Facebook message came from good friend Lorna Shoemaker at Christian Theological Seminary:

It was on this day in 1877 that the Nez Percé leader Chief Joseph surrendered to the U.S. Army in the mountains of Montana. He said: "I am tired of fighting. … Hear me, my chiefs; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever!"

My response to her: One of the UN peacekeepers/military observers in Kalemie (eastern Congo) said to me: "The people are tired of the war. They are exhausted from the fighting."

One of the issues we are facing in rebuilding church and community is that people are exhausted. The simple daily tasks of life require so much energy, energy that is not there. Food, clean water, school fees, housing, all come before grand dreams of good governance, peace building, community development, and even evangelism.

Leadership development can be as simple as paying our pastors enough to feed and school their children.

Bob

Life in Lusaka

above: Jakarandas in bloom in Lusaka, Zambia

Taylor here.

Somehow a month has passed since beginning my surreal life in Lusaka, Zambia. I’m trying to be a supportive embassy wife (yes, I do attend the Diplomatic Spouses Association meetings) while keeping focused on my ministry, but it has been a big adjustment. Bouncing between Congo and the USA every few months can mess with your head. Bouncing daily between the social circles of Lusaka’s upscale neighborhoods and its slums---now that takes prayers for sanity. I pray a lot these days.

I’ve begun itinerate preaching in United Methodist congregations in the poorer parts of the city. District Superintendent John Ilunga selects where I go each week, and Brian, the District Secretary, serves as my fabulous interpreter. Brian and I meet each Saturday to reflect on that week’s lectionary texts (after spending the week studying them). Brian tells me what comes to his mind when he hears the texts—particularly in the context of the congregation we are about to visit. Then I propose a sermon outline, and he tells me if he thinks it will resonate. Brian has remarked that the themes I identify in the lectionary each week keep getting at the heart of the issues for congregations we visit. He says that we keep arriving in congregations at exactly the right week on the lectionary cycle.

above: Brian and DS Ilunga

The weekly sermon-prep Bible studies with Brian have been enlightening for both of us. He has asked that I start a study group with the other church leaders. I think I might do so soon. However, in addition to requests that I start offering classes, Superintendent Ilunga has dropped a big one on me: He is convinced that I am the person he has prayed for to come and start a United Methodist ministry on my side of town [i.e. expats and wealthy Zambians]. I am still discerning how to respond to this proposed appointment.

In the meantime, I am busy taking care of two dogs we just adopted from the shelter, cleaning our large government-assigned house (Come visit!), planting a vegetable garden, hitching rides to the open-air market, baking bread, e-mailing friends in Congo and the USA, attending embassy parties, taking ballet lessons (yup, you read correctly; the troupe’s winter production is raising funds for school construction), and eagerly anticipating the repair of the used car we imported from Japan so that I can spend more time out in the community.

Our new dogs adopted from the local shelter.

Please keep me in your prayers,

Taylor

Back Home Again in Indiana

Just a blog to let folk know that I'm back in Indiana. I've been decompressing for a week. Teri and I took a couple days down in Nashville, Indiana, and in general I've been mostly just puttzing around the house. For those who have been following our family on Facebook, Robbie and I mowed the yard. I've disassembled and cleaned all our bird feeders. The MG started up first crank. I can't remember what was wrong with it when I parked it. It's now my daily driver.

The first public appearance was at the Residents in Ministry retreat at Camp Tecumseh, Monday and Tuesday. Good friend Cyndi Alte was the retreat leader and I was allowed to tag along and do the closing Bible study. The group of wonderful new pastors and deacons was very gracious to allow me to use them as I talked through my transition from the Congo to Indiana. We used the two texts I preached on at the annual conference in Kamina.

I'm struck by two conflicting feelings. First, how low the stakes are here compared to there. I'm not getting that from the pastors at the retreat, but from listening to the morning news shows. I want to run through the streets shouting, "There are whole communities dying today and we don't see them!" It's hard to get into the health care debate after being with people who will never see a doctor. My greatest fear is that missions in the Church has become the equivalent of charity fluff pieces on the Today Show. Clearly, I'm ranting incoherently now. More decompressing needed.

On the other hand, I'd really like the Church to see that community development/peace building is the same exercise here in Indiana as it is in the Congo. Our pastors here have exactly the same job as our pastors in the Congo. If we could change one mental model, it should be away from a neocolonial mission model and toward a mental model of collegial connection. These pastors and congregations in the Congo are not an uncountable, unnamed mass of poverty and despair. They are our colleagues in ministry. They are our friends. They are us.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming fall preaching schedule. Pity the churches, if I can't get the message clear in my head in the next few days.

Bob
Plainfield

2 Corinthians

Never been a fan of 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, now that’s some great stuff! But 2 Corinthians not so much. Until I went to Kalemie.

In Kalemie, in the worst of the war induced famine, people were reduced to eating the husks of the cassava plant. In the Church they called the husks “Corinthians” from 2 Corinthians. I had to read 2 Corinthians to see what they were talking about.

Wow! Has a book of the Bible so come alive to a hungry people! From the opening greetings, Paul could have been talking directly to the Church at Kalemie. Affliction matches affliction.

Beyond that, the whole conversation around missing a promised visit is a living conversation here, where honor and shame are the primary motivators and visits are a high moment for a community and where transportation problems, as in Paul’s days, often postpone or cancel promised visits. Where feelings are hurt deeply when promises are not kept. It’s no wonder that it was a big deal that I was the first missionary to visit since the war.

The church politics in 2 Corinthians are raw. People saying things behind one another's backs. Ministries slandered. Paul does not over react or respond in kind. Rather, he offers a calm observation that there is no perfect church, just a plain clay jar, holding a treasure.

I arrived in Kalemie entirely dependent upon the hospitality of the Church. I get Paul’s desire to not be a burden. And yet, the importance of inserting himself into their problems.

Personally, the line I love is “I have been a fool! You forced me to it.” How Paul struggled with his relationship to and responsibility for the Church at Corinth.

Want to get some sense of the struggles of the Church in the Congo? Read 2 Corinthians with an open heart and mind. Try to get into their heads, and Paul’s head.

Bob
Kamina

Fall/Winter Tour

I’ve prepared 2 sermons, a Bible study, and a workshop for this fall/winter. Would love to visit your church, cluster group, Sunday School class, do a retreat, talk with a youth group, lecture in a seminary class, etc.

Sermon #1
Revelation 7:9-17
This is the sermon I preached at the North Kantanga Conference Memorial Service, modified for an American congregation. It celebrates the courage of our pastors and church leaders in the midst of a horrific series of wars that have taken over 4 million lives and left a people devastated. This is a story few United Methodists know. In spite of the terror, it is a story of remarkable spirit, filled with hope.

Sermon #2
Matthew 23:9
The social, political, economic setting of 1st century Galilee is a perfect overlay of present day Congo. Here, I don’t have to say, “In Jesus’ day, things were like…” Jesus’ teachings jump off the page at us! Jesus is the answer. Now, what was the question?
Can also be a Bible study.

Bible Study
Genesis 4:1-15
A study on the sin of jealousy, what it can lead to, and how we might master it. We cover the 3 questions Cain did not ask God. This sin of jealousy is killing us here in the Congo, but this conversation can also be helpful to an American audience around how one measures one’s own success (or lack of) in life. Maybe pastors and their appointments?

Workshop
Designed to cover Congo 101 to Missiology 900 in 45 minutes. Give me more time and we can talk about it. If these people believe in God, are pure of heart, and preach a solid Wesleyan theology, why is it not working for them? Or is it?

Love history? Love theology? Love seeing them talk to one another? This workshop is for you.

This workshop will be presented at the Pastors Convocation in Columbus, Indiana, in October. If you are a United Methodist Pastor in the Indiana Conference, be sure to sign up. Otherwise, invite me to come to your district or cluster.



What do we charge?

Here’s the deal: We figure that we need to raise $500,000 for 2010 for the building/rebuilding of The United Methodist Church in the North Katanga and Tanganyika Conferences. I know that this is some serious sticker shock, but we’re in a deep hole here and the costs of anything imported (cement, fuel, roofing) are sky rocketing. We’re looking for fearless partners who want to help us find that kind of money. Write a large check, make a big pledge, join the network of friends. I don’t want to scare you off, but one of the smallest churches in our conference, Baker Chapel, gave $10,000 for church construction and got this whole movement started.


Can Taylor come? (We’ve heard that she is the better preacher.)

Yes. Just add $3,000 for airfare from Zambia.
Actually, watch for dates when Taylor will be in Indiana.


Bob
Kamina

This Morning's Sermon

Attended worship this morning at the "Ville" parish. Service ended with a grand harvest in-gathering of maize, cassava, and peanuts for the pastors and their families. Humbling on several levels.

The pastor's sermon was excellent. He preached on relying upon God for your problems. Solid theology and good interaction with the congregation. He ended with Psalm 33:16: "A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength." (To paraphrase the Joker/Jack Nicholson, Where does he get all these wonderful texts?)

So I am wondering, if they believe in God, their hearts are pure, and their theology sound, why isn't it working for them?

This is what Friendly Planet Missiology is about. Asking the "why" questions. And not settling for the first easy answer that pops up.

First, what if it is working? What if they've got it right and we're out of line with God's creation? It's important not to rush in with our solutions, especially since the invasion of our way of life caused the problems in the first place. Appreciating that the Congolese pastors may very well know the way forward, and that our piece of the solution is to support their work, is a good first step.

On the other hand, one can't look at the suffering of war and disease and pretend that this is working for anyone. This is where a deeper reading of the Gospels is helpful. As a minor league biblical scholar, my greatest thrill has been to discover that the social, political, economic setting of 1st century Galilee is a perfect overlay of present day Congo. The issues are identical. Therefore, it makes sense that the solution is found in the teachings of Jesus. A radical idea, I know, but Jesus is the answer. Now, what was the question?

I'm being called to Sunday lunch.

Bob
Kamina

RETHINK CHURCH

My RETHINK CHURCH shirt is hanging on the line drying. Elton John is into an 18 minute studio version of Burn Down the Mission, and I’m reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for the second time this trip. I’ve been working on my book, a book that started out as an unreadable thesis for my DMin degree. It has now morphed into a history/theology of the transfer of power from missionaries to indigenous church leadership right here in the North Katanga Conference. I’m calling it The Last Missionary. Six people may eventually read it.

Here’s what Pirsig wrote in today’s reading that jumped off the page and sent me to the blog:

It wasn’t like other people’s thinking, even then, before his insanity….He felt that institutions such as schools, churches, governments, and political organizations of every sort all tend to direct thought for ends other than truth, for the perpetuation of their own functions, and for the control of individuals in the service of these functions. He came to see his early failure as a lucky break…



Matthew 23 comes to mind, especially in the context of the whole gospel story. It’s amazing how raw the gospels are here. Not so much as a critique of African life, but of the Church’s self understanding. What if the Church put what people are struggling to become ahead of it’s need for institutional perpetuation?

Peter Senge calls this level of understanding that I’m stuck at, the Implicate Stage. It‘s where you see something, know you see it, but don’t yet have the words to describe it. In Pirsig’s story, it’s the stage just before they take you off in a straight jacket. Never the less, Jesus taught something profound that the Church never learned, and I’ve almost got it.

I don’t have my Gospel of Thomas with me, so biblical scholars help me on this one. It goes something like, “The one who asks receives, the one who searches finds, and when one finds, one wonders and is troubled.”
Something like that.

Bob
Kamina