Chabadza Key to Zimbabwe Partnership, Nhiwatiwa Says
United Methodist Bishops Eben Nhiwatiwa of Zimbabwe and Thomas J. Bickerton of Western Pennsylvania signed a historic “chabadza” partnership agreement between their two areas at the 2010 Western PA Annual Conference in June.
“It is not a partnership that will start on material things,” said Bishop Nhiwatiwa in a rousing sermon. “Chabadza is based on relationships -- relationships which are built on strong love and a strong foundation. Chabadza takes place when people agree to live together harmoniously.”
Chabadza, which has the Shona word for hoe (badza) as its root, was described as a community spirit of helping someone you know who is already at work.
As the Bishop explained it, when you go to work in the field, you take extra hoes “because some friends and neighbors may pass through and give us chabadza. They would join us to hoe in the field. If you are lucky, you have so many friends you run out of hoes.”
Giving Chabadza says, “What you are doing is good. I will give you my time; I give you my attention; it’s good for us all,” he explained.
Mutual respect as children of God is key.
“The missionary era in Africa has fizzled out. No one is going to do things for us,” he said. “We are not going to wave the banner of poverty and people will take care of us. Those in Zimbabwe have to be in the field working. He said Zimbabwean United Methodists understand that “if you want to build a church, you cannot do it with money from the U.S. We are helping people who we have seen in the field. If I see people worshipping under a tree, to me it’s not a problem. God is everywhere. They can’t fit God in any building.”
Bishop Nhiwatiwa used verses from Revelation 21 to discuss differences in the church in the United States and in Zimbabwe.
“There should be room in the life of everyone for a new heaven and a new earth,’ he said. “(But) I understand if my brothers and sisters in the U.S. say they are fed up with the church -- because you have everything… You are so up there as a nation so you say, ‘what type of a new heaven and a new earth do I need? I have all the answers.’”
However, Bishop Nhiwatiwa said, there is hunger here; people are searching for something.
“The church will not die in America. There will be a revival here. I see some churches here which are full of life. They are not doing this on their own,” he explained. “These are called the remnant that shall remain.
“Maybe it will not be a church which we know, but it will be the church of a new heaven and a new earth…Let God Act.”
Preaching Saturday during Ministry Night, Bishop Nhiwatiwa said he was asked to speak about preaching for the 21st Century. But, he said, it’s the same as it was for the First Century church in Acts.
“The hunger of the 21st Century can come in different ways, but if people are hungry for the gospel, it is this same Jesus that they crucified and He rose again on the third day. That’s the gospel! That’s the message of the 21st Century!”
When we talk about Zimbabwe we can talk about projects, we can talk about digging wells, he said, but if you don’t have faith, you don’t have anything to talk about. “The heart of the church in Zimbabwe is worship,” Bishop Nhiwatiwa said. The vibrance of the worship is something we can share.
In Kansas, he said, he was asked what is lacking in the U.S. church. He decided to risk speaking frankly.
“You need to put life in your worship…If God is really so good, why do you stand in church like (you are) under orders that you should not move?” he said.
Attending a professional football game in Baltimore-Washington, he said, he was amazed to see that Americans could scream and shout with enthusiasm.
“When we come to church, those good voices which can make noise in the arena are dead silent!” he lamented. “Make a joyful noise to God!
“Can you make people make some noises in the church? Please, I plead with you, try to make them make some noises for Christ!”
Go to www.wpaumc.org/AC2010 for more on Annual Conference 2010.
Comments