An inter-Mennonite newspaper, putting the Mennonite world together every week since 1923

EDITORIAL

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It might seem odd to have good memories of a slum. But a dozen North Americans remember Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya, fondly. Though “slum” sounds derogatory, it’s the usual word for the part of the city where 500,000 people live in mud-brick houses and shacks.

On an August Sunday in 2003 at Mathare Mennonite Church, Pastor Caleb Owuonda led 80 worshipers in singing, dancing and preaching.

“One day we will not have black, we will not have white,” he said. “We are going to be one. I am looking for that day.”

Recent days in Mathare have been terrible. “Several people were beaten and hacked to death with machetes” on Jan. 20, the Associated Press reported. Those deaths added to the toll of more than 700 killed in a month of violence touched off by a disputed presidential election.

A report from Mathare Mennonite Church itself was shocking but at least not tragic. Eastern Mennonite Missions reported that on Jan. 6 “a gang of armed thugs that had been burning homes and businesses terrorized the church.” They demanded money and took the morning offering, though it was only 500 shillings. Members were grateful money was all they lost (See Jan. 28 story).

Kenya’s post-election crisis adds to the list of African countries where Anabaptists are enduring trials that make North Americans’ economic and political complaints insignificant.

In Congo — whose Mennonite membership of 216,000 ranks second to the United States — war, hunger and disease are claiming the lives of an estimated 45,000 people a month. During the past decade, the death toll of violence and war- related suffering has risen to 5.4 million. Hope for ending the misery rose last month when the government and rebel groups reached a peace agreement.

Through it all, Congolese Mennonites are strengthening their churches. At a November meeting of the country’s three Mennonite conferences, participants expressed a desire for greater awareness of Anabaptist values and for more unity and cooperation. Mennonite Central Committee is providing food to people displaced by violence.

In Zimbabwe, with 33,000 Brethren in Christ members, the economy’s downward spiral deepens. As inflation soared to 15,000 percent last year, printers couldn’t add zeros to the currency fast enough. Last year Zimbabwe’s central bank issued a $200,000 bill, but it was worth only a little more than one American dollar. Now, a $10 million bill that came out in January is valued at less than $4 U.S. A Mennonite World Conference delegation last summer found store shelves empty.

MWC is requesting donations for Zimbabwe projects. These include improvements to BIC church farming operations so that church schools and a hospital can overcome food shortages by growing more of their own.

By keeping African Anabaptists in our prayers and in our giving, we refuse the North American way of living in isolation and self-centeredness. EMM, MWC and MCC programs and relief efforts in Kenya, Congo and Zimbabwe deserve extra support in these difficult days. By sharing, we can move closer to Pastor Owuonda’s vision of the day when we will be one. — Paul Schrag