Sermon preached by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Musonda T.S. Mwamba- Into Africa: We are all God’s Children

     Into Africa: We are all God’s Children     

        

Sermon preached by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Musonda T.S. Mwamba

Bishop of Botswana

At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Gaborone, Botswana

Sunday, 24^th July, 2011

The collect for the 17^th Sunday of the year: Lord of heaven and earth you sent your Holy Spirit to be the life and power of your Church: sow in our hearts the seeds of his grace that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” 

Where ever I travel in the United States or the United Kingdom when people realize I am the Bishop of Botswana, the first question they ask is about Mma Ramotswe, the heroine of the bestselling series of books: The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by my friend Alexander McCall Smith.  Mma Ramotswe has made Botswana famous in the world.

In the company of Anglicans or Episcopalians who ask me of Mma Ramotswe, I delightfully tell them that she is in fact an Anglican! I also tell them this incident in the book, In The Company of Cheerful Ladies, where she attends a service in this very Cathedral.  As I am preaching, Mma Ramotswe is not concentrating on the sermon as her mind is wandering on how to solve a case involving a pumpkin.  She stops herself and thinks, ‘This is not the way to listen to Trevor Mwamba’! I hope your minds this morning are clear of pumpkins.  

On Friday I welcomed our young brothers and sisters from the  Dioceses of Newcastle and North Carolina, by saying you are home, but I did not explain why I said that. Let me explain now.

Has it ever crossed your mind that we are all Africans? This is not a trick question! Fourteen years ago a Journal called Cell published results on DNA testing done on Neanderthal man in an attempt to prove that he was an evolutionary dead end.  The tests showed a large difference between modern man and the Neanderthals. 

The team leader, Dr Svante Paabo, of the University of Munich, said that modern man first appeared in Africa, migrating to Europe and displacing the Neanderthals.  The bottom line Dr Paabo stated was that ‘We are all Africans’.  This was a finding of major importance.  

Two years ago at Heathrow Airport I picked up The Economist:  Intelligent Life with the headline: We are all Africans Now. Every one of us has African ancestors it said.

Let me take you back to Mma Ramotswe, that wise woman of ‘traditional build’, in The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, she thinks about humanity, “God put us on this earth. We were all Africans then, in the beginning, because man started in Kenya, as Dr Leakey and his Daddy have proved. So, if one thinks carefully about it, we are all brothers and sisters...” 

So welcome home my fellow Africans from the Dioceses of Newcastle and North Carolina! This explains why I said to you welcome home, on Friday! 

Being home you may have begun to discover something about yourselves.  Indeed life as a journey is always about discovering ourselves.  The great United Nations Secretary – General Dag Hammarskjold was once said, “The longest journey is the journey inwards.” The journey to discover ourselves in the places we go, in the books we read, in the music we listen to, in the people we meet, in all that we experience.  We are always on a journey of discovery in life. And subtly we are always changing moment by moment in this journey.

We must journey in life because if we don’t then we remain stagnant. We remain stale. We do not expand in our inner lives and our outer lives. We cannot discover our potentials within us, and so lose what we could have become. In this awareness the journey of our lives is really about journeying towards God. It is a journey of Faith.

In the journey of Faith we discover a very important truth that we should never forget and it is what St. Paul points to in the second reading we heard from Romans 8:28. “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” 

So God journeys with us, in fact God began our journey in life before we were born.  It is because of this we have come together over this couple of days from different countries and cultures and experiences but all linked together by the love of God. That is the common denominator.  We have come led by God in our journey of Faith. In this journey we can be assured that God is working His or Her magic for our common good.  

God is always about opening our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. 

Sometime ago I came across this true story by an American lady named Mary A. Fischer, entitled Change of Heart. Nineteen years ago, she watched TV news reports of an African- American Rodney King speaking to the press after four officers accused of beating him in 1991 were acquitted which led to riots in Los Angeles.  As King spoke to reporters, he sadly asked, “Can we all get along?”

Mary A. Fischer thought then it was not possible to get along. She lived in a neighbourhood of Los Angeles called Highland Park, which was being transformed by waves of new immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, the Philippines and Vietnam, and for the first time, she was in the minority and was convinced racial harmony was impossible. She was convinced she had nothing in common with her neighbours and fortressed herself in her lovely pink Spanish house on the hill.  Any attempts at interacting with her neighbours were on the basis of trying to bring them into compliance with her values.

Then something happened that changed her and how she lived in the neighbourhood. In a matter of two days, she lost the things that mattered most to her. Her well paying job came to an end and her relationship with a man she loved ended badly. Suddenly, all her anchors were gone and she sunk deep in grief.

The losses she experienced humbled her and made her vulnerable, but as a consequence she began to connect more fully with her neighbours and the world around her. She discovered how extraordinary they were. They were nothing like the biases she had made them out to be. They were hard working, honourable people, who like her, were just looking to live well and experience some measure of happiness.

Today, she would answer Rodney King’s question differently. She would say that it is possible for us to get along if people from different cultures don’t make the mistake she did. When she moved to her neighbourhood she neglected to view her neighbours as individuals and saw them as different and apart from herself. She now sees how their lives and hers include experiences universal to us all: loss, disappointment, hope, and love. She sees a oneness with others. 

Mary’s life opened to an understanding of herself and the world around her.  We can perhaps see also at work what St. Paul points to in Romans, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” in what she experienced.

We can perhaps see that she discovered that we are all children of God.

In this discovery we can get along in this life which is a gift from God. In this life the borders within us, our parish, our diocese, our province, and our Communion can be dissolved. We can also celebrate in this life the spirit of oneness, of love, of friendship, of uniqueness, of diversity, of what we share in common, to enrich each other.

In the discovery that we are all God’s children we journey into the experience of today’s prayer that the God of heaven and earth, the Great I AM, has sent His Holy Spirit to be the life and power of His Church. Let us pause for a moment: in other words God has sent His Holy Spirit to be the life and power in our lives.  This is what St. Paul meant in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”

How deeply profound this is. So our earnest prayer is to allow the Holy Spirit to sow in our hearts the seeds of His grace that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I see this prayer in the words of Megan a gifted poet from the Diocese of Newcastle:

So much suffering in the world.

So much hate.

A shocking rise in death rates.

What is earth?

Is it Heaven or Hell?

So many beautiful things,

like the ringing of the church bells.

But so many ugly things,

Which threaten the world.

Sick torturing things that make my stomach curl.

If people just cared that little bit more,

Maybe we wouldn’t have to, if we just opened God’s door.

God’s door has been opened, your time here from your adventurous drive from Johannesburg and getting lost on the way; to the International Conference of Young Anglicans in Serowe; to the exciting safari in the Tuli block; your visit to American Embassy and Dinner with the British High Commissioner, to the Workshop on HIV and AIDS, to this worship now, it all a opening of God’s door; so all of us, God children  in our dioceses and together as companion diocese can step into His world and make it a better place for all.

I know we can because God’s door opens out to where all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

Videos from Botswana Youth Exchange, July 13-27

• HIV/AIDS Conference in Botswana Part I 
• HIV/AIDS Conference in Botswana Part II 
• HIV/AIDS Conference in Botswana Part III
• Youth Interview During HIV/AIDS Conference I
• Youth Interview During HIV/AIDS Conference II
• Youth Interview During HIV/AIDS Conference III
• Youth Product to Help End HIV/AIDS
• Botswana International Youth Conference, singing and dancing
• Botswana International Youth Conference
• Bahurutshe Cultural Village 
• Bahurutshe Cultural Village 1
• Eucharist at Guild Conference
• Eucharist at Holy Cross Cathedral 
• Music from AIDS/HIV Conference 
• Music Performance During Guild Conference
• North Carolina and Newcastle Sing at Conference
• Serowe Hospital Visit During Guild Conference 

Adventure Story After Time at Tuli Block

Here's a little screenplay we wrote. We're still shopping it around Hollywood:

(ALL CHARACTERS AND SEQUENCES ARE PURELY FICTIONAL. ANY RELATION TO ANY ACTUAL PERSONS OR EVENTS ARE STRICTLY COINCIDENTAL.)

A group of 17 young adults take a senior spring break voyage to Botswana and participate in a safari. This is their story.

During the first night in Botswana, four young men are sharing a cabin. They've managed to stash some Wonka Bars in their suitcases, despite the warnings from the locals about animals stealing food. Lee, one of these four men, arises out of his slumber late at night in order to relieve himself. On his way back to his bed, he glances up at the rafters. To his surprise, there are several baboons hiding up there, clearly attracted by the smell of the Wonka Bars. A stand ensues, and their eyes meet. Lee panics and breaks for the door, screaming at the top of his lungs. His roommates awake with a start in time to see several of the baboons descend upon them. In the confusion, only one escapes with his life. Lee and Chris, another of the men, are found dead, and Pedro is missing, presumed dead. Craig narrowly escapes by hiding in his suitcase, spraying deodorant to mask his scent from the baboons. He falls asleep inside the suitcase, and doesn't awake until late the next day.

Early the next morning, while Craig is still asleep, a brother and sister from the group go down to a nearby river to wash their clothes. Unaware of the danger lurking just beneath the surface, they proceed to wash their clothes in the river. Suddenly, a crocodile snaps at the boy's arm, severing it. The blood falls into the water and sends nearby piranhas into a blood frenzy. They attack the nearest human source of meat, and begin to feast on the the two siblings. Jack and Jill, the siblings, stand no chance against the piranha attack and become a nice early morning snack for nature's fiercest fish.

Unaware of the untimely deaths of several of their comrades, nine of the remaining twelve go on an safari ride. The ride was doomed from the start.

Lindsay, unaware of the lions and other fierce predators, takes some leftover steak from the previous night on the safari. Almost instantly, their ride was ravaged by lions, hyenas, and leopards. The tires on their jeep were destroyed, leaving them stranded and surrounded by crazed predators. Robert, quickly thinking in his feet, plays dead while the others attempt to fight the animals. The predators ignore Robert, believing him to be diseased, due to his sudden death and his smell of Axe Body Spray. While the lions devour the others, Robert escapes and goes back to camp to warn the others and alert the authorities.

Robert returns to the campsite as Craig is waking up, still sealed inside his suitcase. Craig frees himself and goes outside, confused as to the whereabouts of the others. Robert calls a group meeting and the remaining four survivors gather around the campsite. After some discussion, they discover that all the others are either dead or missing, and they decide to go to nearby Gaborone in order to get help and leave the country.

Unfortunately, their car didn't have a GPS, and soon they were completely lost. Their map was of no help, and they resorted to asking for directions. They came across an old man, who appeared to know his way around Botswana. He directed them to take the next left, and continue straight until they hit Gaborone. After following his directions, they continued down a dirt road, hoping to get to Gaborone. As night descended, they began to panic, and searched for a place to get a burger and a place a to sleep. While searching, they stumbled upon a local tribe, who seemed hospitable enough. The tribe showed no surprise when their car pulled up, almost as if they were expecting them. The old man who had given them directions was there, and he waved them over to the largest tent.

The four survivors wandered over to the tent, confused as to why the old man was there. Inside the tent, sat the chief of the tribe, and beside him, lay Pedro, chained to a pole. The chief explained that, during the baboon attack, his men had kidnapped Pedro in order to draw the group to his tribe. He held Pedro hostage threatened to end his life if they didn't listen to his demands.

The chief's son was very sick and needed the healing powers of the Wakikicaca leaf. However, only foreigners could reach the leaf because mysterious powers prevented locals from reaching the leaf. Craig, speaking for the group, agreed to the chief's demands and asked where one could find the leaf. The chief gave them directions, and the group left immediately.

The leaf was located on top of Modise Mountain across the Thapelo Desert. So Craig, Robert, Sally, and Emma set out on their dangerous journey. They begin by traversing the Thapelo desert, and three quarters of the way through, the car runs out of petrol, and they are forced to cross the remainder of the desert on foot. To the horror of the group, however, Emma collapses from heatstroke and can't continue. The three survivors make it to Modise Mountain and begin the strenuous climb.

As the perilous climb grows tougher, Sally becomes tired and looses her footing, gingerly falling down a cliff to her doom. Robert and Craig continue their journey and make it to the top of the mountain unscathed. They retrieve the Wakikicaca Leaf and journey back to the tribe.

Upon their return, Robert and Craig hand the leaf to the chief, asking for Pedro in return. The chief smiles maliciously and tells them that the Wakikicaca leaf is deadly poisonous to foreigners, and the only antidote is the Quindisi leaf, which is located in the most dangerous realm of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This leaf will also cure the chief's son once he creates the antidote from the extract of the Quindisi leaf. He made them get the Wakikicaca leaf in order to ensure their cooperation. Now that their lives are on the line, they are forced to partake in this adventure. Pedro's life wasn't enough motivation. Now all of their lives are on the line, and they must save the chief's son if any of them are going to leave Botswana alive!

(Thus begins the sequel)

FIN

Written by Conor and Cameron

July 28: Home at Last

It is July 28th and both the Dioceses of Newcastle and North Carolina are back home.  What an incredible experience the last two weeks have been.  We will be posting more video, photos and text over the next few days. We are all very grateful to all who have made this once in a life time experience possible, especially to the people of the Diocese of Botswana.

July 27: Headed home!!!

Just can't believe this is our last day in South Africa. This has been one of the most formative journeys of my life. We all will be forever changed by the new friends we've had, the new sites we've seen and the new destiny that we dreamt together.

Forever grateful,
Sharita

July 27: Soweto, Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Home

 

During our visit to Soweto, we wrote a letter to the Archbishop Desmond Tutu and left it for him at his home.

July 27: Mandela House

 

While in Soweto, we visited the Mandela House, once home of Winnie and Nelson Mandela. The Mission of Mandela House is to provide an effective, efficient and meaningful experience to all visitors, informing them of President Nelson Mandela’s story, both in the context of his home, and in the context of his life as a whole, in a manner that promotes human rights, democracy, reconciliation, mutual respect and tolerance amongst the peoples of South Africa.

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July 25: Our Last Day in Botswana, Bahurutshe Cultural Village

Great fun yesterday. Visited the Bahurutshe Cultural Village, a recreation Hurutshe village, with nine youth from the Cathedral. Especially enjoyed watching Nils, Tim, Phil, and Ben try to follow the traditional dance. Videos to come later. We are all enjoying our last evening with our host families and will be departing from Gaborone tomorrow morning at 7:00

It is our last day today well for Newcastle any way it's so sad. I think everyone will miss the close friends we made on this trip and I will definitely miss my host family. I have had such a good time here. It's been inspiring. I'm going to miss so many people. Sharita !!!! Miss you lol
Georgie or Botshelo xxxxxx

 We were greeted by traditional dancers and encouraged to practice traditional Botswana skills, including the grinding of millet.

July 24: Eucharist at Holy Cross Cathedral, then Lunch at the Bishop's

Our last Sunday in Botswana! We celebrated Eucharist today at Holy Cross Cathedral in Gaborone. It was youth Sunday and the church was packed. Nearly ten parishes from the surrounding areas came to share in this special service. The Holy Cross Youth Choir led the music and youth from all three dioceses helped with various parts of the service.

After the three hour service, Bishop Trevor had our two dioceses over to his home for a cookout. The photos posted from this occasion were taken by Shaun.

One more day in Botswana and then a early departure for Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Hayley our pineapple girl!

Kholala Mokefane and Tim Meyers

Dr. Mongezi Guma (Dean of Holy Cross Cathedral) and Beth Crow

July 23: The Project

Goals Set During the Conference

While in Gaborone, youth from the Dioceses of North Carolina, Newcastle and Botswana participated in a two-day workshop on AIDS/HIV, coordinated by the AIDS/HIV committee on the Diocese of Botswana and Dr. Sharita Womack.

We were all put into groups according to our gifts that we had placed on our 'faces in many places' chart- that way everyone is happy.

Within the groups we were all told to come away with a project to help raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS. The musical group that Shaun was in, concentrated on producing a performance where many people would come along and there we'd distribute t-shirts with our logos on. On the front would be 'who am I?' and on the back we'd have 'who i am' that would be the answer to the question posed before. We then discussed the prospect of going into schools, hospices, hospitals and other places of public sector and help to raise the awareness.... - Shaun

I was placed in the 'leadership' group that came up with the winning idea. We chose to host an educated sponsored walk to raise money for HIV/AIDS that would help spread awareness for the disease. Our group worked really well together and we had so much fun planning, pitching, and making a corny yet pretty awesome commercial for the event. The especially nice thing about it is that with the money raised, we will hopefully be able to put other projects in to action that the different groups came up with. So, in reality, everyone's ideas will be used! The entire weekend was educational and eye-opening for all of the youth. I can't wait to get started on this project! - Hayley

Dr. Sharita Womack

Bishop Trevor during tea

July 23: AIDS HIV Conference in Gaborone

For the past two days we have all participated in a workshop on HIV AIDS. It was an eye opening experience and we realized how ignorant we actually were about the disease. We now see that more awareness needs to be spread especially across the UK and North Carolina as the people of Botswana seemed to know so much more than us. All three dioceses really bonded in this time and we learnt loads about each other, for example how HIV AIDS has affected us all in different ways. During the couple of days we did a variety of exercises. Two that stood out to us were one where we had to write down a gift that we feel we possess and what that brings to the youth. However the best exercise was the closing one. Where we all had to stand at one end of the room and Beth and Tim would read out some statements. If that applied to us we would cross the room. Certain questions, for example one asking if we had ever laughed at a racist joke, were hard to admit to. The one that really brought HIV AIDS into perspective was the question "Do you know anyone affected or infected by HIV AIDS" and everyone from Botswana walked across the room. It just made the situation so much more real and made us determined to do something about it and change the world. We would like to thank everyone who helped make this workshop possible, because we have come away with so much from it. Emma, Sally and Lydia.

This has been a greatest experience ever! It's always great to new people.. Having these guys as guests at our guilds annual camp was anise touch! This was something different for us to have guests from over seas at our camp! It gave a bit of morale! (LOL)ESP my Choir! We sang like we have never sang before! The 2 day workshop we have at the cathedral was simply amazing. We learnt so much it's now that I realize that you can never learn enough. I hope this is not the last of this kind of exchange. I had fun fun and more fun. God bless these wonderful group of people and shower them with blessings! Ralphy

 

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July 21: Dinner at British High Commissioner's Home

We finally arrived in Gaborone on July 20.  The next day the group from Newcastle and North Carolina visited the United States Embassy in the afternoon and in the evening were treated to a wonderful dinner at the home of Jennifer Anderson, the British Ambassador. bishop Trevor and Father Amanze joined us as well. Jennifer and her family were so gracious and hospitable.

Bishop Trevor Mwamba and Youth

Nils Chittenden, Jennifer Anderson (British High Commissioner) and Benjamin Carter

Eno Mwamba with Emma

July 21: Visiting SOS Children's Village

The SOS Children's Village is a home for orphaned or abandoned children. 

Jo falls in love with the children

"Today we visited the SOS village for orphaned children from the ages of 1 to 25. I made friends and held the youngest child there, the most cute little girl and we made her Teddy better by sticking happy face stickers on, as the bear was looking a bit worn. We stayed a while and looked around the houses where the children would stay (10 or 12 per house) with the women hired as mothers for the children to ensure they brought up in a family style setting. When they become teenagers and mature they live in a youth house together without a mother present. They have their own kindergarten on for the very young and they take the elder children to local schools near-bye to give them the same opportunities as other children would have. The work done there at the SOS village is amazing and I have so much respect for what they do. We also visited the holy cross hospice center and the American embassy. It was really interesting to learn about the efforts done to help people with HIV/Aids as well as how involved the embassy is in youth programs here in Botswana. We can't wait for all that lays ahead"
Jo & Hayley

Blythe gives child ankle bracelet from North Carolina

Hayley assists a child with a sticker