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MWC Executive Reaffirms Bulawayo as 2003 Global Assembly Site
by J. Lorne Peachey

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — The next worldwide assembly of Mennonites and Brethren in Christ will be held here in August 2003.

The Mennonite World Conference Executive Committee unanimously made that decision during its annual meeting August 2-6, 2002 in Bulawayo. Following six days of work, discussion, and prayer, much of it around the advisability of holding MWC's 14th assembly in this country, the executive committee issued this statement:

"After enjoying the hospitality and fellowship of the Brethren in Christ, after experiencing the situation on the ground, after listening to the voices of God's people in Africa, the MWC Executive Committee is convinced that God is indeed calling the worldwide Mennonite and Brethren in Christ family to convene in Bulawayo next year."

The statement reaffirms the decision of the MWC General Council in 2000 to say "yes" to an invitation from Mennonites and Brethren in Christ in Africa to hold the 14th MWC assembly in Bulawayo, headquarters for the 27,000-member BIC Church of Zimbabwe. In recent months some people, particularly in North America and Europe, have questioned the advisability of holding a large international gathering in Zimbabwe. The questions focus on three issues:

1. safety, especially in light of the September 2001 attacks in the United States;
2. alleged human rights abuses by the Zimbabwean government related to contested elections and the government's land redistribution program; and
3. food shortages due to the lack of rain for several years in southern Africa and land distribution.

"The church in Bulawayo would not have the courage to call brothers and sisters from around the world to come here if it were not peaceful," Bishop Danisa Ndlovu told them. "Our hearts would break if our invitation were turned down." Ndlovu heads the BIC church in Zimbabwe.

Ndlovu encouraged Mennonites and Brethren in Christ from other countries not to stay home because of food shortages or the country's political issues. The church in Zimbabwe would find it helpful for their sisters and brothers to come here to understand better and to discuss together how to meet the challenges facing African churches, he said.

"I would not be human if I would say I am not afraid," Ndlovu continued. "But what frightens me are the expectations [of those who will come]!" At the end of the six days of meetings, the MWC executive had no doubt that the Zimbabwean church could meet expectations. They noted especially that church groups across Zimbabwe are holding monthly prayer sessions for the coming assembly, many praying that internationals will not be afraid to come to Bulawayo.

MWC officers and staff also consulted widely with civic leaders as well as with the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and with Lutheran, Anglican, and Roman Catholic spokespersons. All these people, representing a variety of viewpoints, encouraged MWC to hold its world assembly in Bulawayo next year and pledged their cooperation.

Discerning the Spirit
In addition to many hours of meetings, the MWC contingent visited the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre, the proposed site for Assembly Gathered. They also looked at hotels, lodges, and dormitories where participants will be housed. Executive Committee members and staff spent Sunday afternoon in prayer, fasting, and small group discussions and on Sunday evening they shared what they had heard and what they sensed the Spirit was saying to them.

"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, all our worries, all our fears will never happen," Bishop Ambrocio Porcincula of the Philippines told the gathering. "Whenever any of my pastors express fear, I tell them they are not true Anabaptists!" he said.

"The idea to meet in Bulawayo...came through searching and prayer," Bishop Joram Mbeba of Tanzania said. "While we can't deny the physical realities, we need not be fearful."

Nancy Heisey of the United States, MWC president-elect, said: "Mennonites and BICs have to realize we are living in a world of injustice and violence; this is the world in which we are called to be the people of God. An assembly in Zimbabwe can be a critical response to the kind of world in which we live."

"We will have to get used to meeting in different parts of the world in the face of suffering," said Hugo Moreira of Uruguay. "I do not believe that things [around the world] are going to get better."

John A. Lapp of the United States summed up what he was hearing from the executive and the Bulawayo church this way: "The critical issues in Zimbabwe are not nearly as acute as political conflict in the Congo, religious violence in Indonesia, economic despair in Uruguay, or personal safety in the United States.... If an [MWC] assembly cannot be held in Bulawayo, it likely cannot be held anywhere in the South, where the majority of Mennonites and BICs now live." The Executive Committee agreed.

"Mennonites and BICs are like oysters," Mesach Krisetya of Indonesia, MWC president, told the group in a devotional following the decision. "We, too, are very extraordinary creatures who can use a wound to build a pearl. We don't have the power of guns and politics," Krisetya said, "but we do have the power to overcome evil with good. That is why we must come to Bulawayo in 2003."

Assembly Gathered, the Bulawayo part of Africa 2003, scheduled for August 11-17, will feature worship sessions, Bible studies, an international choir leading congregational singing, seminars, a Global Church Village, a Global Youth Summit, and other gatherings at the exhibition centre. A second part of Africa 2003, Assembly Scattered, will give participants the opportunity to visit churches in various African countries.

Projections are for 1,500 internationals and 4,000 Mennonites and Brethren in Christ from Zimbabwe and Zambia to attend Africa 2003. Even so, treasurer Paul Quiring of the U.S. told the executive that registration fees, as in previous cases, may not cover the cost of this assembly. The executive encouraged staff to promote Africa 2003 vigorously as well as to find ways other than registration fees to fund the gathering.

Other business
While discussion and a decision about next year's assembly dominated the August 2002 annual meeting in Bulawayo, the executive also heard reports and made decisions on other issues:

• MWC-MCC cooperation. The MWC Executive Committee approved a joint memo of understanding and cooperation, previously approved by Mennonite Central Committee, that calls for the two groups to have observers at each other's meetings and to cooperate when at work in the same countries. MCC pledges to give priority to working with MWC-member churches, and MWC agrees to alert MCC to special needs that arise in areas where its churches are located.

  "We are eager to continue the conversation about cooperation," said Karen Klassen Harder, MCC's chair, "but we want you [MWC] to take the leadership."

• Global history project. John A. Lapp, project coordinator, reported on several days of meetings with African writers immediately prior to the Executive Committee sessions. The writers have pledged to have their volume ready for distribution by Africa 2003, Lapp said.

• Women in ministry. African Mennonite and Brethren in Christ women theologians also met prior to the Executive Committee gathering. The executive reaffirmed the efforts of MWC's Global Gifts Sharing Project staff, who have been overseeing gatherings of these women.

• Inter-church relations. Larry Miller of Strasbourg, France, MWC executive secretary, reported that the series of five dialogues with the Catholic Church will conclude in October. He told the executive committee that while most MWC member churches support these dialogues, they have caused concern for others.

  The committee did approve appointing a joint MWC/Lutheran World Federation study commission to examine the language of the Augsburg Confession. The confession, which condemns Anabaptists, is still being used by Lutherans worldwide and is troubling for Mennonites in Europe and elsewhere in their relations with other churches. The commission will build on national Lutheran/Mennonite dialogues in Germany, France and the USA.

• Global Anabaptist missions. At the conclusion of its six days together, the MWC Executive Committee also met with the Global Anabaptist Mission Consultation (GAMCo) Continuation Committee to explore a possible network for Mennonite and BIC global mission work. The group agreed to call a global mission gathering next year in Bulawayo immediately preceding Africa 2003.

  "Mennonite World Conference is a discerning community, where the international and the local meet," Miller told the gathering. "It is here that we express love, create peace, and promote unity."