Mama Mercy is excited!
You can feel it as you listen to her story. She speaks of various
women in her community and their struggles to get by. The common
scenario is the grandmother taking care of her grandchildren
and thinking that she won’t make it. But the heart of
the story is about how the women of the Presbyterian Community
of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, have gathered together
and how they work together to learn different life skills that
give them a chance: a chance to feed their grandchildren, send
them to school, buy them new clothes, and ensure their good
health. By coming together in small groups and receiving small
loans as a group, they now grow vegetables to eat and sell,
do some trading, and bake beignets (doughnuts). They gather
together in Bible study, visit each other in times of need,
and reach out to others in their community.
HIV/AIDS is on everyone’s mind in Africa. The people
of Malawi have seen sister, brother, friends, and neighbors
die from AIDS. The women of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian
meet together in their Women’s Guild to pray, study, and
challenge each other in how they live out their faith day by
day. Through this time together they have come to respond to
those affected by HIV/AIDS. They have taken collections to bring
food to those who have not eaten, clothes and comfort to the
young girl who is left alone to care for her siblings, and a
word of hope to the mother who cares for her children even sensing
that she, too, is HIV-positive and will not see her children
grow up.
“Tumekutana”—we gather together—is
the name that the women church leaders chose for the conference
they held in September 2007. They gathered together in God’s
name to talk about things like HIV/AIDS, their concerns for
their children, and how to be God’s witnesses in the face
of their life experience in Africa. Women from PC(USA) partner
churches from eighteen countries participated in this first-ever
event.
—Elder Doug Welch, area coordinator for Africa, World
Mission, General Assembly Counci |
