Amahoro Africa Video

Tim Keel has posted a video about this years Amahoro Africa Gathering in Kigali, Rwanda. I have had the privilege of participating in the last two Gatherings and also hope to be at the third, to be held in Johannesburg in South Africa, next year.

If you're from Australia and interested in attending (and perhaps participating in a field trip to Rwanda as well) please contact me or visit the Day 4 Community Aid & Development Inc. website for more information.


Amahoro Africa from Andy Michael on Vimeo.

Unfortunately we didn't get a spot on the video! But Fuzz Kitto, a fellow Antipodean, did a pretty good job of representing the Great South Land.

Ugandan Connection

Lyss and I have had a friend from Uganda staying with us for the last week. Alyssa and I met Paul Kiviiri at the Amahoro Gathering in Kigali in May.

For the past 10 years Paul has been working to build bridges across tribal divides and establish new forms of church among southern Uganda's marginalised, nomadic Tutsi tribes people.

The tribal culture prevalent throughout Africa makes this kind of work difficult. It also creates many of the problems we hear about in the west and associate with politics. It is virtually unheard of, even in the Ugandan church, for relationships and ministry to extend beyond the tribal lines.

Paul says it took him 5 years to build the trust of the nomads he is involved with and he still struggles to gain understanding from the other local church leaders for his approaches to church (I can relate to that!).

The churches Paul has been involved in developing following the nomadic people around. They are not fixed to a place and they seek to meet the real day to day needs of those they are formed from. A big part of Paul's work is training up the leaders, many of whom are illiterate, and helping them to impart the way of Jesus to their fellow tribes people. He is also having to tackle issues such as bride-selling, polygamy and traditional spiritual beliefs.

Paul himself knows, as most African's do, what it is to struggle. He was born into a polygamist family during Idi Amin's reign and spent much of his teenage years as a street kid. Even though life was difficult he managed to put himself through school and train as a primary school teacher before becoming a youth pastor in a Kampala church. His heart has always been with the people though and he made the choice to leave the institutionalised church behind in order to pursue a ministry that would break down tribal barriers and share the love of Christ for all African people in meaningful and culturally relevant ways.

It's been a great privilege to have had Paul with us this past week and for him to meet and spend time with the people we are involved with her in the South West.

Paul's story is another example of the way God is working around the globe to revolutionise mission and to move His church into a new era.

Rwanda and Amahoro Africa 2009 - The "Emerging" church on the African Continent

If you've ever thought about visiting Africa and experiencing life and faith of the locals there's no better time than 2009.

Visit Africa
Make a Difference
Change your life

Day 4 (the aid and development organisation I manage) are teaming up with Amahoro Africa to offer a package that includes the 2009 Amahoro Africa Gathering in Johannesburg, South Africa and a couple of weeks on the ground in Rwanda. A package is also available through Day 4 that features the Gathering only.

We have around 10 places available for the combined package so please, if you're interested contact me ASAP. If you know others who may also be interested please share this information around.

Amahoro Africa Gatherings are an amazing time of connecting with emerging leaders from Africa and around the world, of learning and being inspired by the work of God among his people in Africa and beyond. Speakers include Claude Nikondeha (you can read more about Claude in McLaren's new book, Everything Must Change), Brian McLaren (author of The Secret Message of Jesus, Church on the Otherside and other best selling books), Richard Twiss (Native American activist, author and theologian) and many other inspiring African leaders - some like Edward Simiyu have featured on Moved Mountains in the recent past.

You can read all about the Gathering on the Amahoro website and about the Day 4 Community Aid & Development side of things at the Day 4 site.

Another Amahoro 08 Blog

On the Amahoro Africa front, I found another blog reporting on the gathering. It belongs to Tim Keel from Jacobs Well community in the US. As far as I can tell he and I are the only bloggers to report on the gathering. He gives a run-down on sessions with Annemie Bosch and Brian McLaren that I (unfortunately) missed due to my bout of malaria.

Back from Africa

We arrived back home early Friday morning after a 7 hour flight from Thailand.

Things got off to a bit of a scary start on take off from Bangkok - the plane began climbing at full thrust as usual, until, about a minute into the climb, the pilot leveled out and throttled down. There followed a deafening noise and the plane began shuddering violently.

Alyssa and I were sitting in an exit row with the two flight attendants in their jumpseats directly in front of us. When the noise and shuddering started they stopped chatting and gave each other worried looks and exchanged glances with two other attendants on the opposite side of the plane.

When the emergency exit lights came people around us started making noise. My reflex action was to grab Lyss' hand and begin praying in here ear!

The noise and shudders lasted about 30 seconds and then the pilot increased thrust and began to climb again. After about an hour of climbing the pilot came on the intercom for the first time, without mentioning anything about what had happened. To say the rest of the flight was a little nerve-wracked is probably an understandment.

While not completely sure what happened, my own flight training and flying experience tells me the most likely source of the problem was the undercarriage which possibly did not properly lock in place after take-off. This would explain the throttling back, leveling off and the horrendous noise (resulting from the drag caused when the undercarriage was put down and back up again). It also explains the emergency exit lights as these come on automatically when the landing gear is extended.

While it wasn't a serious issue, it would have been nice if the Thai Airways flight crew had explained over the intercom what was going on. The whole incident left quite a few passengers obviously rattled - Lyss and I included.

It's good to be back and to see the kids. And also to reflect on the last 2 weeks and things we have seen, heard and participated in.

Kigali

Expat Aussies and Embassy staff at the Kigali Serena

We left La Palisse yesterday at around noon. We were expecting our lift at 9.00, but T.I.A!

The extra time was actually a blessing as we got to spend around an hour chatting with Native American activist ,theologian and gathering speaker Richard Twiss. Richard is of the Sioux/Lakota tribe and plays a role in preserving his culture. On the last night of the conference he sang a traditional song for us to the beat of a hand held drum. The song predated whitemans occupation of North America and spoke of the existence of a supreme being to whom prayers should be offered. His point was God was with the American Indian people long before white man.

He spoke of the attrocities the whites enacted against the native Americans. Of small pox infected blankets sent out to the tribes (biological warfare), of "battles" in which the US Army wantonly killed men, women and children in order to dominate and erradicate the Indian people.

There were many analogies to our own colonial treatment of the Australian Aboriginal people. A people who also had God with them long before the white man set foot on Australian soil.

I remember a story told to me by an old Walpiri elder at Willowra in the Tanami Desert - he said the creator God was known by his people and worshipped, but his name and true identity had been lost in the passing of time. His said he was thankful for the missionary who came and reintroduced his people to God.

We chatted with Richard about his church in Seatle and about the ways in which it was finding a place among the marginalised of the city. The addicts and dealers and homeless. He said his job was to help keep the leaderships feet on the ground, not succoming to the church growth circus. Although he said there was interest in his church fom those wanting to capture what they are doing and turn it into a formula, including from one of Perth's own mega-church leaders!

He gave us some contact details for friends who are involved in a similar demographic to ours, although they are 15 years into it. Hopefully we can connect and learn something from them as we continue our work with the marginalised in Bunbury.

Last night we spent a pleasant evening at Kigali's only 5 star hotel - the Serena. We saw an ad in the East African paper at the start of the week for a gathering for Aussies in Rwanda and thought we would rock up.

We found an interesting bunch of expat Aussies. Nurses, a World Vision project manager, teachers and an agricultural consultant and a lady involved in the development of rugby in Rwanda - as well as a representative of the Australian Embassy in Kenya.

We had a nice African BBQ meal (goat and chicken and salad) and drinks, all on the Australian government - not something we were expecting when we arrived last week. I tried the local beer, Primus, and was pleasantly surprised.

Of the group only one was a bloke, the rest were women, mostly single women. One lady had lived in Kigali with her Rwandese husband for 9 years.

Today we have had a quiet morning browsing the tourist stores, buying presents for family and friends.

Amahoro Gathering - Day 3

The malaria seems to be under control. The dizzyness has all but gone and the fever comes and goes. I have been told the artemisinin treatment is strong and fast acting.

Today was another full on day. The morning featured presentations by local Christian organisations involved in the reconciliation process - uniting Hutu and Tutsi. We heard directly from Hutu perpertrators, including a lady who was fairly high up in the Hutu administration at the time of the genocide, a Hutu lady who was married to a Tutsi man who was killed in the genocide and a Tutsi woman who lost most of her family. I have never heard the tribal differences spoken about as openly. Previously I had been told that it is illegal to publically speak about the tribes in this way. The government is promoting one Rwandan people, and in the process pushing discussion of ethnic differences and opinion underground.

I met a Rwanda guy the other day at lunch who now lives in Sydney. He spoke about the reconciliation process in Rwanda and his own journey towards reconciliation. This was the first time he had been home to Rwanda in many years - he's lived in Australia for 12 years. He said the institutionalised form of reconciliation promoted by the Rwandan government was not working. Simply not mentioning the tribes has done nothing to heal the wounds and ethnic tensions still existed.

He hoped Amahoro would provide some answers to genuine reconciliation for Rwanda. Reconciliation from the heart and not from the government.

The feeling I get when I speak to Rwandans is the genocide may be 14 years in the past but the tensions that lead to it are still very real in the present.

The situation in Kenya was also addressed through a presentation led by a man I am privellaged to call a friend, Pastor Edward Simyu.

Like a Kenyan Martin Luther King, Edward led a convoy of Christians through the road blocks in January, risking his life in the process, to take Jesus message of reconciliation to the people behind the ethnic violence.

Edward introduced us to Joy, a Nairobi residence and member of his peace convoy to Eldoret. He also interviewed a number of Kenyans who had experienced the violence first hand. One guy, a pastor called Peter, still lives in a displaced persons camp as his home was destroyed.

There were different opinions on the source of the violence. One thought it was spontaneous - a direct result of the elections, another believed it was planned before hand as an act of ethnic cleansing. Whatever the cause, there is little doubt Kenya, like Rwanda before it, has a long road ahead.

I felt humbled and honoured when Edward asked me to pray for his country at the conclusion of his presentation.

Can the church be a part of the solution?

This was the question addressed by Brian McLaren in his presentation on pre-emptive reconciliation. Obviously it is too late to pre-empt the trouble that resulted in the Kenyan violence and the Rwandan genocide, but there is an oportunity for the church to act now. To be a part of the healing process. Bringing people together and promoting forgiveness.

McLaren portrayed the kingdom of God as standing over and above the kingdoms of the world. He described Jesus story as being superior to the stories of domination, revolution, purification, isolation, and alienation (I might try and expand on this a little later). Instead of domination McLaren says, Jesus calls us to servanthood, instead of revenge, reconciliation. Instead of purification (or ethnic cleansing), acceptance, healing and love. Instead of isolation, engagement.

As I think about everything that has taken place over the last few days I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm also feeling again like I am participating, in a very small way, in something big,something of global significance.

Today we head back to the guesthouse. The rest of the week will involve business meetings and trips to view projects we sponsor. We are also meeting with the Australian Ambassador to Kenya this afternoon. I hope to be able to discuss Australia's future involvement in Rwanda.

Malaria - Amahoro Gathering Day 2

Day 2 of the gathering has been a write-off for me. For the last few days I have been sweating profusely and feeling a little off colour. Yesteday morning I awoke with fever and dizziness. It turns out I have contracted malaria.

I spent the day in bed and was given a treatment by a local doctor which I had heard about while still in Australia. It's contains a substance called artemisinin which is a powerful anti-malarial, only recently discovered.

As a result today I am feeling much better, though very week and still feverish. I hope to attend the presentations and thus be able to report back here later on.

I have told my African friends that I have now been initiated and am an African now for real!

Reconciliation - Amahoro Gathering Day 1

The focus of the Amahoro Gathering this year is the Gospel of Reconciliation.

Today we had introductory sessions from speakers from Rwanda, South Africa and Australia.

Sean Callaghan, a South African now living in London, spoke about the relationship between our theology and our concept of God, and therefore reconciliation.

He started by saying for a long time we have had things round the wrong way. Our ecclesiology (mode of church) has informed our methodology which has led to the tendency for Christians to compartmentalise people into two groups – those who are “in” and those who are “out”. However a theology of reconciliation, says Sean, gives us something different.

He pointed to the Trinity as the ultimate example of a reconciled community. A relational, loving God. This view of God informs our own praxis of mission.

He went on to look at the broader African context in relation to reconciliation; the Rwandan context (the 1994 genocide); the relationship between reconciliation and truth, justice and restitution and finally, pre-emptive reconciliation.

In terms of my church context a couple of things grabbed me. Sean asked the question; “What does the church I am from say about the God I represent?” He talked about the way in which the church has been complicit in atrocities such as the apartheid system in South Africa and the Rwandan genocide. This, he says, is because of a misunderstanding of who God is – the God of “ins” and “outs” rather than the God of reconciled community.

Another interesting point related to the relationship between theology and justice. Is our view of God as a criminal judge (a punitive theology) or do we view God as a judge who wants to set things right through restoration? A social justice rather than a punitive justice.

It will be interesting to see where this discussion leads us over the next few days. I think while there is an obvious relationship to the African continent, the topic is also very relevant for Westerners, and Aussies.

The second speaker was Frida Gashumba, who, as a 14 year old girl, miraculously survived the genocide, while the rest of her immediate family were killed. She has written a book about her experience which I am going to see if we can purchase to sell through Day 4.

We also heard from a Hutu lady called Maria who has embarked on the courageous work of calling members of her tribe to repentance. As a result of her work she is unpopular with many Hutu’s. She made the point, while the government in Rwanda is trying to publicly eliminate the tribal system, the reality is it still exists and many of the feelings and philosophies that resulted in the genocide are still festering away in the community. She believes the only way to truly move forward is for an acceptance of the existence of different tribes and the taking of responsibility by the Hutu tribe for the genocide. While many Hutu’s did not participate in the genocide (including Maria) I imagine the kind of response she is seeking is similar to that of the recent churches apology to the Australian Aboriginal people and also that of Aussie PM, Kevin Rudd. Not necessarily a blanket admission of guilt, but a taking of responsibility as a way of moving forward and experiencing genuine reconciliation.

The afternoon concluded with a talk by fellow Aussie, Fuzz Kitto on truth in reconciliation.

Dinner featured a welcome to Amahoro and included traditional Rwandan and Burundian dancers and drummers. Unfortunately about half way through the outdoor gathering the rains came, bringing a rather abrupt end to the night.

Long post – the day was jam packed as is the rest of the week. So much information, so hard to post it all. Muramuke – Catch you tomorrow!

The Joy of Worship

Well, we're here! The journey was long and tiring. Cramped seats, long waits at airports, but in the end it's good to be back in the “land of a thousand hills”.

Yesterday we worshipped with the Christians on the mountain. I was struck again by the joy these gentle people exude in their worship. The dancing and singing and hugging.

I always feel we are somehow missing something in our sedate services - yet I know culturally, it would be difficult to feel comfortable worshipping at home in Australia in the way of the Africans.

I think the picture (above) captures the joy and enthusiasm of yesterday’s service.

We have just arrived at the La Palisse hotel for this years Amahoro gathering. I am going to try and take notes during the sessions and post blogs. I am full of expectation - the focus of the conference is reconciliation. A tough, personally challenging topic. But I can't think of a better place to be discussing such a thing - Rwanda!

See you soon.