Presbytery of Zimbabwe Statement on Cyclone Idai
Presbytery of Zimbabwe Statement on Cyclone Idai
March 2019
The Origin and Path of the Cyclone:
Cyclone Idai originated on the 4th March and has taken a two week journey of destruction into south-east Africa. The cyclone hit Mozambique causing catastrophic damage with whole towns left destroyed and underwater in and around Beira. The cyclone moved into Malawi and into the eastern part of Zimbabwe, a completely landlocked country. Idai reached its peak with maximum winds of 195 km/h (120 mph)!
According to statistics from the news, Cyclone Idai has claimed the lives of hundreds of people and affected more than 1 million others. The death toll so far is at:
- 150 in Mozambique
- 98 in Zimbabwe
- 56 in Malawi
- 7 in South Africa
- 3 in Madagascar
The Destruction in Eastern Zimbabwe:
Many roads are underwater, damaged and rendered impassable, whole villages have been totally sunk under the flood waters, and bridges have been compromised. The result is that many communities have been left trapped because there is no way of getting into their areas and no way for them to get out. This includes boarding schools that are also trapped with children in them.
A new problem is the resultant lack of electricity in the affected areas. This means that communication has been cut off because even cellphones and internet connection require electricity to be usable.
Ironically, there is “water water everywhere but not a drop to drink,” because the water everywhere is actually mud water. In addition, there is a dire need for food, shelter, clothing, blankets - everything that a person needs to survive. Fuel also is needed for helicopters to take provisions to affected people and to airlift the ones who need to be taken to hospitals.
The Response of the People of Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe has been experiencing a build-up of negative experiences: from the prevailing economic difficulties, to the semi-drought situation of this last farming season, to the January public riots, demonstrations and violence, to Cyclone Idai and its destructive effects.
Yet the people of Zimbabwe have responded overwhelmingly by putting aside their own hardships and instead putting together aid for the victims of the cyclone. In every town and city there are collection centres that have been set up by companies, churches and non-profit organizations where people are giving food, clothing, medical supplies and money for the victims. Many are offering their labour as they do the job of sorting, packing and loading trucks full of supplies going to eastern Zimbabwe.
A major collection centre for receiving and distributing donations has been set up at St Columba’s Presbyterian Church in Mutare. From there, the goods will be taken into the affected areas with the help of helicopters and planes. In Harare, Highlands Presbyterian Church has also been set up as a major collection centre loading goods onto haulage trucks headed for eastern Zimbabwe.
We are witnessing a measure of the Matthew 25 community: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Matthew 25:35-36).
Our Call:
· Ironically the cyclone was named ‘Idai’ which in Shona (a Zimbabwean language) means the instruction, the imperative or the command to “love!” We are calling on the people of Zimbabwe to continue to love those who have been affected.
· The Presbytery of Zimbabwe affirms the united ecumenical, inter-faith, and diverse efforts that are already taking place in the country to send aid to the victims.
· The Presbytery is calling on every single person in the Presbytery to take their place in helping the victims of Cyclone Idai: we can encourage our school children to collect goods, congregations to organize assistance in whatever creative ways they can, citizens to raise awareness, and those in companies to raise funds, because we all can and need to do something.
· We call upon all to take advantage of the collection centres that have been set up in each and every city and town, waiting for our donations and/or our labour.
In summary we are calling on everyone, inside and outside Zimbabwe, to come alongside us to engage in 3 C’s:
1. C- Care: Care for the victims by giving material help & solidarity messages.
2. C- Comfort Comfort the victims psycho-socially, and raising awareness.
3. C- Cover Cover the disaster and all the humanitarian aid efforts in prayer.
Click here for printable copy of statement.
Stephen Ministry Materials Available
The follow Stephen Ministry Material is available to any interested church:
32 Books: “A Time to Grieve” by Kenneth C. Hough
2 boxes of Supervision Group Facilitator materials
1 box of Promotional materials (buttons, booklets etc.)
10 packets containing the book “Speaking the Truth in Love”
Please contact Elinor Packard at First Presbyterian Church in Littleton for more information.
Puppet Ministry Available
Dave Day, a member of one of our churches has over $1000 of equipment including:
35 puppets with storage bags for each
A complete puppet stage, which is made up of PVC poles and associated curtains. This is approx. 25 ft wide when completely set up, but can be set up without the side wings.
fax band equipment for performances
Bubble Machine
Smoke Machine
Christian Puppet skits books
A giant Octopus and Lion (puppet) for Daniel and the Lions Den skit
Click here for video that shows the stage and lots of pictures of the puppets that are available and of all the ancillary equipment.
Anyone interested, please contact Dave at 303.880.2660.
Celebrate Black History Month
Since 1976, African American History Month (also known as Black History Month) has been observed each February in the United States.
How will you observe this celebration?
Start broadly, learning about African American History Month through the documents, photos, audio and video files, and collections compiled by the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The 2019 theme for African American History Month is “Black Migrations.” Learn more about this theme from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). The forced migration of 12 million Africans in the slave trade is a historical reality many are aware of, but this year’s theme invites us to focus on migration from the 20th century onward.
Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration*explores the journey of six million African Americans out of the southern U.S. to the northeast, mid-west and western U.S. She includes broad realities of the Jim Crow laws and pervasive discrimination and violence, but also tells the story of the Great Migration (1916–1970) by focusing on three individuals (with different socioeconomic experiences) and their journeys (to three different parts of the U.S.). Her amazing blend of storytelling and historical context has garnered a number of awards for this book, and it will doubtlessly become a classic for understanding race in the U.S. For a shorter introduction, try Isabel Wilkerson’s article for the Smithsonian, “The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration," which highlights how the Great Migration shaped the lives of actor James Earl Jones, writer Zora Neale Hurston, baseball great Jackie Robinson and others.
Share this topic with young readers in your life with Jacqueline Woodson’s This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration*;One Crazy Summer* by Rita Williams-Garcia; and Bud, Not Buddy* by Christopher Paul Curtis.
The Great Migration allows us to look at black migration with a historical perspective and clarity. But black migration is still very much a reality, so the ASALHsuggests looking at more recent migration “from spatial and social perspectives, with attention to ‘new’ African Americans because of the burgeoning African and Caribbean population in the U.S.; northern African Americans’ return to the south; racial suburbanization; inner-city hyper-ghettoization; health and environment; civil rights and protest activism; electoral politics; mass incarceration; and dynamic cultural production.”
Mary Church Terrell–educator, political activist, and first president of the National Association of Colored Women. Library of Congress
Cover of Black History Bulletin (Vol. 81, #2), Black Migrations. ASALH.
Many of these are topics and concerns of Presbyterian Women (PW) and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Download a brochure that describes redlining and current racial segregation and the recent PW Gathering march that raised awareness about these topics. Consider how you can investigate, bring awareness and work for justice on this topic in your community.
Learn more about the Poor People’s Campaign, and the ways the PC(USA) supports this activism.
Find out about how Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has been supporting the Presbytery of Lake Huron in their work to ensure safe drinking water for people in Flint, Michigan who are suffering the effects of lead-contaminated water. Also, keep a lookout for PDA’s upcoming documentary, Flint.
Or if you’d like to make your observance Presbyterian-focused, read a (timeless!) short article about the ways African Americans have shaped the denomination.
Then watch Looking Back to Move Forward, a 17-minute video that highlights the witness and legacy of African American women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its predecessor denominations. (Try the accompanying puzzle to see how much you remember!)
Or perhaps you’d like to explore multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.
Stated Clerk of PCUSA visit Denver - "We are not dying- WE ARE REFORMING!"
The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II (Stated Clerk) and Rev. Tricia Dykers Koening, Associate Director of Mid-Council Relations came to First Presbyterian Church in Brighton on Tuesday, February 19, 2019. Over 80 people from Denver and Plains & Peaks Presbytery, Utah and Wyoming Presbyteries, sat down to share a meal before engaging in the listening and question/answering session with the Stated Clerk of PCUSA. Rev. Nelson encouraged our minister, elders and churches to “GO!” Go out and make disciples. Being the frozen chosen isn’t going to work anymore. Church is happening outside the walls of our churches. We need to go out and meet people where they are.
“We are not dying, we are REFORMING!”
Matthew 28:16-20 The Commissioning of the Disciples
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
224th General Assembly - 2020 - Are you interesting in being a Delegate?
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA will meet in Baltimore, Maryland June 20 – 27, 2020. Denver Presbytery sends four Commissioners (two each Ministers of Word and Sacrament and two Ruling Elders) and one Young Adult Advisory Delegate (YAAD) to each assembly, with the selection of these candidates beginning in the summer of 2019.
Being a Commissioner or YAAD is a wonderful opportunity to serve Christ’s church and to enrich your theological, social and spiritual life. However, it will entail some hard work. There will be extensive advance preparation for the Assembly, possibly as much as 80 hours of reading and study. Nearly all reports, agendas, dockets and other documents will primarily be available electronically. You will need the skills and electronic devices to access these materials. We will ask each Commissioner and YAAD to attend the entire eight days of the General Assembly sessions. We will also expect Commissioners and YAADs to report on the General Assembly at an appropriate meeting of Presbytery and speak upon request to forums, congregations and Sessions.
Additionally, there is other criteria for each category of commissioners. Ministers should be an active or at-large member of the presbytery for at least two years by the time of the election by the presbytery to the General Assembly, and must have been ordained for at least three years by the time of the General Assembly. A minister should have attended six out of the last ten Presbytery assemblies.
Ruling Elders must be a member of one or more of Denver Presbytery’s churches for at least two years by the time of the Assembly. The church of the elder’s current membership should have had commissioner representation at six of the last ten Presbytery assemblies.
All sessions will be invited to submit an endorsement of a young adult, who is age 17-23 on the date the assembly convenes, who meets the GA age eligibility. The young adult will also submit a self-nomination.
In the near future a separate announcement with details on how to apply for this important service opportunity will be sent out to the entire Presbytery. We ask that you give prayerful consideration to seek becoming a General Assembly Commissioner or Young Adult Advisory Delegate. Commissioners and the YAAD will be elected at the October 2019 Presbytery Assembly. The Denver Presbytery policy governing applications can be found at this link.