Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3. 13 – end) started a
chain reaction. It led directly to his ministry which was to bring good news to
the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set
free the oppressed, and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save
his people. To do this he recruited disciples; a core group of 12 and a larger
group of 72 or more.
These
were themselves baptised and, after Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost,
they followed Jesus’
commission to go to all peoples everywhere and make them disciples: baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When Peter
preached on the Day of Pentecost he said, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and
you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit.” Many believed his message and were
baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day.
The
chain reaction that was started by the baptism of Jesus still continues and at St John's Seven Kings we have been a part of keeping that chain reaction going. Here
is one story which demonstrates that to have been the case. Thirty years ago
Judy Acheson was a Sunday School teacher here at St John's. While here, she
felt called to serve God in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She went to the
Congo in 1980 with the Church Mission Society (CMS) to be a nursery nurse, but,
as the children she cared for grew, she carried on caring for them, eventually
training and handing over responsibility to local leaders. “When I was first
simply doing Sunday school work, I trained someone to take over … I always felt that
we were there in a country to share the experience we had and enable people to
carry it on."
The
recent history of violence in the DRC is legendary. There is a legacy of 30 years of a both brutal and incompetent
dictatorship, followed by one of the worst civil wars in post colonial Africa.
Almost every participating force has been guilty of massacres and rapes. And
the north-east region, where Judy was originally, was described by Human RightsWatch as "the bloodiest corner of Congo".
Judy
could have left the country during the civil war but chose to stay and develop
pioneering youth work. She says, “it was always my philosophy to empower the young people to
do the work.” Bisoke Balikenga was one of her original youth team members. “You could see his
leadership potential. People would listen to him and do what he asked. When we
had visitors he looked after them.” Seeing his potential, CMS gave him and his wife a
scholarship to study at Daystar University in Nairobi, then he took over the
diocesan youth work Judy had begun, so she could start youth work nationally.
Now that she has retired, he has taken over the national youth work as well.
The
Youth Department Judy set for the Diocese of Bunia, called Jeunesse Chrétienne Agape (which
means Agape Christian Youth), visited young men who joined the tribal militias
during the civil war to persuade them to leave the militias, runs
rehabilitation centres for young women raped and traumatised during the civil
war, and, now the war is over, runs seminars to reconcile those who fought
against each other during the war.
When
the Archbishop of Canterbury visited in 2011, a group of about 50 former
militia members spoke about how the Church, in the form of Agape, never forgot
them. One by one, they gave their testimony. "We were taught to repay bad
for bad," one said, "but the people from the church came to visit me."
One after another they spoke about how, thanks to Agape's seminars and
conferences on peace, they retuned to God and their families, rediscovering the
love of Jesus. Many of them were then at college or university, slowly putting
their trauma behind them.
Throughout
these years Agape was been training young people to think for themselves, to
have, give and express their own opinions, and make their own decisions. God
began to show Judy, Bisoke and others that he is going to bring mighty changes
within the country and has chosen to use children and young people as a means
of doing so. This led them to write a manual for young people, Young people, with God let us rebuild our beautiful country! With Government support this book, and others they have
written, are being used by thousands of teenagers and young adults in schools
and in youth groups with the result that they are learning to make their own
decisions and become aware of their role and their responsibility towards their
own country.
Judy
and Bisoke are examples of people who have put Jesus’ words into practice
and by doing so having a massive impact on their country. Their story is
particularly inspiring because they are clearly ordinary people just like us.
If they can do it, so can we. Their story is doubly inspiring because it is
about a chain reaction happening among young people who have been baptised and
become leaders like Jesus; those who come not to be served but to serve, and to
give their lives for others.
As
an illustration of the continuing need for the work that Bisoke and his
colleagues do, here are some stories from his recent prayer letters:
While
the majority of the DRC is peaceful, fighting continues in the East of the
country. Bisoke has asked for prayer for people in Gety who have become
refugees in Komanda , Nyankunde, Marabo and Bunia because of the insecurity
caused by the war between the rebel and the government soldiers. These people
have lost everything when they had to run from their homes without food,
blankets or clothes in order to save their lives. Now the young people in these
places have started providing assistance with clothes, food, and blankets.
Bisoke
also wrote about the Venerable Move Karabutege, the first Archdeacon of Gety,
and his wife. They stayed in Gety when everyone else ran away but his wife
became ill and they couldn't leave because the road was not secure for them to
travel. Eventually, their son got them out and brought them to Bunia but after
two days the wife of the Archdeacon passed away.
Bisoke
is committed to travelling to all dioceses to build capacity in the church for
transformation. 'We twice visited the diocese of North Kivu to discover what we
could do for the youth there and understand their needs,' Bisoke said. He says
he found that many of the youth leaders badly needed training in peace and
reconciliation as well as encouragement in their work in such a tough area.
In December Bisoke helped lead a four-day seminar for dozens of youth leaders
in North Kivu. 'We truly saw the hand of God upon us,' said Bisoke, adding that
a dozen leaders rededicated their lives to Jesus. 'Some of these youth leaders
had been affected by the war and by insecurities around North Kivu, which had
blocked the development of North Kivu Diocese. However we are building upon the
faith of our youth with these much-needed seminars.'
A Prayer for the Democratic Republic of Congo: O God, loving parent of all,
comfort your children displaced, wounded or orphaned by conflict in Congo; and
give the people of that country courage to seek enduring peace with justice and
freedom, that their children might grow up without fear; for the sake of your
Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. (Adapted by Canon Ian Tarrant from a prayer in the
1998 Congo Swahili Prayer Book, written after the 1996-97 war).
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Mavis Staples - Sow Good Seeds.
