Rebecca did not crusade to be ordained. But the matter of women\u2019s ordination had been on her mind for quite a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I was growing up, I saw women standing strong. They would say to my dad, \u2018We need a church.\u2019 A church would begin, and soon it was time for a leader, so they\u2019d look for a man. They\u2019d ordain someone who didn\u2019t have a vision \u2013 and the church would die!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was still in high school, I\u2019d ask my dad, \u2018What does the Mennonite church say about women being pastors?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad always supported the ordination of women and was the first bishop in Kenya to ordain a woman (in 1994), amid great controversy. Fortunately he lived to see me be ordained when I was 49 years old. I was so blessed to have his support.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt one point, I thought maybe the idea of ordaining me should just be dropped because of all the stir it was creating. I didn\u2019t feel the need of it strongly, but I knew it was important for other women who were also leaders to have their authority recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today Rebecca pastors the Eastleigh Fellowship in Nairobi. \u201cWe have 40\u201370 attendees at our weekly services in a space owned by the KMC, which we may use from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. The neighbourhood is lower-middle class, international and becoming somewhat gentrified. A strong majority are Muslim radicals.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur attendees are indigenous, and many work for the local merchants who often won\u2019t let them have off to attend church functions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soli<\/strong>darity through choir practice<\/strong><\/h3>\nEastleigh Fellowship had prepared to send part of their group to PA 2015 as members of the KMC Choir, which was scheduled to perform at the event. But when only five from the entire choir were granted visas (including Rebecca and her son, but not her daughter), there was great disappointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had been meeting in our home to practice the music because we don\u2019t have access to our church\u2019s space outside of our worship hours. People would come straight from work, and some would spend the night with us because they had no other place to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome women from our church were locked out of their homes by their husbands because choir practice ran late into the evening. But they wanted to participate because it\u2019s only through singing that they get to express their solidarity with each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when we got the word that most of their visas had been denied, I first thought I should stay home to stand with them. But then I realized that when I had the opportunity, I should go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wo<\/strong>rk for peace<\/strong><\/h3>\nTo contribute to the family\u2019s livelihood, Rebecca lectures twice a week about Islam in a Jesuit seminary. She has an MA in Islamic Studies from Kenya\u2019s St. Paul\u2019s University and has participated in research related to the Sharia Debates organized by Bayreuth University.<\/p>\n
Rebecca is involved too in helping survivors of female genital mutilation. \u201cIt\u2019s a small organization, and we do our work in peace.\u201d Because the practice is deeply rooted in tradition, the men who inflict the damage are often unprepared for the horror of the harm they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we meet with abusers who confess to having participated in this, they often say forthrightly that they will never do it again. We work quietly. We want to help them be restored, so we build relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life<\/strong> is full of failed plans!\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\nHow does this woman manage her life with all of its responsibilities and demands?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life is full of failed plans!\u201d Rebecca says as she laughs and throws her hands in the air. \u201cWe have a grandson who lives with us, and extended family are always in and out for varying lengths of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
MWC\u2019s le<\/strong>aders stand in line to get their food!<\/strong><\/h3>\nRebecca has been a member of MWC\u2019s Faith and Life Commission, a position she will leave as she becomes vice president of the organization. She is convinced of the value and necessity of the global body.<\/p>\n
\u201cMWC\u2019s genius is fellowship and networking. We share our stories. We come together and find that we are one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find strength beyond class, beyond status. MWC gives me courage. I feel I\u2019m in the right place. Here at the Assembly, when I see MWC leaders, pastors and other church leaders standing and waiting in line to get their meals along with everyone else, I am so touched. In many other settings, they\u2019d be brought their food rather than needing to wait in a queue!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go home and see women living in paper houses, often over sewage, and they make me strong tea (probably having borrowed money to buy the tea), I am deeply moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I feel weak. Am I really on the right track? But nothing that I am doing am I doing by myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember my mother saying, \u2018Love your enemies.\u2019 I think that is something God is doing inside me. I am not perfect. I do get irritated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I find that with time, people who have said hard things, who have been against things in the church that seem important, those harsh differences often are taken care of \u2013 or at least no longer seem to stand between us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This woman has much to bring to the leadership of Mennonite World Conference.<\/p>\n
Phyllis Pellman Good is a writer and editor for Mennonite World Conference.<\/em><\/p>\nThis article first appeared in Courier\/Correo\/Courrier October 2015<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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To contribute to the family\u2019s livelihood, Rebecca lectures twice a week about Islam in a Jesuit seminary. She has an MA in Islamic Studies from Kenya\u2019s St. Paul\u2019s University and has participated in research related to the Sharia Debates organized by Bayreuth University.<\/p>\n
Rebecca is involved too in helping survivors of female genital mutilation. \u201cIt\u2019s a small organization, and we do our work in peace.\u201d Because the practice is deeply rooted in tradition, the men who inflict the damage are often unprepared for the horror of the harm they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we meet with abusers who confess to having participated in this, they often say forthrightly that they will never do it again. We work quietly. We want to help them be restored, so we build relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life<\/strong> is full of failed plans!\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\nHow does this woman manage her life with all of its responsibilities and demands?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life is full of failed plans!\u201d Rebecca says as she laughs and throws her hands in the air. \u201cWe have a grandson who lives with us, and extended family are always in and out for varying lengths of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
MWC\u2019s le<\/strong>aders stand in line to get their food!<\/strong><\/h3>\nRebecca has been a member of MWC\u2019s Faith and Life Commission, a position she will leave as she becomes vice president of the organization. She is convinced of the value and necessity of the global body.<\/p>\n
\u201cMWC\u2019s genius is fellowship and networking. We share our stories. We come together and find that we are one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find strength beyond class, beyond status. MWC gives me courage. I feel I\u2019m in the right place. Here at the Assembly, when I see MWC leaders, pastors and other church leaders standing and waiting in line to get their meals along with everyone else, I am so touched. In many other settings, they\u2019d be brought their food rather than needing to wait in a queue!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go home and see women living in paper houses, often over sewage, and they make me strong tea (probably having borrowed money to buy the tea), I am deeply moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I feel weak. Am I really on the right track? But nothing that I am doing am I doing by myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember my mother saying, \u2018Love your enemies.\u2019 I think that is something God is doing inside me. I am not perfect. I do get irritated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I find that with time, people who have said hard things, who have been against things in the church that seem important, those harsh differences often are taken care of \u2013 or at least no longer seem to stand between us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This woman has much to bring to the leadership of Mennonite World Conference.<\/p>\n
Phyllis Pellman Good is a writer and editor for Mennonite World Conference.<\/em><\/p>\nThis article first appeared in Courier\/Correo\/Courrier October 2015<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Rebecca has been a member of MWC\u2019s Faith and Life Commission, a position she will leave as she becomes vice president of the organization. She is convinced of the value and necessity of the global body.<\/p>\n
\u201cMWC\u2019s genius is fellowship and networking. We share our stories. We come together and find that we are one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find strength beyond class, beyond status. MWC gives me courage. I feel I\u2019m in the right place. Here at the Assembly, when I see MWC leaders, pastors and other church leaders standing and waiting in line to get their meals along with everyone else, I am so touched. In many other settings, they\u2019d be brought their food rather than needing to wait in a queue!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go home and see women living in paper houses, often over sewage, and they make me strong tea (probably having borrowed money to buy the tea), I am deeply moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I feel weak. Am I really on the right track? But nothing that I am doing am I doing by myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember my mother saying, \u2018Love your enemies.\u2019 I think that is something God is doing inside me. I am not perfect. I do get irritated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I find that with time, people who have said hard things, who have been against things in the church that seem important, those harsh differences often are taken care of \u2013 or at least no longer seem to stand between us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This woman has much to bring to the leadership of Mennonite World Conference.<\/p>\n
Phyllis Pellman Good is a writer and editor for Mennonite World Conference.<\/em><\/p>\n This article first appeared in Courier\/Correo\/Courrier October 2015<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/website_files\/20150721_jonathoncharles_0884_1_0.jpg\")
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