{"id":7941,"date":"2022-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/why-have-an-assembly\/"},"modified":"2025-03-24T23:41:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:41:02","slug":"why-have-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/why-have-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"Why have an Assembly?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Former MWC president Danisa Ndlovu (2003-2015) spoke with MWC about hosting the 2003 Assembly in Zimbabwe, his home country. This interview has been edited.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCircumstances tend not to favour expectations. You don\u2019t choose what is happening at any given point in one\u2019s life. Even so we remain a church.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the church in Zimbabwe to see people from around the world, gathering in this one place and worshipping God together as if there were no challenges at all, it left a lasting impression. You can\u2019t fail to hear someone hail back to that conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Mennonite World Conference Assembly did not only affect the Brethren In Christ Church but the church in general. To this day, people speak about that conference: it was a miracle. It demonstrated what it means to be church in spite of all the challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Three major challenges for the Zimbabwe Assembly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.<\/li>\n<li>The international community considered the president to be holding power illegitimately.<\/li>\n<li>SARS outbreak in parts of Asia and North America.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Hyperinflation<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWe carried a lot of paper that was useless. A roll of toilet paper is more valuable than the money we are carrying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Only those who\u2019d lived in Germany in the 1920s had experienced a similar situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had to help people appreciate that this is the context in which we are living. Therefore it is good to come as brothers and sisters from around the world and be part and parcel of what we are experiencing in Zimbabwe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Plan B was to meet in South Africa, but \u201cit was not in our hearts and minds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the global church to come see, taste, experience that, it was good. When we talk about suffering, church people can relate.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI wrote a letter to churches [who were concerned] that they were boosting the government\u2019s authority [by coming]. No, I responded: they were being invited by Zimbabwean church \u2013 by brothers and sisters \u2013 to walk alongside the suffering church at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe letter was received very well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Pandemic<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cRegarding SARS, our approach was \u2018wait and see.\u2019 It never ended up being an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Today\u2019s challenges<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cGlobal warming is being experienced\u2026but while this is a challenge, we can find ways of demonstrating that we are aware of the implications. I don\u2019t think we can stop travel: it is part of human interaction.<\/p>\n<p>Also, for me thinking about the mandate we are given (Matthew 28:19) \u2013 we must take the gospel with us. God knew we would be travelling up and down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to find ways of dealing with the climate. However, we shouldn\u2019t stop coming together. That is not wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Inequality<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWe can say to ourselves we are going to have a conference at such a place; but we may not be in control of the outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the 2006 EC meetings in Pasadena, Danisa Ndlovu\u2019s wife Trezia was denied a visa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose are the realities we live in. There are challenges, issues of prayer, issues of advocay. That does not stop us from gathering.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Online meetings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cAll of us do feel the pain of not coming together. We are a meeting people. Nothing replaces face-to-face meeting. Nothing replaces hugs. Nothing replaces that kind of interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to accept the circumstances, but at the same time find those things that bring joy our hearts, those things that enable us to continue to be connected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn a video call, I can see your smile; I get the consolation that I am talking to you. I think it is the next best way of interaction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s talk, let\u2019s share, let\u2019s have a feeling of how each person out there feels like. Those stories are important to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChallenges are not there to destroy us but to bring the best out of us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this global pandemic, God is growing all of us and maturing us. We need to listen to what God is saying and move in the centre of his will.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s continue to rejoice together in the Lord in spite of the challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.indonesia2022.mwc-cmm.org\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"100\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/button_en.png\" width=\"400\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 400px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 400\/100;\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former MWC president Danisa Ndlovu (2003-2015) spoke with MWC about hosting the 2003 Assembly in Zimbabwe, his home country. This interview has been edited. \u201cCircumstances tend not to favour expectations. You don\u2019t choose what is happening at any given point in one\u2019s life. Even so we remain a church. \u201cFor the church in Zimbabwe to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[189],"network":[],"eventcategory":[299],"class_list":["post-7941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-assembly","eventcategory-assembly"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why have an Assembly? - Mennonite World Conference<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/why-have-assembly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why have an Assembly? - Mennonite World Conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former MWC president Danisa Ndlovu (2003-2015) spoke with MWC about hosting the 2003 Assembly in Zimbabwe, his home country. 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