wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: God's transformation in Africa

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World Council of Churches - Feature
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For immediate release - 10/01/2006

PRAYING FOR GOD'S TRANSFORMATION IN AFRICA

By Mercy Amba Oduyoye (*)

Reflections on the theme of the WCC 9th Assembly:
God, in your grace, transform the world
More articles and free photos at
www.wcc-assembly.info

Transformation has become almost a cliché. Everything needs to be
transformed: individual lives, cultures, economies, societies* all. But it
is not often that God or grace are named in this context. We simply state
the need for transformation. As if we hoped to lift ourselves up by our
boot straps - that is, for those of us who have any footwear at all.

It is, therefore, the prayer for God's grace that attracts attention in
the theme of the upcoming World Council of Churches 9th Assembly: "God, in
your grace, transform the world". "God, in your grace," "There, but for
the grace of God," "God be gracious to us," - these and similar phrases
are common in the language of Christian spirituality. We pray for grace.
Now we ask God to be gracious and bring transformation to the world.

What in the world would Africans want to see transformed?

A recent BBC programme featured a book in which the author likens genocide
to bullying and points out that both come out of treating the other with
contempt or as though they were not human.

The programme was being aired as I read sister Thandeki Umlilo's Little
Girl, Arise! In her book, Umlilo deals with the abuse and incest she
suffered from the male members of her household - namely her father, uncle
and two brothers - and the silence of her mother in her days of torment.
She felt that her humanity had been violated and her person held in
contempt. [1]

Laments on the situation of Africa have become our regular fare when we
Africans meet.

The impunity covering those who wield power in Africa and how they deal
with citizens is proverbial. The impunity of people paid to serve the
public - at frontiers, on the roads, in offices, even at the markets - is
to be experienced to be believed. Bribes of different kinds, tardiness in
delivering services, are not punished, while victims have no recourse to
justice. TV programmes continuously decry these practices but nothing
changes.

All one can do is to cry out : God, in your grace, transform this
situation, grant us respect for the humanity of the other. Yet our
lamentations are also a protest that says that we do not accept the status
quo and an expression of our hope that things will mend.

> Imploring God's grace

The question I keep asking myself is: what makes us think that God will
undertake the transformation of the world? We have been created with free
will and taught how to live as beings in the image of God. What more do we
expect of God?

Human beings have a way of testing God until "holiness" consumes all that
is unworthy of the presence of God. Wheat and tares are left to grow
together until the harvest. But ultimately, the harvest comes, and the
wheat and tares are separated for different destinations. We know all
this, and yet we cry God, in your grace, transform the world.

I often wonder whether we do so because we know that our sinfulness cannot
overshadow the image of God in us. Maybe we do so because we affirm that
our creator and judge is also our redeemer. My experience is that where
the fire of faith smoulders in the ashes of wrong, we affirm that the
grace of God will fan the dying embers into active flames.

Often faith lies dormant, allowing unbelief and scepticism to direct our
responses to the changes around us. If the wrong is environmental
degradation, we respond by pretending that it cannot be corrected. For how
can we maximize economic gains if we keep trying to curb our emissions of
harmful gases?

If it is unfair trade practices, we argue that only free trade will boost
the economy, overlooking the fact that free trade hurts those whose home
markets are captured by subsidized exports. We laud globalization when it
benefits us and overlook how it excludes free movement of people around
the globe, especially of those who are judged to be a liability to
profit-making.

When we do all this, all that is left for those who hurt is to implore the
grace that guards the vulnerable and the helpless.
We certainly do not deserve to be saved
We made the beds in which we lie
But we know that by the grace of God
We shall wake up and get up and move out.
When our minds are transformed, our priorities will change and we shall
begin to see the world as God sees it. By God's grace, we shall not remain
as we are. We shall be clothed with compassion, respect for the other and
joy in doing what is right before God.

God, in your grace, transform the world. Begin with me, so that I can
become an instrument for the transformation for which we pray.

[817 words]

(*) Dr Mercy Amba Oduyoye is the director of the Institute of Women in
Religion and Culture at the Trinity Theological Seminary in Legon, Ghana
and founder of the Circle of concerned African women theologians. A former
WCC deputy general secretary, she is a member of the Methodist Church of
Ghana.

Note:
[1] Thandeki Umlilo: Little Girl, Arise! New Life After Incest and Abuse,
Cluster Publications, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 2002. 174 pp.

[Sidebar text]

9th WCC Assembly: Praying for a transformed world

The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will be held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 14-23 February 2006. Its theme is a prayer:
"God, in your grace, transform the world".

The first WCC assembly of the 21st century, it will gather up to 3,000
church leaders and ecumenical representatives from nearly every Christian
tradition around the world. As such, it will be one of the broadest global
gatherings of its kind.

WCC assemblies are often turning points in the life of the World Council,
and this one is expected to leave its mark on ecumenical history.
Deliberations will focus on issues such as the future of the ecumenical
movement, the churches' commitment to economic justice as well as their
witness to overcoming violence, and the challenges faced in the midst of
religious plurality.

In Porto Alegre, members of the ecumenical family will be able to gather
around the assembly at a Mutirão, a Portuguese word that means coming
together for a common purpose. Made up of workshops, exhibitions and
cultural celebrations, this part of the assembly programme will offer
opportunities for members of the wider ecumenical movement to gather,
reflect and celebrate together.

This is the first WCC Assembly to be held in Latin America, and it is
being hosted by the National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil
(CONIC) on behalf of churches throughout the region. Pre-assembly events
for youth and for women will be held from 11-13 February.

Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info

[246 words]

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