Reformed action team a catalyst for South African church's mission

Reformed congregations in South Africa have been surprised by the Reformed mission team they invited to work with them.

Instead of preaching and teaching, the Joint Action Team of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) spent time listening and observing to get a sense of the church, its mission priorities and the justice issues at play in the community.

"This was important," said Reginald Nel, pastor at Riverlea Uniting Reformed Church, who is also missiological and artistic consultant to the team.

"Congregations do not start from zero but are involved in mission action and reflection. The team's role was to be a catalyst in this process. They are there for just a few weeks but look at things with new eyes and so they create a particular momentum for congregational rethinking."

The Joint Action Team venture is one of three programmes of the Making a Difference Project (MADIP) of WARC's Mission Project that was evaluated in Belgium this month.

The team, consisting of Brian Handel from South Africa, Diana Rosa Ramos Garcia from Cuba, Marilyn Camaclang from the Philippines and Karangwa Valens from Rwanda, shared for ten months in the ministry of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, to help congregations in Gauteng, Kwa Zulu Natal and the Cape regions of South Africa to grapple with the missiological implications of the Accra Confession.

The Accra Confession is the faith stance on globalisation developed at WARC's 24th General Council in 2004.

Handel reflected: "We never had to put the issues that led to the Accra Confession on the agenda. People are living with poverty, power cuts, lack of drinking water and evictions every day and are coping with them. Our role was to put these realities in a global context and point to the Accra Confession as a response from our Reformed tradition."

In northern Kwa Zulu Natal the team got involved in lobbying for clean drinking water. Elsewhere they joined discussions about a golf course project that would put hundreds of farm workers out of jobs and housing.

"What our work added to these isolated congregations was, first of all, the experience that they are not alone," said Marilyn Camaclang.

"Our presence as an intercultural team representing the global family strengthened people to continue their struggles. And our own stories showed people that what happens to them is also happening elsewhere in the world.

"This shared reality became the basis for explorations on how racial and ethnic tensions reinforce and get reinforced by unjust structures, how gender issues play out, what our (Reformed) faith demands and what individuals and congregations can do to counteract the destructive aspects of globalisation."