Things you can do now:
Pray for the Zimbabwe East Conference and its churches and leaders.
Complete the Chabadza Covenant Interest Finder for your congregation.
Make UMCOR Birthing Kits. You are responsible for shipping to the UMCOR depot.
Related Links:
Chabadza Covenant Adopted May 2010
Zimbabwe Area United Methodist Church
Compassionate Consultative Intiative Project
Visual Geography Series website - Scroll down to the bottom on the left-hand side, and click on Zimbabwe to be taken to a wealth of resources about the country.
At the 2010 Kansas West Annual Conference, a resolution establishing a partnership between the Kansas West Conference and the Zimbabwe East Annual Conference was adopted. The idea for the partnership has been percolating since a partnership was developed between the clergy of the Hutchinson District and the clergy of the Mutare District several years ago. United Methodists in Kansas have a long relationship with Zimbabwe that predates both the Kansas West Conference and the creation of the United Methodist Church in 1968.
The Chabadza Covenant is named for the Shona word "Chabadza", which roughly translates to people in relationship working alongside each other for mutual benefit. Chabadza is given only to people whom you know, and it is given because when one person succeeds, both people succeed.
Patterned after other similar partnerships around the country, the document invites partnerships to be formed at many levels. This is the first partnership of its kind for the Zimbabwe East and Kansas West annual conferences. While other conferences are working in Zimbabwe East, none are proposing such wide-spread partnerships. Read the partnership agreement adopted May 26, 2010, here.
Congregation-to-congregation: Congregations in Kansas West and in Zimbabwe East are invited to partner with each other for prayer, educational exchanges, mission work and financial support..
District-to-district: A district may choose to adopt a district in the other annual conference for prayer, educational exchanges, mission work and financial support.
Pastor-to-pastor: Pastors are invited to connect with pastors in ZImbabwe for direct prayer support, mutual learning, and when needed financial support. This type of partnership would be patterned from the Mutare Connection between the Hutchinson and Mutare districts. During a time of economic turmoil, pastors in the Hutchinson District took a collection and sent the funds to be distributed to the pastors of the district to enable them to continue to minister.
The partnership agreement's framework allows for the creation and development of other kinds of partnerships as the Holy Spirit moves. If your congregation is interested in becoming a Chabadza Partner with another congregation in Zimbabwe East or in supporting the partnership in another way, complete the online Chabadza Covenant Interest Finder. If your congregation would like to become a Chabadza Partner, print and fill-out the Chabadza Covenant Partnership Application Form.
A team of 14 individuals from Kansas West travelled to Zimbabwe in early 2010 to explore the possibility of establishing a conference partnership. Their reflections are included in a number of Zimbabwe News articles on this site.