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BY JOHN COLEMAN
UMCONNECTION STAFF

'Chapadza,' Zimbabwean Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa called it in his native Shona language, the act of coming alongside and helping someone who is already laboring in a field.

ERIK ALSGAARD/UMCONNECTION

Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa preaches the opening worship sermon at conference as Bishop John Schol listens.

That's how he described the mission partnership between the Baltimore-Washington Conference and the Zimbabwe East and West conferences. Bishop Nhiwatiwa and Bishop John Schol extended that partnership during a covenant renewal service at annual conference, May 28.

The two leaders signed the new agreement and then clasped and raised their hands to symbolize the solidarity that has developed between their episcopal areas since the original covenant was signed in 1997.

'This is a very important day for us here and for the people of Zimbabwe,' proclaimed Bishop Nhiwatiwa. He invited anyone in the audience who was from Zimbabwe, or who had ever been to Zimbabwe, or who would be part of a Baltimore-Washington Conference team planning to visit Zimbabwe in June to come up on the stage. More than two dozen people joined him there, as the Zimbabweans drummed and sang a hymn.

The covenant ceremony anchored a worship service that featured African praise hymns, Holy Communion and Hispanic music led by the band from Camino de Vida, a new faith community in Gaithersburg. It also included the reading of new appointments as part of the covenant between the conference and its clergy.

In his sermon, Bishop Nhiwatiwa recalled Jesus asking his disciples, 'Who do you say that I am?' He challenged listeners to ponder and answer the same question as they faced life's struggles and successes. He reminded them that, 'You are a blessed country' and that many Zimbabweans 'wake up and don't know when and where their next meal will be.'

A 15-member Baltimore-Washington Conference team of clergy and laity will visit Zimbabwe June 3-15 to teach about 300 pastors church leadership and community development strategies and skills. Bishop Schol and team members will sign the new covenant June 9 with their Zimbabwean hosts at Africa University in Mutare, the site of the Zimbabwe Pastors School.

Members of the team will preach in churches on two Sundays and will teach about church administration, biblical preaching, pastoral counseling, worship, HIV/AIDS ministry, United Methodist polity, women in ministry and other subjects requested by conference leaders there. The ordained and local pastors will also learn about community organizing, fundraising, justice ministry, economic development, strategic planning and other topics in a simultaneous Communities of Shalom training.

The Baltimore-Washington Conference team members expect to learn from their hosts strategies for effective discipleship development, worship and evangelism used by the fast-growing churches in Zimbabwe.

Bishop Schol announced that the new covenant would extend the work and relationship-building that has occurred since 1997 when the first covenant was signed. Since then, the Baltimore-Washington Conference has helped conduct two pastors' schools and one Communities of Shalom training in Zimbabwe, and has supported numerous ministries and mission institutions through various district fundraising initiatives.