| Shalom Zone Churches New Beginnings UMC, Severn New Hope Christian Fellowship UMC, Edgewood Lincoln Park UMC, Washington, D.C. Ebenezer UMC, Lanham Monroe Street UMC, Baltimore *Emory UMC, Washington, D.C. *First UMC, Hyattsville *Mt. Winans UMC, Baltimore Ames UMC, Baltimore Good Hope Union UMC, Silver Spring Jerusalem-Mt. Pleasant UMC, Rockville Metropolitan UMC, Baltimore Graceland UMC, Baltimore A.P. Shaw UMC, Washington, D.C. *Christ Church of the Deaf (Fulton-Siemers) UMC, Baltimore *These four shalom zones will be visited during the Shalom Summit. | Shalom zones bring hope to poor communities BY MELISSA LAUBER UMCONNECTION STAFF  In Zimbabwe, a shalom zone is helping children defy death. Its that powerful. The difference between having a shalom zone is the difference between having bread on the table or not, said Baltimore-Washington Conference Associate Council Director Tim Warner, who recently returned from a weeklong trip to Zimbabwe. Warner toured the conference-supported shalom zone in Sekubva Township, one of the poorest cities in the world, and the newly started shalom zone in nearby Gwesa. He took more than $30,000 from the conference Council on Ministries, the Zimbabwe Shalom Committee, individuals and the Northeast Jurisdiction Multicultural Center. It is, he fears, a drop in the bucket in trying to confront the dire poverty, plague of AIDS and drought that is creating a famine across southern Africa. He expected to be disheartened by all the need. But instead, Warner found hope in great abundance. At the Ishe Anesu after-school program, which is a vital part of the Gwesa Shalom Zone, students receive tutoring and a daily meal. Their mothers learn how to work with textiles and make bread, which provides them with money to support their families. The men of the community, through the shalom zone, have formed a construction company whose first project is to build a school. The company creates an economic engine in the community and the profit it makes is spent in the community, Warner said. This is not another church program, Warner stressed. It is the church empowering and becoming a catalyst for change. According to Warner, the essence of shalom often seems purer in Zimbabwe. But the same issues of empowerment and Gods wholeness exist throughout the 16 shalom zones in the Baltimore-Washington area and the more than 300 other shalom zone sites throughout the United States. On Dec. 12-15, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C., the church will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the community development program at Shalom Summit VI. The Communities of Shalom Initiative began in 1992, under the leadership of Bishop Felton Edwin May, as a response to the civil unrest that sparked riots in Los Angeles. Bishop May will address the summit at the closing banquet. Warner will report on the Baltimore-Washington Conferences partnership with Zimbabwe. The first shalom zones, like their counterparts today, focused on geographical areas where churches worked in partnership with community groups and leaders to transform conditions that stood in the way of Gods wholeness, said Warner. Shalom zones do not address symptoms, Warner added. They tackle systemic changes that involve a variety of goals including: communities becoming self-governing and self-defining, the development of multicultural relationships, economic development and increased access to quality health care and education. To develop a shalom zone, teams made up of church and community leaders attend a five-session training program to provide them with the information and resources to rebuild and renew community life. The conference also provides a number of financial resources for these programs to help them meet the specialized needs of diverse neighborhoods. The conferences next five-month cycle of monthly training begins Dec. 7. There is still room in the sessions for communities that might be interested in creating shalom zones, Warner said. This month, the conference hopes to also finalize the establishment of a Shalom Community Development Corporation. This new entity, Warner said, will perform several key tasks including fundraising for shalom zone ministries and developing models for ministries that could be replicated at a variety of sites. |
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