1. The Chance to Start Something New: The Jubilee Centre (Lawrence Temfwe) believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. Yes, Lawrence and I saw a vision for this education program, but in reality we had no idea what it would look like. Even though we saw a need and a vision that could meet that need, who is going to trust a 24 year old with that vision?
Lawrence gave me the freedom to run with the vision, but let’s be honest that was a risky decision in many ways. The Jubilee Centre is an established network, but Lawrence had the audacity to allow me to start something new. Not many organizations would allow that to happen.
2. Relationships: Relationships are the most important thing in Zambia. I would not have been able to start something new as quickly as I did without the relationships of the Jubilee Centre. JC has deep connections in the communities in which they work. I was given instant credibility in the communities because I worked for the Jubilee Centre. It would have taken me at least a year to form relationships deep enough to start a new program. But the Jubilee Centre had already built those relationships; therefore, I was able to hit the ground running.
3. Indigenous Leadership: I believe very strongly in the power of indigenous leadership. I think that there are specific areas that outside leadership can be very useful. At the same time, I love the fact that there are only two Westerners working at the Jubilee Centre at the moment. Yes, it can create some very interesting working situations, but over the long haul, I believe that indigenous leadership is needed.
4. Strategic Location: The main reason that I love working for the Jubilee Centre is that I believe it is in a very strategic location. I don’t know of many churches, organizations, or people in the West who could work effectively with the people in the compounds. Because of cultural differences, etc., I believe that it is very hard for a Western church to partner directly with a church in the compounds. I believe that these partnership can and should take place, but I think they are very difficult to form.
Given that situation, I believe that the Jubilee Centre is in a strategic location to help form these sorts of partnerships. In terms of examples, think of Jubilee Centre like a power convertor. The voltage from the American church comes in at 220 volts to the Jubilee Centre, and they help form the partnership with the compound church by reducing that voltage to 110 volts. Then, the Jubilee Centre also performs the opposite transformation by increasing the voltage.
In conclusion, I just don’t think that the compound churches and the Western churches speak the same language (literally and figuratively). The Jubilee Centre facilitates so that the churches can work effectively together while both groups benefit. To put it bluntly, the Jubilee Centre reaches where white people can’t while also having access to resources and credibility.
You wrote "To put it bluntly, the Jubilee Centre reaches where white people can’t while also having access to resources and credibility."
ReplyDeleteI am White, and as a Jehovah's Witness, skin color, nationality, language and all the worldly divisions do not have room. Our central point is that we must have love for one another accross the board. You may have noticed, Church members from different countries can go to war with one another, and kill each other, based on these worldly differences. This is unheard of about Jehovahs witnesses. We simply do not take up arms! But, good luck with what you are trying to achieve.