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Cynthia Abrams, director for Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health Care at the General Board of Church & Society, conducts a training session on sensitivity to the power of words during a seminar on the United Methodist Social Principles held in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

About 60 African United Methodists gathered in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, earlier this year to participate in Social Principles training conducted by the General Board of Church & Society (GBCS). Five trainers, four from Washington, D.C., and one from Zimbabwe, shared experiences of how justice is lived out in local churches and in other countries.

The event began with a consultation that included the United Nations Operation in Cote D'Ivoire (UNOCI), the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the U.N. Gender Task Force and, U.S. embassy in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire’s capital city. Several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) also took part in the consultation.

We met with Pierre Marie Ngore, UNOCI director of human rights department; U.S. Ambassador Mswanda Nesbitt; and the communications and advocacy officer for Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Despite such seemingly positive economic conditions, 3 to 4 million people in Cote d’Ivoire are displaced.

Cote d’Ivoire’s primary exports are coffee and cocoa. We were told that 90% of the cocoa produced by Cote d’Ivoire is bought by U.S. companies. And the country has ranked frequently among the top ten coffee exporters.

Despite such seemingly positive economic conditions, 3 to 4 million people in Cote d’Ivoire are displaced, without potable water, food, health care and land. Because of recent conflict, 8,000 U.N. peacekeepers are deployed in the country, maintaining a tenuous cease fire.

Media disputes, initiate land reform

The United Methodist Church has been challenged to help mediate disputes and initiate land reform. Land has been taken from those who owned and worked it. Just as in other parts of Africa, conflict over identity and land is rampant.

The consultations were important because they helped establish networking contacts for our Cote d’Ivoire friends who will be working on social justice and human rights issues.

These meetings also benefited me as a Zimbabwean. There are lessons in Cote d’Ivoire for us in Zimbabwe to learn. This is especially so because our situation looks like it may be deteriorating into conflict given the recent election and the government’s delay in releasing results.

The Social Principles training itself was attended by a diverse group: clergy, lay people, women and young adults. Delegates from the African Central Conferences to the United Methodist General Conference attended. Time was well-spent looking at petitions to be presented in the forthcoming General Conference that affect the denomination’s Social Principles.

Madam Ida Fiadjoe, secretary of the Board of Church & Society in the Cote D'Ivoire Conference, organized the Social Principles training. Issues discussed included how GBCS and the Cote d'Ivoire Conference can work together. An important topic was the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that address poverty alleviation, economic growth and improving health-care delivery systems most in Third World countries.

Such systems will help the government develop a culture within itself of being accountable to its population.

My country, Zimbabwe, is trapped in an economic meltdown. We have an inflation rate of more than 100,000%. The training emphasized what Cote d’Ivoire can learn from Zimbabwe and vice versa.

The training stressed that Cote d’Ivoire must plan to ensure the country engages in economic building through developing democratic political systems. Such systems will help the government develop a culture within itself of being accountable to its population.

How to work with the Social Principles

The training guided participants on how they can implement and work with the Social Principles at the local church level. GBCS staff members, the Revs. Cynthia Abrams, director for Alcohol, Other Addictions, and Health Care, and Jackson Day, consultant for Health Care Advocacy, led discussions on health care and substance abuse. Day also led Bible studies.

Linda Bales, GBCS director of the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project and Women’s and Children’s Concerns, explained how the agency works with other organizations. She also described the work of GBCS within the United Methodist connection.

Bales led a discussion on women’s ministries. That discussion raised issues about violence against women and safety concerns. The discussion emphasized the importance of creating a safe place for women to go to talk about issues of violence in their lives.

The Rev. Neal Christie, assistant general secretary for Education and Leadership Formation, led the GBCS delegation. He facilitated discussions on the General Conference, micro finance and economic development. He also shared examples of Boards of Church & Society moving successfully from mercy to justice work.

Credit and credibility

Christie reminded attendees that the word “credo” which we know from “creed” means to trust. He said it is the same word as credit and credibility. “If God says I trust in the poor, who are we to deny that?” he asked.

If God says I trust in the poor, who are we to deny that?

I led discussions on developing mutual partnerships with other annual conferences. I also presented a paper on “Peace with Justice.”

There was a lot of discussion about the situation in Cote d’Ivoire. A follow-up meeting on the Peace with Justice discussion included a team of church leaders and government workers. This meeting took place during my three days in Cote d’Ivoire after the rest of the training team had departed. We discussed how concepts of peace, justice and reconciliation can be implemented in Cote d’Ivoire during its post-conflict period.

We discussed the concept of conflict transformation because communities have to work together to deal with their past and to integrate persons from different sides into the mainstream. Reconciliation programmers have to work out using community-based concepts of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Met with Bishop Boni

We had the opportunity to meet with Bishop Benjamin Boni at the Episcopal residence, where he hosted a dinner for the delegation. He shared experiences and described growth of the church in Cote d'Ivoire.

Before GBCS’s delegation returned to the United States, they took part in a worship service at Jubilee United Methodist Church in Cocody, Abidjan. Day delivered a message of hope and peace to the people of Cote d'Ivoire. Holy Communion was served during the service, which featured enthusiastic singing and dancing.

The singing and dancing were so enthusiastic you could sense the joy in the people. It made me wonder if these are the same people living in a country divided into two parts by war. The north is basically controlled by rebels, and the south is under the government of President Laurent Gbagbo.

Cote d'Ivoire expects to hold elections this June, and hopes to retain the tenuous peace and democracy in this French-speaking West African country.

The church is affected by the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire. We considered how the situation there is similar or different from Zimbabwe.

We asked what is the role of The United Methodist Church in building peace. The church in Cote d’Ivoire has been affected by the conflict. It has been difficult for United Methodist leaders to meet with churches in the north. I understand Bishop Boni has not been able to travel and visit churches in the north since the conflict began.

Bishop Boni is frustrated because the church can take a facilitating role in terms of dialogue.

Bishop Boni is frustrated because the church can take a facilitating role in terms of dialogue. The church can bring parties together. A good example is Mozambique where church leaders teamed up to approach the country’s president. They asked for the meeting as children of Mozambique who had come seeking peace. President Chisanho indicated he was prepared to talk to the rebel leader, Alfonso Dlakama, if the church leaders could arrange it.

The church leaders, including United Methodist Bishop João Somane Machado, spent almost a month searching for the rebel leader, and eventually putting their request to him. That was the genesis of the resolution of the Mozambican conflict that had lasted almost 20 years.

Cote d’Ivoire’s Capitol Hill

An interesting facet in terms of social justice advocacy of The United Methodist Church in Cote D'Ivoire is its physical location. GBCS is on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., next door to the U.S. Supreme Court and across the street from the U.S. Capitol.

The United Methodist Church’s conference centre and headquarters in Cote d’Ivoire stands between the country’s House of Assembly (Capitol building) and its Supreme Court. This is a strategic location that can be used to advantage in the search for peace.

Cote d’Ivoire can be an example for people in other parts of Africa as to how the church can play a role in political change. We must watch Cote d’Ivoire to see in what ways the church is helping to make a difference in accomplishing justice.

GBCS’s training stressed that the church needs to be involved in political change through speaking out, meeting political leaders and demanding accountability of public officials. In fact, a culture of dialogue with politicians needs to be developed by the churches throughout Africa. The church should not wait until conflict arises, either. We are relevant now as well.

The church in Africa needs capacity to prepare cadres that can be comfortable discussing, social issues with politicians. We need to lobby and advocate for legislation that promotes human rights and human dignity. We need to follow the legislation-making process within our houses of assemblies and senates so that we can contribute before laws are passed.

We must understand our justice delivery systems to be able to interact with our judicial officials. We have to be engaged always to explain how some laws have an impact on social justice and rights and human dignity.

Editor’s note: The Rev Lloyd Nyarota is Zimbabwe Episcopal Area Projects and Communications coordinator. He is based in Mutare.