Quakers in the World (Africa): Unity in diversity

Ian Kirk-Smith and Trish Carn conclude the series ‘Quakers in the World’ with a look at Quakerism in Africa

A giraffe in Kenya | Photo: Photo: Ai@ce / flickr CC

‘Our peace work is our evangelism’ is one of the explanations that Friends in the Congo give when people ask why they work on peace and conflict resolution.

Violence has been a ‘defining narrative’ in a number of African countries and Quakers have made, and continue to make, a significant contribution in the area. A number of Friends from the Congo and Rwanda are among the hundreds of African Quakers in attendance at the Sixth World Conference of Friends at Kabarak University in Kenya, organized by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). Their experience of working for peace is shared by many African Friends at Kabarak.

Peacemakers

Kinshasa Monthly Meeting was founded in 1993 in the wake of a visit by a British Quaker working with Responding to Conflict UK. A service committee, named Muinda Project for Peace, was organised and its two sisters: Action pour la Jeune Fille and Association Femmes pour la Paix (AFP).

Since 1995, Project Muinda has coordinated ‘Peace Cells’ in each neighbourhood of Kinshasa. Friends have worked on a number of peace initiatives, along with AFP, and are also active in the Quaker Peace Network Africa (QPN). They were involved in observation at the 2011 election in the Congo.

Lusungu Byucinda, of Eastern Congo Yearly Meeting, says: ‘There used to be many Quaker children in the army and that has now changed. After the war of liberation, Quakers met with the Mai-Mai and told them about peace and being Christian and showed them how, as Quakers, they do not allow people to be in the army and they came and joined Quakers. Now they have monthly meetings on the Old Plateau and moved away from their warlike companions.’

Quakerism was originally introduced to the Congo by Evangelical Friends Church International. There are today almost 4,500 members in Eastern Congo Yearly Meeting. Atosha Msafiri, from the Congo, is also attending the conference. She says her ‘greatest concern (for the Yearly Meeting) is to be peacemakers. Working as peacemakers has brought people together.’

Atosha says there is a programme of dialogues for peace. This brings together, every two weeks, village chiefs, the army, members of other churches and a Mai-Mai representative so they all know what is going on. If, at any time, someone becomes aware of trouble they call a meeting. Each village has its own equivalent initiated by Quakers.

Friends have also been working in areas such as medicine and microcredit. They also have a trauma clinic. There is counselling for HIV-Aids prevention as well as Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshops.

Kaimosi Mission

The story of Quakers in East Africa goes back to 1902 when two young students arrived in Kenya. The students were evangelical American Friends.

On Sunday 9 August 1902, having travelled through different areas, they arrived at the River Galagoli. The following day one of the students climbed a tree to get a better view of the area. He saw a place, across the river, which appeared to be suitable to set up a camp for worship.

This place was to become Kaimosi Mission – a centre of Quaker worship and influence in East Africa. A hospital was established at Kaimosi in 1903. This mission station, known as Friends Africa Mission, became a base from which other stations were set up in east and central Africa.

Helen Musotsi of Nairobi Yearly Meeting is also attending the FWCC conference in Kenya. She was raised by her Quaker parents in Kaimosi. Her father taught at the teacher training college at Kaimosi.

Helen believes, as do many Friends in Africa, that the Bible is central to her faith and to her identity as a Quaker. She remains a Quaker because, she says, ‘I feel I can contribute by encouraging people to read the Bible’ .

The major concern for her Monthly Meeting, she believes, is for it ‘to live the word of God’ and says: ‘Friends should not just go to church and wait for the preacher to tell them what to do.’ She has encountered people who have a need to go to church. However, she says that when they go there for several weeks the subjects the preacher talks about may not address the person’s needs. Reading the Bible, she feels, can give them guidance.

Helen says that the church has been involved in doing more lively singing and dancing – because they were losing the young people to other churches. She is worried about this development. She is concerned that ‘it is going too far, becoming entertainment and missing the point of worship’ and asks: ‘if there are those who sing or dance better – are they worshipping God better?’

Kenya has the largest population of Quakers in a single nation and almost half of the worldwide membership of the Society is in Africa. This has happened in just over a century.

The Great Rift Valley in Kenya | Photo: Anna Dunford

Education

Education is a concern shared by many African Yaerly Meetings. There are over two hundred Friends secondary schools, and around a thousand primary schools, in Kenya. Kenyan Friends have concerns about the quality of education available in their schools and the extent that they continue to reflect Quaker values.

Roger Sturge and John Wilton were among a group of Quaker educationalists who visited Quaker schools in Kenya in 2011. After their visit they wrote in the Friend: ‘Links between the schools and their local Friends Church vary greatly. In some a local Quaker pastor gives a weekly evangelical address to the students; for others, there is little contact. Most teachers and head teachers had very little knowledge of Quakerism. Almost none of them were aware of the Quaker testimonies and understandings common within contemporary British Quakerism.’

Education is central to the progress of young people. It is also vital, within Meetings, to ensuring a strong Quaker tradition. In this sense the challenge in Kenya is similar to that elsewhere in the Quaker world. Helen Musotsi says: ‘We are put into leadership and we may come in with our own ideas and little Quaker background. We need to take time to find out how Quakerism is applied. In leadership people follow – whether they are being led correctly or not. We need to ensure people put in leadership positions are able to do the work. If training is needed it should be given.’

Friends in Kenya and the Great Lakes Region have actively worked to promote peaceful alternatives to violence and to promote reconciliation. This work has been a focus for many generations and, particularly, in the wake of the violence in Kenya in 2007.

Friends have not only made significant contributions in the area of conflict prevention and reconciliation – such as their work with Alternatives to Violence programmes – but also consistently drawn attention to some of the root causes of conflict in Kenya, including economic injustices, disparities of wealth and the disaffection and hopelessness felt by many young people.

Challenges

Each Yearly Meeting in Africa faces its own challenges. Many are shared. Some are unique to an area. Doreen Aluda, a Kenyan Quaker, cites the liveliness of her annual gathering as a great strength; but she points out potential concerns: ‘Christian principles can sometimes get mixed up with cultural practices. Education is vital. Many members have a low literacy level and this can hamper effective leadership and Bible knowledge.’

Doreen strongly believes Quakers should be ‘examples of peace loving citizens and preach, practice and proclaim peace’ and also stresses the need for them to ‘genuinely uphold Quaker values such as love, harmony, honesty and simplicity’.

Working together

In Burundi, Quaker worship is programmed. Concorde Munezero and Ndimurukundo Donatien are two young Friends from Burundi who attended the world conference in Kenya.

Concorde says: ‘The strength of Quakerism in Burundi is that we are working together in our projects and actions. Quakers have built schools and hospitals and they participate in many activities in the country’. They share a passion in common: that more young Friends and ‘children of the church’ receive the benefits of education. However, they are concerned that there is a lack of sufficient means for Quaker projects.

Concorde and Ndimurukundo were delighted to attend the world conference in Kenya. Ndimurukundo believes that ‘being with others, with whom you share the journey to heaven, is very important’ and stresses the importance of members of the world family of Friends being together so that they ‘can share experiences’.

Quaker churches

In Rwanda there are approximately 5,000 Quakers and about fifty Quaker churches. However, there are only twenty ordained pastors. The churches were planted by Evangelical Friends Church International (EFCI).

Remy Migisha and Sandrine Ishimwe are young Rwandan Quakers. Remy says that to become a Quaker in Rwanda you have to study the Bible for about a month at age twelve.

Remy believes that Quakerism is important because it helps children to study peace. A new peace centre is being built in Gisenyi. Sandrine says Quakerism is important because it helps people who are poor and that if you have two of something, and someone else needs one, you should give it to them.

British Quaker Elizabeth Cave, working as a volunteer through the Evangelical Friends Church in Rwanda, says: ‘Quakerism, in Rwanda, has attracted poor people. Other churches have bright shiny new cars parked in front of them but the Quaker churches do not.’

Quaker churches are peace churches. Remi adds, ‘they teach me to make peace (conflict resolution) and to be a good example [to others].’ Sandrine says that Quakerism is important to her because it teaches her ‘to be friends of others in the neighbourhood – to be different from those who use bad words’.

Friends Peace House is a Rwandan NGO that works to holistically heal and transform communities that are still suffering the after effects and trauma brought about by the 1994 genocide.

Since the start of their activities in 2001, Friends Peace House has grown significantly. Its work involves educating individuals on practical peace building techniques (such as mediation, conflict resolution and alternatives to violence prevention) and trauma healing in communities, which helps reconciliation between neighbours. More than 30,000 individuals have been trained from all over Rwanda and are peace resources in their communities.

Lake Nakuru, Kenya | Photo: Sara&Joachim / flickr CC

Unprogrammed worship

Quakerism in Ghana, in West Africa, is unusual on the continent as it is unprogrammed. When Quaker teachers from Britain came to Achimota School in 1925 they brought unprogrammed worship. Edwina Assan, of Hill House Meeting, says that their group today is small – about twenty people – but she hopes they can increase: ‘We have bought four acres of land for the Meeting. We hope to be able to start a retreat centre and, eventually, a training centre’.

Unprogrammed worship can also be found elsewhere on the African continent. Central and Southern Africa Yearly Meeting stretches from Zambia southwards and includes Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Although this makes it the Yearly Meeting with the most countries in Africa, the Meetings are numerically small and, geographically, spread out.

In South Africa Quaker worship is also unprogrammed. Friends, in different ways, reflect and celebrate the diversity of the country. Emily Mnisi, of Johannesberg Monthly Meeting, explains: ‘We managed to write our own Quaker faith and practice in nine different languages. Each contributor contributed in their own language. It is called Living adventurously.’

She adds: ‘A significant development is that for the last few years we have more young Friends coming to our Business Meetings and they are participating. Our low numbers, however, are a weakness and a challenge. Most Friends are becoming older.’ South African Friends are recognised for their tradition of peace work. They have always been concerned, also, with the roots of conflict and the dangers of increasing social and economic inequality. Emily says: ‘Violence is everywhere in cities and in rural towns. People are desperate because of the economic inequality. A concern is not knowing how to respond to these overwhelming challenges.’

The Quaker Peace Centre, in Cape Town, arose out of a concern of the Cape Western Monthly Meeting for the people affected by forced removals and apartheid. It continues to do significant work on conflict resolution and peace education.

Love and unity

People of all races and cultures have come together in Kenya and they have been able to ‘celebrate unity in diversity’.

Congo Friend Mkoko Boseka says: ‘there is only one God and we all have to create ourselves in His image’. He also believes that his faith helps him to ‘practice nonviolence and to become like Jesus and to develop Jesus in himself’.

Concorde Munezero, from Burundi, says: ‘I wish Quakerism could extend in all the countries of the world. I wish that there is one form of Quakerism in the world. May Quakers be an example for all nations in the world. May Quakers be light and salt of the world.’

Taik Va Kachano, from Uviro in the Congo, says that his Quaker faith is important to him for two reasons: love and unity. He says: ‘If we have love we do not do anything bad to others and we share everything. If we have love and unity we make peace’.

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