2013 Synod Trip to South Africa
June 18-July 10, 2013
June 18-July 10, 2013
Who is going?
Thirty-two from our Wisconsin River Valley Conference - visiting six parishes in Madikwe Circuit:
What will they do?
June 18-19 are travel days. The first two days in South Africa, June 20-21 will be spent in Johannesburg at the headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, ELCSA. The ELCSA Director of Partnerships, Rev. Morwaeng Motswasele, and the ELCA Rostered Staff placed in South Africa, will take us to Soweto, Apartheid Museum, and introduce us to ELCSA, the Western Diocese, Tswana culture, and deepen our practice of accompaniment and companion relationships.
The third day, we greet Bishop Ditlhale at the Western Diocese Centre in Rustenburg. The Western Diocese is divided into “circuits” and a representative from each circuit will also greet us (we use the word “synod” instead of “diocese” and “conference” instead of “circuit”). From here we will head off in six different directions as each representative will take us to the circuit we will be visiting for the rest of our time. The Tlhabane, Odi, Moretele, Kgetleng, and Borwa Circuits will only have one to three people to transport, the Madikwe Circuit has already arranged for several vans to transport the large group from the Wisconsin River Valley Conference.
The next two weeks will be spent in the parish we are visiting. This will include worshipping on Sundays June 23, June 30, and July 7. Worship will be our major time for meeting and interacting with people. We are likely to bring greetings, and the pastors on this trip may be invited to preach or preside at Communion or Baptisms. Lively singing is a major part of the worship and the reason it usually lasts three hours. One parish, Lekubu, is planning a “Mission Festival” on June 30th which will likely be a five hour worship. Mission Festivals are annual events in parishes in South Africa in which a parish invites a neighboring parish to join them in worship and a feast, provide the message and perhaps some songs, and consider together God’s mission which they are called to share. This is an honor and a sign of the growing relationship that a parish in South Africa has invited a congregation in Wisconsin as their “neighbor” and fellow members with them sharing in God’s mission.
Each parish is arranging hosts for those visiting and planning a variety of activities. Much of our time will be spent participating in their parish life - confirmation, League meetings (Youth League, Men’s League, Women’s League, Young Women’s League), visiting shutins, and perhaps Circuit events. We are also likely to visit churches and leaders of other denominations, schools, Home-based Care Center, clinic, perhaps the traditional healer, shopping, and the surrounding countryside. Conversations at night with our hosts will be one of the highlights and most important times. Many parishes include several congregations so that we may live in several villages during our time.
The thirty-two visiting from the Wisconsin River Valley Conference have added two excursions to their trip. Nine of the young adults will begin their experience at Ga Rankuwa East Lutheran Parish in the Odi Circuit near Pretoria. The pastor has invited the seminarian on our trip to preach and has arranged several activities for our young adults with his congregation’s Youth League. The second excursion is July 3-5 when all of the Wisconsin River Valley travelers will do a safari in the Madikwe Game Reserve located within the Madikwe Circuit. One of last summer’s visitors from the Madikwe Circuit assisted with the arrangements. Half the group will stay at the Buffalo Ridge Lodge owned by the Lekophung Village and the other half at the Mosetlha Bush Camp, an ecotourism site.
July 6-9 will be the wrap-up to the trip. This will be “debriefing” time. Saturday, July 6, we will each debrief with the Parish Council that hosted us. Sunday, July 7 will be our farewell worship at that Parish, and then perhaps a debriefing with leaders of the circuit with which our conference is matched. We will all gather together again July 8 and 9 at the Diocese Centre and spend that time debriefing with Bishop Ditlhale and Diocesan leaders.
In preparation for this we have and will be talking with our ELCA Global Mission department, Bishop Justman, Crossways Camping Ministries, and our Synod’s Companion Task Force, as well as reading and studying various books, videos, and documents. The purposes of the debriefings are to think-share-list what worked, didn’t work, and what was learned from our experience. Next is to discern what and where the Holy Spirit is leading the church in this relationship and in witness to Jesus Christ. Finally we will negotiate the next step(s) in this ongoing, mutual relationship. Possibilities for discussion will be their next trip from the Western Diocese to our Conferences, ways to deepen our conversation and relationship, necessities to include in the orientation and debriefing, projects-gifts-actions we can do together, involvement of the South African counselors at Crossways and our young adults in this relationship, and what to say and how to promote this relationship and this accompaniment experience when we return. Finally on the evening of July 8 and 9 we will board at Tambo Airport in Johannesburg for our flight home, arriving back on July 10.
How will they travel?
Nineteen are flying out of Mosinee through Amsterdam, seventeen out of O’Hare through London, four from O’Hare through Parish, and one out of Washington D.C. It is approximately an eight hour flight to Europe and then a second ten hour flight from Europe to Johannesburg. Most of this flight will be during daylight traveling nearly the whole expanse of the continent of Africa. Return flight is listed as an eighteen hour flight from Johannesburg to Detroit - lots of movies.
What will they bring back?
Relationships and a new perspective! This is very different from tourism or even a mission trip. While we will return with memories, souvenirs, and maybe a completed project - all that will be quite secondary. “Accompaniment” is the goal. It will not be what we bring back and what we did - all past tense. Rather this trip is about ongoing relationships and new ways of thinking for after we return - present and future tenses. “Mutual”, “inclusive”, “being vulnerable and empowering”, and “intentional commitment” are some of the words to describe what we will experience and ways this trip will change and deepen church in us.
You can find more on the synod website www.ecsw.org. Updates and pictures will be added during the trip.
Thirty-two from our Wisconsin River Valley Conference - visiting six parishes in Madikwe Circuit:
- four people from Calvary, Antigo visiting Mahanaim Parish
- one from St. Paul, Aniwa visiting Ikageleng (Zeerust) Parish
- three from Mt. Calvary, Rothschild visiting Dinokana Parish
- twenty-two from Grace, Tomahawk visiting Lekubu Parish
- one from St. John’s, Wausau visiting Rietpan Parish
- one from St. Peter, Wausau visiting Immanuel (Motswedi) Parish
- three from Appleton Conference visiting Tlhabane Circuit
- one from Green Bay Conference visiting Odi Circuit
- two from Oshkosh Conference visiting Borwa I & II Circuits
- one, Pastor Kirkeby, from Shawano Conference visiting Moretele Circuit
- two from the Tomorrow River Conference visiting Kgeteleng Circuit
What will they do?
June 18-19 are travel days. The first two days in South Africa, June 20-21 will be spent in Johannesburg at the headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, ELCSA. The ELCSA Director of Partnerships, Rev. Morwaeng Motswasele, and the ELCA Rostered Staff placed in South Africa, will take us to Soweto, Apartheid Museum, and introduce us to ELCSA, the Western Diocese, Tswana culture, and deepen our practice of accompaniment and companion relationships.
The third day, we greet Bishop Ditlhale at the Western Diocese Centre in Rustenburg. The Western Diocese is divided into “circuits” and a representative from each circuit will also greet us (we use the word “synod” instead of “diocese” and “conference” instead of “circuit”). From here we will head off in six different directions as each representative will take us to the circuit we will be visiting for the rest of our time. The Tlhabane, Odi, Moretele, Kgetleng, and Borwa Circuits will only have one to three people to transport, the Madikwe Circuit has already arranged for several vans to transport the large group from the Wisconsin River Valley Conference.
The next two weeks will be spent in the parish we are visiting. This will include worshipping on Sundays June 23, June 30, and July 7. Worship will be our major time for meeting and interacting with people. We are likely to bring greetings, and the pastors on this trip may be invited to preach or preside at Communion or Baptisms. Lively singing is a major part of the worship and the reason it usually lasts three hours. One parish, Lekubu, is planning a “Mission Festival” on June 30th which will likely be a five hour worship. Mission Festivals are annual events in parishes in South Africa in which a parish invites a neighboring parish to join them in worship and a feast, provide the message and perhaps some songs, and consider together God’s mission which they are called to share. This is an honor and a sign of the growing relationship that a parish in South Africa has invited a congregation in Wisconsin as their “neighbor” and fellow members with them sharing in God’s mission.
Each parish is arranging hosts for those visiting and planning a variety of activities. Much of our time will be spent participating in their parish life - confirmation, League meetings (Youth League, Men’s League, Women’s League, Young Women’s League), visiting shutins, and perhaps Circuit events. We are also likely to visit churches and leaders of other denominations, schools, Home-based Care Center, clinic, perhaps the traditional healer, shopping, and the surrounding countryside. Conversations at night with our hosts will be one of the highlights and most important times. Many parishes include several congregations so that we may live in several villages during our time.
The thirty-two visiting from the Wisconsin River Valley Conference have added two excursions to their trip. Nine of the young adults will begin their experience at Ga Rankuwa East Lutheran Parish in the Odi Circuit near Pretoria. The pastor has invited the seminarian on our trip to preach and has arranged several activities for our young adults with his congregation’s Youth League. The second excursion is July 3-5 when all of the Wisconsin River Valley travelers will do a safari in the Madikwe Game Reserve located within the Madikwe Circuit. One of last summer’s visitors from the Madikwe Circuit assisted with the arrangements. Half the group will stay at the Buffalo Ridge Lodge owned by the Lekophung Village and the other half at the Mosetlha Bush Camp, an ecotourism site.
July 6-9 will be the wrap-up to the trip. This will be “debriefing” time. Saturday, July 6, we will each debrief with the Parish Council that hosted us. Sunday, July 7 will be our farewell worship at that Parish, and then perhaps a debriefing with leaders of the circuit with which our conference is matched. We will all gather together again July 8 and 9 at the Diocese Centre and spend that time debriefing with Bishop Ditlhale and Diocesan leaders.
In preparation for this we have and will be talking with our ELCA Global Mission department, Bishop Justman, Crossways Camping Ministries, and our Synod’s Companion Task Force, as well as reading and studying various books, videos, and documents. The purposes of the debriefings are to think-share-list what worked, didn’t work, and what was learned from our experience. Next is to discern what and where the Holy Spirit is leading the church in this relationship and in witness to Jesus Christ. Finally we will negotiate the next step(s) in this ongoing, mutual relationship. Possibilities for discussion will be their next trip from the Western Diocese to our Conferences, ways to deepen our conversation and relationship, necessities to include in the orientation and debriefing, projects-gifts-actions we can do together, involvement of the South African counselors at Crossways and our young adults in this relationship, and what to say and how to promote this relationship and this accompaniment experience when we return. Finally on the evening of July 8 and 9 we will board at Tambo Airport in Johannesburg for our flight home, arriving back on July 10.
How will they travel?
Nineteen are flying out of Mosinee through Amsterdam, seventeen out of O’Hare through London, four from O’Hare through Parish, and one out of Washington D.C. It is approximately an eight hour flight to Europe and then a second ten hour flight from Europe to Johannesburg. Most of this flight will be during daylight traveling nearly the whole expanse of the continent of Africa. Return flight is listed as an eighteen hour flight from Johannesburg to Detroit - lots of movies.
What will they bring back?
Relationships and a new perspective! This is very different from tourism or even a mission trip. While we will return with memories, souvenirs, and maybe a completed project - all that will be quite secondary. “Accompaniment” is the goal. It will not be what we bring back and what we did - all past tense. Rather this trip is about ongoing relationships and new ways of thinking for after we return - present and future tenses. “Mutual”, “inclusive”, “being vulnerable and empowering”, and “intentional commitment” are some of the words to describe what we will experience and ways this trip will change and deepen church in us.
You can find more on the synod website www.ecsw.org. Updates and pictures will be added during the trip.
