FutureChurch

The Amahoro gathering is going really well - we've had some fantastic conversations and some demonstrations of deep reconciliation. I'll post more about that later. I've been recording the talks - here they are so far (in order) with:

Edward Simiyu - The ministry of presence (2.67 MB)

Kelly Nikondeha - The Amahoro story (2.44 MB)

Transfiguration - Claude Nikondeha (17 MB). Claude's notes are here and his powerpoint presentation is here.

Postcolonialism and why it matters - Dr Kenzo Mabiala (21 MB). Kenzo's notes are here: What Is Postcolonialism.pdf.

Intro to "New Wineskins" - Monte Wilson (1.12 MB)

A 10 minute broad sketch of Apartheid - Muzi Cindi (4.08 MB). This is a commentary which runs alongside this presentation.

The Church and Apartheid - Moss Nthla (8.63 MB)

The legacy of the TRC and the reformation of SA society - panel with Adriaan Vlok (25 MB)

[Added: 10 June 2009]
The African Reformation - Brian McLaren

Questions to Brian McLaren about his talk - The African Reformation

The Reformation of the Church - Paul Verryn (13 MB)

Panel discussion on Xenophobia (chaired by Trevor Nthlola) (19 MB)

Amahoro in a global context - Brian McLaren (1.94 MB)

[Updated: June 11]

Meet the Amahoro board - Claude Nikondeha (1.50 MB)

The Del Camino Network for Holism - Roberto Guerrera (3.58 MB)

The Transformation of the African Child - Spiwo Xapile (9.68 MB)

[Updated: 12 June]

Women and the reformation of communities - Rene August (17 MB)

Mohinda's story of the Congo (6.34 MB)

It's almost a disservice to post these talks without further explanation, but it's 2:30am and I'd prefer to get them online for those who want them than to worry about blogging about each of them. Some of these talks were much shorter than others (as they served as introductions to other talks, or talk snippets in the context of a longer workshop).

The atmosphere at Amahoro is great - conversations are happening all over the place, the sessions are really significant, and we're re-forming relationships with friends from all over the world. There have also been some (unexpected) transformative experiences: Adriaan Vlok spoke this afternoon about his role in Apartheid, and sharing the stage with him was my friend Sean Callaghan, who was conscripted into the South African army during Apartheid, which had a long-lasting deep negative impact on him (to understate it). During Sean's dealing with these issues, he was advised to personalise his experience of the army to a particular person - and he chose Adriaan Vlok (whose name he uses in his house as a swearword up till this day). There was a moment of confession and forgiveness as Sean risked telling Adriaan that, who responded with grace and asked Sean to forgive him - and also offered to wash his feet, which Sean accepted, and returned the act of humility. The significance of a white South African who was in the army, washing the feet of the former Minister of Law and Order was an experience of great depth. Tears streamed down my face as I watched this: it was no forced moment of grace; it was genuine. Other people were deeply affected, not least of whom were some other South Africans who had done army service, and shared the same story as Sean. Reconciliation and forgiveness has many faces, and I was grateful to witness this moment of grace, a glimpse of heaven.

Neels Jackson from the Beeld newspaper is running the story in today's paper, I believe. A photo (and a blog post in Afrikaans) is at Cobus's blog.

If you're at the Amahoro Gathering, please don't download the talks off the net! The wifi network at the campsite probably won't handle it - just come and find me (I'm the guy with the red glasses by the sound desk) and bring me a memory stick, and I'll give them to you.

Technorati Tags: Adriaan Vlok Amahoro Brian Mclaren Claude Nikondeha Edward Simiyu Kelly Nikondeha Kenzo Mabiala Monte Wilson Moss Nthla Muzi Cindi postcolonial Rene August Roberto Guerrero Sean Callaghan Spiwo Xapile Trevor Nthlola