Saturday, May 12, 2007

Umuntu Ngamuntu Ngabantu !

The importance of Mothers...
I was preparing for a children's sermon at my home church and the scripture chosen for Mother's day was 2 Timothy 1:4-12. I was rereading vr 5- "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you."
While researching, I ran across an article by Lamin Sanneh, professor of missions and world Christianity and history at Yale Divinity School. In his paper Naming and the Act of Faith he talks about the critical way our faith is passed from others to us, and connects us as people.
He describes a Bantu proverb Umuntu, ngamuntu, ngabanu - a person is a person because of other persons. "Faith connects us with others" Sanneh says. So when we work with hunger we are profoundly impacting our fellow Christians.
In my work with hunger, I have seen a lot of actions of faith. Speaking truth to power, caring for those suffering injustice and feeding the hungry. If we were Timothy's family, what types of examples of faith would we be showing our grandchildren's children?