By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

AIDS Facts

An estimated 5.6 million people were living with AIDS or HIV in 2009 in South Africa.

Almost 33% of women ages 25-29 and 25% of men ages 30-34 in the country had HIV.

: Julie Hornby stands by a memorial wall for the AIDS victims who have died at HACT. The wall is painted with the names of the dead.

A few of the beaders from the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust taught beading classes at the World Methodist Conference. I took their class because I wanted to learn how to bead like them – and to hear their stories firsthand. Ultimately, I found the skill of beading surprisingly difficult, but marveling at their testimonies was a joy.

“Why make the beads?” I asked one of the women.

“When we got sick, they gave us a job to do,” she said. “It was to give us better health and to teach us how to make the beads. We earned money to buy clothes, healthy food, and take our children to school. The HACT is like my father and my mother because they do so much to help me. Now I can help myself. My daughter is learning to bead, too. Soon she will earn more than I do.”

Then I wanted to actually see this place where hope and empowerment come from beads, so I caught a cab to HACT. Julie Hornby, CEO since 1996, greeted me with a smile and gave me a tour I will never forget.

Our first stop: The Wall of Remembrance, a 5-foot-tall wall of bricks that spans 20 yards and is painted with names of the 20-30 patients who die here every month.

A stained-glass window on a door to the chapel bears the red ribbon symbol for AIDS.

“They die young,” she said. “The average age is 20.”

We climbed the steps onto the back porch of the 24-bed Respite Center, which offers around-the-clock nursing. A group of six women sunned themselves on the porch. I greeted them all, and most of them returned the greeting. A few appeared weak, unable to lift their heads or open their mouths.

“We love those [whom] you are not comfortable liking,” Ms. Hornby said. “They come here to die. They have no money and nowhere else to go. We serve the poorest of the poor. Even though they come here dying, 50 percent leave healthy due to the tender love and care we give them.”

The Hillcrest Centre does not provide antiviral medications, which come from the government. However, all the services here are free.

“Let me take you to the chapel next,” Ms. Hornby said. I followed, expecting a room with pews, an altar and stained-glass windows. The stained-glass windows were there, but the room was the size of a walk- in closet. It was only large enough to hold two gurneys.

“The chapel is for those who have just died,” she explained. “It gives them dignity to wait here for the hearse in this quiet, beautiful space. Shining on them are four images from the stained glass -- of the beadwork, the cross, the AIDS red ribbon and the father of our nation, Nelson Mandela.”

I left HACT grateful for the power of God working through the Methodist Church of South Africa to do its part in ministering to those with HIV/AIDS.

By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

As HIV/AIDS reaches pandemic levels in South Africa and the city of Durban in particular, the Methodist Church of South Africa is at the forefront of care, help and prevention.

A traditional Zulu necklace sold by HACT

The UMR got a behind-the-scenes look at a Methodist-related AIDS ministry called Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust, or HACT. It is an oasis for women, men and children afflicted with or affected by AIDS.

HACT started as a ministry of Hillcrest Methodist in 1990, and to this day a Methodist Bishop and pastor serve on the board of trustees. Its programs include a respite unit that cares for AIDS patients, a project that teaches grandmothers how to raise children whose parents have died of AIDS, and feeding and clothing projects.

Beaded dolls also raise funds.

Most remarkable is its income- generating program known as Woza Moya (Come Holy Spirit or Come Change). It teaches AIDS patients and others affected by the disease to make beaded jewelry and accessories. Lovell Salve, a HACT volunteer, staffed a booth at the World Methodist Conference and told all who would listen how the beads provide hope and empowerment to those touched by AIDS.

“A spirit of despair and hopelessness covers the patients when they arrive at the HACT,” she said. “They see nothing but sickness and death for themselves. They feel like life has come to an end. But it is not the end of the line. Instead of crumpling into a heap, life has magnified tenfold due to this project.”

Salve broke into tears as she stood behind a table covered with mounds of beaded jewelry and artwork.

The Dreams for Africa chair features intricately beaded “wings.”

“We teach them how to make colorful jewelry, and they become excited and creative. They are inspired and encouraged to be innovative and fantastically unique. Now we have 300 women and men who are beaders. Some can make as much as $2,000 monthly to support their families.”

Going a step further, the beaders and HACT collaborated on the Dreams forAfrica Chair. It is a chair that has large wooden wings attached to the back and is covered in multihued, intricately designed beads.

More examples of the exquisite work

The chair’s purpose is to provide hope and raise funds for HACT. Recently, the chair has been on a global publicity/ fundraising tour in which the famous, such as South African reformer Desmond Tutu, have sat upon it.

Dr. Swee Hong Lim, a former Perkins student, played a big role

By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

Dr. Swee Hong Lim (left) and Dr. Michael Hawn teamed up at the WMC.

The designer of the nine worship services at the World Methodist Council and Conference has a North Texas connection.

Dr. Swee Hong Lim, chairman for worship and music of the WMC, attended the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

“I coordinated everything in the service from the music, the choirs, the prayers. I am stage manager and the sound crew,” he said.

Dr. Lim tapped his former professor, Dr. Michael Hawn, professor of sacred music since 1992 at SMU, for help.

"When I heard that Dr. Hawn was available, I saiid, 'Come and help me!' And he did," Dr. Lim said.

In fact, Dr. Lim gives a lot of credit to Dr. Hawn for shaping him in music.

“I am from Singapore. Dr. Hawn gave me the first opportunity to take a class on global hymnody, and it made me think about teaching church music. I became a music trainer in Cambodia and created the first Cambodian hymnal.”

Dr. Michael Hawn beamed as he talked about his former student, whom he met in his first year of teaching. "Due to my interest in cross cultural music and worship, we had a lot in common," he said.

“One of the greatest joys of life, after teaching over 40 years in seminary education, is to have your students surpass you,” he said. “Dr. Lim has already done that. He is quite well-recognized in Asia. He is a composer of quite a few styles, Western and Pan Asian.

“He is an ardent Methodist, and quite a few of these compositions are appearing in hymnals.”

By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

For Alyce McKenzie and Evelyn Parker, who teach at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology, the World Methodist Conference tied in perfectly with their summer immersion course in South Africa.

Alyce McKenzie

McKenzie and Parker took 17 students to South Africa for their course, “The Scenes and Stories of South Africa,” which included attending the WMC.

“We are here to study a different context from what we are used to in Texas,” McKenzie said while in Durban. “The point is that wherever you serve, it will be a global context.”

The group’s travels took them to Cape Town for a week and to Durban, site of the WMC.

"We went to Phakamisa and saw grandmothers raising grandchildren with AIDS. We found their stories to be so compelling. We met women who started the women’s rural network. We have been out to the new South African seminary,” said McKenzie, a homiletics professor who has taught at Perkins for 12 years. Parker teaches Christian education."

One highlight, McKenzie said, was the opening service of the conference.

We knew it would be inspiring, but had no idea that seeing all the people come together would have such an impact,” she said. “Also, to hear the Africa University Choir sing 'We Are Marching in the Light of God' was awesome. Our cup runneth over."

When asked “What does this mean for NTC?” she responded, “The trip was a reality check for the students.”

“Whenever you come out of your comfortable world and see a wider world and realize what you have in common, it is a privilege.”

A speaker reminded them that John Wesley said, ‘The world is my parish,’ rather than ‘My parish is the world.’

“That is the benefit of coming to this family reunion of Methodists from around the world,” she said.

Perkins School of Theology students, led by Drs. Alyce McK- enzie, Evelyn Parker and Michael Hawn, took an immersion course in South Africa that also included attending the world conference.

From Bogata to Burkburnett

By Richard Hearne

As I write this column, I have just returned from the World Methodist Conference in Durban, South Afria. It was a great experience to gather with several thousand brothers and sisters of the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition. I was elected to both the World Methodist Council (the governing body) and to the Methodist Conference, which meant 10 days in Africa.

South Africa is a long, long way from North Texas – almost 10,000 miles. This translates into about 18 hours of flight time, plus airport layovers. The majority of us attending the conference had similar arduous travel schedules. It wasn’t a conference that a person nonchalantly attend – it took a real commitment.

I was surprised to learn there are 74 different churches that trace their heritage to John and Charles Wesley. For many years, I thought that all Methodists across the world were members of our church, The United Methodist Church, but that is not the case. For example, the Methodists in Mexico and Korea are not part of our UMC. Yet we do share common hertiage and are all "cousins" under the Wesley banner.

I did find it interesting that the Anglican and Episcopal churches are not members. They say, I am told, that although the Wesleys come from their tradition, they don’t feel the connection. When a member of the Anglican Church brought greetings to our convention, she said her church "kept the songs of the Wesleys but not the relationship, and we are less for that."

Different churches treat their bishops differently from how they are addressed to their official regalia. Many of the African bishops are addressed as “your excellency” and wear beautiful robes much in the style of the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the UMC bishops from the U.S. wore their clerical collars, so it was a colorful gathering.

Although we did not get to interact with the South Africans a great deal, my overall impression is that they are a very friendly population. When you consider that apartheid ended only 17 years ago and the wild projections that the country would fall apart when the black majority assumed power, you have to be encouraged by the positive attitudes of the people. They are working very hard to be a democratic government that represents all the people. Do they still have a journey ahead of them? Yes, but so do all nations.

Although I have questions about the viability of an organization such as the World Methodist Conference in the political and economic systems of the 21st century, I feel blessed to have had the experience. I encourage any of you to go to the next gathering in five years (location not yet announced) and experience the BIG Methodist connection.

Richard Hearne is Lay Leader of the North Texas Conference, which stretches from just this side of Bogata to just that side of Burkburnett. E-mail him at rbhearne@sbcglobal.net.

Kay Yeager of First UMC Wichita Falls was on a team that won for fast packaging.

By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

The North Texas delegation joined more than 500 WMC delegates and took part in the hands-on food packing project for Stop Hunger Now. The event was held in an assembly room at City Hall in Durban.

Volunteers were divided into task stations and worked for two hours to prepare meals containing flour, meal and soup ingredients for hungry children around the world. Some measured the dry ingredients for the packaged meals, some sealed the packages in plastic bags and some put together boxes for shipment.

Kenyan children enjoy a meal at their school through Stop Hunger Now.

Toward the end of the two hours, a competition was held to see who could package meals the fastest. Kay Yeager, a laywoman from First UMC Wichita Falls, was a part of the team that won the prize. Her team included teenage girls from a Durban high school.

“This has been a rewarding experience for me. It is my first time at a WMC, and it is great to see so many people from around the world,” she said.

Meals are ready for shipment.

The Rev. Ugonna Onouha, a Children’s Hospital chaplain, taped together boxes that stored the packaged meals. “This gives me joy to be a part of the process to feed people who are hungry,” she said.

The North Texas delegation put together a total of 26,000 packages.

Schoolchildren line up as they wait for their turn to eat.

By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

A North Texas delegation of about 25 people is just back from the 20th World Methodist Council and Conference this month in Durban, South Africa.

They were among 1,850 people from 58 countries representing the Methodist/ Wesleyan church at the council Aug. 1-3 and the conference Aug. 4-8.

The group took part in an array of events such as worship services, including one that featured the United Methodist- related Africa University Choir of Zimbabwe; workshops on evangelism and social action; and visits to local churches for Friday night and Sunday morning services.

Conference theme: Jesus Christ for the Healing of the Nations. The logo depicts the Baobab, an African tree known for medicinal properties and healing.

The World Methodist Council is the voice of the Methodist/Wesleyan family around the world. The lives of more than 75 million people are touched by the ministries of Methodist/Wesleyan families today.

Following WMC tradition, the opening and closing worship services featured the procession of colorful banners from each of the 77 member churches around the world. A representative of each church carried its banner across the worship center to the applause of those gathered.

A highlight was the appearance of the UM-related Africa University choir. This was particularly moving to the delegation due to our annual conference’s connections to the Zimbabwe-based institution.

Another highlight of the conference was a food packaging event sponsored by Stop Hunger Now that gave its participants a hands-on experience with preparing food for those in need.

The delegation took part in a food packaging program for the hungry that put together 26,000 meals.

The city of Durban is on the subtropical eastern coast of South Africa.

It is the country’s third-largest city and contains the busiest port in Africa.

The Zulu people are indigenous, and the impact of their culture was seen and felt daily at the WMC.

Each day, WMC participants were introduced to words from the Zulu language, such as ubantu (I am because you are), ubunye (we are one) and amandla (life force).

For more stories, photos and videos on the World Methodist Council, see www.ntcumc.org/wmc