By Herbert Mngadi, 19th Episcopal District
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed, that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
Psalms 27:13-14 NKJV
In the year of the Lord 2000, at Mt. Horeb AME Church, in Welkom, in the Orangia Conference of the 19th Episcopal Church, outgoing Director of Lay Activities of the 19th Episcopal District Matikane Abednego Makiti, said the following, in his remarks with the headline “BID 2009”:
“Mr President, I am of the opinion that we need to request the Connectional Lay Organisation to take the Biennial Convention to South Africa. In doing this we will be able to expose the top decision making body of the Lay Organisation to the people of South Africa. I am of the opinion that with proper planning more than 500 people in South Africa will be able to attend this convention. We do have venues in this country which will be able to host a convention of this magnitude. Let us go for it.”
GO WITH GOD
Life Begins at 40!
In many contexts, the number 40 is significant as a symbol of testing, trial, purification, or a period of transition. It often appears in religious texts, particularly the Bible, to denote a significant period of change, preparation, or fulfillment of a divine purpose.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the significance of 40 to AMEs in South Africa:
In 1985, 40 years ago, the Editor of The Tennessean Religion News W. A. Reed wrote the following:
“AME Bishop Leaves City For South Africa and will be Heading to a District in a Nation of Apartheid.” The Rt. Rev. Henry A. Belin, Jr., who rose from pastor to bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is leaving Nashville for a new assignment in Cape Town, South Africa.
As he bids his friends farewell, in an emotion-filled Communion Service, at his church, the Greater Bethel AME Church, he quipped; “Jesus Christ set us free from slavery because he is love.” Bishop Belin’s first assignment as Bishop is to head the 15th Episcopal District of the Church, in a country where the policy of Apartheid kept Blacks politically, socially, and economically segregated.
Love in the hearts of Christians, he said, “conquers the hardships imposed on a people.” “Still, he declared, “not one of my two sons and my daughter has said they are going to Cape Town, South Africa, with me and my wife.”
The AME Church was and still is a dynamic force behind the US Civil Rights Movement. The Church splintered from the White Methodist Episcopal Church, members of which only allowed Blacks to worship in the sanctuary but forbade them to worship in areas other than the church gallery to which they were assigned.
Bishop Belin concluded by saying, “We come today to the Eucharist to examine and relate ourselves and also to say to this world that we are on the Lord’s side. Jesus came to save us from our loneliness because we can’t save ourselves from that.”
Bishop Belin alluded to the strength of conviction, saying, “It is more powerful than the best of education and all the money in the world!”
There is also a deep religious significance of the number 40.
• Testing and Trial: The number 40 is frequently associated with periods of testing, hardship, and purification. Examples include the Israelites’ 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai, the Noachian Flood lasted for 40 days and nights of rain, and the time it took for the floodwaters to recede and the earth to dry, and Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness.
• Elijah fasted for 40 days and 40 nights not as a self-imposed spiritual discipline, but as a result of divine provision and direction during a time of deep personal struggle and a powerful encounter with God. This period of fasting and journey to Mount Horeb was orchestrated by God to strengthen him for a specific mission and to prepare him for a new phase in his ministry
• Transformation and Transition: Forty can signify a time of significant change and transformation, marking a transition from one state to another.
• Generation: In some contexts, 40 represents a generation, signifying a period of time associated with a particular group of people.
• Preparation: Forty can also represent a time of preparation for a significant event or task, like Lent, which is a 40-day period of preparation for Easter. Other Contexts:
• Middle Age: In some cultures, the age of 40 is considered a significant milestone and is associated with reflection and introspection, hence the saying “Life begins at 40.”
What is special about the number 40?
Forty is the only number whose letters, when written in English, appear in alphabetical order.
Numbers in general have a symbolic meaning in the Bible. The number “40” is particularly pervasive (spread throughout so thoroughly as to be seen or felt everywhere) and connected to the fulfillment of God’s promises,
In Hebrew, the number 40 often symbolizes a period of testing, transition, or renewal.
It frequently appears in the Bible to denote significant events or stages of life that involve change and transformation. The number forty is also associated with the letter Mem (the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet). which represents water and is linked to concepts like purification and new beginnings.
Forty is a sacred number. When the number forty appears in the Bible, the reader knows a change is about to take place.
The Leadership of Global Development Council, the Lay Organisation Africa Development Initiative, the entire Nineteenth Episcopal District, and in particular, the Nineteenth Episcopal District Lay Organisation, invites you to the 40th Biennial Session of the Connectional Lay Organisation ……
Under the African Sky
HEY LOADI,
WHAT IS THE TIME?
WHAT TIME IS IT?
IT IS FOR AFRICA! Issoy de Africa
Spanish: Qué hora es?
Portuguese: Que horas são?
Que jora RS
Chair: 2027 CLO Biennial Convention Committee
