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In 1988, as part of his sabbatical David Good and Carleen Gerber traveled to South Africa with Plowshares Institute with the leadership of Bob Evans, Walter Wink and Jim Forbes. This was during the days of apartheid when the South African Council of Churches encouraged partnerships between South African and American churches. It was during that visit that our ministers met The Rev. Paul Verryn, who at that time was the only White minister living and serving a church in Soweto. In his home, Paul offered sanctuary to boys who had been detained and tortured by the South African government. When Paul’s life was threatened, at the request of his bishop, Peter Storey, our church offered Paul the opportunity to come to our church for a sabbatical. Out of the strength of this experience, our church entered into a partnership with the Methodist church of Southern Africa, relating first to a group of churches in Soweto, and then when Paul Verryn became a bishop, our partnership shifted toward Central Methodist Mission, a church in downtown Johannesburg.
In 1989 a group of members and friends traveled together throughout South Africa, helping to establish a friendship between our two different communities and cultures, and in subsequent years, there has been a number of mutually beneficial and mutually enriching activities. For a 2 year period, one of their ministers, Derick Maregele, came to our community to serve as our Visiting Minister, serving as a missionary to us. We have also been blessed by the visit of 60 members of their choir that thrilled us with their music and their faith with concerts in our community, Hartford, New Haven and several venues in New York City, including Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem. Bishop Paul Verryn is a frequent visitor to our community, with every visit helping to strengthen our bonds of friendship and mutual support and encouragement. Working side by side with their choir members and other members of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, over 35 members of our church, Madry Temple in New London, and a representative of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation took part as sponsors of the Jimmy Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity in Durban, South Africa. In one week, with 2000 volunteers from all over the world, 100 houses were built, and we were proud to have been responsible for 7 of those houses.
From her experience in South Africa, Carleen Gerber, who up until then had been serving as our Lay Minister of Music, embarked on a theological course of studies with the University of South Africa with an emphasis on “missiology” in preparation for the ordained ministry. Most recently, in February of 2005 we were blessed by the visit of Nyameka…., who is a specialist in the area of Christian Education for the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Her month long visit allowed for the sharing of ideas and enthusiasm and the deepening of friendship between our two communities.
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