This translation is not completely accurate as it was automatically generated by a computer.
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By Vicki Brown*
1:00 P.M. EST Sept. 14, 2010 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)
Naomi Tutu addresses supporters of Africa University during the Richard
E. “Dick” Reeves Legacy Society dinner in Nashville, Tenn. A UMNS photo
by Mike DuBose.
View in Photo Gallery
When Zimbabwe was chosen as the site for Africa University, the
country was viewed as the future of Africa, Nontombi Naomi Tutu told
supporters of the United Methodist university attending the Richard E.
“Dick” Reeves Legacy Society Recognition Dinner.
“That was why Africa University was located there. The university was
going to be an investment in the new Africa,” said Tutu, a human rights
activist and the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu,
archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa.
Today, with the economic and political challenges of living in Zimbabwe, the university says something about God, she said.
“When people are raising their hands and asking, ‘Where is our
dream?’ Africa University says to the people of Zimbabwe and Africa that
a functioning institution is not simply a possibility here; it is a
reality,” Tutu said.
“It is a reality that stands there saying, ‘This is Africa. This is
what we are supposed to be. This is who we are going to be. This is who
we must be.’”
Tutu related an African proverb in Xhosa: “Umuntu Nagumuntu
Ngabantu,” which means, “a person is a person through other people.”
Those who support Africa University are living out that proverb, she
said.
“That Africa University is functioning today speaks to your belief
and faith – coupled with action and financial support – faith in all of
our humanity. Faith that the young people of Africa deserve not only to
be able to dream a better world, but (also) to be given the tools to
create a better world,” Tutu said.
She said the next generation of leaders is being prepared today at
Africa University—a generation she believes will look at the failures of
the past and learn. And the students are not only graduating with
degrees and skills, they also are leaving with relationships with
students from other countries.
“You are educating a generation of young people who know that they
are Africa, not just Nigeria, Zimbabwe or Congo,” she said. “If any part
of the continent of Africa is going to make it, every part has to make
it.”
The young people who graduate from Africa University will take the
African union to the next level, she said. “They will not allow leaders
in the neighboring countries to get away with genocide and theft because
they will have a connection to each other. And this will happen because
you recognized our connection to one another,” Tutu said.
The annual dinner is held in memory of Richard E. “Dick” Reeves, a
key supporter of the school who died in 1999. The legacy society was
created in 2001 to recognize, honor and thank those who have included
Africa University in their estate plans or have donated $10,000 or more
to the Africa University endowment fund.
Those recognized at the Sept. 10 dinner were:
- Glenn M. Brown and Mrs. Gwenn Puetz-Brown are active members of
Leawood United Methodist Church in Kansas. Mr. Brown, who worked for 40
years in the trucking industry, was active in People to People
International and served as president of United Methodist Men at his
church. Mrs. Puetz-Brown, who also worked for 17 years in the trucking
industry, was president of the Heart of America Pilot Club.
- The Rev. Mary Beth Byrne, a retired United Methodist deacon, has
been employed in both church-related and secular positions, including as
personnel director for Goodwill Industries. She is committed to
continuing the efforts of her late husband, the Rev. Allan D. Byrne, to
raise scholarship funds for AU students by educating congregations about
the great work occurring at the university.
- Connie E. Disney, along with her husband Bill, was an early
supporter of the fund to build and support Africa University. Since her
husband’s death, Mrs. Disney has been led to fund an endowed scholarship
to help students studying in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural
Resources.
- Orpha M. Laurie grew up in a family and community that were
church-oriented. Both she and her late husband have been active members
of The United Methodist Church, and she sings in the church choir.
- Thomas and Charlotte McAnally have funded an endowed scholarship.
Mr. McAnally retired as director of United Methodist News Service in
2001, and Mrs. McAnally, coordinator of Learning Resources for the Metro
Nashville Public School system, retired in 2003.
- The Rev. Ralph B. and Pearl P. Shoemaker. The Rev. Shoemaker, an
ordained elder, served churches in Clifton, N.J., and several cities in
Minnesota. Mrs. Shoemaker, a nurse, worked at hospitals in Cleveland and
in several Minnesota cities.
- The Rev. George William Watson Sr. has served in many capacities in
the South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference. He was chaplain at
South Carolina State College, pastor of many local congregations in
South Carolina, and twice served as district superintendent.
- Mary White is executive director of United Methodist Neighborhood
Services in Philadelphia. She is active in the denomination at all
levels, serving as conference lay leader of the Eastern Pennsylvania
Conference and vice chair of the Black Methodists for Church Renewal,
and has been a delegate to jurisdictional, General and World Methodist
conferences.
- The Rev. Rick Plain is the former Minister of Congregational Care at
Los Altos (Calif.) United Methodist Church. He retired June 30, 2010.
- The late Olive Louise Finkbeiner, who died June 15 at age 79, was a
choir member for nearly 20 years and an active member of the United
Methodist Women.
- Mary “Presh” Whitlock Minnick was also honored posthumously. She
served as a deaconess, a diaconal minister and a Christian educator. She
is remembered for her work with inner-city children.
- Nine donors preferred to remain anonymous.
*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
News media contact: Joey Butler, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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