Rev. Mimi needs a ticket

 

Mimi Kanku is about to become the first ordained woman in the Evangelical Mennonite Church of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the ordination is not a done deal. You can help make it happen.

Mimi lives in Kinshasa. Her ordination, along with others in the denomination, is scheduled to take place in a few weeks in Mbuji Mayi, denomination headquarters, hundreds of miles away. A round-trip ticket costs $450. She has to raise her own funds to get there.

I met Mimi in Kinshasa last month. She was one of the women theologians who received us so warmly the first day of our visit (front row, far right). She came to both church services where Nina Lanctot preached. At the second, she and her friend, Annie (front row, white skirt) sang a duet.

But I had known about Mimi before the trip because her story was part of the collection I’d been editing to mark the centennial of the Mennonite Church in Congo, The Jesus Tribe. I arranged to meet and interview one of the writers and one of the story subjects—Mimi—for a video that will accompany the release of the book later this summer. Her story sounded like she was an engaging young woman.

She is. This young mother speaks softly and has a demure, gap-toothed smile. She comes to life when she starts speaking about her studies, her faith, her family, and her hopes for ministry in the church.

It was in the course of this interview that I learned Mimi had been selected for ordination. This is a big deal. Only one of the three branches of the Mennonite Church in Congo has ordained women. The small Evangelical Mennonite Church (with some 25,000 members—the other two each have about 100,000) is the second to take this overdue step. It will happen during the centennial celebration in Mbuji Mayi.

I will be there! I want to make sure Mimi will, too. She does not have $450 for the plane trip.

Other things might stand in the way besides money. A leadership struggle has divided her denomination. It’s not inconceivable that a coup at the top could throw everything up for grabs, even ordinations—though that is very unlikely at this point. Congo church politics are, shall we say, exciting. But the perpetual conflicts are a perverse indication of just how important the church is in that society. That role intrigues me and it is drawing me back to the country to observe and write more.

But before I go (July 12) I’m collecting cash, checks, or pledges toward Mimi’s ticket to Mbuji Mayi. Email me at njmyers@mindspring.com if you’d like to help send Mimi to her ordination.