MUTARE, ZIMBABWE—Africa University (AU) and the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church (Global Ministries) have entered into a four-year partnership to support pioneering research and innovation in agriculture and public health – two of the most pressing areas shaping the continent’s future. AU’s vital work in these areas was put at risk due to the sudden withdrawal of international aid earlier this year.

Agriculture is part of Africa University’s roots. When AU opened its doors in 1992, Agriculture and Theology were its founding faculties – nourishing both body and spirit. Today, the university’s strategic focus on agricultural innovation marks a return to that foundational call for holistic, transformational education that creates leaders for the continent of Africa, grounded in Christian values.

Global Ministries will provide funding, technical support and capacity-building resources, while AU also lends its agricultural expertise. They will work through Global Ministries’ successful Yambasu Agricultural Initiative, named after the late Bishop John K. Yambasu, who was the fourth chancellor of Africa University, serving from 2020 until his untimely death that same year.

Africa University’s life-saving work on malaria prevention through the Zimbabwe Entomological Support Program in Malaria (ZENTO) will be supported through the partnership. The ZENTO program, conducted with Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care and its malaria partners, saw breakthroughs that have included the identification of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes and the creation of one of the nation’s largest malaria research and insect reference centers.

The ZENTO program’s achievements have contributed significantly to a reduction in malaria cases across Zimbabwe’s hardest-hit provinces. However, the sudden withdrawal of international aid placed this vital work at risk. With Global Ministries’ support, AU’s laboratories can continue operating, mentoring young scientists and anchoring the nation’s malaria control efforts.

The partnership between AU and Global Ministries also opens doors to extend agriculture and health research impact across United Methodist episcopal areas and health partners in Africa, advancing the pan-African connection and moving toward the collective aspiration of health equity and scientific leadership, born of the continent.

“The elimination of foreign aid funds has impacted vital work at AU. Though we cannot fill the full funding gap caused by these massive funding cuts, we hope to help mitigate some of the impact. This will allow AU to continue vital work in education, health and sustainable agriculture,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary for Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry. “Through the United Methodist network, we also hope this partnership will have an impact on communities throughout the continent.”

Africa University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Professor Peter Mageto, said of the collaboration: “This partnership is a powerful testimony of what Africa University represents – hope, resilience and possibility. At a time when many doors have closed, Global Ministries has continued to invest in African solutions, led by African minds. With this support, our faculty and students can continue doing what they do best: shaping knowledge into action, and action into lasting change. The future is calling, and together, we are answering it!”

Africa University was established 33 years ago as the first private, fully accredited university in Zimbabwe. It is the first university in Africa approved by the General Conference of The United Methodist Church. With four colleges, one school and two training institutes, AU is a Pan-African institution that has educated students from more than 36 African nations.

Global Ministries, the global mission and development agency of The United Methodist Church, has worked in mission and ministry for more than 200 years and is one of the founders of Africa University, reaching more than 100 countries through its programs and through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).

Media Contacts:

Susan Clark
Chief Communications Officer, General Board of Global Ministries
Communications@umcmission.org

Jeanette Dadzie
Director, Advancement and Public Affairs, Africa University
dapa@africau.edu

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Roland Fernandes, general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), has assumed leadership of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM), effective July 1, 2024. Fernandes has served since the fall of 2020 as general secretary of GBGM and UMCOR, the denomination’s mission and humanitarian relief agency. He has been with GBGM and UMCOR since 1996, filling many key leadership roles.

In October 2023, Fernandes was appointed general secretary of GBHEM by a unanimous vote of their board of directors. The GBGM board unanimously affirmed the appointment in the weeks following (read announcement here). He is taking on the chief executive position following Greg Bergquist’s retirement on June 30, 2024; Bergquist served as GBHEM’s general secretary for more than five years.

Fernandes and Bergquist began their collaboration in early 2022 when both agencies engaged in collaborative consultations, including possible future alignment. Teams comprised of program staff from both agencies were created in the areas of scholarships, granting, leadership formation and training, theology of mission and regional work to explore potential alignment between the two agencies. The agencies’ boards have signed an agreement for future missional, program, and operational alignment.

Reflecting on his role at GBHEM Bergquist said, “As I reflect on my final year as general secretary of GBHEM, I see an agency poised to achieve remarkable contributions in education and leadership formation, ​​and I extend my gratitude to GBHEM’s constituencies, staff, Board of Directors, collaborative partners, and friends. Their unwavering support, valuable insights, and dedication have enabled GBHEM to fulfill its mission and uphold its values on behalf of the church and the academy. I am delighted that Roland will assume the executive leadership at GBHEM, and I am sure he will advance the connectional, contextual and collaborative solutions that will support the emerging expression of the United Methodist tradition and the transformative educational mission of the church.”

Speaking of his new role, Fernandes said, “I am honored to have been given the opportunity to serve God through the church at a time such as this. I look forward to working with the collaborative partners, boards, and staff of both agencies to lead GBGM and GBHEM in these transformative times for The United Methodist Church and the world. We shall continue to listen to God’s call into this joint mission and respond to the church’s needs and aspirations, aligning our ministry together for more relevance and effectiveness. I am grateful to Greg for sharing this vision of greater missional alignment between our two agencies.”   

GBHEM board chair Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball echoed Fernandes’ sentiments about the future of the agency, “The work that Roland and Greg have already accomplished, aligning the mission and ministry of GBGM and GBHEM, will prepare both agencies for the future. I am thankful for Greg’s unswerving dedication to GBHEM and Roland’s willingness to accept this new opportunity to lead us into a new age, bringing the love and hope of Christ to our world.” 

The boards of both agencies will meet together in Nashville, Tennessee this fall, which will continue their ongoing conversations and process of discovering new opportunities for missional and strategic alignment to better serve the worldwide connectional church of the UMC.

Susan Clark serves as chief communications officer for the Boards of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry.

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ATLANTA – On Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, the General Board of Global Ministries’ board of directors unanimously voted to affirm the appointment of Roland Fernandes as general secretary of the General Board of Higher Education Ministry (GBHEM), a position he will hold in addition to his roles as general secretary of Global Ministries and UMCOR. The appointment will be effective as of July 1, 2024, upon the June 30 retirement of GBHEM’s current general secretary, the Rev. Greg Bergquist. GBHEM and Global Ministries will remain separate tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. 

This appointment builds on the collaborative programmatic work led by Fernandes and Bergquist throughout 2022 and 2023 in the areas of scholarships, granting, monitoring and evaluation, shared services, and leadership formation and training. With Fernandes leading both organizations, continued alignment and deeper partnership will be possible. 

Read the joint announcement here.

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ATLANTA – The Rev. Claudine Leary was one of a few children in her Rwandan village to attend primary school through high school. But the year she entered Rwanda National University, civil war engulfed the country and a time of horrific genocide ensued. Leary survived by fleeing the country, residing in different refugee camps for years. There was no opportunity for completing her education in the camps, but she found a way. Today, Leary serves as the director of development at Methodist Theological School in Ohio and is also involved with a nonprofit she co-founded to resource and advocate for the education of children living in refugee camps in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Rev. Olga Maria Raimundo Choto grew up in Chipongo, a rural area of South Mozambique. Her parents were farmers who never had the opportunity to attend school, but they worked hard so she could attend. As a pastor and single parent, she says she experienced many situations of gender injustice and found the path to becoming an independent adult to be challenging. She is studying to perfect her research skills to begin a major project on gender-violence and the status of women and girls in her country.

Christian Love Daroy-Gagno, the fifth of seven children in her immediate family, grew up in the Philippines, where her father served as clergy for The United Methodist Church. She studied business administration, but then joined the UMC young adult mission program and became a mission intern. After mission service, she worked for one of the church’s mission institutions, Kapitiran-Kaunlaran Foundation, Inc. (KKFI), where her life course took a new direction. Today, she works with the Indigenous community of T’boli in South Cotabato, Philippines.

These are just three of the average 50 scholars who receive United Methodist scholarships for higher education through the World Communion Sunday offering each year. World Communion Sunday is a United Methodist opportunity for connectional giving presented annually in October. The lives these scholarships impact and the dreams and aspirations they fulfill are not just those of the scholars, but of the many people reached by them as they complete their studies and develop ways to fulfil God’s calling in their lives.

“I traveled with all those refugee children in my heart.”

Although Claudine Leary was already in her early twenties when she fled Rwanda, she spent a lot of time with the children in the refugee camps she where she lived. “Some of them genuinely saved my life because playing with them and caring for them made camp life bearable. I promised myself that if ever life gives me an opportunity, I will serve disadvantaged children and their families,” Leary said.

Finally, the Jesuits Refugee Services sponsored her first year to finish her undergraduate studies at Africa University in Zimbabwe and she then received additional scholarships from the UMC to complete her degree. From there, she was able to secure a visa to the U.S., completed her MBA and later received a scholarship to study at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, earning her Master of Divinity, and is ordained as an elder in the West Ohio Conference.

“When I lived in the refugee camps, the greatest pains parents around me had was how their children would resume school. There were no schools in those camps back then.”

Leary worked with friends to establish a nonprofit run by volunteers called “Watoto Read” (www.watotoread.com). Watoto is a Swahili word for children. The nonprofit started work in 2016 and has since built multiple schools in the refugee camps of Chad.

“We provided benches, latrines and menstrual hygiene kits to 21,000 girls in the 13 refugee camps of Chad,” notes Leary. “We are currently supporting preschools in these refugee camps while also paying tuition for 14 high school girls in Dzaleka Refugee camp in Malawi, a camp I lived in over 27 years ago.”

Leary’s current studies for a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change at Antioch University in the U.S. are helping her to increase involvement in advocacy and join a larger community to work on the issue of poverty. She hopes to ensure that children can access quality education and other resources to succeed in life.

“Since my youth, I have been passionate about gender justice.”

Olga Choto studied basic theology at the United Seminary of Ricatla, an ecumenical institution. She obtained her Master of Divinity and then a Master in Conflict Management at African University. She has been a pastor in the UMC of Mozambique since 1993 and is the mother of a boy and two girls.

“As a female pastor, I have experienced many situations of injustice that directly affect women and children in my country and on the African continent in general,” she said. “That’s why I’ve been working with this disadvantaged group who experience gender-based domestic violence, early and forced marriages and early pregnancies, who are unable to finish school, forced to return home at an early age.”

Currently, Choto is studying for a Ph.D. in Education at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique, with a research concentration on Education and Gender Relations. She wants to refine her research skills to bring the facts of gender-based violence in Africa to light, encouraging as many people as possible to intervene to change this situation.

“I am excited to share what I am learning with those I serve.”

Christian Love Gagno’s career and purpose have been formed by God over time. Growing up in a Christian family, serving as a UMC mission intern, and then as a program director of KKFI made her wonder about the lives of the people she encountered. She pivoted from her business studies and, with her scholarship, concentrated on a master’s degree in Social Services and Development at the Asian Social Institute. She is currently working on her thesis.

After she took off work to care for her first baby, she found deeper meaning in her studies and was struck with the idea of starting an NGO (nongovernmental organization) to work with vulnerable children, youth and families in Cotabato.

“We started the NGO I prayed for and we are implementing programs and projects for community development,” Gagno confirmed. “We work with the T’boli Indigenous group in Surallah, South Cotabato, Philippines.”

Children and youth in this community must walk 2½ to 3 miles every day to get to school. Meanwhile, at home, their parents have trouble meeting the most basic needs of the family, so, many children eventually give up the trek and remain home to work. People in this community are subsistence farmers, and many work odd jobs like charcoal making or as hands on the pineapple plantations and cornfields.

“My heart goes to the children and youth who are in vulnerable situations, either due to poverty, injustice or abuse. My experience as a missionary and my work at KKFI have opened my eyes to the ugly truth that poor communities face daily. I believe that the fullness of life can happen through Jesus and we can be part of God’s mission.”

These words from Christian Love Gagno to the church on the important impact congregational giving makes for scholars were also echoed by Claudine Leary and Olga Choto:

“I feel privileged to be a recipient of God’s grace through you. You are the Lord’s vessel, so I can do what God calls me to do. Your giving allows us to experience God’s love and generosity and it makes a huge difference to my life and to many children, youth, families and communities.”

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

World Communion Sunday

The World Communion Sunday offering provides scholarships and leadership development opportunities for international students and U.S. racial-ethnic students who are pursuing advanced degrees. Gifts not only make an impact in the lives of individual students, but also the religious, social and civic communities in which they lead and serve. These funds are administered by Global Ministries in collaboration with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

Connect here to give online and mark World Communion Sunday.

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