Carrying the Vision

Melusi Sibanda

Description

Using a trajectory of 20th century Anglican approaches to mission in rural Africa, the book tells the story of the development of an educational institution by tracing the faith journey of Eelin Beardall, a woman who dedicated thirty years of her life to the people of Nyamandlovu in Matabeleland region in Zimbabwe. Eelin and her husband Frank played a pioneering role in the development of Nyamandlovu's first secondary school. One of her greatest contributions to humanity was to carry out a vision for education both in the days of guerrilla warfare and in the context of post-independence troubles in rural Matabeleland. Eelin's bravery, resilience and care for African children earned her long-lasting love and respect among educationists and ordinary people alike. Her legacy continues today as an inspiration to those whose lives are dedicated to the service and welfare of others.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Southern Africa
• History of Africa
• Education
• Church of England

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 21 novembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785384554
• Langue: English

Extrait

CARRYING THE VISION
Eelin and Her Missionary Friends
Melusi Sibanda




First published in 2016 by
AG Books
www.agbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2016 Melusi Sibanda
The right of Melusi Sibanda to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The views and opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.




For my very dear late Sister, Janet Sithokozile Mhletshwa, one among many of Eelin’s St James’ students, living and departed.



Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who saw me through this book; to all those who gave encouragement and support, provided advice and information, allowed me to quote their comments and assisted in the editing, proofreading and design of the book. Special thanks are due to Martin and Doreen Kilbey, Valerie Burns and Jane Campbell as well as John Guthrie of Broadland Properties Ltd, Sr Phoebe Margaret CSMV and the late Fr Michael Counsell.



Abbreviations
AAAgric Alert
AAGAffirmative Action Group
ARV Antiretroviral
CAFCentral African Federation
CFUCommercial Farmer’s Union
CPFClergy Pensions Fund
CMSChurch Missionary Society
CPSAChurch of the Province of South Africa
CRCommunity of the Resurrection
CSMVCommunity of St Mary the Virgin
DC District Commissioner
DHDining Hall
EPEducation with Production
ESAP Economic Structural Adjustment Programme
FSJMSFriends of St James Mission and School
HFRSCHlekweni Friends Rural Service Centre
LAA Land Acquisition Act
LMSLondon Missionary Society
MBEMost Excellent Order of the British Empire
MEMissionaries’ Expenses
MUMothers Union
NRZ National Railways of Zimbabwe
PFPatriotic Front
P-in-C Priest-in-Charge
PCRProgramme to Combat Racism
RFRhodesian Front
RM Railway Mission
RMSRoad Motor Services
SMSSupplementary Ministry Scheme
SPGSociety for the Propagation of the Gospel
SSJE Society of Saint John the Evangelist
TTLTribal Trust Land
UCEUnited College of Education
UDIUnilateral Declaration of Independence
UMCAUniversities Mission to Central Africa
UNUnited Nations
USPGUnited Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
VIDCOVillage Development Committee
YFC Young Farmers’ Club
ZANLAZimbabwe African National Liberation Army
ZANU Zimbabwe African National Union
ZAPUZimbabwe African People’s Union
ZCTUZimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
ZINTECZimbabwe Integrated Teacher Education Course
ZIPRAZimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army
ZNAZimbabwe National Army
ZRPZimbabwe Republic Police



Foreword
Eelin and her husband Canon Frank Beardall are in the long sequence of disciples of Jesus Christ called out of Britain to service in Africa. Formed in a colonial age, Eelin’s vocation and its fulfilment grew to full fruition as the winds of change fanned a new world order of costly freedom.
Readers of this inspiring memoir will join her hopeful and sometimes painful journey from Britain to Matabeleland in Zimbabwe with an author and eyewitness, Melusi Sibanda, who has a profound sense of history, place, family and Church.
Formed in India and Scotland, Eelin Beardall had a clear vision of development through well-run schools, raising standards with scarce resources, and caring for children in all their diverse needs. Together with her husband she was also devoted to the ministry of the Anglican Church in the Catholic tradition.
Andrew Walls has claimed that ‘The Christianity typical of the twenty-first century will be shaped by the events and processes that take place in the southern continents, and above all those that take place in Africa’ ( The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History. 2002: T & Clark). In her life that ended at the close of the twentieth century we can recognise the foundations of this new responsibility built by Eelin and her African colleagues.
The description of contemporary Christian mission ‘From Everywhere to Everywhere,’ promoted by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, is echoed in these pages ( From Everywhere to Everywhere . 2009: Wipf & Stock Pub). In the 1950s James Hughes, formerly Rector of St George’s Edgbaston, Birmingham, travelled to become first Bishop of Matabeleland. In the 2010s Africa’s talented priests, such as the present author, currently Incumbent of St Stephen the Martyr, Rednal, Birmingham, have responded to the call to grow the Church in Britain.
With the example of Eelin Beardall before us, ‘a true defender of African education and children’, we are made aware vividly of the paradox of Christian witness in the turmoil of power politics and the universal passion of sharing, in word and deed, the Good News of Jesus Christ.
+David Urquhart
Bishop of Birmingham & Convener of the Lords Spiritual
Easter 2015



Preface
This book tells two stories. The first is the life story from beginning to end of two Anglican missionaries in what is now called Zimbabwe and was then Southern Rhodesia. They were Frank and Eelin Beardall, and they worked in that part of the country known as Matabeleland. Two of their closest friends in Rhodesia were Francis and Monica Boatwright, also missionaries. Both families, before they settled in Rhodesia, had also served in the neighbouring countries, notably South Africa and Mozambique (then known as Portuguese East Africa). They came from different backgrounds, but finished up doing missionary work at St James, Nyamandlovu, on the dividing line between Gwayi Reserve, as it was then called, and the adjacent commercial farming area. Although they were human like the rest of us, they showed a compassion for their poor black neighbours which had an untold influence on the history of the country.
The second story is the development of Rhodesia into Zimbabwe. Aspects of this story did not even appear in the Western media at the time they were taking place, and those which did are almost forgotten by many people now. They reveal the difficulty of bringing an undeveloped place into a state of prosperity and well-being. They also highlight how dependent this process is on people of all races and classes who are willing to sacrifice their own comfort and privileged way of life in order to serve those who are needy. This story provides the context against which the missionaries exercised their ministry of loving care, and the influence which it had on them.
Some people criticise the missionaries for being too closely associated with British colonialism. But many, like the Beardalls and the Boatwrights, sacrificed their entire lives to bringing education, health, improved agricultural methods, money and the Christian faith to some of the poorest people in the world. This book tells something of the history of Zimbabwe and the neighbouring nations at the crucial period when they were gaining their independence. But the history is always exciting when we see how it affects the couples to whom we have already been introduced, and their friends and neighbours.
To write Eelin’s life is to also write that of her husband Frank as each was a co-worker and guide to the other, both in their work of teaching and in their devotion to the Anglican doctrine of mission. The Zimbabwe they arrived in was very much different to that of today especially in respect of secondary education in the rural areas. The Beardalls first met and married in the UK, moved to South Africa, and then came to help establish the first secondary school in Nyamandlovu District. It was here that they became lifelong friends with the Boatwright family.
Francis Boatwright had worked in England prior to his time Mozambique. The Diocese he served in was named Lebombo, after the range of hills which separates Mozambique from the Kruger National Park in South Africa. There he met Monica who had been brought up at Mbabane and had strong connections with the Swazi royal family. Together they went to Matabeleland in the then Rhodesia to start a mission station where, some ten years later, they were joined by Eelin and Frank.
Many people were grateful to the founders of the Mission and those with whom they shared their ideas, dreams and experiences, so it has been a delight to write this tribute to Eelin and her missionary friends.
Melusi F Sibanda



Part One
The Beardalls in the UK and South Africa
Chapter 1
Eelin Wilson’s Early Days
Missionaries are not born. They are raised by God and formed by their local Christian community. Eelin Beardall, who was a missionary in Matabeleland from 1969 to 1999, was born into a middle-class Scottish family. She was christened Helen Margaret. Eelin, her preferred name, is the Scots Gaelic for Margaret, which in turn is the Greek for Pearl. She was indeed a jewel among women, in the tender years of her youth as much as in her adult life.
She was born, in 1931, and brought up in India. Eelin’s e