Passion Drove Results of Bishop’s Ministry with Africa University
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100% SUPPORT
He agreed to volunteer for three years but stayed for a decade. “I've always believed that education is such an important key to all kinds of things in the ministry of the church, the development of society, and development of individuals,” McCleskey said. The bishop said he was only able to attend Duke University for his undergraduate education because he received two scholarships – one from the university and one from his home church,
Thank you for investing at 100 percent in the Africa University Fund in 2018. The Annual Conferences of The United Methodist Church with a 100 percent or more remittance to the AUF apportionment over the past two years are: North Central Jurisdiction Dakotas Detroit East Ohio Illinois Great Rivers Indiana Iowa Minnesota West Michigan West Ohio Wisconsin Jurisdiction Total Support
2018 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 99.37% 100% 108.99% 95.87%
2017 100% 105.32% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 105.24% 99.83%
Northeastern Jurisdiction Baltimore-Washington Greater New Jersey New England New York Peninsula-Delaware Susquehanna Upper New York West Virginia Western Pennsylvania Jurisdiction Total Support
2018 100% 100% 100% 104.01% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 98.53%
2017 100% 100% 100% 107.18% 100% 100% 102.04% 100% 100% 100.71%
South Central Jurisdiction Central Texas North Texas Oklahoma Indian Missionary Jurisdiction Total Support
2018
2017 100% 100% 100% 88.42%
100% 85.42%
Hyde Park UMC in Tampa, Florida. “I knew personally the importance and the effect of the generosity of other people in making higher education possible for me,” McCleskey said. “When Africa University was started, it just captured my imagination immediately.” He learned quickly that scholarship money was critical for students to get an education at AU. Working in the university’s development office provided the chance to help raise money for scholarships, faculty endowments, and facilities. “It gave me the opportunity, in a sense, to repay the people whom I could never repay otherwise for my own education,” McCleskey said. McCleskey was an active United Methodist clergyman for 45 years, serving as pastor in seven churches, as district superintendent, and in two Episcopal assignments. As a pastor, he led a capital campaign at Myers Park UMC in Charlotte, North Carolina, (Continued on page 2) Southeastern Jurisdiction Florida Kentucky North Alabama North Carolina Red Bird Missionary South Carolina Tennessee Jurisdiction Total Support
2018 100% 100% 100% 108.76% 100% 110.35% 93.11%
2017 100% 100% 113.80% 100% 113.58% 100% 196.48% 98.15%
Western Jurisdiction Alaska United Methodist California Nevada California Pacific Desert Southwest Oregon Idaho Pacific Northwest Rocky Mountain Yellowstone Jurisdiction Total Support
2018 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
2017 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Spring 2019
ishop J. Lawrence McCleskey helped raise millions of dollars for Africa University with a passion driven by his deep-seated desire to repay the people who made his own higher education possible. After a decade of volunteering to help annual conferences and congregations organize fundraising campaigns as executive vice president for development for Africa University (AU), the retired bishop from the Carolinas has retired once again. “You can't do the kind of work that he has done and be as successful as he has been unless, number one, it's a calling, and number two, you have a passion,” said James H. Salley, associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement for Africa University. When McCleskey retired in 2008 after 12 years as bishop in the South Carolina and Western North Carolina conferences, Salley asked him to help the AU Development Office.
Africa University Today — Spring 2019
Alumna Inspires with Focus, Purpose and Action
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olorosa Duncan did not set out to become a role model. However, the power of her story and its ability to inspire are undisputable. It took focus for a young woman from the Barabaig community in rural Tanzania, where it is still difficult for a girl to reach the age of 14 without being married, to defy the odds. When Duncan earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Africa University in May 2004, she became the first female university graduate in her family. In the 15 years since, Duncan has worked with street children. She joined other women in her community to launch ‘Women for Change’, an organization that helps vulnerable children become educated. Together with a colleague, Dr. Joseph J. Kavit, a physician, Duncan helped found Tandabui Health Access Tanzania to lead HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health projects. She attended graduate school at the University of London, earning a master’s degree in public health from
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2012. Between 2010 and 2018, while serving as regional program manager for Pathfinder International, Duncan led efforts to provide needed maternal, child, and reproductive healthcare services in rural Tanzania. She was recognized as an “Emerging Voice for Global Health” and selected for an Eisenhower Fellowship. “Studying at a multicultural institution taught me to collaborate with mutual respect in a pluralistic society,” said Duncan. “It taught me to acknowledge, embrace and respect differences…
It has not only simplified my international job responsibilities, but also allowed me to make a significant contribution to my society.” Currently, Duncan is working with the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania supporting health-related strategies and programs nationwide.
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that included $100,000 to build the university’s first athletic fields. Under his leadership as bishop, the South Carolina Annual Conference raised $2 million for the university, including $1.7 million to build a theology building and the remaining funds for scholarships. The Western North Carolina Annual Conference raised $1.2 million for scholarships when he was bishop. Fundraising strategies for AU used by the late Bishop R. Sheldon Duecker helped with both conference campaigns, and McCleskey continued to build on Duecker’s template during his time in the development office. He worked with bishops
and annual conferences and called on individual donors. Ruth Ellen Stone, a longstanding lay adviser and advocate for the university in the Indiana Episcopal Area, said McCleskey was extremely helpful to the leaders working on a fundraising campaign. “The most significant thing he did was meet with our leadership team (to) set the goals for our campaign to endow a chair in the department of agriculture and endow several scholarships,” she said. “They set a goal of $1.6 million, and he was very influential in helping them.” McCleskey has made five visits to the AU campus located at Mutare, Zimbabwe, often accompanied by his wife, Margaret, or one of their three adult children. “I can't imagine a more satisfying and deeply gratifying way I could have spent those 10 years than doing what I did for Africa University,” the bishop said. “It's been one of the richest parts of my life.”
How You Can Help ocated at Old Mutare, Zimbabwe, Africa University is an accredited United Methodist-related educational institution in Africa, established by action of the General Conference. The university offers degree programs in three colleges: Health, Agriculture and Natural Sciences (CHANS); Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance (CBPLG); and Social Sciences, Theology, Humanities and Education (CSSTH&E). New academic programs include master’s and doctoral degree programs in migration, citizenship and refugee protection; intellectual property; public health; and entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.
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Africa University continues to be the evidence of faith, hope and belief in the visions of dreamers. Thank you for investing in changed lives and communities! Encourage your church to set a 100 percent apportionment remittance goal. Sending a portion of your goal each month makes it easier to reach full remittance by year’s end. Your church’s generosity ensures 100 percent support of Africa University’s operational budget for costs such as utilities, Continued next page.
How you can help... continued.
AU and Alumni Respond to Cyclone Idai
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mily Giwa, 33, is dejected. “I lost my two older children. The bodies of Adore, 14, and Ashley, 10, were found a few meters from here,” Giwa said. “This is where our home used to be. It was a fourroom house, nothing remained after the cyclone.” Giwa, her husband Arthur, and their two young children have been living in the Ngangu United Methodist Church since mid-March. They are one of nine families housed at the church in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. Cyclone Idai made landfall in Beira, Mozambique on March14th and quickly moved inland to Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing hundreds, destroying homes, crops and livelihoods, and leaving thousands homeless. In the ongoing disaster response, affected communities in the three countries reap the benefits of Africa University’s ministry. Rev. Eurico Gustavo, a Mozambican, graduated from Africa University in 2013. He is the assistant pastor at Beira United Methodist Church and communications director of the North Mozambique Conference. “Almost all the roofs from churches were blown away. The walls of some parsonages collapsed, leaving pastors homeless,” Gustavo said. Gustavo is helping to register the most vulnerable survivors of the cyclone and preparing to distribute mosquito nets, food, and farming tools to hundreds of families.
A fellow pastor and Africa University graduate, Rev. Daniel Mhone, is one of two superintendents overseeing the Malawi Provisional Conference where Cyclone Idai devastated 15 of the 29 districts. Mhone, (BD 1997), described the southern and southeastern parts of the country as hard-hit.
equipment, and faculty salaries. Consider these additional ways of helping the university educate new leaders for the nations of Africa:
Mhone coordinates relief efforts with support from partners and friends. “We are mobilizing for more resources to help with the recovery and rebuilding program so that we can contribute in alleviating the suffering” said Mhone. Rev. Sophirina Sign (BD, 2001 and MTS, 2008) is the connectional ministries director for the Marange District in Zimbabwe. She pastors Mt. Makomwe United Methodist Church. Sign is supporting, counseling, and encouraging bereaved families. “I have been to Ngangu three times to pray with survivors. The disaster was bad. It caused heavy and painful losses,” said Sign. In the weeks following the disaster, Africa University students, faculty and staff collected cash, clothing and other goods for immediate relief and offered psycho-social support to survivors. Now, the university is journeying about 75 miles southeast of its main campus to help communities in the Chimanimani area of Zimbabwe rebuild critical infrastructure and re-establish livelihoods. Africa University is providing $50,000 for the construction of a new classroom block at Hlabiso Primary School. This gift is just the beginning. “The university will partner with The United Methodist Church to build a sanctuary and parsonage in Rusitu,” said Stephene Chikozho, director of advancement and public affairs. Africa University’s college of health, agriculture and natural sciences is offering communities access to soil testing and impact assessments on future land use. Story and photo by Eveline Chikwanah, a communicator of the Zimbabwe East Conference. To assist Cyclone Idai-affected families in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, make a donation to UMCOR’s International Disaster Response (Advance #982450).
Planned Gifts are the foundation for the long-term survival of Africa University. As you make your estate plans, consider leaving a gift or bequest to Africa University in your will. If you have already included the university in your estate plans, please let us know so we may welcome you to the Richard E. “Dick” Reeves Legacy Society. Usahwira — This word in the Shona language means “a beautiful friendship.” Encourage your local church can become a partner with Africa University by supporting one student for four years. The annual cost of supporting one undergraduate student is just under $6,000. Local churches may provide full or partial scholarships. Endowment Fund — Give to the Africa University Endowment Fund (World Service Special Gift #03-0188). The interest income from the endowment provides scholarships for our students. For more information about giving opportunities or to make a gift, visit us at support-africauniversity.org. To learn about Africa University and its impact, visit africau.edu. Let’s work together to continue the transformation of lives and of Africa. To download resources to help tell the story of the Africa University Fund apportionment, visit: umcgiving.org/auf. Current resources include: • Africa University: Where Africa Happens Every Day (video) • Africa University at 25 years: Seeding Hope, Shaping Opportunity (video) • This is our mission (brochure) • AU in a Nutshell (presentation) Africa University Development Office P.O. Box 340007 Nashville, TN 37203-0007 (615) 340-7438 audevoffice@gbhem.org www.support-africauniversity.org
General Board of Higher Education and Ministry Africa University Development Office The United Methodist Church P.O. Box 340007 Nashville, TN 37203-0007
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Africa University Today — Spring 2019
Agape Love Inspires Gift to Africa University
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erald A. Close knew from an early age that he wanted to be a missionary. Born and reared on a farm near Cando, North Dakota, he trained as a medical doctor in preparation for his mission service abroad. Dr. Close and his former spouse served as missionaries in Zimbabwe, the former Southern Rhodesia, from 1960 until 1970. Dr. Close was the first medical doctor assigned to the Mutambara Mission Hospital located in the Manicaland Province. During his missionary service, Dr. Close said that he grew to love and appreciate the country and its gracious people. He formed many close friendships that continued over the past fifty-nine years.
Dr. Close returned to Zimbabwe twice since leaving in 1970. He returned in 1981 to ascertain that the country was faring after gaining its independence in 1980, to visit many old friends, and to re-acquaint his three older children with the country of their youth. He returned in 1997 to visit the new United Methodist-related pan-African university that was built at the Old Mutare Mission site – Africa University. Dr. Close has kept abreast of the university’s development and has been a long-time supporter. He recently revised his estate plans to include the university as a beneficiary. “I believe strongly that education is the key for the continued development of Zimbabwe and the continent of Africa,” he said. “My hope is that my gift will help educate talented young men and women, regardless of economic status, for leadership roles in their respective countries.” Elaine Jenkins, Director of Planned Giving
The AU Today is published by the Africa University Development Office, in partnership with the Office of Communications, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM). For more information, contact the: Africa University Development Office P.O. Box 340007 Nashville, TN 37203-0007 Tel: Fax: Email:
(615) 340-7438 (615) 340-7290 audevoffice@gbhem.org support-africauniversity.org.