In Defence Of Pastor //Kheibeb

IN an article published in The Namibian of May 16 2007, titled ‘Racist backlash angers city Lutheran pastor’, I would like to comment as follows.

The alleged incident of racism in the Martin Luther Congregation (Khomasdal) of the ELCRN cannot go unchallenged. It is shocking and outrageous to say the least.It is indeed a shame if some of our Christian brothers and sisters would look at the skin colour of the preacher first, instead of embracing the gospel or word of God.Pastor Abraham //Kheibeb is known to me very well and I am proud to mention that he is certainly one of the most hard-working pastors our church has ever produced.At the same time he counts among the very few who are quick to admit and acknowledge his own mistakes.While I do not necessarily entertain his action (to move out of the church on Sunday 13.05.07), I applauded him whole-heartedly for taking a stand against the alleged racism.I firmly believe that church should be the last place where any form of racism, ethnicity, tribalism, etc.should take place, simply because it is against the teaching of the Bible (You must love your neighbour like yourself).Apart from that it is against the Supreme Law of this country.That God created us as Namas, Damaras, Basters, etc is a miracle of His creation and indeed a blessing.Together we are called upon as Christians to complement one another in order to win souls for his kingdom.To me the church on earth should be an assembly of people from diverse cultural backgrounds and persuasions, where the ultimate aim would be to serve the Lord.It is therefore incumbent upon every Christian to become a messenger of unity in diversity, on which our government, semi-state institutions and private sector can model themselves.Thus, racism has no place in our congregations and should be nipped in the bud whenever it surfaces.Is it not because of the racism that one observes the emergence of neo-colonialism or reverse apartheid in our country: where it is no longer important what qualification one has or what you know about, but what tribe you are and who you know in the government? Christians in our country were on the forefront to fight tooth and nail against apartheid with all its social evils – hence we are all duty bound to guard against it.We need to have brave and courageous leaders like Pastor //Kheibeb to take an uncompromising stand against racism in our country.Today the world is becoming an unsafe place to live in, not necessarily because of those who commit evil, but because of those who see and allow evil to flourish.Michael Mutako /Uirab, UsakosIt is shocking and outrageous to say the least.It is indeed a shame if some of our Christian brothers and sisters would look at the skin colour of the preacher first, instead of embracing the gospel or word of God.Pastor Abraham //Kheibeb is known to me very well and I am proud to mention that he is certainly one of the most hard-working pastors our church has ever produced.At the same time he counts among the very few who are quick to admit and acknowledge his own mistakes.While I do not necessarily entertain his action (to move out of the church on Sunday 13.05.07), I applauded him whole-heartedly for taking a stand against the alleged racism.I firmly believe that church should be the last place where any form of racism, ethnicity, tribalism, etc.should take place, simply because it is against the teaching of the Bible (You must love your neighbour like yourself).Apart from that it is against the Supreme Law of this country.That God created us as Namas, Damaras, Basters, etc is a miracle of His creation and indeed a blessing.Together we are called upon as Christians to complement one another in order to win souls for his kingdom.To me the church on earth should be an assembly of people from diverse cultural backgrounds and persuasions, where the ultimate aim would be to serve the Lord.It is therefore incumbent upon every Christian to become a messenger of unity in diversity, on which our government, semi-state institutions and private sector can model themselves.Thus, racism has no place in our congregations and should be nipped in the bud whenever it surfaces.Is it not because of the racism that one observes the emergence of neo-colonialism or reverse apartheid in our country: where it is no longer important what qualification one has or what you know about, but what tribe you are and who you know in the government? Christians in our country were on the forefront to fight tooth and nail against apartheid with all its social evils – hence we are all duty bound to guard against it.We need to have brave and courageous leaders like Pastor //Kheibeb to take an uncompromising stand against racism in our country.Today the world is becoming an unsafe place to live in, not necessarily because of those who commit evil, but because of those who see and allow evil to flourish.Michael Mutako /Uirab, Usakos