"Our Mandela"

 Jimmy Carter 

When I went to hear Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School in Plains, Georgia I was not prepared to be the one who led the opening prayer for his teaching. Because of the large number of visitors they have on the Sundays when Mr. Carter teaches, the leaders at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains have a kind of "liturgy" that they go through before Mr. Carter enters the sanctuary. The woman who runs the show is Jan Williams, a former school teacher...with perhaps a bit of drill sergeant mixed in! She is tough and of course it doesn't hurt to be backed up by the Secret Service. There were 5 of us who traveled from Sparta, NC to hear Mr. Carter. One of our group somehow managed to meet Jan on Saturday while we were visiting Plains and touring the Carter homestead. She told Jan about our little group of 5 who had traveled for a day to be in Plains. On Sunday morning after being cleared by the Secret Service we entered the sanctuary. Miss Jan who was already into her crowd "warm up" saw us and motioned us down front where she had seats on the second pew saved for us. As part of her instructions to the over 200 people who came to hear Mr. Carter she told us that he would ask any who were ministers (active or retired) to stand and introduce ourselves. "BUT", she said, "if you do that be prepared to pray, because Mr. Carter will ask one of you to pray." 

After all the ministers had introduced themselves, given their church affiliation and where they lived and worked; Mr. Carter turned and faced me and asked me to pray. It was quite an honor to pray for this wonderful man who then led us in a grace filled study of the Prodigal Son. I have since learned that Mr. Carter almost always asks a woman pastor to pray. 

A good place to begin understanding why Carter does this is in his new book pictured above. Jimmy Carter was raised in the Southern Baptist Church - a Church which has consistently voted "no" to the ordination of women. In 2000 the Southern Baptist Convention took official action which made it clear that women would no longer be able to serve as deacons, pastors, or chaplains. Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter decided to end their relationship with the denomination. They chose to remain part of their local church where a substantial number of members supported the ministry of women. Mr. Carter spends the first several chapters of this book helping us understand his own view of the equality of women.  In these chapters Mr. Carter offers his own reflections and study of scripture regarding gender equality. It is an engaging and entertaining account. For me, however, the heart of this book is found in the other 15 chapters of the book. In those chapters Carter shows how women have been, and still are victims of abusive power, war and violence. His writing is a place to begin as we talk about the effects of gender inequality. 

We are making progress in how women are treated but  a recent news story shows us how much more progress we need to make.  A month ago 230 Nigerian school girls were abducted by the ultra radical Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram. Reports say that the terrorists are sharing the girls, conducting mass marriages and selling these young girls. The misinterpretation of the Koran by these fundamentalists is tragic beyond words. Pointing fingers at "those terrorists over there" does little to help these girls. The misinterpretation of all of our sacred writings (Koran, Bible, Torah) have always led to oppression, slavery and degradation of humanity. Raising our awareness to see how easily this happens in every culture gives a chance for human dignity to happen. Until we can honor the image of God in every human we will have no peace. 

A friend recently called Jimmy Carter, "our Mandela". After reading this book I realize why she said this. In his own quiet and humble way Jimmy Carter has offered "freedom" to so many through his teaching and the work of the Carter Foundation in Atlanta. You will be amazed, as I was, at how much this lovely man of God has done with the gifts God has given him.