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Pioneer missionary to Somalia, Wilbert Lind, dies: the Somali challenge continues
LITITZ, Pa. – The death of 84-year-old Wilbert Lind, March 9, 2007, gave occasion to remember the pioneering life of the first Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) workers in Somalia and the enduring legacy of Mennonite presence in this troubled land.
After more than a decade of anarchy and clan warfare, Somalia today is a difficult country to enter. It was difficult in 1953 too, but for different reasons.
After a month-long trans-Atlantic voyage, Wilbert and Rhoda Lind with two-year-old Daniel arrived in the port city of Mogadishu, capital city of Somaliland, a new United Nations trusteeship. From the decks of the steamer, a large crane hoisted them onto the floor of a bobbing dinghy that took them through the shallows to the beach.
Glad to be on dry ground, the Lind family found rooms in an Italian hotel in the ancient city, where the great stone houses of the rich contrasted sharply with the mud-and-wattle homes of the poor.
Even before the Linds rented a home of their own, they worshipped on the beach each Saturday afternoon, where a Somali believer who had come to Christ in Ethiopia found them and joined the worship.
From the tiny beachhead in Mogadishu, Wilbert (or Bert as his friends called him) hired a Somali translator and crisscrossed the country in the mission’s Chevy Suburban Carryall. Driving 2,200 miles through sand and thorn brush, Lind talked and prayed, building relationships and making decisions about where to locate stations for the young Mennonite Mission in Somalia.
“English has no cultural value in Somalia,” an Italian government official told Lind, but when 100 young Somali men signed up for their first English class, Lind knew he’d tapped into a felt need. The class could only accommodate 30, but eager students in search of English reading materials wore out little Daniel’s Bible story books.
Despite opposition and some propaganda against the “infidels” as the Mennonites were called, a local clan chief declared, “Allah wills for you to be here!” at the groundbreaking ceremony for the first mission school.
Harold Reed, a missionary colleague who arrived in 1961, said, “It was incredible to see the number of relationships and open doors that Bert had opened for the mission. There were elementary schools and clinics in three locations, a boarding school, and a hospital.”
Word of the quality of these works spread among the population. Local Muslims who had been initially resistant expressed appreciation and support, and began sending their own children to the schools. Government officials praised the work.
And as Mennonites and Muslims lived side by side, there were inevitable requests for Bibles and explanations of Christian faith. Secret inquirers studied quietly with various missionaries.
But in 1963, three years after independence, the Somali Republic issued a decree: “it is not permissible to spread or propagandize any religions other than the True Religion of Islam” and mandated the teaching of Islam in all schools – including those of the Mennonite mission.
Yet in this harsh environment, a small circle of 22 Somali believers had begun worshipping publicly in Mogadishu. Upon hearing the latest decree, one asked, “If I want to study the Bible, how can my government keep me from that?”
Ivan Leaman, a medical doctor, and his wife Mary Ellen were colleagues of the Linds. They remember Bert, in this tense atmosphere, telling about his conversation with a Somali who wanted to debate religion: “I don’t argue about faith,” Lind said. “I simply share what Jesus means to me.”
After 14 years in Somalia, the Linds returned to the U.S. where Bert served as an overseer of churches in the New England district of Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC), 1985-1990. Freeman Miller, director of Home Ministries for EMM at the time, described Lind’s service as “tireless, faithful, enthusiastic, and excellent.”
Miller said, “I was often impressed by the spontaneous expressions of gratitude by the church planters and their wives in reference to [Lind’s] bishop work.”
Lind also served as a member of the EMM board for 13 years, and continued to attend the bimonthly meetings as an honored guest even after his term expired. His eyes sparkled at any mention of Somali concerns, and he took a keen interest in new work opening in Muslim-majority nations.
Until illness prevented him from attending, Lind was a faithful member of the Somali prayer fellowship that meets monthly at Landis Homes Retirement Community in Lititz, Pa.
“We give thanks to God for Wilbert Lind’s life and ministry,” said EMM President Richard Showalter. “He was a true pioneer, a Mennonite apostle to Somalia.”
More than 200 workers have served with EMM among Somalis in East Africa since the Linds first opened the Mennonite Mission in Somalia in 1953.
“Their effort was significant,” said Mark Logan who served the EMM/MCC Somali desk from Nairobi, Kenya, 2000-2004. “We never cease to be awed by how Somalis regard the name ‘Mennonite.’ Their faces light up with recognition. The name of the ‘Mennonite Mission Clan’ is the seal of our acceptance and a form of safe passage.”
There have been no resident Mennonite workers in Somalia since 1993. Joint EMM and MCC efforts continue with Somalis in peacemaking, education, fellowship, development, and relief from Kenya and the U.S.
“There is urgent need for a new generation of Mennonites to pick up the vision for Somalia,” said Clair Good, representative to Africa for EMM. “While we are praying and asking God what forms our ministry should take in this era, we continue to carry the people of Somalia in our hearts.”
-Jewel Showalter
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