2024 Sankɔfa Gatherings Kwanzaa-Ujima Celebration & Akan Initiation Ceremony

Name: 2024 Sankɔfa Gatherings Kwanzaa-Ujima Celebration & Akan Initiation Ceremony
Start: 2024-12-28T16:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-12-28T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Friendship Community Presbyterian Church

Schedule

Sat Dec 28 2024 at 04:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Friendship Community Presbyterian Church | Pittsburgh, PA

FURAHA YA KWANZAA 2024!
Habari gani? *UJIMA*...habari gani!
This year, because our gathering will land on Saturday, December 28--which in the Nguzo Saba or, Seven Principles--lands us on the 3rd principle, *UJIMA*, we're gonna celebrate, learn about and practice *COLLECTIVE WORK & RESPONSIBILITY* Also, in our Sankɔfa Gatherings honorary Ghanaian cultural equivalent, we use the phrase *BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO*, from, "Benkum dware nifa na nifa so dware benkum" or "Woamma wo yɔnko antwa nkron a, wonnya edu ntwa", meaning 'Help me and let me help you'--cooperation & interdependence--an equivalent of the east African Kiswahili language word, *Ujima*, but it's in our honorary Ghanaian Twi language. Also, our honorary Ghanaian Adinkra symbol used to signify the principle 'Ujima' is *AKOMA NTOASO*, literally, *THE JOINED or UNITED HEARTS*, from the expression, "Obi dɔ wo a, dɔ no bi" or "Akoma ntoasoɔ ne ɔdɔ, anidie, ne nteaseɛ"; it's a symbol of agreement, togetherness and unity (in thought and in deed) or a charter; linked hearts.
In Sankɔfa Gatherings, as 'Afro-Reclamationists in Christ, we in Sankɔfa Gatherings, recognize how this aspect of our cultural heritage is beautifully aligned with the greater authority of our 'Nazrawi' (i.e., ancient Ethiopian/Ge'ez for 'Christian') spirituality and ethics known as *KOINONIA* (i.e., ancient Greek for "fellowship", "communion", "joint participation", or "partnership"; "jointly contributed gift"; practically, 'what is mine is yours because it all, and we all, belong to One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father Over ALL and Through All and In All (Ephesians 4:5-6)
Koinonia can be best seen demonstrated in the 'Shajeh' (i.e., near ancient Kemetic/Egyptian/Coptic for 'the word', referred to as the Word of God or, later referred to as 'The Bible', meaning, 'The Book') in Acts 2:42-46 and Acts 4:32-35. We, the community of Afrikans in *Yeshua* (i.e., Afro-Asiatic language of ancient Hebrew for what later became the word, 'Jesus') and college & community outreach ministry called, Sankɔfa Gatherings, stand firmly on our practice of koinonia because of deep belief in Yeshua--the Eternal and Original Creator of the human instinct towards 'collective work & responsibility' found in all cultures, to one degree of another, including our own African/Afrikan cultural heritage.
During this Kwanzaa celebration, we'll also participate in, along with his family present, the Akan initiation ceremony for and celebration of in its own right, one our our Sankɔfa Gatherings college students (junior CCAC nursing student), a true son of this ministry--Mr. Elias Bishop. This ceremony will be led by Nana Kwabena Nyamekyɛ Agyɛman (Baba Gene Tibbs) and other formerly-initiated Akan cultural adherants under Nana Kwabena's chieftaincy. Elias's initiation will be aided an approved by Nana Kwabena's queen-mother, Nana Abena Aponkuah II and her husband/Nana Kwabena's tutoring chief, Nana Clement Adu-Gyimah.
This will be an act of present-day communal expression of our Sankɔfa Gatherings village, led by the Holy Spirit (known among our Nazawi-Ethiopian ancestors as 'seuartu ngiss') giving acknowledgement and the approval that comes from our 'Great Ancestor', Yeshua (in the truest sense of the tradition, even verifiable in the Shajeh) of the elevation of one of our next-generation leaders!
Asè! Weɛ! Amen!