The Michigan Conference’s Rev. Ishamel Kithinji Mathiu is one of the on-site interpreters, ensuring delegates understand everything they hear and can vote confidently.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
General Conference is a diverse gathering of United Methodists from all over the world. It’s a beautiful time for worship and fellowship with siblings in Christ who have traveled many miles to represent their annual conferences and set direction for The United Methodist Church.
This General Conference, some 278 of the 765 credentialed delegates registered and present in Charlotte are from central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines. For many of these delegates, English is not their first language, making the role of interpreters crucial in ensuring effective communication.
Rev. Ishamel Kithinji Mathiu, currently appointed as pastor to a Michigan Conference congregation, has been a member of an English-to-Kiswahili interpretation team of interpreters using their skills and gifts at General Conference.
An ordained elder of the Methodist Church in Kenya, Pastor Ishmael served as the Mission and Evangelism Coordinator for the Methodist Church in Kenya for five years before coming to the United States to pursue his master’s degree from Perkins School of Theology of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.
Pastor Ishmael served in the North Texas Conference for seven months after his graduation before accepting an appointment in Michigan. Heading north was a Holy Spirit-led family decision. He says, “There were 18 annual conferences that responded to my application following seminary. I narrowed it down to three, and then my family and I prayed, and we picked the Michigan Conference.”
Lake Ann UMC in Benzie County, west of Traverse City, is where Pastor Ishmael currently serves. He and Mercy, his wife, son Matt, and daughter Joy enjoy living in northern Michigan, although he admits he hasn’t adjusted to such long winters yet.
Part of Pastor Ishmael’s responsibility as the Mission and Evangelism Coordinator for the Methodist Church in Kenya was traveling with English-speaking missionaries from the United States or England and assisting with interpretation as they visited churches in different countries in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Rwanda).
He brought his expertise in interpretation to the United States. While a student at Perkins, he was invited to be an interpreter for the 2020 General Conference, but it was postponed. Once the General Conference was back on schedule, the invitation returned through a United Methodist minister’s fellowship of some 40 pastors from Kenya who live in the United States.
Pastor Ishmael is part of a team of more than a dozen English-to-Kiswahili interpreters at General Conference. During the worship and plenary sessions, Pastor Ishmael has been taking turns with the other interpreters providing live oral interpretation from a booth. Delegates on the voting floor wear special headsets, allowing them to hear the sermons, speeches, and announcements in Kiswahili via an interpreter’s spoken words.
Last week, he also assisted during the legislative committee sessions. The setup was different, though. Pastor Ishmael sat with small groups in meeting rooms and interpreted what was spoken without headsets or listening devices. Doing this work in real time takes tremendous focus and concentration, but it’s a ministry he delights in.
The goal of an interpreter’s work is to ensure that every delegate clearly understands what is going on and feels confident in their understanding of the legislation to vote on. “I’ve enjoyed how those hearing the interpretation are responding to our ministry,” says Pastor Ishmael. “They understand it well, and when they are voting, they are not voting for something they don’t know about.”
The oral interpretation has been successful, but Pastor Ishmael and the other interpreters have expressed concern about the translated written materials. The Advance Daily Christian Advocate, created weeks in advance, has not been the most accessible for everyone present from Congo, Kenya, and Tanzania. The translation uses French and other languages, which some delegates cannot read, so more care could have been given to these materials.
Having Pastor Ishmael and the other interpreters present to assist the delegates and clarify the printed documents has been crucial. He and the interpreters are preparing to write a statement to General Conference leadership about this matter so that a solid, clean translation will be created post-conference after church policy is finalized.
This is Pastor Ishmael’s first General Conference. He has experienced a sense of hope and healing following a season of disaffiliation that has caused broken hearts. “This week, I sensed the Spirit of God moving in how we have been together, speaking different languages — all 10 represented. We are speaking about the same God but with different names for God, and God is listening and understanding it all. And that made me feel the oneness we have as Christians.”
He also sees the beauty of God’s kingdom in those worshipful moments: “It doesn’t matter what language you speak. I may speak French; you may speak English. I may speak Kiswahili; you may speak Korean. But the thing is, we are talking to the same God, and the love we have is for this same God. And I know God is in heaven, saying, ‘These are my children.’”
Editor’s note: In a previous version of this article, Pastor Ishmael was incorrectly identified as having transferred to The United Methodist Church. He remains an elder of the Methodist Church in Kenya.
Last Updated on May 2, 2024