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Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Children’s program

    As a church, it’s important to take in mind that a sense of belonging should be there for everyone regardless of the differences, especially in age.

    Mennonite World Conference is well-aware of this matter, hence Assembly 17 in Indonesia has a children’s program. This is provided for children to be able to experience, connect and learn together with those of the same age from around the world in the global church.

    Held at Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Sangkakala Salatiga (STT Sangkakala), children’s theme emphasizes learning. Jennifer McWilliams, the acting Children’s Program Coordinator explained that

    “The big idea was Jesus invited others to learn from him to be disciples,” says Jennifer McWilliams, acting children’s program coordinator. Through this, the children learn to understanding that the church is bigger than they think.

    Despite personal challenges and language barriers, the first session of the program went well on the first day. The people participating as volunteers have been very helpful during the conduct.

    All in all, the Assembly is not only a place that caters to adult participants’ spiritual needs, but also the children’s. Through creative approaches, the program is a perfect place for the children to learn about each other and Jesus in a fun way.

    —Windhi Arsari is a teacher. She is a member of GITJ Kelet, Indonesia.

    *Today, there are three Anabaptist-Mennonite groups in Indonesia:
    • Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa (GITJ –Evangelical Church in the Land of Java)
    • Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI –Muria Christian Church of Indonesia)
    • Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (JKI –Indonesian Christian Congregation)

  • Scan QR or click here to join the Assembly Hub to watch the videos.

    Enter the name and email address you used to register for the virtual Assembly.

    You will be sent a one-time passcode to complete your login. This will be sent to the email and phone number with which you registered.

    This will happen every time you register.

    Click here to view the listing of workshops.

  • Barriers of internet access and recording quality, of jetlag and illness, of language and culture stand in the way of MWC Assemblies but in Indonesia 5 July 2022, they did not prevent God’s people from worshipping together.

    “This marks a new way of doing assembly where we can learn and fellowship in satellite locations and gather online in groups and families around the world,” says National Advisory Council member Paulus Widjaja. He cautioned against fear, “a great enemy” that causes us to exclude others.

    Amid songs and dances representing Javanese culture, he presented MWC (outgoing) president J. Nelson Kraybill with a gunungan, a fan that represents the world, from Javanese theatre.

    “You come to us walking on the water through the storm,” prayed J. Nelson Kraybill, acknowledging the fears facing Assembly participants.

    Jesus was the greatest barrier crosser, said evening speaker Tim Geddert, on the theme of following Jesus across barriers. Jesus’ interaction with the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 shows both Jesus’ divinity and humanity, he says. In every Gospel passage, we should ask how we can learn from both, Tim Geddert says.

    “May we throw open the doors of our lives to the disruptive Holy Spirit,” prayed Lisa Carr Pries, MWC vice president (2022-2025), in closing.

  • Assembly in Indonesia 2022 is about to begin on 5 July 2022 with strict health protocols in place, as mandated by the local health authority.

    “As per government protocols, we mandate mask-wearing in all indoor spaces and crowded outdoor spaces. Seats are arranged for social distancing, and compliance to mask-wearing is checked at entrances and throughout the event,” says Agus Setianto, Assembly national co-coordinator.

    “With testing no longer required for most air travel, we have implemented our own screening regiment to do everything within our capacity to make Assembly as safe as possible for all,” he says.

    Starting 30 June 2022, all delegates/participants arriving from Semarang are tested prior to boarding the bus to Salatiga. Once in Salatiga, testing is available for anyone. If positive cases are found, they are isolated.

    “Between 30 June and 4 July 2022, we have administered more than 1 000 tests,” says Sarah Yetty, Assembly national co-coordinator.

    “In this unprecedented time, it is inevitable that we will find a few cases. We have a protocol in place for containment and will require two days of negative antigen tests before a person can be released from isolation,” says Liesa Unger, MWC chief international events officer.

    “The tests are slightly uncomfortable, and quarantine even more so. But everyone is cooperating, strengthening each other through prayers and calls, delivering food and medicine. At this Assembly, we have many barriers to cross: we are experiencing communion in different ways. We are thankful for the resilience of our community, Indonesian hosts and international participants,” says J. Nelson Kraybill, MWC president (2015-2022).

    “I believe what we are doing in Assembly is a great example of loving our neighbours, as laid out in Philippians 2:3-4,” he says.

  • 11 tips for using the Assembly Hub

    You can meet brothers and sisters within the wide diversity of the Mennonite World Conference family in the Assembly Hub.

    1. Log on to the Assembly Hub (Cvent app) before the event to set up your profile. Add a photo, your title and affiliations, and a quote that says something about you.
    2. Earn points in the game challenges by participating in Assembly online.
    3. Visit the exhibits. Learn about the networks and agencies within the Mennonite World Conference family.
    4. Make a plan to meet people across barriers. Use the messaging and instant networking features to talk to others.
    5. Maximize social media: use the event hashtag (#mwcmm) when you post pictures and thoughts on the plenaries, workshops and Global Church Village stage. Publicize your attendance at the event on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, personal website/blog. Join the Facebook group.
    6. If you’re on-site participant, share your experience in photos and vlogs. If you’re an online participant, show us your set up: From where are you participating? Who is with you there? Send photos to photos@mwc-cmm.org.
    7. Use translation software to meet someone who doesn’t speak your language. Websites like Google Translate and DeepL.com can aide you in exchanging messages with someone you wouldn’t otherwise understand.
    8. Engage with the sessions by asking questions on the Assembly Hub. Private message with new contacts as you hear subjects you’d like to learn more about from their perspective.
    9. Share information with others. Post related articles on virtual bulletin boards.
    10. Join a seven-person discussion group to hear different perspectives on a topic.
    11. Don’t stop when the Sunday service ends. You can watch videos on the Assembly Hub until 30 September 2022.

    You may see more languages than you are accustomed to in the Assembly Hub. To ensure everyone can participate in the same conversation, some content will appear in all four languages (English, Spanish, French, Indonesian).

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  • “It’s not the planned things that change us; it’s the encounters,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß, a two-time Assembly participant from Germany. Online participants find space for those barrier-crossing encounter at Mennonite World Conference’s event in the Assembly Hub. 

    Event programs can be inspiring; however, the moments that make life change are often spontaneous connections over food or in workshops. “It’s a mix between choice and chance,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß. 

    In the Assembly Hub, under the “Community” tab, participants can click “Discussions” to join 6-7 others. In this chat interface, participants can discuss across barriers of space and language (with the help of translation software). 

    Like a coffee break at an in-person event, the time in these rooms is limited to keep conversations fresh.   

    For those with video capacity, “instant networking” offers a five-minute video call with a single person.  

    Or participants can send a person-to-person instant message through the app.  

    “I look forward to conversations with you in chat spaces – serious ones about theology and lighthearted discussions of food and culture,” says Natacha Wendyam Kendrebeogo, YAMEN participant on the Assembly registration team. “What would you like to discuss with a global Anabaptist?”

    Registration has perks: take in ALL of Assembly 

    Online attendance at Assembly 17 is so much more than a YouTube video. Registration for Assembly 17 provides an all-access pass through the Assembly Hub! 

    • Take part in morning and evening sermons, greetings from ecumenical guests, worship singing with the international choir. 
    • ‚ÄãAttend workshop presentations.  
    • Watch video activities from the children and teen/youth program. 
    • Join a chat room to converse live with brothers and sisters from around the world.  
    • Read stories and watch blogs about the service projects, host churches in Indonesia, and attendees at Assembly. 

    All videos and stories will remain accessible until 30 September.

     

  • “Gathering” has become a bigger idea. Two years of changing pandemic restrictions taught people to be together virtually. Mennonite World Conference’s global Assembly benefits from this Zoom savvy. MWC’s event is open for anyone around the world to register to participate in these five days of fellowship from wherever they are. Additionally, recordings on the online Assembly Hub will be available until 30 September 2022. 

    Those watching from home limit the carbon footprint of their travel. MWC has taken steps to reduce the footprint for those in attendance as well. A compost company removes and processes all organic wastes for optimal nutrient cycling. And all participants receive a drinking receptable.  

    Photo: Preshit Rao

    For the local participants from Indonesia who may attend only one day out of five there are bamboo cups.  

    Deforestation in Indonesia can lead to landslides, erosion and flooding. Bamboo is a fast-growing tree that is native to Indonesia. Bamboo plantations not only help with forestation issues, but also provide raw material for local industry. 

    MWC ordered 2 000 cups from two local merchants, Carang Pakang in Jepara and dAb’c craft & furniture in Yogyakarta. These will displace plastic bottles for drinking, will provide a souvenir of MWC and will decompose back into natural ingredients after their useful life has been fulfilled.  

    “We want to be good stewards,” says Liesa Unger, MWC chief international events officer. “We pay attention to these details for sustainable Assembly planning. And we were glad to work with local craftspersons here to support their livelihoods in green industry.” 

  • GYS: Life in the Spirit: Learn, Serve, Worship 

    “What a unique opportunity to ask, observe and listen more than we speak,” says Christen Kong, Mennonite Church Canada delegate for the Global Youth Summit (GYS), 1-4 July 2022 in Salatiga, Indonesia.  

    “I am looking forward to meeting other Mennonite youth and documenting the ways they live out their faith. We don’t often get a chance to hear what being a Mennonite means to those far from us. I’m also eager to worship in many different languages!” she says.  

    Since its inception at the Assembly in Zimbabwe in 2003, the Global Youth Summit (GYS), has given Anabaptist-Mennonite youth from around the world the chance to come together, representing their diverse, local communities and connecting as a single family: one body, the church. 

    Each GYS delegate represents their national church. Their assignment is to conduct surveys among the young people in their national church. Delegates ask what challenges they are facing, what solutions they suggest to issues, and how they are involved in their church. They also ask questions relating to the theme: Life in the Spirit: Learn, Serve, Worship. 

    Christen Kong

    Mennonite Church (MC) Canada selected five representatives: one from each of Mennonite Church Canada’s regional churches. Christen Kong, MC Eastern Canada representative, serves as the official national delegate.  

    The five MC representatives are supported by a mentor who has previously attended GYS. The mentor helps with collecting information, organizing church visits and guides the delegate to prepare emotionally for the joys and difficulties that can arise by sharing with a large, diverse group of youth delegates. The team worked hard to develop a survey that would collect different voices.  

    “Youth voices need to be heard by asking them directly,” says Christen Kong.  

    “Many quotes we gathered from youth expressed not being asked or heard – despite them being in leadership positions – about decisions made in the church. There is a larger discussion about how the Mennonite church can foster more effective approaches to inter-generational dialogue in discovering ways to mentor and inspire youth.” 

    After arriving to Indonesia, participants at GYS will learn through teaching, interacting, worshipping and playing alongside youth from different cultures and contexts. Days will include worship, workshops, games, music from different countries and time for fellowship with young people from around the world. 

     

    “GYS provides one with the opportunity to really open our eyes to the fact that behind all those countries that appear on the map there are brothers and sisters in faith living in diverse social, economic and political contexts. These contexts are the backdrop for specific challenges in each region to which God is responding in unique ways,” says Karina Bogarin, a member of Maranata de los Hermanos Menonitas, Paraguay, and GYS attendee in 2015.  

     

    For more information about GYS, visit mwc-cmm.org/yabs. Follow the YABs on Instagram and Facebook for videos, livestreaming and updates during Indonesia 2022.  

    To see all Assembly Gathered proceedings, register at indonesia2022.mwc-cmm.org. 

    Did you know? Registration gives you an all-access pass to Assembly.   

    Not only…. 

    • plenary speakers beamed to you from 5 different sites in Indonesia, 
    • the international choir singing old favourites and new hits, 
    • Workshops with scholars and practitioners in the Anabaptist-Mennonite family 

    but also 

    • video activities from the children and teen/youth program 
    • a small group chat room to encounter new and old friends from around the world 
    • opportunity to pray with brothers and sisters in places of challenge, suffering or joy. 

     

  • Host a watch party – for your Sunday service or at any other time

    You can access all content until 30 September 2022 as long as you register.

     

  • Pray, learn and dialogue together at Assembly

    “What’s exciting and inspiring about the workshops and meetings at MWC’s Assembly are the learnings that one receives from hearing new experiences and different teachings for following Jesus Christ,” says Pablo Stucky, Mennonite World Conference regional representative for Latin America.  

    At an in-person event, registrants must choose one from a slate of compelling but competing workshop options. However, at this year’s online Assembly, registered participants will have access to videos of all workshops and plenary sessions for one month after the conclusion of Indonesia 2022.  

    In your choice from 50 workshops, learn about…  

    • peace building and witness in the context of hostility with Joseph K. Ngollah and Moses Munyoki from Eastleigh Fellowship in Kenya; 
    • peace work and the environment from David Lapp-Jost of Community Peacemakers Team; 
    • evangelical faith and the land of Israel from Bethlehem Bible College professor Alex Awad; 
    • Mennonite songs from Voice Together, the new Mennonite Church USA and Canada hymnal with Benjamin Bergey and Anneli Loepp Thiessen; 
    • adapting leadership and programs during COVID-19 by Arpit Kumar Kachhap and Jyothi Monalisa Bakhla of Bihar Mennonite Mandli of India;  
    • caring for refugees and migrants from Cesar Flores, Lizette Miranda and Bonnie Klassen of Mennonite Central Committee in Latin America; 
    • the emerging Global Anabaptist Peace Network with Andres Pacheco Lozano;
    • …and more 

    One of the biggest advantages of signing up for Assembly online is flexibility. Participants can use the workshops as a space for personal growth and learning and can also use the recorded workshops to facilitate 

    • devotionals; 
    • Sunday school classes; 
    • small group discussions; 
    • youth group meetings and other events.  

    To facilitate participation throughout the world, online workshops are live from 06:00-07:30 (additional program – early morning) and 00:00-1:30 Semarang time (additional program – late night).  

    “Growing collectively as a global community of Anabaptists requires us to join together in prayer, dialogue and spaces for learning,” says Michael Darby, Assembly marketing & communications coordinator. “We hope to share with you in online workshops at Assembly.”

    Find workshop descriptions here

     

    Indonesia 2022 Workshop

    At this year’s Assembly, your registration not only gives you an all-access pass to the plenary speakers beamed to you from 5 different sites in Indonesia, the international choir singing old favourites and new hits, workshops with scholars and practitioners in the Anabaptist-Mennonite family but also video activities from the children and teen/youth program, a small group chat room to encounter new and old friends from around the world.

    Register now at the Assembly registration site for your all-access pass. 

     

  • “The entire assembly is an opportunity to meet people from other countries,” says Jessica Mondal, coordinator of the Global Church Village. “But at the Global Church Village, we can see, touch and taste things from other cultures.” 

    Displays and presentations teach about cultural and ecclesial practices in other regions. Storytelling puts faces to stories the news media covered – or left out.  

    “We are all part of the same global church,” says Jessica Mondal. “Hearing from others broadens our horizons and helps to understand.” 

    The Global Church Village stage features live performances of song, poetry, drama, dance and storytelling in 30-minute blocks; booths display artefacts and activities from around the world.  

    Livestream from the stage will be posted to the Assembly Hub for watching in the moment or at a later time. Vlogs (video blogs) uploaded to the Hub will share the experience from GCV through interviews and descriptions.  

    “Anyone can present: we’re not looking for professionals,” says Jessica Mondal. “This is a more relaxed atmosphere for people to share something from home. Participants can just enjoy: hear my language, my music, my stories; taste my food and touch my fabrics.”  

    All on-site registrants may bring something to share about their culture.  

    Common artefacts at past Assemblies include snacks and cultural specialities, traditional clothing and jewelry, flags, maps, banners, posters and charts explaining Anabaptist-Mennonite history and relationships, and liturgical items.  

    Indonesian participants are preparing a coffee display. “Maybe participants from Ethiopia will also teach us about coffee, and those from Paraguay about terere/maté?” says Jessica Mondal.  

    Global Church Village has been part of Assembly since the Kolkata Assembly in 1997 where teenaged Jessica Mondal was volunteer youth steward. A vivid memory she cherishes is the quilt making session: “North Americans cut out pieces of fabric that participants could stitch together in the GCV hut. At the end, it made an HIV-AIDS quilt that went around to several countries, raising awareness.”  

    The GCV stage livestream (noon to 17:30 Semarang time*) will be available in the Assembly Hub. Online participants can join the contests and scavenger hunts and chat spaces. 

    *Click here to find the time in your region

    *Click here to sign up to contribute to the stage

     

  • “Do I participate alone at my computer, or will groups emerge to share what is typically a communal event?” Ray Brubacher, former event planner for Mennonite World Conference, didn’t wait until July to decide. Unable to attend the event in person, he is organizing watch parties for Anabaptist-Mennonites in his region to attend the hybrid Assembly together.  

    Mennonite World Conference’s Assembly will take place in Indonesia 5–10 July 2022 both on-site and online. The event features 10 worship services across six days with inspiring speakers from the global Anabaptist-Mennonite family.  

    On-site attendance is limited due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the hybrid event enables everyone to participate from wherever they are. Plenary sessions, workshops and Global Church Village stage will be livestreamed and recorded.  

    Online registrants enter the Assembly Hub to join conversation spaces with other participants from around the world, attend workshops and view photos and videos from the live event.  

    “We encourage local congregations to register for the Assembly,” says Jardely Martinez, Assembly communications coordinator. “You can view the livestream in real time with Indonesia or host a watch party at a time of your convenience.”  

    The Anabaptist-Mennonite pastors and leaders group in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is planning two viewing sessions from Wednesday to Saturday.  

    “I learned in Zimbabwe to keep it simple,” says Ray Brubacher.  

    Likely hosted at a Mennonite Church Canada congregation, these watch parties will be open to all Anabaptist-Mennonites from the region. Ray Brubacher is especially keen to see newer Anabaptist-Mennonite congregations attend, especially those on the margins of dominant culture in Canada.  

    Assembly videos will be available for one month after the event.  

    “You can relieve your pastor of sermon duties this summer by screening one or several of the Assembly plenary speakers,” says Jardely Martínez. “Your worship band can learn new songs from the international ensemble or take a break by airing the Assembly worship singing video.  

    Experts from the global Anabaptist-Mennonite family will share their knowledge in workshops. Some will be livestreamed from onsite while others will be held in a webinar format. “Workshops may be used in Sunday school classes or provide material for discussion in week-day studies or youth groups,” says Rianna Isaak-Krauß, Assembly assistant. 

    This world-wide gathering only happens every six or seven years.

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