• English

Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    “If we want to be a Peace Church,” says Garcia Pedro Domingos, “we must also respond to and offer other alternatives to those who need jobs and financial stability.”

    Domingos, who comes from Angola, made this comment during face-to-face Peace Commission meetings. He shared stories about some of the challenges of his country and how it continues to be a highly militarized society due to its long civil war which ended in 2002. One of the ongoing realities, Domingos says, is that the military is one of the most stable employers in a country that suffers from high unemployment rates.

    “This affects the Colombian context as well,” says Jenny Neme, a member of the Peace Commission (2009–2018).

    As Neme shared some of Colombia’s and the Colombian Mennonite church’s story, Domingos displayed both surprise and relief to hear how others also struggle with similar realities, even on different continents.

    Despite distance and difference, there is a connection in the challenges that confront our common quest to work toward God’s peace.

    Sometimes, within our local context, our view of the church can lead us to feel isolated. We may not know the struggles that others also face; struggles that may be similar to ours.

    Our churches may also seem quite homogeneous. We do not see the diversity that we may want. This, of course, is truer in some contexts than others.

    When, however, we only look to our local context and our expressions of church there as the foundation of our church, we fail to recognize how other churches from around the world offer a glimpse of who we can be together – sharing in each other’s challenges and burdens as well as gifts and differences.

    What’s more, with a narrow local focus, we fail to recognize the multicultural beauty that has become reality within our global communion as Mennonite World Conference. This broader perspective provides an encouraging glimpse that can feed our drive for local congregations to embody this multicultural mosaic in our own contexts.

    This mosaic of diversity offers a beautiful and hopeful reality. It demonstrates a church that is truly global. People from all over the world, representing different countries, socio-economic realities, races, ages and gender all come together as one family.

    It provides an opportunity to share our lives with one another.

    This does not, however, mean that tensions, differences, and/or challenges are not present. Like in any family, disagreement is part of the richness of relationships. It does, however, offer opportunities to learn from one another, experiencing different ways of doing things, and becoming more aware of the different challenges from around the world.

    In expanding our perspective to the realities of other global sisters and brothers, we learn about the challenges of witnessing to peace.

    Our world continues to suffer from the effects of an addiction to violence, greed and self-centredness that prevent us from living in right relationships with others, the world and with God. And yet, when we come together to worship, build relationships and share about the struggles we face, we open our lives and worldviews to the presence of the Holy Spirit who transforms us through these experiences.

    Such experiences provide ongoing opportunities to explore how we can walk together, witnessing to God’s peace in our world.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Andrew Suderman, secretary of the Peace Commission. He serves as Assistant Professor in theology, peace, and mission at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

  • Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    People who are involved in service are typically practical, caring people, people of action. Of course, the motivation for doing service is to follow Jesus and his teaching, to reach out to the weak, to the orphans and widows, and so on (Jeremiah 22:3, James 1:27).

    People who have a heart for evangelism may be called people of proclamation. They are concerned with pointing the way to Jesus. They follow the command to go into the world, teach and make disciples.

    When accused of not caring about peoples’ souls, the first group might say, but you have to feed an empty stomach first before giving spiritual nutrition.

    The others might reply, what good is it to feed people and yet do nothing for their lost souls?

    I know this description is oversimplified and polarizing, yet it holds some truth, based on my experience.

    A tension

    In the past, I sensed a tension between these two groups: the people of proclamation and the people of action. Both would claim their mission to be holistic. Sometimes conflicts developed. Often there was a lot of judgement passed.

    When we established the Global Anabaptist Service Network (GASN) within Mennonite World Conference (MWC), there was much discussion regarding the commission in which it should be hosted: Mission or Deacons. The arguments for the one or the other reflected this tension.

    It was decided to host it in the Mission Commission. The decision was supported by the desire to overcome the gap between proclamation and service, word and deed.

    I was not very happy. As part of the coordinating committee of GASN, I was named as a specialist in the Mission Commission. I do not feel that I am a missionary. I am a servant. Now I had to identify with missions.

    A transformation

    I was a little lost at first. But over time, I realized that a change was taking place in me. I began to see that my gifts as a servant are as valuable as the gifts of others who are church planters and evangelists and teachers.

    God wants all of us in his mission. Only together are we complete.

    Since then, GASN has met twice. We had joint meetings with the Global Mission Fellowship (GMF) where we shared stories and teachings with the two groups together, and also had separate sessions.

    Particularly as the two groups met separately, I could sense that we still need the Spirit to teach us: together we are called to work in God’s mission according to our gifts, convictions and views.

    Empowered by God’s breath (both “spirit” and “breath” are translations for the Hebrew word ruach), we will see change and see God at work.

    During the meetings in Kenya in April 2018, one sign of that unity for me was the prayer map (see picture). All GMF and GASN members were invited to take time to identify a country, place a candle on that spot and pray for that country, for the people or for someone we knew there.

    During this time of silent prayer around that large map it was obvious: we are one in the Spirit.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Barbara Hege-Galle, a member of the Mission Commission. She served with Christliche Dienste for 32 years and lives in Bammental, Germany. She also serves the local church there.

  • Loving the generous people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is not difficult, but evil happening in the rural Kasaï region of that lush country is hard to comprehend.

    In December 2017, survivors of civil war there told a delegation from the Mennonite World Conference Deacons Commission of surprise attacks on their villages from marauding militia. With guns or knives, such groups slaughter men and boys and those associated in any way with the government.

    Victims die in front of their own families, in front of women and children who themselves might be assaulted or killed. Villages lie in ruins; thousands have fled on foot. Traumatized survivors have lost everything – property, family, community. Some bear scars of torture. Most will never go back to their birthplace.

    I was part of the delegation making that pastoral visit, and returned home with gratitude for Mennonites in DRC who received us with generosity and love despite their suffering.

    In a country with overwhelming economic and political challenges, Mennonites fill houses of worship with exuberant song and a hopeful message of reconciliation. We saw Mennonites at the cities of Kikwit and Kinshasa caring for displaced persons from any tribe in a nation where it is common to care only for your own kin.  

    One group of traumatized survivors met our delegation at Église Frères Mennonites Nouvelle Jerusalem in Kikwit. The agony of stories they told made me long for fulfilment of John’s vision: “God himself will be with them, he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more” (Revelation 21).

    Causes of the mayhem in parts of DRC include struggle to control diamond or gold mines, tribal rivalry, political rebellion, foreign intervention and criminal activity. Persons fleeing the upheaval frequently endure weeks or months of danger travelling hundreds of kilometers to Kikwit or other cities. Women give birth during the dangerous trek to safety.

    During our visit, I often thought of Michael J. Sharp, a Mennonite young adult from my home community in the United States, who was assassinated in the Kasaï region last year while on a peace mission with United Nations. Michael’s death touched me and many in MWC deeply. What are sisters and brothers in the DRC enduring with countless losses of their own?

    Mennonite Central Committee and other Anabaptist organizations are responding to crisis in DRC, and MWC helped coordinate conversation between the various agencies. In a project called Operation Good Samaritan, Mennonites of Kikwit who have little money to provide relief have opened their homes to take in survivors whom they often do not even know.

    We met an exhausted Congolese Mennonite medical doctor caring for displaced persons at Kikwit, who told how difficult or impossible it is to acquire essential medical supplies.

    There are more than 400 tribes in DRC, and this creates tension even for some Anabaptists. But the inclusive love we saw at Kikwit is a model for the global church. Francisca Ibanda of Kinshasa, MWC Regional Representative for West Africa, said, “It’s not a problem to have tribes, because in Christ, tribes can work together. We can love even those from tribes who are supposed to be our enemies.”

    —a Mennonite World Conference release by president J. Nelson Kraybill

  • Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

    In the mid-1960s, there was a movement throughout Ethiopia among the youth in high schools and campuses. Believers who were committed to prayer, based on the Scripture, started witnessing in schools, offices and on the road.

    The major prayer request was the thirst for the filling by the Holy Spirit – the promise given by God the Father, as written in the Bible. These young people also had a strong passion for lost souls. Our faithful God answered these prayers and poured his Spirit on many of the believers.

    Meserete Christos Church (MKC), one of the largest Mennonite churches, had a membership of a little more than 5,000 when it went underground during the time of persecution in the Marxist military government. And it is during this time of persecution that the church flourished and started experiencing dramatic growth.

    Believers transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit were bold enough to witness Jesus Christ, share their faith and live a life of holiness that condemns sin and calls on sinners to repent.

    Though the Marxist government put many restrictions on Christians, the gospel of Jesus Christ could not be stopped. Many believers, including MKC church leaders, were imprisoned. The MKC statistics, after 17 years of persecution, showed a tenfold growth.

    As in the time of Israelites oppressed by Pharaoh, the more the Christians were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. Local churches were planted by young believers who were committed and ignited by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Many home cells were formed for Bible study and prayer meetings. That growth has continued. Today, by the grace of God, MKC is growing with more than 20,000 believers added to the church by baptism every year.

    The disciples of Jesus Christ, in the book of Acts, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, “turned the world upside down with their teachings.” Being transformed by the Holy Spirit, they spread the gospel boldly and many were converted to Christianity. The Holy Spirit transformed these people and also made them witnesses.

    The word witness in Greek is “martyrs”- which where we get the English word. Though it is used today as a designation of those who have suffered death in consequence of confessing Christ, “martyr” originally meant being a witness.

    When we think of being transformed by the Holy Spirit, it is a life that is transformed for the cause of the gospel – to be an instrument for the work of God’s kingdom. A martyr lives for the master, not for himself or herself or even for a group interest.

    We are transformed by the Holy Spirit to serve God by proclaiming the work of God, the good news of Jesus Christ for his glory.

    “But you are a chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belong to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). 

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Tewodros Beyene (Ethiopia), a member of the Faith and Life Commission.

  • Mennonite World Conference

    Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples

    In the Christian Scriptures, we encounter God who hears the cries of the dispossessed and suffering, feels deep concern for their welfare, and moves to save. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ, the living example for the church, embodies God’s preferred presence with the neighbor who is excluded, oppressed, ignored, rejected or treated as alien. Jesus associated with people on the margins, listened to and respected their experiences, and collaboratively sought justice.

    Mennonite World Conference desires to follow Jesus’ example to respond to the cries of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. This response is not concerned only with caring for people suffering within unjust structures. It also includes efforts to disarm (Colossians2:15) the structures of oppression themselves, in order that all of God’s People and Creation might experience the Psalmist’s hope that truth and mercy will meet, and justice and peace will kiss each other (Psalm 85:10).

    Date Approved: April 2018

    Approved By: MWC General Council

    statement_declaration_of_solidarity_with_indigenous_peoples-en_0Download

  • A renewed peace church welcomes the stranger

    • Matthew 25:31—46
    • Deuteronomy 10:12—22
    peace_sunday_2018_-_en_final_0Download

  • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – “Our hearts were left totally destroyed…but thanks to MWC, who have come to visit us and have given us this uplifting and encouraging word, a word of hope and love,” says Antonio García Dominguez, leader of Conferencia Peruana Hermanos Menonitas.

    Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite organizations collaborated to live out faith with unified action in response to disasters that struck members of the global Anabaptist family this year.

    Torrential flooding caused by El Niño in Peru devastated homes and livelihoods of more than a million Peruvians. Together, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), ICOMB (International Community of Mennonite Brethren), MB Mission and MWC facilitated the six-month appointment of Antony Sanchez to assess needs, coordinate response and training and equip the local churches to serve their communities.

    “The brothers and sisters from Peru were very welcoming, open, and eager to learn and to help,” says Sanchez. “I have been able to affirm their dreams and, together with these organizations, respond to their needs, highlighting their capacities and skills, always remembering that we are members of a global family. We are in the hands of God as well as being God’s hands to bring his presence and blessings to others.”

    MWC regional representative and trauma specialist Pablo Stucky visited in April and again with a Deacons Commission delegation (Henk Stenvers, Elisabeth Kunjam) in October.

    In DR Congo, a conflict brewing between tribal and political factions broke out into widespread violence in the past year, compelling more than a million to flee their homes, sometimes after family or neighbours were killed in front of them. Thousands of members of Communauté Mennonite au Congo (one of three Mennonite national churches) are living in the forest or have fled to other parts of the country and across the border to Angola, to refugee camps or the hospitality of local Mennonites.

    MWC is cooperating with MCC; Mennonite Mission Network; MB Mission; Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission; Caisse de Secours; Mennonite Church Canada Witness; Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz (Alttäufer), Conférence mennonite suisse (Anabaptiste); and ICOMB on the delivery of strategic, locally sourced humanitarian assistance through churches and partners in DR Congo to some 200 families. [Click here for a more detailed update from MCC in English.]

    A Deacons Commission delegation is intended to visit Mennonite churches in DRC in December.

    “The Deacons walk with the churches, listening to their stories, praying and showing that the global church is in solidarity with them,” says Deacons Commission secretary Henk Stenvers.

    In August 2017, monsoon floods washed through Nepal and parts of India and Bangladesh, affecting millions and killing hundreds.

    Anabaptist partners MCC and Brethren in Community Welfare Society are helping 323 families recover their livelihoods (fisheries, vegetable farms and kitchen gardens), and providing shelter materials and mosquito nets. In addition, the project will construct 15 boreholes and provide support to repairs to homes of seven local Brethren In Christ staff.

    “These Mennonite organizations working together, unified in response, were a testimony of unity,” says Sanchez. Practically and spiritually, they release “a synergetic power. The Spirit working amid us creates more unity, and increases faith and confidence that God is our provider who takes care of us.”

    —Mennonite World Conference release

  •  

    Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    In recent years, Anabaptists have been identified by such distinctives as peacemaking, voluntary choice, simple living, community and discipleship. We believe, however, that a key defining characteristic of the early Anabaptist movement was its fervent embrace of mission.

    Even while we continue to accent discipleship, we have muted the passionate, even sacrificial, commitment to evangelism that distinguished the early Anabaptists. For the last half-century, particularly in the north, there has been a troubling relinquishment of the missionary calling of the church.

    In this context, the Mission Commission (MC) of MWC birthed a vision for a book: God’s People in Mission: An Anabaptist Perspective.

    The core of theological/missiological convictions, informally shared among the members of the Mission Commission, first led to an interest in developing a catalogue of those convictions that undergird and influence our foundations and approaches in mission. On 24 March 2014, after several years of yearning for a comprehensive statement of shared mission convictions, the MC adopted a statement, God’s People in Mission, at Dopersduin, Schoorl, Holland. This is a compilation of 10 missional convictions that articulate what we believe together about mission in the global Anabaptist community.

    We believe that further exploration of these convictions in a book-length form can help us think soberly about our essential identity as the missionary people of God. This is an urgent need.

    We hope that the reflections in each chapter will stimulate needed conversations and help us to align ourselves with God’s purposes for the reconciliation of all humanity and the restoration of the created order. In addition, we yearn that through these exchanges we will be revitalized by God’s Spirit for the mission that brought Jesus to our world.

    The desire of the MC is that God’s People in Mission: An Anabaptist Perspective might bring together diverse voices and experiences from within the varied contexts of our MWC global family. A number of the manuscripts were written in the different languages spoken by members of MWC. In the interest of ensuring wide accessibility, we hope eventually to have the text available in the three official languages of the MWC (English, Spanish and French).

    A further goal is to make the book available in several other languages spoken by members of the MWC. We are working hard to finish this book before our next meeting in Kenya 2018.

    Though the primary audience for the book is the MWC global family, we believe the book’s basic biblical-theological foundations and its contextual reflections can serve a wider audience. We hope it can serve diverse groups as a resource for study and reference for workshops, training, Sunday school classes and seminaries by creating and promoting spaces for dialogue, reflection and commitments.

    We believe that every part of the MWC communion needs to recover the understanding that the church by its very nature is missionary. We understand from the biblical text that God’s purposes find their essence and meaning in the mission of Jesus, and the work Holy Spirit is to advance this mission through the church. Since God’s yearning is that all people experience salvation, the church is called to be in mission on every continent until Jesus returns. Our prayer is that every member church in the MWC will be transformed for the missionary purposes of God.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Stanley W. Green and Rafael Zaracho, Mennonite World Conference Mission Commission chair and secretary

     

    In the interest of fostering unity within the global Anabaptist family during recent decades, the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Shelf of Literature addresses identity, peace, stewardship and more. This volume will be the eighth volume in the series. 

  • Third meeting of the Catholic, Lutheran and Mennonite Trilateral Dialogue Commission on baptism

    Elspeet, Netherlands – Representatives of the Catholic Church (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity), the Lutheran World Federation, and Mennonite World Conference met in Elspeet, the Netherlands, 9–13 February 2015, for the third meeting of the Trilateral Dialogue Commission on Baptism.

    The Commission developed the general topic of the dialogue “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church” through papers on “Baptism: Communicating Grace and Faith.” Professors John Rempel and Fernando Enns (Mennonite), Rev Prof. William Henn (Catholic), and Bishop Emeritus Dr Musawenkosi Biyela (Lutheran) made major presentations.

    The Commission continued also to study baptismal practices of the three Christian traditions, with special attention this year to Mennonites in a paper by Prof. Rempel and Dr Jonathan Seiling.

    Each day began and ended in common prayer; morning prayers included joint reflection on biblical texts relating to baptism.

    Hosted by the Mennonite World Conference, the meeting took place at Mennorode Conference Centre (Elspeet).

    One evening, commission members met with leaders of the national Mennonite community to learn about the life of the Dutch Mennonite church today, including their practice of baptism in a highly secularized society. The final day, participants visited historic Mennonite sites in Amsterdam and Friesland where Menno Simons was born and first ministered.

    —Mennonite World Conference release courtesy of Lutheran World Federation

     

    Participants:

    Roman Catholic
    • Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, IMC (co-chair, Colombia);
    • Revd. Prof. William Henn, OFM Cap (USA/Italy);
    • Revd. Prof. Luis Melo, SM (Canada);
    • Sister Prof. Dr. Marie-Hélène Robert, NDA (France);
    Lutheran
    • Prof. Dr. Friederike Nüssel (co-chair, Germany);
    • Bishop Emeritus Dr. Musawenkosi Biyela (South Africa);
    • Prof. Dr. Theodor Dieter (France);
    • Revd Dr KS Peter Li (Hong Kong, China);
    • Revd. Dr. Kaisamari Hintikka (co-secretary, Finland/Switzerland).
    Mennonite
    • Prof. Dr. Alfred Neufeld (co-chair, Paraguay);
    • Prof. Dr. Fernando Enns (Germany);
    • Revd. Rebecca Osiro (Mennonite)
    • Prof. Dr. John Rempel (Canada);
    • Revd. Dr. Larry Miller (co-secretary, France);
    • Dr Jonathan Seiling(Canada/Germany) as a guest researcher.

  •  

    Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    Where do you look when you ask yourself what a deacon’s task is? Very often, one turns to Acts 6:1–6, although the word “deacon” or “servant” (diakonos) does not appear in this text. In this passage, the community provides for those who are needy among them, and as the church grows, the needs grow as well. The community appoints men to organize the daily distribution of food. These men – deacons – listen to the needs and meet them with the means shared by the community.

    Is this the essence of a deacon’s work?

    In this passage, I stumble over two points that influence our perceptions of the work of a deacon.

    First, there is the Apostles’ reasoning: “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2).

    Do I hear here an underlying assumption that preaching is more important than looking after physical needs? The passage seems to support dualistic attitudes that separate humanitarian service from preaching the gospel. Such a split may hinder us from seeing the spiritual aspects in deacon’s work. It is serving the Word as much as prayer and preaching, or in fact is prayer and preaching.

    Secondly, in Acts, the task of a deacon is defined by the obvious needs in the community.

    It seems that the deacons’ task is only fulfilled when the needs are satisfied. It is certainly very important that deacons hear the cries of the needy and look for ways that answer. But very often, when I listen to deacons in local communities, I sense that they are overwhelmed by the expectations and feel that they are falling short of what is expected from them.

    When we share experiences in our commission, some speak about these unmet expectations. The needs in the worldwide church are endless. It is difficult to choose. How can you know what is most urgent?

    But there are also other voices: When members of the deacon’s commission went to stand by those in need, they are often enriched also. The community presents them with unexpected gifts. Something happens that breaks this hierarchy of a giver and those who receive.

    So again: Where do we look for orientation for a deacon?

    For our commission, that Jesus washing the feet of his disciples (John 13:1–20) provides a more comprehensive image of a deacon.

    Jesus does the work of a house-slave. These servants are easily overlooked because they usually are not among the main characters who carry the plot. Jesus does not deny that he is Lord and Teacher, but he is Lord and Teacher as the house-slave. He serves the needs of the disciples as guests in his Father’s house. He is identified with what God’s house stands for.

    Jesus models what needs to be done to the guests, and not what the guests think their needs are. As Jesus washes them their feet, they both participate in that deepest movement that defines this “house of God”: Jesus loves them to the end (John 13:1).

    To be a deacon, then, is a role for every minister who serves the Word. You cannot really preach the gospel if you are not a deacon. You cannot serve the church with truth, you cannot work for reconciliation, peace and justice without being a deacon.

    So yes, a deacon’s task is to stand by the needy in the community, knowing that we need them probably even more than they need what we can bring. In this, we both participate in the life in the Father’s house.

    As we reflected on this passage, our commission became aware of the difficulty of hearing the voices of those who do not voice their needs. How can we make sure that our awareness is not shaped by those who cry the loudest or by what the media portrays as the most urgent? How can we see those who are too easily overlooked?

    We most certainly depend on God’s Spirit to overcome our blindness.

    —a Mennonite World Conference Release by Jürg Bräker, a member of the Deacons Commission. He is general secretary of the Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz (Alttäufer), Conférence mennonite suisse (Anabaptiste). 

     

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  • A renewed peace church calls for renewed commitment to one another; even those who may be our enemies. Building bridges resolves disconnectedness. Without relationship and connectedness peace cannot flourish. This is essential if we want to relate with those who are of a different faith or culture.

    A significant challenge in multi-faith and cross-cultural relationships is the perception we create of the other based on assumptions and preconceptions. This causes us not to see and value the other as a child of God. To overcome this challenge, it is important to meet.

    Hospitality plays a key role in building understanding across religious and cultural views. Churches have a responsibility to create spaces where authentic engagement can occur. However, churches must also embody the spirituality of a stranger, a guest, assuming a position of vulnerability. This provides the disposition to reach out. The church no longer has to wait to host others, but can initiates new forms of relationships with others.

    The Javanese Mennonite Church in Jepara does this is by visiting our Muslim neighbours. Mennonites in Jepara comprise about 1% of the total population, which is largely Muslim. There is no animosity between the different religions in Jepara, but even though our church building is only 300 meters away from an Islamic organization’s building, there has not been much of a relationship established among Christians and Muslims!

    When our church decided to take seriously our call to be a peace church, we prioritized building relationships with those of other religions in our city. Our first step was to visit one of the young Islamic leaders and share our dream to build relationships between Mennonites and Muslims in Jepara. Together we arranged an art and culture performance in which our communities, not just our leaders, could participate and get to know each other. We also initiated meetings to reduce wrong perceptions of the other.

    This required a long process. It was difficult to look beyond our suspicion (or preconceived notions) of the other. After seven years, we have a good relationship with our Muslim neighbours. We celebrate the International Day of Peace together; the church participates in their anniversary celebrations; they participate in our Christmas celebrations, even when there is a fatwa that prevents Muslims from giving Christmas greetings to Christians in Indonesia.

    Assuming the posture of a visitor requires humility. We approach others without having a full picture of who they are. This requires us to approach someone with respect and trust, believing that we have something to learn from those who may be different. The vulnerability that comes with being a visitor or stranger requires one to need the other. It means that we come not in arrogance and power but with openness and sincerity, vulnerable with the possibility of being rejected.

    Such an approach does, however, bring hope. In being a vulnerable guest, we invite prayer and blessing from the other, even if the other is our enemy. This is the posture that Jesus demonstrates through his incarnation. The reconciliation Jesus provides between humanity with God is made possible through his example of being a guest in the world. He emptied himself and became a servant, thus showing humility. He embraced suffering, which demonstrated his vulnerability (Philippians 2:6–8). His posture provided the means for God’s peace to be realized (Ephesians 2:14), which provides us with hope and courage.

    –A Mennonite World Conference release by Danang Kristiawan (Indonesia)

    This testimony is part of the Peace Sunday worship resource for 2017. Click here to see more: www.mwc-cmm.org/peacesunday

  •  

    Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    Some of the most succinct yet powerful words of Scripture guide the church into its vocation of peace, justice and reconciliation.

    So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near (Ephesians 2:17).

    For he is our peace (Ephesians 2:14).

    and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).

    Be at peace among yourselves (1 Thessalonians 5:13).

    Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways (2 Thessalonians 3:16).

    Pursue peace with everyone, (Hebrews 12:14)

    seek peace and pursue it (1 Peter 3:11).

    And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace (James 3:18).

    Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21).

    It is clear that God wants to reconcile the world to its intended purposes. It is also clear that Jesus understood his ministry to be one of peace, and that the vocation of the church is meant to be a vocation of peace, justice and reconciliation.

    Dann and Joji Pantoja, Mennonite workers in the Philippines, summarize this intention of God in the following way:

    Peace with God (hands and arms raised upward);

    Peace with ourselves (hands and arms crossed over the chest);

    Peace with others (extending hands to persons next to us);

    Peace with creation (sweeping motion of hands and arms).

    This small exercise captures well the all-inclusive purpose of God’s plan for peace. It points to the essential ingredients of God’s peace for the world: dependence on God, conversion and inner transformation, social justice and community solidarity, and concern for all of creation. This reflects the comprehensive plan of God as indicated in Ephesians:

    a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:10).

    Anabaptist churches around the world have taken this vocation of “gathering up all things” seriously. The Peace Commission estimates there are more than 70 programs, schools, organizations and initiatives connected to MWC’s member churches who are dedicated to training, research, teaching, consulting and acting for peace. In addition, there are some 10,000 primary peace “agencies” of MWC, namely the local congregations of our member churches. God calls each one to the vocation of being a peace presence in its context.

    This vocation is not simple. In response to a survey the Peace Commission of MWC conducted a few years ago, congregations spoke of the challenges that each context presents. In southern India, they identified the caste system as a major challenge to peace. In the USA, they identified materialism, nationalism and militarism. In Canada, wealth was named. In Colombia, they spoke of efforts to end the civil war. In Europe, they mentioned the work with refugees. In some places, it was natural disasters of famine and floods. In other places, being witnesses to peace is risky and generates persecution against the church.

    The pursuit of being a “peace church” and embodying God’s lofty vision has led peace-concerned organizations, agencies, schools and programs of our churches around the world to explore forming a Global Anabaptist Peace Network. This will allow these church-related “fruits” to share information, generate partnerships, witness to best practices and offer solidarity with one another in the ongoing quest of embodying God’s shalom in our world.

    This developing effort is one more way that the power of the Word of God is shaping the work of Mennonite World Conference and its Peace Commission along with our member churches and their fruit.

    May God continue to grant us the wisdom and courage in being agents of God’s revolutionary peace, justice and reconciliation in our world.

    —Mennonite World Conference release by Robert J. (Jack) Suderman, who is a member of the Peace Commission. He lives in Canada.