Prayers of gratitude and intercession

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20)

At Renewal 2027 – Transformed by the Word: Reading Scripture in Anabaptist Perspectives in Augsburg, Germany 12 February 2017, the YABs committee (Young AnaBaptists) reflected on Matthew 28:19–20 from their local perspectives. The columns in this section have been adapted from their presentations.

I grew up in a small village in the Philippines far from cities, close to mountains, lakes and farms. I live in a close-knit community with a modest lifestyle.

We are relationship-oriented people. We share our things with our neighbours, expecting that someday you can ask for their help when you need them too. Sometimes several generations live under one roof. We tend to be emotional: Filipino has words for different intensities of feelings which other languages may not have.

In a poor community like ours, when we are in need of certain things, we ask the Lord for it. When a child is suffering from a disease, we pray for healing because it is our only option. When you have nothing, you experience miracles, and you appreciate every small act of God’s grace.

We have pastors who have barely finished high school, and only few of our church leaders were able to get a formal education. None of them graduated from a Mennonite seminary. I have a dream for our young people to be more exposed internationally, to be properly trained and to be more united in theology.

That brings me to our text: Jesus’ instructions to his disciples at the end of his time on earth.

The first step of discipleship is letting Christ own you. Being completely dependent on his will, a boat without a paddle, fully dependent on the wind. Nurturing a heart that is willing to sell all possessions and give it to the poor just to follow Christ – that’s the heart of a disciple. Just like the early Mennonites, willing to die for their faith, willing to leave everything behind to live a peaceful life in other parts of the world.

The second step of discipleship is about training, a process of learning to follow Christ. One does not immediately become a mature disciple after baptism.  

Thirdly, being a disciple means you are responsible to make disciples. Discipleship is a mandate to every single believer, not just the pastors. It’s your destiny as a follower of Christ. Jesus intentionally looked for disciples, asking them to follow him, teaching them, taking care of them – and afterward, asking them to do the same and make more disciples. It’s not a gift that only few have, it’s everybody’s responsibility.

The passion for discipleship comes from our deep understanding and full experience of God’s power and grace.

Mentoring or teaching others should be undertaken with a systematic approach.

In our Mennonite youth organization in the Philippines, we realized young people were leaving, so we created a system. In the past few months, it has doubled the number of our youth attendees and created a lot of leaders. The concept is a cycle of mentoring and teaching that promotes relationships and accountability with each other.

We select a few young people who are involved in ministry. We start training them how to be a good leader, how to teach, how to take care of new believers and how to handle a small group. As they are equipped and encouraged, they start taking care of each other, inviting friends, conducting their own Bible studies, reaching their parents, siblings and their friends, making more disciples for Christ.

My hope is that we can have a culture that encourages everyone to mentor and to have accountability to one another. And I ask those who are graduates from seminary, those who are theologians, those who have more experience – would you please share your knowledge?

If we really want to stay relevant in this world to be the voice and ambassadors for peace in this world, we need to be more intentional on our approach in obedience to Christ’s command! We must deeply soak ourselves in the love of Christ to discover unspeakable passion for discipleship. We Asians multiply by birth, but as a church, we multiply through discipleship.

—Ebenezer G. Mondez is a member of the YABs committee (Young AnaBaptists). He is from Lumban Mennonite Bible Church in the Philippines.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2017

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

At Renewal 2027 – Transformed by the Word: Reading Scripture in Anabaptist Perspectives in Augsburg, Germany 12 February 2017, the YABs committee (Young AnaBaptists) reflected on Matthew 28:19–20 from their local perspectives. The columns in this section have been adapted from their presentations.

I grew up in Zimbabwe, in Southern Africa, where Christianity was brought to my ancestors along with civilization and commerce. In that context, I never felt obliged to pass on the message of Christ to anyone.

The Great Commission was for the elite – those who were ‘‘called’’ to do so. As a member of the body of Christ, I simply had to do away with sin, read the Bible, pray and wait to get into heaven. Spreading the message was the obligation of those who brought Christianity to our churches in Zimbabwe. A missionary was someone whose skin was lighter skin than mine; who spoke in a language that was regarded as superior to mine because it had no clicks; who had come from a place far way. I never thought there would be any need for a black man or woman to even think about being a missionary.

A command to follow

Today, I realize that once you have repented, you have an obligation to fulfill, a command to adhere to, and that is to tell others about Jesus Christ.

As Christians, once we begin to follow in Jesus Christ’s footsteps, we also desire to love like him, to live like him, and above all, to share about the kingdom of God just as he did when he walked this earth. Our duty is to help the lost by introducing them to Jesus, so that he can save them.  

My understanding of Matthew 28:19 is centred on the fact that the Great Commission is a command to every follower of Jesus Christ. And this command is instrumental in the expansion of the kingdom of God.

Making disciples

Making disciples is an action process that calls us out of our usual routine. It involves stepping out of your comfort zone. Sometimes you will have to approach strangers and tell them about Jesus Christ. In my country, the reception varies. If you attempt a one-on-one form of sharing the message of Christ, you may be mistaken for a thief or someone who has nothing important to do. In my context, you might share the message of Christ at crusades or outreach programs where the response is usually positive.

Making disciples also means that followers of Christ are not selective about whom we share with. The gospel is for everyone. There is no segregation when it comes to the message of Christ, neither those sharing it nor those receiving it: Jesus Christ instructed us to go and make disciples of all nations. Regardless of race, tribe, language, gender or age, you are never too young or too old to tell someone about Christ.

Our perception of others and our view of their world should never affect our decision whether they are worthy to receive the message of Christ. You can never be either good enough or too bad to receive God’s grace – it is a gift. The Holy Spirit will transform each person as they walk their journey of faith.

As you walk on the face of this Earth, are you adhering to Christ’s command? Once we all understand that this is a matter of eternal life and eternal punishment, we will be vigorous in our quest of making disciples, with the goal to tell as many people as we can about Jesus Christ. If you are being selective as to whom or where you will preach the message of Christ, think carefully and pray, because the kingdom of God is open to everyone!

—Makadunyiswe Ngulube is a member of the YABs committee (Young AnaBaptists). She is from Mount Pleasant Brethren In Christ Church, a congregation of Ibandla Labazalwane kuKristu eZimbabwe in Harare in Zimbabwe.

“Renewal 2027” is the name that Mennonite World Conference has chosen to mark the decade of regional events that will be held to commemorate the five centuries our faith community has existed. We would like to approach these 10 years of commemorative acts by focussing on the global, ecumenical and transcultural perspectives on our history.

During this decade of regional events, we remember the past in order to look to the future. As noted by the Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, “What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” We want to bring our roots to the fore so that we may thank God for the faith inheritance that we have received.

At the same time, we wish to approach our Lord in a spirit of repentance and renewal, learning from the past in order to grow in our relationship with God here and now as well as in the years to come. At the first event, “Transformed by the Word: Reading Scripture in Anabaptist Perspectives,” we explored how Martin Luther’s maxim of sola Scriptura together with the monastic ideals of imitating Christ played a role in our own tradition, and how the sacred Scriptures continue to be relevant in our global faith community today.

During that day in Augsburg, Germany, I kept in mind an art installation I saw in one of our Mennonite churches in Amsterdam (see cover). On the pulpit at the centre of the sanctuary, there is a Bible that is opened and moving. Pages are leaving or entering the Bible, blowing about the room.

This installation depicts Scripture as a living text that inserts our own histories within it through the work of the Holy Spirit. In this way, the story of the first disciples in Acts is carried forward. Our Anabaptist emphasis on imitating Christ invites us to see Scripture as a script for our own lives, a play that requires us to live it out, to put it into practice on a daily basis.

Even so, the Bible has not always been seen in this light during our Anabaptist history.

More often than not, we have used the sacred text as a tool for measuring the doctrinal orthodoxy of others, thus causing division and fragmentation within the body of Christ. This has happened too frequently in our churches when we have found that our perspectives on Scripture do not coincide.

We have often put aside the passages that invite us to live out the gift of unity in the midst of diversity. We have neglected the gift of communion in spite of and through diversity. Sadly, we have come to believe that our ethical or doctrinal divergences are reason enough to break apart the body of Christ.

Today, while we thank God for our emphasis on a communal and Christ-centred interpretation and living out of Scripture, we must keep a repentant attitude toward the divisions that exist amongst us due to an inadequate approach to reading the Scriptures. Let us seek the renewal that comes from a contrite heart, able to recognize our sin and how it causes lack of unity in the church.

It is my prayer that today our understanding of the Bible will be renewed through the living text that speaks to the now; that we can see our division as a sin that needs to be eradicated; and that our desire to live out and apply the Bible today would unite in a spirit of interdependence.

May we leave transformed by the Word!

—César García, MWC general secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2017

How should the church think about mental health?

Our mental state is connected to body and spirit, and, like them, can be in a state of unhealthiness. In this perspectives section, leaders and health practitioners from Anabaptist-related congregations around the world address how their church has a role in caring for the mental health of their congregants.

Churches as healing communities

Since the mid-1960s, Colombia has been engaged in an armed conflict with approximately 7 million men, women and children forced from their homes, more than 60,000 people disappeared and nearly 600,000 civilians killed. When people fled to the large cities, some came to our churches. They came with all the strengths and resources that life had given them, but also with the load of sadness, loss of community, questions about how a loving God could have allowed this to happen to them; a longing for justice; and the fear – often justified – that the threat they were fleeing would resurface in the city.

Anabaptist churches and organizations in Colombia identified the importance of addressing the spiritual, psychological and social needs of the people that came to us. Together with MCC, we began to consider how to proceed, receiving valuable training from Eastern Mennonite University’s STAR program, and from MCC’s Stress and Trauma Healing material.

Identifying the local congregation as the focus of our efforts, we saw the potential of faith communities as a place of healing. We joined efforts as Brethren in Christ, Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite churches in an initiative called Church Coordination for Psychosocial Action (CEAS): a resource for local congregations in their response to the victims who were arriving.

How to be a place of healing

In 2012, CEAS embarked on an interview project with those living in forced displacement and actively participating in an Anabaptist church. The interviews aimed to understand what qualities churches have that allow people to experience healing (spiritual, psychological, social and even physical) in the midst of forced displacement and what more churches could be doing.

People’s responses illustrated the amazing simplicity of ways in which the local congregation is an avenue for healing. Members open possibilities for the presence of God to minister to traumatized people and to find meaning by welcoming and expressing sincere interest in those who come to the church, providing a place of safety, listening to sorrow and pain, providing opportunities for serving others, and offering encouragement to rebuild their lives. The congregation becomes the body through which people meet Christ and can strengthen their relationship to God

People’s testimonies reflected what has been identified by psychiatrist Judith Herman and therapist Carolyn Yoder of STAR, who emphasize the importance of safety, recognition for what has happened and social reconnection as key elements in a healing process. When a person’s sense of meaning has been shaken, rebuilding an understanding of life in the presence of an accepting faith community helps move toward recovery.

Reading the Bible from a lens of trauma and resilience, we see the anguish and longing for God when the Israelites are driven from their home (Lamentations 3, Psalms 79, 137) and when Job has lost everything (Job 2, 19), the faith and resilience in the Psalms (Psalms 23, 91), the hope in the messages of the prophets (Micah 4:1–4) and Jesus coming to incarnate God’s love (John 1:1–14, Ephesians 2:17–19) and charge us, as the church, to carry on the work of love and reconciliation (Ephesians 1:23, 2 Corinthians 5:18–20).

Dignity transforms

As one who suffered, Andres (not real name) came to the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogotà with an angry and fearful heart, sensing that at any moment those who killed his brother and father would appear on the streets of Bogotà. By feeling welcomed and recognized for who he was, Andres began to open himself up to the church community. With opportunity to explore new understandings, he let go of hate and found dignity in rebuilding his own life. Andres’ testimony demonstrates the importance of a welcoming church willing to listen to people’s stories and provide a place to grow in community and in faith.

A final product of the interview project is a study guide for a healing church to be used by local congregations. It is beginning to be used by Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren churches in different parts of Colombia. The booklet is proving useful not only for victims of trauma, but for everyone who has experienced pain, rejection and loss that need to be transformed into fullness of life. The testimonies, the biblical texts and the exercises of the booklet are applicable to all.

Colombia is beginning the implementation of peace accords. Local communities now face the challenge of reintegrating former combatants and moving towards reconciliation. Victims seek truth and justice. New forms of armed violence are emerging. In this context, local churches as healing communities can contribute significantly to peacebuilding. Providing conditions for forgiveness and repentance can help break the cycle of violence. Trauma healing can end the internalized harm and victimization. Acceptance can promote social connection and help build community.

Local congregations have long been places of healing and hope with a message of salvation. This project documents specific church experiences, identifying learnings that serve as teaching tools for congregations to strengthen their capacity to foster community and healing.

—Nathan Toews and Paul Stucky worked together with MCC-funded Church Coordination for Psychosocial Action (CEAS) in Colombia. Nathan currently serves with MCC in Bolivia and Paul is coordinating CEAS as well as serving as MWC Andean Regional Representative.

Click here for PDF of “Iglesia Acogedora y Sanadora,” a study guide for a healing church, in Spanish.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2017

Intermingled Anabaptist expressions bloom in hard soil of Thailand

“Thailand: The graveyard of mission.” This descriptor has echoed in the ears of Thailand-bound missionaries for decades; thankfully, God has a different story. That different story is finally emerging – and Anabaptists have a place in it!

Seeds of the church

It was 201 years ago that Anne Judson (wife of American missionary Adoniram Judson) learned the language well enough to share the gospel with Siamese (Thai) captives in Burma. Twelve years later, in 1828, the first Protestant missionaries arrived in Thailand – 260 years after the first resident Catholic priests.

For Catholics and Protestants alike, the 1800s tell a story of incredible dedication and perseverance. The missionaries came up against factors that are still definitive today: an almost impenetrable social cohesion built upon an alloy of Buddhism and Brahminism, as well as deep roots of animism which add yet another reason to fear change. Just as Thai people have demonstrated an unsurpassed capacity to resist colonization through flawlessly smooth diplomacy, so they have proven to be staunchly committed to their de facto identity statement: “To be Thai is to be Buddhist.”

In 1880, God again used the foundation laid in Burma to bless Thailand. Three evangelists from the Karen tribe were led from Burma by a veteran missionary to a village in Thailand where they met a man who had had a dream the night before that three teachers would be bringing the Word of God. He had been waiting all day. Five hundred Karen repented and believed.

The 1900s brought new challenges of liberalism on one side and a truncated gospel on the other. Church structures emerged, most notable of which was the Church of Christ Thailand (CCT), fruit of a century of work by the Presbyterians. Missionaries established educational institutions. The prevailing social climate continued to be resistant to gospel witness. The latter half of the 1900s brought some fresh energy and holistic vision: An influx of OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) workers expelled from China enabled Northern Thailand to emerge as a new centre for fruitful work among the “hill tribes.” Next, Pentecostal influences began to make their way to Thailand. The 1980s brought central Thai people their first example of a rapidly growing indigenous church movement.

Early Anabaptist witness

The first Anabaptist witness came when MCC began a modest connection with Thailand in 1960. Over the next 15 years, MCC was able to place some PAX workers (American conscientious objectors on alternative foreign service) and buy handicrafts for sale in the USA.

MCC commitments in the region grew significantly during what the Vietnamese call “The American War.” In 1975, in partnership with the Church of Christ Thailand, MCC began to provide refugee assistance, explore opportunities for placing teachers and engage in agricultural development. It was hoped that MCC might be able to help the CCT to discern the role of the church in Thai society in regard to human rights advocacy, as this had not been a strong point of the church. The MCC presence in Thailand continued sporadically over the next few years.

Though massive genocide was occurring in Cambodia, a 1977 MCC field report indicated only that “what is going on….is not always ascertainable.” By 1979, the horror was revealed, and there was a dramatic increase in the number of refugees pouring into Thailand. MCC took on a key role at the camps and in resettlement processes for Laotian, Hmong, Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees.

According to one veteran worker from that era, these were years of revival. “Word and work” went hand in the hand, and God added his wonders. Many of today’s Thai leaders caught their passion for holistic witness in those camps. This refugee work, in addition to peace education and human rights advocacy related to events in Burma, continued until MCC closed its office in 1995.

By then, other Anabaptist mission entities had begun to form vision for church planting in Thailand. Brethren in Christ World Missions personnel made an exploratory trip in 1986, followed by the commissioning of a missionary couple in 1987. They were able to secure employment at a technical institute on the outskirts of Bangkok. Their mandate within this self-support model was to pursue cross-cultural relationships through which to share the gospel and encourage the development of indigenous leaders through discipleship.

In 1990, Eastern Mennonite Mission assigned a worker to begin exploratory work. A church planting team came together in 1992 as the Tobins made a 10-year commitment. By 1995, they were ready to position themselves among Lao-speaking Isaan in one of the least-reached provinces in rural Thailand. The highly contextualized Life Enrichment Church, with its small worshipping groups and fully empowered local leaders, emerged and continues to spread into new villages and districts.

Mennonite Brethren Missions/Services International (now MB Mission) similarly made an exploratory trip in 1991. The pioneer workers they sent shortly after this trip made the decision to move to Nan Province in Northern Thailand to work with the Khmu. The Schmidts and their teammates developed a ministry focussed on village evangelism, education and agricultural development. Ongoing connections have put them in a position to see a sweeping movement of people coming to Christ among the Khmu along the Thai-Lao border.

Work takes root

None of these new Anabaptist entities ended up working under the CCT, despite the good relationship that MCC had nurtured over the years. Each agency forged its own way forward with new partners and visa platforms. The Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand emerged as an ally and a voice encouraging church planting across the country. Eastern Mennonite Missions Global Ministries director David Shenk encouraged EMM workers to prioritize relationships with fellow Anabaptists as an expression of the value on “community.” Thus, the team leaders made many trips to meet together for prayer and encouragement. A pattern of getting together for retreats was established, making way for the welcome of new workers.

In 1998, the General Conference Mennonite Church (COM) sent a Canadian/Lao couple to work with the EMM team. After one term, they launched their own church planting work in another location in Isaan under MC Canada Witness.

In January 2001, Team 2000 arrived. With a commitment to work with each other for 10 years, these three Mennonite Brethren couples launched an orphanage and church plant south of

Bangkok and have since gone on to cast vision for the 28 workers who now relate with multiple local leaders and emerging church communities in several parts of the country.

Around the same time, the Myers, new leaders for the BIC work, arrived. At EMM’s invitation and encouragement, they launched a work in Ubon Ratchathani’s provincial capital city, only 50 kilometers from the EMM team. In addition to developing highly compatible visions for ministry, the proximity proved providential, enabling the teams to support one another through times of tragic loss.

Meanwhile, Mennonite Mission Network sent workers to another location in Isaan and Rosedale Mennonite Mission is strengthening their presence in Bangkok with second-generation leaders from Central America who are emerging from RMM’s long-time commitments there. Virginia Mennonite Missions has also recently engaged as partners with the Life Enrichment Church to see a missional outpost formed among the Isaan in Bangkok. A group of conservative Anabaptists has built up an Anabaptist mission training school – the Institute of Global Opportunities (IGo) – in Chiang Mai. Thus, at least in Chiang Mai, Anabaptists are known for their head coverings and large families, not to mention zeal for the gospel.

All of these groups have a strong focus on discipleship; all are gaining a wealth of experience in what it is to see the Holy Spirit’s presence and power demonstrated in healing and deliverance from demonic oppression.

Relational connection

Though discussions about a joint Anabaptist registry periodically arise, the decision was made to not be bound to a structure that might feel bulky or artificial. Instead, there has been a commitment shared by most of the groups to simply connect relationally.

Besides an endeavour among team leaders to meet twice a year as an Anabaptist Reference Council, there have been three vibrant gatherings bringing together Thai and Lao Anabaptist believers. It has been exciting to see an eager rapport being built across both long-standing cultural and socio-economic divides as well as differences in Mennonite/Anabaptist “church culture” across generations. These gatherings have sparked the translation of Anabaptist resources into Thai: the Mennonite Confession of Faith, Palmer Becker’s “What is an Anabaptist Christian?” The International Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) Confession of Faith has also been translated into Thai. Most recently, a book by Richard Showalter with stories of early mission initiatives into Asia as well as stories of the early Anabaptist martyrs has been made available in Thai.

In a context where a consumerist prosperity gospel is gaining appeal, this understanding of Anabaptist faith is of high value.

Anabaptist identity

Healthy long-term relationships and resources are important in nurturing Anabaptist identity; however, there is a stamp of identity that simply comes through experience.

When the Life Enrichment Church in southern Ubon Ratchathani province was reeling from the accident that took the life of EMM team leader John Hertzler, the church was led to walk out a significant story of forgiveness. They spent months sharing the gospel and discipling the driver whose recklessness had caused the accident. The climax came when John’s parents were present

on the day of this man’s baptism. The church watched as these stalwart believers graciously welcomed this man into the family of faith.

Later, the church gathered to hear Truman Hertzler teach about Anabaptist history. He told stories of failure in which his forefathers had lost missional opportunities due to legalism and lethargy. Yet, he emphasized, perseverance through hardship and commitment to the one foundation Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11) is always the path to renewed vision and obedience to God’s call. One by one, the believers in the room stood up: “This is who we are too! No matter how much we have to suffer or how often we falter and fail, if this is what it is to be Anabaptist, then we are Anabaptists.” From this grave came life!

Besides the communities that are emerging through onsite mission workers, another stream informing the emergence of indigenous Anabaptist witness in Thailand is that of former Hmong refugees who settled in the USA. Many became affiliated with MC USA. They formed their own Hmong Mennonite Churches Mission and have eagerly envisioned the day when the Hmong whose villages dot the mountainous landscape of Northwest Thailand might claim Anabaptist identity.

Beginning in 2005, this impulse was undergirded by a number of teaching visits from North American pastors and Mennonite Mission Network workers and construction projects. Thus, these Hmong Christians, who have long been a part of the CCT, have begun to sense that their own theology has strong affinities to Anabaptism. 2016 proved to be a significant year as a newly consolidated “Hmong District 20” as a CCT district has now joined MWC. They have sought this affiliation because, in Nelson Kraybill’s words, “They want to explicitly claim and promote Anabaptist understandings of the church, including nonviolence.”

Those who have observed these churches note the variety of practices that make their presence within MWC a gift: peacemaking as part of evangelism, hospitality, financial stewardship, generosity, passionate Bible teaching and the development of leaders. Both MWC and MMN representatives will be present in Thailand when the welcome is made official in April 2017.

Though Christians still comprise a slim 1.2 percent of the population in Thailand, we anticipate blessing as these various streams of Anabaptist witness intermingle and nourish each other in the years to come and God continues to allow his beauty and resurrection life to emerge from this “graveyard!”

‚ÄîCarol Tobin and her husband Skip served in Thailand from 1989–2009 in both church planting and regional administration under EMM. Now based in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, Carol continues to carry a close connection with Thailand as Asia regional director with Virginia Mennonite Missions. 

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2017

“Do not cry,” said to me a member of my church when I lost a relative in a very tragic way. “Read this verse of the Bible,” she continued. However, I could not hear her. I needed somebody able to listen to me, somebody ready to cry with me, and somebody open to walk with me during those days of deep grief. I did not need a biblical lesson – I needed a friend.

“I do not believe in counseling” a pastor of a local congregation told me some years ago. “People need to know how to obey God’s word instead of depending on what somebody says. Giving advice generates dependency,” he said. Years later, I heard a member of his congregation expressing resentment against the church for the loneliness and abandonment he felt during a relative’s terminal illness. Where was his pastor during the hard times of suffering, questioning and lack of hope?

We need somebody to walk with us during difficult times. We need the support of others when we are dealing with conflicts, resentment, sicknesses and death. We need the company of wise people to help us to identify our weaknesses and strengths, and to discover the causes of them. We need christocentric guidance about sexuality, how to manage our money, and how to navigate crucial decision times in our lives: getting married, raising children, choosing a profession, retiring and other decisions.

In other words, we need discipleship. Christian counselling is not giving advice or telling others what they should or should not do. It has to do with walking with others and accompanying in a way that helps them make decisions based on their decision of following Christ. That is what discipleship is. It has to do with imitating Christ in our every day life, and in order to do so we need the compassionate company of other members of our community and the support of the specialized gifts that can help us to deal with specific challenges.

Today, in Christian circles, discipleship has taken many names: coaching, therapy, spiritual direction, mentoring, pastoring, counselling. This is just a way of showing how big is the need to find people with the kind of expertise that can be really useful for specific areas of need in discipleship. Depression, for example, or a learning deficiency is the kind of matters that require a specialized training for the person that will serve as counsellor.

In a basic level, all of us have the wonderful opportunity of walking with others in their process of discipleship. Even during very difficult and challenging times, to those who are suffering, we can remain close as compassionate people without offering empty words or advice. Just listening. Many local congregations in the Global South, in a context of violence and suffering, are learning how to support others through active listening. They have discovered the healing power that is hidden in the simple act of being there for others without a judgmental attitude. Compassion, again, has become their distinctive.

However, in many places in the Global South, the need of specialized ministries of counselling is huge. How to deal with mental illness? How to help in process of healing of memories that require specific counseling skills? How can some of the enormous resources in the Global North be shared with our churches in the Global South? I am speaking here about educational resources in the area of counselling, conflict resolution, mentoring, therapy, etc.

This issue of Courier is just a humble initiative that looks for ways of inviting our churches to speak more about these issues and to do so in a multicultural way. We need to share our educational resources, experiences and needs in order to grow together in our discipling call.

May God guide our churches around the world to walk with compassion, serving as healing communities that take seriously our call to discipling.

—César García, MWC general secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier, April 2017.

How do our member churches express the MWC Shared Convictions in beautiful, local variety throughout our global body?

The October 2016 issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier seeks to discern the variety of reasons why Anabaptist communities from around the world come together to form MWC. In the articles that follow, writers reflect on the question: How does Christ’s love for us motivate and guide our response to strangers in our local context?

How can we get answers from the Bible for 21st century questions?

How can we get answers from the Bible for 21st century questions? That’s a real challenge! Parts of the Bible’s message are very clear and timelessly valid. But because our world has changed dramatically, some 21st-century questions require us to re-evaluate other parts. Yet how can we know when we should hang on to previous convictions or whether it’s time to open up for new insights and ways?

In our local church, we wanted to find answers to this question in the years 2010–2012, concerning the topic of sex and marriage, focusing on questions around premarital sex. It’s not the only ethical question, and, of course, not the most important! But it is one that concerns all generations, if not directly, then in the broader (church) family. Our starting point each time is the Bible, which “we accept as our authority for faith and life, interpreting it together under Holy Spirit guidance.”

Studying the Bible together

We knew that attitudes and opinions were very diverse. So should everybody just do what he or she wants? Or is there any orientation from the Bible? Some people from the older generation hoped that this process would tell the younger generation clearly what is right. Others – so-called “burned children,” who had experienced strict church discipline exercised on them or somebody in their peer group in the past – were worried these stories would be repeated. So this process had to be started very carefully. 

We were very pleased to see 100 people from different generations join the process, trusting the guidance of the Holy Spirit on our common journey. We took several important steps:

1. A period with Bible study – personal and in small groups. Helpful also was a chapter from Tim Geddert’s book All Right Now: “God speaks through the Bible – why do we hear God differently?”
2. On the first evening we spoke about hopes and fears, cultural changes, hermeneutics and we shared our planned steps. Our goal was that, at the end of this process, we could discern together what we keep as binding, and what should be open to individual freedom.
3. For two following evenings we invited an external speaker who helped us to get a better understanding of biblical foundations about sex and marriage and what this could mean for our way of living. The main outcome was that sexuality should be imbedded in a loving and life-long relationship characterised by unity, exclusiveness and stability.
4. The fourth evening was a real highlight, because it was time to find out, where we stand after all that has been heard and said. What’s important for us? What aspects of sexuality and marriage are open to personal interpretation and what should the community address (it’s not solely a private affair)?

To find that out, we drew a line and asked everybody place themselves on this line according to his or her point of view. Our body language expressed whether we would face people we don’t agree with, or turn away from them. We encouraged people to give short statements, like “I’m standing here, because…” Most people were facing the others – despite the different opinions. It was a wide spectrum – yet we all found ourselves under the cross on the wall.

United despite differences

In the following weeks, we recorded important insights, which again were discussed with elders and preachers who didn’t share the same opinion on every point, but were united to present and discuss that with the congregation. A clear majority agreed and accepted the document as a guide. It`s not a document of doctrine. There are no quick answers to the question, “How far a loving couple may go,” rather, it presents insights of the whole process we went through as local church. Sometimes leaders from other churches ask us for that paper, but we have reservations about sharing it because the process is so very important.

Every local church should go through this process by itself. Just adapting results from others without a process will not be helpful. Looking back, there is much reason to be thankful, but we don’t want to keep quiet about painful experiences; this way of transformation in church life was difficult. We failed to live our verbalized claims. People got hurt and some tension still exists. That keeps us humble, for it`s easier to talk about the bright side than the darker side of life. But both belong to our common experience and journey as local church. As the first words of the Shared Convictions say, “By the grace of God…..” we walk forward, focusing on the great vision of shalom.

With this experiences from the past, we approach a new challenge now, to speak about money, wealth and giving. I’m sure we will be challenged by other ethical questions in the coming years. Our starting point each time is the Bible, which “we accept as our authority for faith and life, interpreting it together under Holy Spirit guidance.” And that means being lifelong learners, not having all instant answers, but seeking them together.

—Emanuel Neufeld is pastor of Evangelische Mennonitengemeinde Schänzli, Muttenz, Switzerland.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2016