Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Indonesia 2022: workshop

    This three-part series explores the document that the Mennonite World Conference General Council approved in Kenya 2018.

    Presenters:

    Andrew Suderman is MWC Peace Commission secretary and a member of St. Jacob’s Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church Canada) and of Shalom Mennonite Congregation (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA).

    Joji Pantoja is MWC Peace Commission chair, a Mennonite Church Canada Witness worker in the Philippines and founding member of Peacebuilders Community Inc.

    Tala Bautista is a member of Peacebuilders Community Inc. in the Philippines.

    Wendy Kroeker is a member of Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and chair of GAPN.

    Katerina Friesen is a staff person at Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery (USA), a member of a Mennonite Church USA congregation, and pastor of a Wild Church. (hybrid)

    The first workshop explores the MWC Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples document. It offers a glimpse into the background of this document, including the struggle of the Wounaan People and the way in which they, through their request, served as impetus for the crafting of this document. It also highlights the development of the document and the way it has been used thus far. 

    Indonesia 2022: workshop

    The second workshop of this three-part series looks at current struggles of Indigenous Peoples and how MWC member churches and/or related organizations are walking with and standing in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and their ongoing struggles. 

  • Indonesia 2022: workshop

    The second workshop of this three-part series will look at current struggles of Indigenous Peoples and how MWC member churches and/or related organizations are walking with and standing in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and their ongoing struggles. 

    Presenters: Andrew Suderman is MWC Peace Commission secretary and a member of St. Jacob’s Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church Canada) and of Shalom Mennonite Congregation (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA). Joji Pantoja is MWC Peace Commission chair, a Mennonite Church Canada Witness worker in the Philippines and founding member of Peacebuilders Community Inc. Tala Bautista is a member of Peacebuilders Community Inc. in the Philippines. Wendy Kroeker is a member of Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and chair of GAPN. Katerina Friesen is a staff person at Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery (USA), a member of a Mennonite Church USA congregation, and pastor of a Wild Church. (hybrid)

    Supporting document: Statement of solidarity with Indigenous Peoples

  • MWC general secretary César García and president J. Nelson Kraybill take encouragement from 1 Peter in the midst of COVID-19.

    MWC COVID-19 GS and president

  • Executive Committee Europe representative Wieteke van der Molen shares an update from the Mennonite church in the Netherlands.

    COVID-19 Netherlands

  • Be strong and courageous – Joshua 1:9

    Regional representative Jeremiah Choi speaks with MWC general secretary César García

    COVID-19 Hong Kong
  • A teaching resource from the Faith & Life commission

    What does it mean for member churches of Mennonite World Conference to share an Anabaptist identity? What is the value of Anabaptist “tradition” – and what does that word mean in a global context? What are our Anabaptist understandings of mission and fellowship?

    In 2009, the newly appointed Faith and Life Commission was asked to produce three papers that could be used in helping MWC communities reflect on such questions:

    • “A Holistic Understanding of Fellowship, Worship, Service, and Witness from an Anabaptist Perspective” by Alfred Neufeld Friesen of Paraguay;
    • “The ‘Anabaptist Tradition’ – Reclaiming its Gifts, Heeding its Weaknesses” by Hanspeter Jecker of Switzerland; and
    • “Koinonia – The Gift We Hold Together” by Tom Yoder Neufeld of Canada.

    All three papers were approved as a teaching resource by the MWC General Council in May 2012.


    Some weeks ago, I received a request from Bert Lobe to consider describing and reflecting on how the sixteenth century Anabaptists understood diaconal service, and how that understanding and practice developed historically. The idea was that this kind of study might provide a basis for discussion and discernment for the MWC Deacons Commission…

  • Liturgy Guide and Resources

    for the Weekend of Prayer and Action Against Hunger October 11-13, 2024

    For this Weekend of Prayer and Action Against Hunger, Christians from all around the world will gather for prayer and worship around the theme of global hunger and food justice.

    We offer this guide to support worship planners to develop a service of prayer or worship that fits your local context. You will find selections of prayers to choose from, which are offered to be used or adapted for your own community’s context.


    “Enough to Share”

    There are shared meals one will never forget. Years ago, I visited churches in Zimbabwe. It was a difficult time with incredibly high inflation and political turmoil with violence. We passed by a church building under construction in the suburbs of Harare. It was a working day. Spontaneously people came when they saw our cars. We sang and prayed together.

    We were about to leave, but someone asked us to stay. Women went to their homes and came back soon with chicken, rice, and salad. We sat down and shared a meal together. What a sign of love and welcome. I was blessed by the gracious gift of food, hospitality, and care. It was like light rising in the darkness. I was reminded that God’s kingdom is not a future dream. It becomes real in the middle of the injustices and hardships we are facing, such as increase of hunger, wars, armed conflicts, climate change, most affecting those who only cause few carbon emissions, etc. God’s kin-dom is real, today, when we share food with one another, explore new ways to grow wheat and vegetables, see Christ in the stranger and become God’s beloved community.

    Follow up questions:

    • Do you remember meals that touched and even changed your life?
    • With whom could you share food? Perhaps you wish to reach out to people with whom you never met for a meal?
    • Look at your life and at your community in the light of God’s promises in Isaiah 58,6-12.

    Any thoughts on how these promises transform yourself, your community and the world?

    —Bishop Rosemarie Wenner

  • Liturgy: Sharing food with the Hungry Ð Isaiah 58: 6-12

    Conflict; an uneven global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; the effects of climate change; high inflation; as well as the rising cost of food, fuel, and fertiliser are driving a polycrisis that is pushing tens of millions of girls, boys, and their families into extreme hunger.

    The number of people affected by acute food insecurity has nearly doubled over the past three years, from 135 million people across 55 countries and territories in 2019 to a record 258 million in 58 countries in 2022 Ð even more than last year’s mid-year projection that, without urgent action, 222 million across 53 countries and territories could face Ôcrisis’ (IPC 3) conditions or worse.

    In the face of dire statistics, we know that hunger has a nameÉ

    • Seven-month-old Hamdi weighed only 8.8 pounds in June when she arrived at a nurition clinic in Baidoa, Somalia. Health workers found her to have severe acute malnutrition,  exacerbated by acute watery diarrhea and measles. Drought in Somalia is not only impacting access to food.
    • Ten year old Peter in Kenya, whose family’s food supply has been impacted by drought and climate change.
    • 1-year old Nadia in Afghanistan, displaced and experiencing severe malnutrition.

    Nadia, Hamdi and Peter found help and support…but the situation globally remains a significant challenge. And hunger is in every neighbourhood and community.

    These realities are true in a world where there is enough to feed everyone….and so we pray for justice, for hearts to act and serve and for systems to change to take steps to end hunger.

    Worship resource

    • Opening prayer
    • Hymns & music
    • Hunger today
    • Prayer of Confession
    • Scriptures
    • Reflections
    • Examples of action
    • Prayers
  • Why We Pray and Act Against Hunger

    The Focus of our Gathering

    Across the globe more than 41m people – around half of them children–are at risk of falling into famine in 43 countries. Famine is preventable and has no place in the 21st century. These people are not starving, they are being starved by conflict and violence; by inequality; the impacts of climate change; and by a fight against COVID-19 that has left them even further behind.

    Time is running out. Action must be taken now to prevent the needless deaths of tens of thousands of children. If the world stands by and does too little too late, children will starve to death. Hunger will also force children and their families to make dangerous survival choices, such
    as child marriage or child labour, and this will have lasting harmful consequences for girls and boys.

    Up to 811 million people were hungry in 2020, up by 161 million from 2019. This is a 25% increase from 2019, which is greater than the total increase over the past 5 years. Hunger increased in all regions of the world. Asia has the largest total number of hungry people, but Africa has the highest proportion of its population.

    In our time of worship, we will focus on the invitation from Jesus to follow him – ‘Feed my sheep.’

    We have the assurance that God sees and knows and hears the cry of each person experiencing hunger in the world today and invites us to participate in their redemption, ensuring that the daily needs of all people can be met. Our response, in hope-filled obedience, is to join in God’s
    redemptive work in the world.

    Read more about hunger

    Download worship resource below, a collaboration with ecumenical partners (Micah Global, Integral Alliance, ACT Alliance, World Methodist Community, Lutheran World Federation, The Salvation Army, World Council of Churches, WEA, World Vision) ⬇️

  • “Give us each day our daily bread”

    Across the globe, more than 41 million people – around half of them children – are now at risk of starvation in 43 countries. The global hunger crisis is driven by conflict, by climate change; and by the economic impacts of COVID-19. Even in countries where some have an abundance of food, many people are lacking the basics.

    Mennonite World Conference is working with a large group of Christian churches and networks to launch a weekend of prayer and action 16-17 October 2021. This will coincide with World Food Day on 16 October.

    Global church and network partners include ACT Alliance, Integral Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, Micah Global, Organization of African Instituted Churches, Salvation Army, World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance, World Methodist Council and World Vision International.

    It will be a time for us, as followers of Christ, to unite across denominations in solidarity with our sisters and brothers, praying for them and with them, so that they can live their lives without hunger, with dignity, in all life’s fullness, experiencing the grace and love of God.

    During the course of the weekend, we invite our members to share a meal with other families and individuals, offer your prayers for those who are hungry, and reflect on the causes and impacts of hunger.

    On Sunday, 17 October 2021, we encourage local congregations to focus on this global hunger crisis in their Sunday service.

    Click on the resources below.

  • A pastoral letter on October 7, 2024 

    Beloved brothers and sisters of the global Anabaptist/Mennonite communion: 

    With heavy hearts, we mark the one-year anniversary of terrible events that signalled the beginning of a new cycle of violence in the Middle East. We are heartbroken at the number of lives taken a year ago and since. We grieve the repression, the disregard for human rights, and the dispossession over decades that led up to the current crisis. 

    A year ago, Hamas fighters breached the militarized boundaries of the Gaza Strip and committed heinous acts in Israel. This attack left 1 200 Israelis dead, including nearly 400 soldiers. Some 250 Israeli civilians and security personnel were taken to Gaza as hostages. Israel responded with a horrifying year-long campaign of collective punishment on Gaza, targeting hospitals, schools, places of worship and journalists. The death count in Gaza is more than 40 000 and rising, with thousands missing or unaccounted for. Israel has prevented food and medical aid from entering the strip. Most recently, Israel has unleashed a ferocious military assault on neighbouring Lebanon.  

    As Christians dedicated to Christ’s way of peace, we reject war as a way to resolve differences. We stand with all who suffer today, whether Jewish, Muslim or Christian. At times, we feel helpless – even complicit – as trauma and prejudice accumulated over generations spill out in waves of hatred and destruction.  

    Jesus, the Prince of Peace, teaches us that war does not lead to human flourishing. Courageous love of enemies and nonviolent pursuit of justice for all is how we aspire to follow Jesus. Love trains our hearts to see God in the human “other.” Love gives us the courage to seek justice and to live rightly with one another. As followers of Jesus, we pray for that courage to love with transformative power. For it is love that offers a fundamentally different reality and future than the cycles of violence that oppress, suppress and kill fuelled by lust for power and mechanisms of death.  

    The global Anabaptist/Mennonite communion reiterates our call of October 2023 for all parties in this conflict to lay down weapons and begin the hard work of peacemaking. We call for the release of captives – both the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the Palestinian prisoners held illegally in “administrative detention” by the Israeli state. Where possible, we resolve to speak to our own governments and fellow citizens who may be giving uncritical support that perpetuates the ongoing conflict. 

    Justice must accompany peace, and all parties in this conflict have grievances. We confess our failure to listen well and to seek justice, to acknowledge the inadequacy of our wisdom. So, we call on the Holy Spirit to teach and equip us to act with humility and courage as we speak and act. 

    We pray not only for violence to cease, but for lands of the Bible to become a place of human harmony and diversity, where neighbours “sit under their own vines and their own fig trees” with no one to make them afraid (Micah 4:4). We reaffirm our conviction that

    The Spirit of Jesus empowers us to trust God in all areas of life so we become peacemakers who renounce violence, love our enemies, seek justice, and share our possessions with those in need.”

  • “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Igreja Evangelica Menonita Em Angola (IEMA) has taken this to heart with a lending project to promote small business for widows and abandoned women in their community.

    During a meeting of IEMA’s executive committee, the women’s department raised concerns about struggling women in four provinces where the church operates: Luanda, Uige, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul.

    The leaders decided to provide capital assist women to develop small businesses for their ongoing sources of income.

    To support the project, the Mennonite World Conference member church received a Global Church Sharing Fund grant of $10 000.

    Recognizing economic disparity that accompanies our diverse global Anabaptist family, the Global Church Sharing Fund aims to meet the needs of some with the surplus of others, as in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15.

    “Within the mosaic of the global family, our members have different resources and needs. Through the Global Church Sharing fund, we seek to share with each other and turn our differences into beauty,” says Tigist Tesfaye, MWC Deacons Commission secretary. 

    Over two project periods, IEMA gave a loan of US$50 to 160 women each. “Some of the women wanted to start a productive activity for the first time, others were already engaged in various activities but whose business failed due to lack of capital,” says Emanuel NGOMBO MATANU, project manager.

    The project provided entrepreneurial training and monitoring to empower women to carry out their activities and to reduce their poverty.

    About 70% of the women were able to repay the loan within several months. “The women who returned the money claimed they can now continue their business,” says Rev. Makanimpovi Sebastião Sikonda, a IEMA leader who serves on MWC’s General Council. Some 10% did not follow up at all.

    “Physical and spiritual needs are interconnected,” says Tigist Tesfaye. “We are pleased to support IEMA in caring for their own members through this project to equip vulnerable women to increase their income.”

    Applications to the Global Church Sharing Fund must be endorsed the national MWC member church. Grant recipients in 2023 include support for completing construction of a guest house for the Mennonite church in Ghana; translation of John D Roth’s book Stories: How Mennonites came to be into Portuguese in Brazil; support for a regional fellowship gathering of Anabaptist leaders from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela; and emergency funding for natural disaster response in Malawi and Kenya.

    About MWC member church IEMA

    In 2024, IEMA reported a total of 45 congregations with 11,672 baptized members in 2024. There have been Mennonite churches in Angola since the 1980s, largely stemming from Angolan refugees who encountered Mennonite ministries in DR Congo. They have a primary and secondary school in Rocha Pinto and Cacuaco (Luanda).

    How can you pray for IEMA

    The resource-rich country became independent of colonial rule in 1975 but decades long civil war followed. The country has become politically stable since 2002, but economic and social inequality continue to divide the population. Droughts and excess rain events challenge rural and subsistence farmers’ survival. Pray that the church may be equipped and encouraged to share the hope of Jesus while helping to meet daily needs.


    Please share: your gifts to MWC can support projects that build the church through worship and material assistance around the world.