Prayers of gratitude and intercession

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.

“Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18).

In a world ravaged by violence, it is not easy to be a Peace Church – a church dedicated to the ways of Christ’s peace. These ways require much intentionality, persistence and even sacrifice. It is not always certain that Christ’s ways of peace will be effective. And yet the author of James reminds us that how we plant our seeds matters. If we indeed want the fruit of righteousness (which is closely related to the principle of justice), we must plant in peace. 

Along with the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Church of the Brethren, Mennonites are one of three historic Peace Churches. These churches have, throughout their history, confessed peace and the ways of peace as central to participating in God’s kingdom.

How does your church form a faith identity rooted in the ways of peace?

As a worldwide communion of faith, we will be commemorating Peace Sunday on 18 September 2016. How does your church foster the peace that is so needed in our world?

—Andrew Suderman, Mennonite World Conference Peace Commission secretary

Click here to see the Peace Sunday 2016 Worship Resource.

Bogotá, Colombia – Conrad Grebel University College hosted academics, practitioners, artists and church workers at the inaugural Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference and Festival, 9–12 June 2016. In Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 203 people from 20 countries (from Canada to Colombia to DR Congo) attended 30 concurrent sessions.

Three plenary speakers (including Fernando Enns of Germany and Paulus Widjaja of Indonesia, known for their service with Mennonite World Conference), two banquet speakers, seven storytellers and six listeners led the event. In addition to lectures, the conference included seven installations of art, photography and sound, one concert, one play, three worship sessions and two drum circles.

The conference examined a diversity of peace-related topics, such as inclusion and exclusion in the Mennonite church, development and livelihoods, history and theology, reflective practise, and case studies from India to Indonesia and from Laos to South Africa.

The MWC Peace Commission led a workshop to explore the idea of a Global Anabaptist Peace Network (GAPN). Jenny Neme and Robert J. Suderman (both of the Peace Commission) and Noe Gonzalia (member of the GAPN Advisory Committee) shared stories to highlight the importance and blessings of being interconnected and the support and solidarity that comes with it.

“There was a good spirit of engagement and interest in the idea of a Global Anabaptist Peace Network and the proposal presented. Most of the discussion that followed the presentation of the GAPN proposal focused on the organizational structure of the network,” says Peace Commission secretary Andrew Suderman who led the workshop and ensuing discussion. “It is exciting to see how this has already inspired some to think of the ways in which we are already and can further support one another as this network begins to take shape.”

The event included creative evening events: Thursday’s public concert “Voices for Peace” and Saturday’s premiere of Theatre of the Beat’s “Yellow Bellies: An Alternative History of WWII,” and closed with a Sunday morning worship service and final plenary.

Funding for the event came from 23 sponsors and financial supporters, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union.

—Mennonite World Conference release 

We estimate that there are 9,500 congregations throughout the world that are part of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) family. These congregations are found in every continent and in every imaginable context. This means that there are, potentially, thousands of active communities of the peace of Christ functioning in many contexts in need of reconciliation. The vision of the MWC Peace Commission is to encourage, nourish and resource these agents of peace.

With this vision in mind, we wanted to hear from the member-churches of MWC. We asked them to answer a simple question: “How is your church doing in its desire to be a Peace Church?”

What did we learn? It was encouraging and very moving to read the responses. They were vulnerable and provided profound and intimate windows into the lives of MWC member-churches. They put us in touch with the challenges faced and the efforts engaged by the churches in their desire to be effective ambassadors of peace in our broken world. Here’s what we learned:

1. All respondents expressed a deep desire to be a “Peace Church.” They understood that as being communities of Jesus’ disciples and actively nonviolent in their contexts.

2. All respondents talked about important and creative ways that they are working at strengthening their identity as Peace Churches.

3. Most respondents pointed to important “official” statements that identified them as churches with a Peace Church vision.

4. All respondents indicated that there is a gap (some wider than others) that separates the official statements of the church from the life of the church and congregations.

5. All respondents identified important and daunting challenges they face in their efforts at being a Peace Church.

6. Respondents indicated that the understanding of peace is shifting from reaction (do no harm to others) to action (do good for others).

7. All respondents said that they need more resources and resourcing to strengthen their identity as Peace Churches.

What are the challenges? The most moving parts of the responses were those that talked about their contextual challenges to being a Peace Church. (To read the full report, visit www. mwc-cmm.org/article/peace-commission) It is clear that our vision for 9,500 effective communal peace ambassadors at work in each context is a very high calling. Two things are very evident: the peace vocation is extremely important and necessary, and pursuing that vocation is exceptionally complex.

Space does not permit me to delve into all the details. But let me give a taste of the challenges that we face:

From Canada: The numbing impact of individualistic materialism, affluence and comfort shield us from the broken worlds of poverty, revolution and violence.

From Honduras: The continuing influence of machoism in gender and social relationships eclipses the peace of Christ.

From Taiwan: The militarized atmosphere generated by thousands of Chinese missiles aimed at every part of Taiwan makes it difficult to love our enemies as Christ commanded.

From Indonesia: We stumble in forming a peace-church identity because the pastors of our churches graduate from seminaries that do not teach peace.

From Spain: We share a “basket of love” with each other, but we need to do much more.

Any one of these challenges is formidable enough. When all are put together, we can see the enormity of our vocation. Peace is badly needed in our world, but practicing it is complex. Perhaps the clearest lesson we can learn from the responses is that we will not be “unpremeditated” Peace Churches. We’ll need to work at it – intentionally, overtly, and strategically.

A pressing question I remember a visit we had with the leaders of a semi-rural congregation in central India. They told us that their children and grand- children no longer know what it means to be “Mennonite.” They were sad about this, and asked: “What is MWC going to do about that?”

The question from India is profound. It identifies a preferred theological identity. It also says that this identity must be accompanied by congregational and church behaviours that deliberately stimulate and strengthen this identity.

What is MWC doing about it? MWC is responding in several ways. First, we are continuing to promote our “Shared Convictions,” prepared by MWC in 2006. They provide a common foundation for our desire to be an Anabaptist Peace Church. They are there to be studied, shared and used.

Second, MWC has approved a number of resources for member-churches looking to strengthen their Anabaptist-Mennonite identity. Books like Alfred Neufeld’s What We Believe Together, Paulus Widijaia’s and Alan and Eleanor Kreider’s A Culture of Peace and C. Arnold Snyder’s From Anabaptist Seed, are all good resources on Anabaptist identity from a variety of angles (historical, theological, etc.). (For a complete list of books, visit www. mwc-cmm.org/article/books) The final reports from the Mennonite- Lutheran and Mennonite-Catholic international dialogues are very helpful documents that could be adapted to the teaching ministry of the church. And the three papers recently discussed and approved by the MWC General Council are another instructive and useful set of resources. (To read the papers, visit www. mwc-cmm.org/article/faith-andlife- commission)

Third, the MWC Faith and Life Commission plans to offer “identity workshops” to churches requesting such resourcing. The Commission hopes that these seminars can be face-to-face, dynamic and stimulating, as questions of Anabaptist identity are explored together with key resource teachers.

Fourth, MWC plans to place regional representatives in each continent. Such individuals can encourage member-churches in that region to work together at the peace-related questions and challenges.

Fifth, the MWC Peace Commission has designed an attractive “Peace Poster” that will helpfully remind us of the centrality of peace in the gospel of Christ. (The poster is included as an insert in this issue of the magazine.) We hope that this visual resource can find a prominent place in the worship spaces of MWC congregations. Additionally, the Peace Commission is working to produce some guidelines for conflict assessment and management.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, MWC provides an opportunity and a real-life structure that enables member-churches from all over the world to say, “We belong together.” Someone will surely ask: What do you belong to? Why do you belong? Why is it important to belong? These questions are excellent opportunities to clarify our identity and vocation as a Peace Church.

-Robert J. Suderman is Secretary of the MWC Peace Commission.

PEACE POSTER

Click here to see the peace poster. This poster, developed by the MWC Peace Commission and designed by Glenn Fretz, is intended to remind MWC member-churches of the centrality of peace in the gospel of Christ.

SIDEBAR

Who Responded to the Peace Audit?

When the MWC Peace Commission asked, “How is your church doing in its desire to be a Peace Church?”, 21 (out of 100) member-churches from four continents responded.

The participants were:

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.

There is a South African term that has been instrumental in its people’s difficult journey in search of reconciliation – ubuntu. Western languages have no equivalent for ubuntu, a word that expresses the essence of humanity and its interconnectedness. In some ways it has become shorthand for the Zulu proverb umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, which can be translated roughly as “a person is a person because of other people.” What affects one affects others, and this matters because our humanity – our being – is dependent on one another.

These notions fly in the face of western individualism. They also provide a different imagination for how we live and relate to others. If we see others beyond ourselves, it allows us to explore ways in which we can walk with one another in our common quest for humanity and dignity.

As our Australian aboriginal brothers and sisters remind us: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

As Anabaptists, we have a historic and ongoing concern for peace (shalom), which is intimately connected to issues of justice. As disciples of Christ who see peace as gospel, we have a heavy but necessary burden: we must walk with one another as we together witness to and participate in God’s peaceable kingdom on earth. Indeed, as the quote above highlights, our quest towards peace and justice in our world rests on walking with one another, from across the street to around the world. To love our neighbours as ourselves as Jesus taught is the foundation on which to build an ubuntu perspective.

Unfortunately, current South African realities also teach us what happens when we fail to recognize our common and interconnected humanity. Greed, misuse of power, racism and selfishness begin to plague and dissolve the community. Those who are privileged and comfortable tend to forget those who are suffering. And pretty soon we, like Cain, also forget to keep our brother (and sister!) (Genesis 4:9).

If we are truly interested in pursuing justice and embodying peace in our world, then we are tasked as a church – a people “called out” to seek God’s peaceable kingdom – to walk with others in this pursuit. As our South African brothers and sisters remind us, this is the way in which we come to better understand our identity and our very being.

May we remember this as we walk with God and with each other.

—Andrew Suderman, Mennonite World Conference Peace Commission secretary

At one of the breakout sessions in MWC Assembly Gathered 2015 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, last July, former and present MWC workers exchanged coffee from their respective countries during their reunion. Unbeknownst to many, one special brand traded that day is not just another coffee.

Coffee for Peace from the Philippines is JUST coffee.

The story of this peace and justice coffee is deeply rooted in the midst of conflict and unrest in the heart of Mindanao.

The COFFEE FOR PEACE Story

Dann and Joji Pantoja migrated to Canada to raise their family during the 1980s when the Philippines was at the peak of its turmoil against a dictatorial regime. In 2006, they felt led by the Lord to serve in their home country again; but this time, in a province at the southern part of the Philippines where neither of their families is from. They chose to establish their peacebuilding mission in Davao City. While Davao City is beautiful and generally peaceful, it is surrounded by the conflict-ridden Mindanao uplands.

The couple lost no time working out their passion for peacebuilding. Soon, Dann established Peacebuilders Community, Inc., while his wife Joji founded Coffee for Peace, Inc., an inclusive business community committed to protect and enhance the environment, journey with farmers toward improvements, and support peacebuilders working on the ground.

Coffee for Peace has a simple and yet elegant coffee shop in Davao City. A visitor to this coffee shop can see the advocacy for promoting coffee produced by the locals. But upon a closer examination, one will realize that this is not just promotion of the local coffee, but that it advocates peace and justice through fair trade. In fact, this coffee shop is a visual representation of the hard work and tough journey behind Joji’s accolades, recognized even by the United Nations Development Programme.

When the couple first visited the upper regions in Mindanao, they engaged in dialogue among groups whose problems and conflict were mainly rooted in land ownership. The fights, unrest, and conflicts were all due to injustices when migrants with land titles would flock to the ancestral lands of the indigenous residents who have no title to show legal proof of ownership. Furthermore, these poor coffee farmers get almost nothing from their high-quality coffee beans because large corporations can bargain for their product at a very cheap price.

In these dialogues and peace talks, the couple observed that coffee was the main beverage being served. When the people drink coffee together, they seem to be more calm and agreeable. Thus, the inspiration of working with the local coffee farmers to encourage collaboration among conflicting groups to instigate peacebuilding began.

Joji trained coffee farmers, teaching them their importance in the cycle of coffee production and the real monetary value of their product. From planting and production to trading, Joji was relentless in establishing this peacebuilding advocacy among the coffee farmers in Mindanao. Using her own networks and resources, she was able to tap into international markets who were willing to trade fairly for the farmers’ coffee.

To date, Coffee for Peace is trading with international markets in Canada, USA, and soon also in Australia and New Zealand. The peace advocacy of Coffee for Peace is also expanding not only in the southern part of the Philippines but also to the Cordillera region in the north where similar stories of conflict exist.

Coffee for Peace was one of six winners of the United Nations Development Programme’s IIX N-Peace Innovation Challenge for a “sustainable, scalable, inclusive peacebuilding that has long-term and transformative impact.” The award was presented on 23 October 23, 2015 in New York City to Joji Pantoja, the founder and CEO of Coffee for Peace. Almost as if it were a prelude to this award, in July 2015, Joji was appointed as chair of the Peace Commission of Mennonite World Conference.

Truly, justice and peace work together and they are attainable even through a small means – like JUST coffee.

Remilyn Mondez (Philippines) is an assistant professor at Malayan Colleges Laguna and is currently taking her doctoral degree in communication. She was one of the YAB speakers at PA 2015 and a delegate at GYS 2009.

UPDATE 2020

MWC Peace Commission chair Joji Pantoja is a 2020 recipient of the Oslo Business for Peace Award. Honourees are selected by an independent committee of Nobel Prize Laureates in Peace and in Economics after a global nomination process. The award recognizes global business leaders who “ethically create economic value that also creates value for society.”

Learn more: https://businessforpeace.no/award/2020-honourees/

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa – September 21 marked the International Day of Peace – an event observed around the world with the hope that global citizens may renew their desire to work for peace. Mennonite World Conference and its member churches participated in this global day of commitment to peace by celebrating Peace Sunday on September 20, 2015.

As we focused on peace, we were not far removed from images that shocked us with the recognition that shalom is still desperately needed around the world.

Earlier in September, the world was accosted with photographs of the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi (3) washed up on the shores of Turkey. We were confronted with the ramifications of years of civil war in Syria and ongoing bombing by foreign powers.

We saw the human price paid for the perpetuation of war and violence.

Although the flood of people leaving Syria and other countries, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, has been described as a refugee crisis, we know that it is but a symptom of a much larger issue. Europe has been in the spotlight for the way its countries have responded (or not) to the influx of refugees and asylum seekers crossing their borders.

But this is not only a regional issue. For decades, Colombia and DR Congo have seen large numbers of people flee or be internally displaced due to ongoing conflict.

This is a human issue with deep causes.

In the book of James, we are reminded that “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18, WEB). The author of James reminds us that the way in which we sow matters. Our governments continue to assume that peace and justice can be achieved through violent means. Not surprisingly, peace pursued with guns and bombs continues to be unattainable.

And the spiral of violence costs human lives.

As people who seek to sow in peace, we would like to share stories of the way(s) in which our churches have responded to the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East or the larger backdrop of violence occurring in our own communities and regions.

Member churches in Europe, how are you responding to the influx of refugees coming into the EU? In what ways can other churches around the world support your efforts?

Member churches in other parts of the world, how are you responding to this immediate crisis in Europe and the Middle East? How are you working to be peacemakers amid the violence and injustice in your community and region?

Click here to share stories of how your church is responding.

Click below to support member agencies of the Global Anabaptist Service Network who are working with refugees and peace making:

• Caisse de secours
• Christliche Dienste
• Deutsches Mennonitisches Friedenskomitee
• Doopsgezind WereldWerk 
• Eastern Mennonite Missions
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Mennonitisches Hilfswerk e. V.

—Andrew Suderman, MWC Peace Commission, secretary

Photo: Caisse de secours (http://caissedesecours.menno.fr/)