“Transforming our thoughts from entitlement to sacrifice is a timeless challenge we face in Christian maturity,” says D Berg, a long-term worker with Multiply, the Mennonite Brethren mission agency. “Each church should consider the sacrifice they must make to include evangelism as a key (if not central) aspect of their congregation’s commitment to mission both locally and globally.”
God’s People in Mission: An Anabaptist Perspective is a tool to explore that commitment. Each chapter of this 2018 addition to the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Shelf of Literature explores one of the 10 statements the Mennonite World Conference Mission Commission accepted in 2014.
Authors from Spain, Colombia, USA, DR Congo, Indonesia, Paraguay, South Africa and Mexico bring perspectives from their long-term service in France, West Africa, East Africa and Mongolia as well as their home cultures.
“We come from diverse cultures, many distinctive spiritual expressions and different histories of mission engagement,” says Stanley W. Green, chair of the Mission Commission. “This book is an attempt to inspire each other to greater faithfulness and integrity in God’s mission.”
For Berg, one highlight of the book is its portrayal of multidirectional mission work. Churches in both the Global North and Global South are sending and receiving mission workers.
“Only as we share cultural understandings with other ethnicities will the church mature in the fullness of God’s kingdom purposes,” says D Berg.
“We hope that in sharing our understanding of Christ’s call and our mutual commitment to God’s mission within the differences of language, culture, spiritual expression and mission history, we might discover a common language in mission,” says Stanley W. Green.
“The goal is that the book might help us communicate more effectively with other so that collaboration in mission is made simpler and more effective,” says Stanley W. Green.
“The Global Anabaptist/Mennonite Shelf of Literature invites our members to participate in a global conversation about matters of faith and practice from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective,” says John D Roth, secretary of the Faith and Life Commission. “Most of the books include study questions, which aid small group discussion; all are deeply rooted in Scripture.”
The Commissions are committed to ongoing translation of these volumes. “This is a living series,” says John D. Roth. “We are always open to suggestions or proposals for new titles.”
Translation of God’s People in Mission in Spanish is complete. The French is underway.