Prayers of gratitude and intercession

France

“Happy are those whom you choose, whom you bring to live in your sanctuary…” (Psalm 65:4, Good News Translation).

The “pause for prayer” at the Mennonite church of ChâtenayMalabry (Paris, France) was created in March 2021as part of the journey towards Easter in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initiated by our former pastor, Silvie Hege, it took the form of a weekly one-hour meeting by Zoom during the lunch break, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The online gathering was to be held every Friday of the Lenten period and to end once Easter arrived.

Time for a break

This time was an opportunity to take a break in our day and in our week, to come and be refreshed/filled by the Spirit, a time to walk with Jesus. It was a time of fasting for those who wished to do so, a time set apart for ourselves, a time of sharing, a prayer break that really allowed us to feel close to Jesus in this moment and close to each other, united by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Once Easter 2021 was over, it was impossible for us to end this divine rendez-vous, this weekly meeting with the Father who does us so much good.

It is at this point that I took on the responsibility of leading this time of prayer that has continued to this day – even during vacations – with participants taking turns leading if necessary.

Although the day has been changed from Friday to Wednesday for reasons of convenience, we have kept the original principle: to spend a lunch break together (that lasts on the average an hour and 15 minutes) to be with our Lord, to rest in God’s holy presence and to stand in the breach1 .

Praise, adoration and rendering thanks

During our meetings, the reading of at least one Bible passage allows us to contemplate our God and to pray on the basis of God’s Word. We then praise and adore God, giving thanks and interceding for the world, for the subjects of prayer shared in our church at Châtenay-Malabry and in this prayer cell.

Every member of the church is welcome. The connection link is shared every week through the different communication channels of the church. The number of participants is not large, but the blessings of God are overwhelming. We have seen a great many prayers answered.

There is a small number of people who are faithful to the meetings, making it a privileged place where trust is built up/ established, allowing us to speak about prayer subjects that cannot always be shared with the entire congregation on Sunday.

Occasionally, we have had the joy of the unexpected presence of a person whom the Holy Spirit has led to connect, and this, at times, sometimes in a very unique way.

This “pause” has allowed us to see so many answers and so many signs from God that it has reinforced the idea that he is present with us during this time.

Each meeting has been a genuine moment of renewal. Be it 2, 4 or 6 people connected, we feel privileged to be able to participate in this time of prayer as it is written in Psalm 65:4.

A burden that became a benefit

The idea of this prayer time, meeting via Zoom, would probably not have seen the light of day without COVID-19. A structure that could have initially been considered a burden or a limitation has turned out to be a real asset because we can participate from wherever we are: from home, from the office, from vacation spots, with the only condition being access to an internet connection. God truly does make all things work together for the good of those who love him.

Other than the worship service, this prayer break is the only weekly meeting in our church. We truly give glory to God for this additional opportunity for fellowship and for all that we have been able to experience through these blessed times since the very beginning.

The challenges are great but we want to keep standing in the breach so that the Lord may act among the nations, in our lives, in all the situations that come upon us, so that we may see the manifestation of God’s glory.

—Nicole Djuissi is a member of the pastoral team, the leader of the online prayer meeting and also head of a house group. She is employed as a digital project manager, and the mother of two children ages 13 and 17.

1Psalm 106 :23; Ezekiel 22:30, Isaiah 11-12

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Canada

Then we read Scripture out under the open sky, it comes alive in new ways.

Phrases like, “The heavens are telling the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12) and “let justice roll down like water” (Amos 5,24) all take on deeper significance as we reflect on creation as participants in praise or harbingers of God’s wisdom.

Similarly, Jesus taught outdoors. He often drew on the natural world (water, vines, rocks, birds, flowers, etc.) to offer insights into his ministry and the kingdom of God.

God’s Spirit is continually active in the world around us. God is hiding in plain sight, and at Burning Bush we are honing our senses to be become more fully aware of God’s living presence and inspiration in our midst.

Gathered and grounded

Burning Bush Forest Church found its beginnings in an unexpected epiphany in late 2014. A seed of inspiration was received, planted, allowed to sit dormant for a while, then germinated and took root at our first official worship gathering in March 2016. The basic idea that grounds who we are and what we do is that we worship outdoors, all year ‘round, not merely in creation, but with creation! We engage with God’s good earth as our place of worship, as an extension of our worshipping community, and as one of our worship leaders.

This form of worship – inviting people outdoors to connect with Creator and creation – seems to resonate with many people in this era of multiple environmental crises.

Our gatherings are generally small and intimate (usually between 10 and 30 people).

They engage our whole bodies as we ground ourselves through our senses in the particular place where we are gathered.

Our gatherings include Scripture and prayer, but not a traditional sermon. Participants are given time to “wander and wonder” (usually 30 minutes) to pay attention to how they are noticing God’s presence that “speaks” in a variety of ways.

There is time for sharing with one another around the circle.

Children are free to explore and follow their curiosity, and to participate along with their parents and the whole community. Their insights are welcome and often profound.

Ultimately, worshipping outdoors helps us to feel a deeper sense of belonging to God’s “community of creation.” Over the years, we have met in different public parks in our city, settling in at one with a creek and naturalized forest area as our primary location. By returning to the same spot, we have learned to know the names and characteristics of the trees, plants, birds, animals and insects around us. We have been immersed in the rhythms of the seasons as they play out. We have witnessed lessons of letting go, abundance, interdependence, death, renewal and resurrection, all written into creation for us to see.

Practical pattern

As we already had a well-established pattern of intentionally gathering outdoors for several years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we did not feel the restrictions as dramatically as other congregations who needed to close the doors of their buildings for a time.

We were able to continue our worship with only a few minor adjustments such as using an on-line registration tool (Eventbrite) to ask participants to pre-register. This allowed us to stay within gathering limits and have information for contact tracing should that be necessary. We also enhanced our email newsletter, adding in more resources for personal engagement and spiritual growth at home. At Burning Bush, we did not decide to experiment with worship simply to offer something new and different, or to figure out how to pivot in a new context. We are following God’s leading to return to a way of connecting heart, mind and soul with the beloved community of creation. This is both ancient and new. It has been a journey of renewal and transformation, rooting ourselves in God’s great vision of shalom for all creation.

—Wendy Janzen is pastor of Burning Bush Forest Church and an ecominister with Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

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Democratic Republic of the Congo

May glory be given to the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his good deeds. By the grace of God, in Congo the pandemic was not as cruel as it was under other skies. Aside from the hygiene lessons given regularly and generally by the political/ administrative and health authorities to the population, there was no direct long-term link between the pandemic and worship.

Given the severity of health measures, no gatherings were possible. Nevertheless, Christians were invited to gather in their respective homes and some leaders visited the faithful and prayed with them.

During the pandemic we were asked to shorten worship times in order to avoid contamination and this practice continues to the present.

We were in the habit of embracing visitors during the time of welcome, but this practice was eliminated with the arrival of the pandemic. We no longer embrace visitors. At the end of every worship service, we had the custom of shaking hands between brothers and sisters, but this no longer happens. These are not improvements per se, but simply things that are different.

As a result of the health measures enacted by the government, notably the closing of churches and the prohibition against gathering, contact among children was nonexistent. This greatly impacted relationships among the faithful and significantly blunted fellowship. (It is good to clarify that this situation only lasted some five to six months.)

It was this aspect of no gatherings of the children of God with its corollaries such as the absence of spiritual and material sharing as well as the impossibility of giving offerings to God that we missed the most during the pandemic.

All of the activities of members having been turned upside down, the only thing that was possible for the faithful was intercession. Indeed, the children of God who got into the habit of praying in their families prayed for others and for an end to the pandemic. When the restrictive measures were lifted, all of the activities of the church resumed normally.

It is important to note that even though the pandemic was dangerous and severe, our church conference was not affected or shaken to the point of negatively impacting the organization of worship. We thank MWC for having given our church conferences, through AIMM, the means to inform the members concerning COVID-19 and attitudes to adopt in order to avoid it.

During our times of praise, the pandemic helped us better understand our vulnerability as humans and always trust in God. And even though we prayed for others before the pandemic, we became more conscious of the need to pray for the healing of others with the arrival of the pandemic.

The grace and peace of the Lord be with you.

— Pasteur Jean Félix Cimbalanga, president of the Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (CEM). Felo Gracia, General Council member (GC) representing Communauté des Eglises Frères Mennonite du Congo (the Mennonite Brethren church of Congo). Both leaders contributed insights to this article.

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South Korea

South Korea was very successful in its response to the pandemic, especially during the early stages. The virus was contained and death rates were low although the government refrained from issuing drastic measures such as lockdowns or business closures.

However, the Protestant community was highly criticised within Korea for its behaviour during the early days of the pandemic. Traditionally, a South Korean church on average has about 10 worship services a week. Korean churches put a lot of weight on face-to-face public worship: this made the COVID-19 pandemic particularly hard. Many continued faceto-face meetings overtly or in secret. Videos of Christians violating public health codes and ignoring scientific facts in the name of “faith” went viral. The South Korean church had been already deemed selfish and ultraconservative by the public in the past decade; this led people to think of it as detrimental to society.

Megachurches were able to prepare well for online services. With abundant resources, they produced forms of online worship that were even more systematic than offline formats, and are reaching even more people than before. But for small to mid-sized churches who rely on faceto-face meetings, large portions of their congregations did not return to the pews.

Peace and Joy Mennonite Church

Peace and Joy Mennonite Church is located in the countryside of a small city called Nonsan in central South Korea. The location is somewhat isolated, and most of the congregation either live on the church premises or in the nearby villages.

Our Sunday worship had to go online for a few months in the beginning of the pandemic, and then turned offline with limitations – no eating together; masks on; seating arrangements, etc. – adhering to government regulations. Brothers and sisters living on the same premises had to work and eat together even during the weekdays, so they still gathered, but took measures to limit as much contact with the outside world as much as possible.

Entering the “new normal” after the pandemic, most Korean churches are calling for the “revival of the face-to-face worship.” For Peace and Joy Mennonite Church, all of us have a sense of belonging and solidarity no matter where we are. The question of whether face-to-face worship service is the “true” form of worship wasn’t such a big issue for us. When we had to be online because of circumstances, we simply discussed how we could serve those in need.

For example, when we had confirmed cases in our midst or our village, we put necessary supplies and food on the doorsteps of quarantined people. We also began recording church services and uploading them on the church SNS group. We wanted to provide the sharing of the Word and the ongoing congregational context to brothers and sisters unable to attend the service. The weekly meeting of all members where all church matters are discussed and decided upon take place online during the week.

True worship

Even when you are completely cut off from the entire world, you can still worship God alone. Abraham and Jacob’s most significant encounters with God took place when they were both alone.

The Mennonite church reveals its faith in God through the relationships it fosters with brothers and sisters and neighbours; therefore the church community is of utmost importance. However, COVID-19 is not an one-time phenomenon. Human greed is getting bigger and the whole creation will suffer.

But even then, there is no reason to fear or despair. We shall not try to run away from worship, or tear ourselves away from the cord of three strands that Jesus tied us with, no matter the circumstances. If Sundays are no longer available for worship, we will simply worship on some other day. We do not look for excuses to not worship, but we look for different ways to worship.

Peace and Joy Mennonite Church tries to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard in our church service. Instead of a sermon, the facilitator (whose role rotates amongst the members) invites everyone to share their insights into the Word of God. Bible verses, questions and commentaries relating to the text are shared during the week so that the brothers and sisters taking part in the worship service can prepare their reflection and interpretation. Worship is teeming with life and more people are undertaking the necessary steps to become a full member of the church. It could be that each person is offering a hand to the congregation’s effort to put Jesus at the centre of peace and reconciliation, in a less authoritative and more communal manner.

We do not wait for church service because that is when and where we meet God: we wait for it because we can listen to the stories of how our brothers and sisters have met God in their lives. How precious is the time when we can see each other’s face light up as we share our stories of thanksgiving? How precious is the time when we can sing in one voice the same songs of praise? How precious is the time when all or any of us offer the common prayer that reflects our communal faith? Thanks be to God that we have our brothers and sisters in faith!

Pandemics are rooted in human greed and therefore may return any time and in any form. We do not know what destruction humanity’s uncontrolled desires may bring, but Peace and Joy Mennonite Church will take the road to a community of peace, where we love our brothers and sisters and put Jesus at the centre.

The same questions people brought in John 4:20-23 are heard in the church today: “Our fathers worshipped here, but you say…” The place and the format are not important. Jesus’ answers are the same, back then and even now: “the true woshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”

— Yongha Bae is general secretary of Mennonite Church South Korea. This article was translated from Korean into English by Hakjoon (Joe) Ko.

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Ecuador

Today, there are three national Mennonite churches in Ecuador, one of which is a member church of Mennonite World Conference. They form a small but interconnected group of churches living out Anabaptist faith in a largely Catholic country.

Passion for sharing the good news

In the 1980s, CMC, also known as Rosedale (then called Conservative Mennonite Church), sent workers to share the gospel in Ecuador.

It began in Ecuador’s second largest city, Guayaquil. As Elam and Doris Stauffer invited neighbours into their home, relationships developed and a Sunday service started. The first Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Ecuatoriana (IEME) congregation was established in Guayaquil around 1983. This congregation called Jesús el Buen Pastor (Jesus, the Good Shepherd) is a significant evangelical presence in the country.

Around the same time, a landslide that washed away several communities near the coastal city Manta brought Canadian and American Mennonites to offer disaster assistance. Robert and Mirella Miller oversaw reconstruction of some 150-200 homes for relocated families. This example of “good Anabaptists helping neighbours” made a significant impression on local people. New churches formed in Manta, Guayaquil and Portoviejo.

Fruit of an evangelist

“Our church is the fruit of Henry Klassen,” says Manuel Aguagallo of Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Ecuador (ICME). Henry Klassen of Gospel Missionary Union (now called Avant), ministered among Quechua (indigenous peoples) in RioBamba and Guayaquil in the 1990s. Walking, driving or even riding on horseback, he went from community to community, preaching and mentoring. He was known to carry a film projector to show evangelistic movies.

Today, Monte Horeb (Mount Horeb) and El Pilar de la Verdad (pillar of truth) in Riobamba, Estrella del Sol (star of the sun) in Guayaquil and Camino de Salvación (way of salvation) in Quito form a small association. From 2010-2017 was a period of consolidation and continued relating with Mennonite partners. In 2017, they adopted a Mennonite confession of faith. A period of growth followed.

A church of refuge

In the 1980s, Federation of Indigenous Evangelical Churches of Ecuador-FEINE began to look for theological training for their pastors. As a result, what is now Mennonite Mission Network sent workers to form relationships and support theological training. First, Mauricio and Sara Chenlo, ABMS-trained Argentinians, and later Colombian Mennonites Cesar Moya and Patricia Ureña fostered Anabaptist teaching. What is now Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador (ICAME) began as home bible studies in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city.

With their eyes and hearts open to their neighbourhood, the church members helping people seeking refuge after migrating from other countries. Outreach to children is a big part of the church’s work. The church has a radical leadership style with a pastoral team comprised of four women.

“To demonstrate our beliefs, we live out those beliefs in Christ daily,” say Vietnamese Mennonite pastors. “Christian faith is a ‘lived-out’ faith, not just a system of beliefs.”

Relating to other Anabaptist bodies

Connections to the wider Anabaptist family are tangible through material aid from Mennonite Central Committee, financial aid and mission workers from Mennonite Mission Network and Central Plains Mennonite Conference, and mentorship from IMCOL in Colombia.

During the pandemic, “We were able to share what we received from MCC (canned turkey, quilts, school kits),” says Doris Espinoza (ICAME).

ICAME leaders reached out to ask other churches about their needs were and gave generously from the aid they had received. “That’s one way we were able to come together to share and to be a community as an example of the kingdom of God on earth,” says Doris Espinoza.

ICME prepared small kits to share with people who have gone through hard times. The church distributed 700 kits for people who didn’t have a pound of rice or potatoes.

In May 2022, the three Anabaptist church groups held a retreat.

“It was an opportunity to know there are many more Mennonites in our country,” says Fabian Buenaventura (IEME).

“We know there are differences,” says Doris Espinoza, but focusing on what they have in common allows the three churches to learn from each other. In so doing, they are better equipped to bring the message of the kingdom of God to others.

They look forward to future opportunities to build bonds between AnabaptistMennonite brothers and sisters.

“That has been a great blessing,” says Fabian Buenaventura.

Living out Anabaptist identity

In a Catholic country, the Mennonites are different because baptism comes after declaration of belief in Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, the Mennonites are “not just someone who goes to church to worship. We are obedient to the Word of the Lord,” says Vilma Cuji (ICME).

“We follow Jesus in our practice, not as a written declaration but as a way of life,” says Fabian Buenaventura (IEME). “This identifies us in our communities. We need to incarnate the mission. If we don’t live it out we’re just one more denomination.”

“We are peacemakers,” says Vilma Cuji. “We believe it is better to resolve problems. Our belief in Jesus takes precedence over our external identities.”

The Mennonite churches have worked to respond in a holistic way. Not only with the words of the gospel, but also through soup kitchens and child care centres, schools, and a foundation for girls who have been raised on the street. “We reflect Jesus in our lives, in our actions. We are the hands and feet of Jesus for a world that needs urgently to hear a message of hope,” says Ángel Castro León (IEME).

One way ICME lived out peace convictions was by giving refreshments and sharing meals during a national strike to those who were arriving in Quito from provinces.

Anabaptism touches on structures and helps to transform society to be more empathetic, less unequal.

“We are a peace church but it is impossible to speak of peace when there is no justice; when there is violence, poverty, inequality. Jesus taught a kingdom where all humans could have a more full life,” says Alexandra Meneses Andrade (ICAME).

“We are focussed on being in the community, not being a closed church,” says Doris Espinoza (ICAME).

The churches live out the gospel as a holistic message: not just about saving the soul but the well being of the whole person.

“One can’t speak about following Jesus if we’re up in the clouds, if we’re not inserted in the reality of society,” says Doris Espinoza.

Challenges and opportunities

The church leaders lament that Ecuadorian society has become violent and corrupt. Many people feel hopeless.

Having a peace identity may led the church to be silent, to tend to its own spaces. But the church’s challenge is to be present in society, to speak to violence with a message of reconciliation and unity among the churches, says Alexandra Meneses Andrade (ICAME).

“Let’s put all we have learned at the service of society so that we can make a contribution to holistic peace in Ecuador,” she says.

“Everywhere there is a church, we can announce that Jesus Christ is Lord – not as a religion, but as a God of hope, a God who transforms lives, a God who gives new opportunities, a God who tells us that nothing is impossible for God,” says Fabian Buenaventura (IEME).

Article contributors: Ángel Castro León, pastor of Dios Viviente (Living God church) in Guayaquil; Fabian Buenaventura Garcia, president of Iglesia Evangelica Menonita Ecuatoriana (IEME); Manuel Aguagallo, pastor and representative of Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Ecuador (ICME); Vilma Cuji, from Caminos de Salvación (ICME); Doris Espinoza, legal representative of Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador (ICAME); Alexandra Meneses Andrade is the general secretary of Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador (ICAME).

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After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9, NRSV)

The first time I saw a horror movie was one evening at a church. I was around eight years old when my mother took me to the premiere of a Christian film about the book of Revelation. That night I could hardly sleep. I dreamed that Christ had come for his church and that I had stayed behind to suffer what would be the Great Tribulation.

There are different ways of looking at the book of Revelation. Some of them, quite terrifying, fill people with fear. Others, in the voice of some preachers, use this book as a crystal ball to discover the future and explain the events regarding the end of humanity. Countless films and books have fed on such ways of understanding this type of literature.

Another option is to consider the book of Revelation as God’s vision for creation. As such, it shows God’s will for humanity and invites us to live in our present according to that will. Through the book of Revelation, we are asked, we are called to be a sign of God’s kingdom here and now.

Speaking about God’s vision, about God’s invitation, the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) vision statement says:

Mennonite World Conference is called to be a communion (Koinonia) of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness.

According to our MWC vision, worship is one of the purposes of being one, of enjoying a global community of faith, of being a worldwide communion. In that sense, it follows the emphasis the book of Revelation gives to worship in a multicultural setting. The sentence “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” appears several times in Revelation in the context of worship. At MWC, we want to be a foretaste of God’s future by being – here and now – a global communion that worships God amid cultural and linguistic diversity.

The kind of worship exercised in such a diverse community must be centred on Jesus. That makes it possible to value multicultural diversity without privileging specific cultures but giving the same value to all cultures and languages. That kind of worship does not suppress or ignore differences. It celebrates multicultural diversity. That has been and continues to be our experience, call and challenge in MWC.

With worship being such a prominent theme in MWC circles, this first electronic-only issue of Courier addresses it from different perspectives. In particular, it touches on the challenges and points of view of various members of our global communion when COVID-19 pushed their congregations to re-imagine communal worship, an experience we also faced globally by the impossibility of celebrating worldwide encounters in person.

Does online worship replace on-site liturgies? That and other questions that emerged because of the pandemic may help us to keep our conversation going to respond to God’s call to worship multiculturally and, by doing so, bear witness to the world of a God that celebrates and makes possible cultural diversity.

— César García, MWC general secretary, originally from Colombia, lives in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

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