Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Everyone has difficult times in their lives, whether it is grief, economic difficulties or health problems. Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous shocks to all areas, including Indonesia. The economy slumped, health was threatened, social interaction was limited and countless lives were lost. We see businesses going bankrupt, hospitals overwhelmed with patients, increasing unemployment and other bad effects. But what tortures us the most psychologically is that COVID-19 can threaten us anywhere and anytime, and we don’t know how long this pandemic will last. Worry, anxiety and loss of our sense of security make us lose calm and peace. In order for us to live our lives well, we need something that can sustain our lives better

    Brothers and sisters, our reading today in John 20 describes how the disciples also experienced great shocks in their lives. They experienced two big challenges. They lost Jesus, their leader and teacher. This Jesus, who was their mainstay, died helplessly on the cross like a big-time criminal. Secondly, the disciples were under political pressure and threats. They were fearful that the Jewish leaders who had arrested and killed Jesus would find them. These are the reasons why they held meetings in houses with tightly locked doors. But in the midst of great fear and anxiety, we find there are several important messages from this text as valuable lessons for us today.

    1. Jesus wants us to have peace

    The Lord Jesus understood that the greatest human need is for a sense of calm or peace, even though in this world it is very difficult to find true security or peace. We are often deceived by a false sense of calm offered by the world, that if you are beautiful or handsome, rich, famous and have abundant assets, then you will have inner peace. However, the facts on the ground present a different reality. We often see actors, actresses, public figures, politicians, businessmen and those who are established and comfortable by the world’s standards, involved with various addictions, such as sleeping pills, sedatives, alcohol and narcotics. It seems people with abundant wealth, exorbitant popularity and amazing achievements are not happy. Some even end their lives in tragic ways. The reason is because they don’t have true peace.

    The source of true calm and peace is not from this world, because this world is cursed (Genesis 3:17) and the pursuit of this world will lead to nothingness. The Bible says clearly that the world and everything in it is moving toward destruction. True peace will occur when the human experiences an encounter with the true God, and sins are forgiven.

    Because Jesus knows human needs, the first greeting given to the fearful disciples is “Peace be with you” (vs 21). Sisters and brothers, Jesus longs that in the midst of the chaos of this world, God’s peace will keep and guard our hearts and minds. For it is only this peace that does not come from the earth that can permanently reside in our hearts. God’s peace cannot be stolen or taken by anyone, nor can it be influenced by situations or conditions. Only the Lord Jesus can give true peace. Only the Lord Jesus can pacify our souls in the midst of various storms and chaos in our lives.

    Are you willing to accept this peace from Jesus?

    2. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit

    The next message that also gives us joy is that Jesus gave his Spirit to his disciples. We read in John 20:22, about how Jesus met his disciples and breathed on them with his Holy Spirit. This is the fulfillment of what he had promised in John 14:16-17, 16:7-14, promises about the Spirit of God who provides comfort, who strengthens and who empowers the disciples.

    When the disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit, they experienced fear and anxiety, giving up easily. The Bible tells how they scattered when Jesus was arrested, then many gave up and returned to their old lives and professions.

    Why did the disciples give up so easily? The answer is because the disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit. That is why when Jesus met them, Jesus gave his Spirit to strengthen and sustain them.

    For our brothers and sisters who work as health workers, these years have been tough, dealing directly with COVID 19. Even developed countries with high quality medical services and equipment have been overwhelmed by these challenges. We have heard testimonies from many of God’s children who almost gave up and were desperate while facing this difficulty, but when they turn to God, truly the Spirit of God provides strength and support. (Isaiah 40:31).

    We often experience difficulties in our lives, such as illness that is impossible to cure, or a business experiencing decline, losing a loved one and other problems. There are many things that make us want to give up or despair, but by asking God we will get new strength from God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God not only accompanies us, but also enables us to keep walking and even running in fulfilling God’s call in our lives.

    Are you willing to receive the Holy Spirit?

    3. Jesus wants us to be his witnesses

    The next message from the Lord Jesus to his disciples is tell them to be messengers of God to this world. The disciples were living witnesses of how Jesus lived life, served everyone and preached the good news. They were witnesses of how Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. They were the first to experience Jesus rising from the dead. They were living witnesses of all these events, and they were given the task of sharing these experiences with the world.

    My dear sisters and brothers, the mandate to be a witness of God was not only for the apostles at that time, but also applies to us today. We have a responsibility to tell what Jesus did 2 000 years ago, and what God is doing today.

    We might ask, can I? The answer is of course yes, because the Holy Spirit was also given to us.

    Will there be people who believe my message? It is the Spirit of God who will act on the message within the listeners. The important thing is just to do it. Remember, my brothers and sisters, this witnessing task is a commandment, not an invitation or an option.

    There are at least two ways for us to be witnesses of God.

    First, we can witness verbally.

    This means that we tell our neighbours that God loves humanity, in spite of the sin that humans choose. God’s love for humans meant that God came into the world, becoming human in the person of Jesus Christ, to provide a way for forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ death on the cross, then whoever repents will have their sins forgiven and be adopted as children of God. This message can be conveyed through spoken or written language.

    Secondly, we can witness through our lifestyle. This means our overall behaviour reflects God’s truth in our lives with everyone who interacts with us. This is what is called an open gospel, which means that our lives truly reflect the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Let us ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to move us to really witness, so that people turn to the truth of the gospel. May the Spirit of God enable us to witness for the glory of God. Immanuel.

    —Natanael Sukamto, pastor of GITJ (Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa) congregation in Sembaturagung, Pati, Central Java, Indonesia.

  • Introducing the Global Family

    Iglesia Cristiana de Paz en México

    ICOMB Member Conference

    The Mexican conference has nine congregations and 479 baptized members, led by pastor Carlos Ortega. Two churches are from the city of Tijuana, one from the State of Mexico, one from Colima, and five from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. On 5 February 2022, the Mennonite Brethren in Mexico, known as ICPM (for its acronym in Spanish, Iglesia Cristiana de Paz en México), will celebrate its annual assembly.  

    However, COVID-19 infections of the new variant (Omicron) have spread in these first weeks of the year. Pray that all pastors will be able to attend and have no health problems and that this event will fulfill its purpose of uniting and strengthening the churches of Mexico.

    Preaching the gospel on a hill in Tijuana

    Pastor Gilmar Reyes of the Cruising for Jesus Church walks the streets of Tijuana with a megaphone and a message.

    One day before hosting an evangelistic event, just like John the Baptist, pastor Gilmar Reyes of the Cruising for Jesus Church got up early with a megaphone to walk the streets of the Lomas del Encinal neighborhood in Tijuana. He invited the area to this event, where he shared the gospel and preached.  

    The event took place on 8 January 2022. They also had the opportunity to share community services such as medical attention, food and toys for the children. 

    Training inside and outside Mexico 

    Thanks to God and the Aquila and Priscilla Institute of Paraguay training, last year (2021), several leaders and pastors of the HM Conference in Mexico were trained as teachers to teach classes in the different churches of the ICPM. This Institute has been a great blessing for the churches and is a tool that helps us with the discipleship and spiritual maturity of our members.  

    This year (2022), two young newlyweds from La Cantera church are sent to study at the IBA Institute in Asuncion, Paraguay. They have expressed the following: “We know that God’s will is good, pleasing and perfect, we have a great sorrow for the churches in our country, we have a willing heart to go, prepare ourselves and return to work in the churches of our conference.” These words were of encouragement; the church will support their growth and calling from God.  

    We ask for your prayers so that God will continue to provide the means, and the church in Mexico will continue to train and prepare for the glory of God. 

    ICOMB
    The International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) is made up of 22 national churches in 19 countries. ICOMB also has associate members in more than 20 countries, all at different points along the pathway to full membership. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.

  • “This idea of the people of God being in all places is very real,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß, pastor of Frankfurt Mennonite Church. The half-decade Assemblies of Mennonite World Conference are an opportunity to experience this reality. But, as members consider the looming climate crisis, some worry about the environmental costs of travel.  

    MWC spoke with two Mennonites in Germany who are thinking about these issues.  

    No peace on a warmer planet

    “Climate change is the peace issue of our time. There’s no just peace on a planet that is three degrees warmer,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß.  

    David Lapp Jost, an American working with the German Mennonite Peace committee, agrees: “Droughts and rising temperatures cause direct conflict between groups at a local level. That played a role in the war in Syria… and will surely play a role in many others. Displacement of people and suffering is very harmful.”  

    Mennonites should oppose exploitative system due to climate issues and our legacy of settler-indigenous relations, David Lapp Jost says. “I hope making the church an authoritative and powerful responder to climate change becomes an important part of who we are over the next decades.” 

    A Pentecost imperative  

    Furthermore, in a globalized world with rising nationalism, it’s important “to have this concrete experience of worshipping with Christians around the world who look and talk and believe differently but we are still connected through Jesus and the Holy Spirit,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß. 

    “In an increasingly atomized world, there’s a scarcity of positive space for constructive discourse across international, social and political difference,” says David Lapp Jost. “Hopefully, MWC is a voluntary the voluntary grouping of people who choose to be together and can learn from and share life with each other.” 

    “I would love to be in Indonesia just to have a new chance to encounter people who are implicitly showing the way; how to keep openness to connection across really big differences.” 

    Much of the work of the church is at the local level, yet if we aren’t connected with the global church, David Lapp Jost says, “we don’t experience the Holy Spirit the same way as embodied in Pentecost.” 

    The church has been an international institution since Pentecost. “It’s ingrained in mission of church to be together across national lines and learn from each other,” David Lapp Jost says. 

    A global communion of actual people 

    As a teenager, Benjamin Isaak-Krauß didn’t just attend the Global Youth Summit and Assembly 15 in Paraguay; he spent half a year in Paraguay to get to know Mennonite communities there.  

    Attending MWC Assembly turned his sense of community from local to global. He formed lasting friendships, and, for Assembly 16, organized a minitour for German youth to spend weeks in the USA getting to know Mennonite communities – urban and rural, conservative and progressive. 

    It was transformative “to see siblings in Christ in another place,” culminating in GYS “with all these people who are my age, from around the world, and Assembly with more people. It makes the idea of a global communion into something you can perceive and interact with – with actual people.”  

    “It’s not the planned things that change us; it’s the encounters,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß. Those are easier to have with in person gatherings, but even an online Assembly, well planned, can make space for those intersections of our chosen paths and the others we encounter there.  

    Climate change and Assembly 

    Natural disasters around the world now take place where friends live.  

    The aspect of community that Mennonites espouse as core to faith and practice is key to our response to climate change.  

    David Lapp Jost hopes MWC can “foster conversation about how climate change is affecting the Global South, that can try to bring the Global North into solidarity.” 

    “It would be really sad if people concerned about climate don’t come to MWC events anymore,” says Benjamin Isaak-Krauß. “It would be better to come and wrestle with the fact we are one body with people affected by climate change.” 

    As a peace church, Mennonite World Conference members must “wrestle with how are we part of this global movement to repent and turn around our broken systems.” 

    “Hopefully, the Holy Spirit makes it happen,” says David Lapp Jost. 

    Practical steps 

    • As a congregation, fast – from meat eating, private vehicle usage, vacations that involve flying, etc., – to offset the carbon emissions of members who attend Assembly. 
    • Dialogue with farmers about regenerative practices. Buy food from farmer’s markets.  
    • Live simply. Reuse and repair whenever possible. Reduce fossil fuel use in transportation and heating.  
    • When you travel by plane, invest in environmental work in your destination. Learn about climate issues in Indonesia, for example, deforestation and landfill pollution from Western countries.  
    • Look ahead to Assembly 18 in Africa by investing in relationships and sustainable initiatives there, and planning low carbon travel (e.g., bicycle).  

     

  • Last month we looked at what activities churches actually do with creation care. This week we look at what they would like to learn more about. In other words, what do churches wish they could do more?  

    1. Respondents are interested in learning about several key areas of creation care.  

    Respondents believe their churches are most interested in two general categories of creation care.   

    First, people want to learn more about how creation care can be more integrated into biblical understanding, and their worship practices (items shown in blue in this table) (with the exception of prayer, perhaps because this is not viewed as something that is ‘learned’).   

    Second, respondents were interested in what is most effective at living in a way that reduces impacts on the earth (items shown in green).  

    Do you think your church would be interested in learning more about creation care?

    When asked what resources they use, people most often think of using a variety of writings, including online resources. In addition, many people highlighted 1) the important role of a variety of creation care organizations in providing good resources, and 2) the importance of their human resources – key individuals who are strongly motivated and/or have expertise in areas that can help the church. 

    “We have people with the professional and technical expertise who can help us with giving talks and spreading ideas for taking action,” says Martha Moreno member of Iglesia Evangélica Mononita “Jesús el Buen Pastor”, Guyaquil, Ecuador 

    2. Respondents who report more impacts of climate change are more interested in learning about creation care.  

    For all categories except prayer, there is a strong correlation between how interested people are in learning about a topic, and how many environmental problems they have noticed in their own context.  This makes sense – people who are experiencing, or are aware of, environmental impacts are more likely to be concerned about these issues. This suggests that churches can motivate members by increasing their awareness. It also suggests churches will want to learn more and more about these issues as the impacts of environmental issues grow. 

    Do people who report being aware of environmental problems also actually engage in more actions in response?  

    The answer is yes, but with a caveat – this relationship is less strong. In other words, people that are more aware of environmental issues were much more interested in learning about the issues, but only somewhat more likely to engage in actions.   

    Work with churches should provide resources for learning, but should work toward helping churches translate these into actions. 

    3. Churches were somewhat less interested in learning about public activities. 

    We see once again this month evidence that respondents were less interested in engaging at the civic level, such as engaging in political advocacy, or engagement with community initiatives (purple and yellow items in the map below). However, these interests varied more with region; for instance, interest in advocacy was notably higher in Africa and North America. Churches appear to be more focused on their own church or local communities rather than engaging more broadly with government, businesses or organizations.  

    Percent of respondents expressing interest in learning about creation care themes

    Faith communities are increasingly vocal as they recognize their important moral voice, and how working together creates changes that multiply local actions.  As Anabaptists/Mennonites, we should consider broader engagement as an opportunity to share our voice and to effectively make changes at the system level. 

    “As a church, we should carry our responsibilities to teach our members to understand the value and importance of learning more about nature and climate change. We should learn how easy it is to change our lifestyle, and how it is going to create danger if we are not aware of it. Some changes in our lifestyle can have a big impact on our future,” says Emmanuel Mahendra, Kanker Mennonite Church, India.   

    Emmanuel Mahendra

    “Don’t just focus on personal responsibility. Individual change is important, but it’s not enough. We need to learn about the systemic nature of it,” says Kyle Penner, pastor at Grace Mennonite Church, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.  

    As illustrated by the two quotes above, people need to feel their actions are effective. When they see the effects directly, or when they feel action leads to larger systemic changes, they are encouraged to press on.  

    Engaging both individual behaviour change and systemic advocacy is important. We are most effective when we work together as a community to faithfully work at creation care on multiple levels. 

    Response 

    Getting involved in systemic change is often easier than we think! It can be a key way of bringing faith communities together in new ways as we care for creation.  

    Advocacy can be a part of a church’s spiritual practices and can contribute to spiritual growth as part of peacemaking. It can also be a way to amplify the actions churches are taking on other levels.  

    Mennonite Central Committee has a toolkit for advocacy that can be adapted to your specific country contexts. 

    Welcome to a series on environmental problems and the global church.

    These stories illuminate

    a) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are affected by environmental degradation,
    b) what Anabaptist-Mennonites think about environmental issues,
    c) how Anabaptist-Mennonites are responding.

    Story #1: How environmental crises impact church communities
    Story #2: How do environmental problems make people feel?
    Story #3: How does climate change intersect with other community challenges?
    Story #4: Are our churches and leaders engaged with creation care?
    Story #5: How do churches practice creation care?
    Story #6: What would help churches engage more with creation care?

  • In the midst of the increasing prevalence of hate speech and intolerance around us, we as a Christian community placed in Indonesia have a calling that is not easy. There are many efforts made by Islamic groups or schools who want to make the Republic of Indonesia a country with a religious ideology, an Islamic country. This movement has become increasingly strong over the last 10 years with the emergence of identity politics in the general elections, both central and regional.

    Yet, God has not wrongly placed us here and now in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world (around 229 million Muslims in a population of 271 million people – about 84%). It is our calling to shine the light of God in the midst of this nation.

    How do we live up to our calling among our Muslim brothers and sisters? This passage in the text of Genesis 12:1-5 teaches us some principles, which, when we earnestly live them out, will encourage us to persevere in our calling even though there are many challenges and opposition.

    1. The God who calls us is the Immanuel God

    Sisters and brothers, our text gives us the story of Abram’s calling to leave his home community, his family and his country. This call demanded a high price.

    Abram had to leave his comfort zone, an established life in a sculpture-making family. Bible scholars explain that Abram’s family had a successful business as an idol maker. We all understand that leaving an establishment and going to a far place to start a new life is not an easy thing. This is where we learn the meaning of obeying God’s commands

    Abram had to leave his extended family. The consequence of this command is that Abram is uprooted from his cultural roots and community of origin. Leaving his friends, family and memories of his past was a high cost. This is what obedience to a command means.

    Will a new place make life better? Will it be possible to find a good community like before? Can one start building a business later in life? Of course, such questions popped up in Abram’s mind. But we see how Abram truly trusted the God who called and faithfully accompanied him.

    We too are invited to believe that this God who called Abram is the same God who calls us to live for God’s will and glory where we are placed. God wants us to be God’s representatives, spread God’s truth, and tell about God to everyone around us. Like Abram, we know this call is not easy, requiring a real struggle. We believe that if God was with Abram throughout his life journey, then God will also be with us throughout our lives. God is Immanuel, God with us.

    2. The God who calls us is the Responsible God

    A friend once told me that everything is tested for truth over the passage of time. After I studied the story of Abram’s life, I understood more about the meaning of this phrase. We find evidence that the God who called Abram is a God who remains consistent with what God promised.

    Not only did God accompany the journey of Abram’s family life, but God was also responsible for the life and safety of all of Abram’s extended family. Notice how when Abram lived in the Negev where there was a famine (Genesis 12:10-20), then Abram fled to Egypt, and during the exile in Egypt, God blessed Abram’s family. Notice also how God saved Abram’s family from being captives of the kings (Genesis 14:1-16). Notice also how God saved Lot from being punished by Sodom and Gomorra (Genesis 19:1-29). Notice also how Abram’s wife, Hagar (Genesis 16:1-14) and their son Ishmael were saved and protected (Genesis 21:14-20).

    Brothers and sisters, we are aware that responding to God’s call in our lives does not eliminate problems in our lives. On the contrary, as we try to wholeheartedly carry out God’s call in our lives, problems will come and go in our lives. Today, we learn from Abram’s life journey that when he tries to obey God’s commands with all his heart, God is responsible for doing God’s part. God will sustain, help, accompany and bless Abram.

    Likewise, for us, living in the midst of a nation whose majority do not know the true God, we know that we Christians live with intimidation. We experience problems such as complicated permits for the construction of places of worship, or even places of worship that have been used for decades and then closed with a fabricated reason. We hear other sad stories where Christians don’t get promoted because as devout believers we don’t want to be participate in dishonesty, corruption and compromise.

    But we believe that God’s power will not be blocked. People may try to stop the blessing from coming to us, but the Lord Jesus will send it from another way. God who calls us to live for God, and will surely be responsible for the consequences of decisions in our lives.

    3. God who calls us requests an obedient response from us

    Sisters and brothers, we all understand that from the very beginning when God created humanity, God wanted to make humans the object of God’s love. We find beautiful, romantic stories before humans fell into sin, about the close relationship between humans and God. God wants broken relationships to be repaired and broken self images to be restored. God wants to be obeyed.

    The story of Abram, who obeyed God’s commandments, becomes a model for us to imitate today. Just as we are faced with challenges and temptations, Abram in his day also faced many challenges and temptations. One of the challenges that shook Abram’s soul was that he and his partner (Sarai), had not yet had the child promised by God (Genesis 18:11). Even when God repeated His promise (Genesis 17:17), Abram had doubt about it, but Abram chose to keep trusting God, obeying with all his heart, until God finally gave Isaac. But the challenge of Abram’s obedience was not over, because God tested Abram’s obedience again by asking him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-12). Again, we are shown the absolute and unconditional obedience of Abram to the call of the Lord God.

    Brothers and sisters, I believe that God has never wrongly called us or placed us in this land where the majority of the population do not know who the Lord Jesus Christ is; where followers of Jesus are the object of ridicule and intimidation. This is where our obedience is being tested. We have a choice: to surrender to the challenges and opposition, or to obey God regardless of the cost.

    Indonesia needs our testimony as children of God who dare to live obediently to God’s truth, marked by practicing that truth in life from day to day. We are called to be agents of peace, full of love, in our communities. Obeying God does not mean there are no challenges, but obeying God will surely bring blessing.

    —Natanael Sukamto, pastor of GITJ (Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa) congregation in Sembaturagung, Pati, Central Java, Indonesia.

  • Dear Anabaptist-Mennonite Christians on all continents: 

    This is a call to prayer for the peace of Ukraine, and for the well being of Anabaptist Christians living with the threat of a foreign military invasion.

    Hundreds of thousands of German-speaking Mennonites once lived in Ukraine. Nearly all migrated or were forcibly removed during political upheavals of the late-19th and 20th centuries.

    Today there are several Mennonite congregations in Ukraine. Mennonite Brethren leaders have been a beacon for peacemaking and salvation even as warfare in the eastern province of Ukraine has festered since 2014.

    In recent weeks, Russian soldiers have come to the border of Ukraine, raising fear of imminent invasion. Pray for the peace of Ukraine, Russia and all nations involved in this conflict! Pray for churches in Ukraine ministering at this difficult time! 

    Dear Mennonite sisters and brothers in Ukraine:

    Anabaptist-Mennonite people around the world are saddened that you must live with storm clouds of war on the horizon.

    At this time of tension and waiting, know that we remember you and pray for the peace of your nation.

    We cry out to God for peacemakers and for wise leadership in Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and Europe. May God strengthen you in body and spirit, providing for every physical and spiritual need at a difficult time.

    With the Apostle Peter we say, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To God be the power forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10, 11) 

    Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. 
    In the name of Jesus, Prince of Peace, amen. 

    J. Nelson Kraybill, President 

  • Beloved sisters and brothers:

    Anabaptist-Mennonite people on all continents, please join in praying for peace in Burkina Faso, where a military coup took place 24 January 2022. Remember especially MWC member church Eglise Evangélique Mennonite du Burkina Faso as they minister and witness at this stressful time.

    Even when “nations are in an uproar,” our God remains sovereign and “makes wars cease to the end of the earth… The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46).

    J. Nelson Kraybill
    President, MWC

  • Des étudiants burkinabè écrivent l’histoire de l’Église africaine  

    Un étudiant burkinabè regrette que l’Église d’Afrique soit « comme une pirogue qui part sans laisser de trace ». Anicka Fast s’est engagée à changer cette réalité, en enseignant aux étudiants de l’Université chrétienne Logos de Ouagadougou à collecter l’histoire orale et à rédiger des biographies de chrétiens africains.  

    Durant l’année universitaire 2020-2021, une classe de 34 étudiants de dix familles d’Églises différentes a étudié le christianisme en Afrique. En tant qu’enseignante, je voulais qu’ils prennent conscience du rôle central des chrétiens africains dans la propagation de l’Évangile en Afrique. En même temps, je voulais qu’ils reconnaissent leur propre rôle potentiel dans la préservation des récits de cette activité missionnaire.  

    Chrétiens d’Afrique 

    Pour intégrer ces deux objectifs, j’ai organisé le cours autour de biographies. Nous avons exploré des thèmes historiques clés – le colonialisme, les mouvements d’Églises indépendantes, la persécution et les initiatives missionnaires africaines – à travers le prisme de récits de vie de chrétiens africains. Les étudiants ont été fascinés par les royaumes perdus de la Nubie et les statistiques choquantes de la traite des esclaves. Ils ont saisi l’importance de prophètes comme Kimpa Vita et William Wade Harris qui ont ancré le christianisme dans les cultures et les contextes africains. Leurs épaules se sont affaissées lorsqu’ils ont découvert la trahison de l’évêque nigérian Samuel Ajayi Crowther par ses jeunes collègues blancs. Et chacun s’est outillé, à travers des exercices pratiques, pour écrire sa propre biographie d’un chrétien burkinabè.  

    Retour aux sources 

    Le dernier jour, j’ai demandé aux étudiants ce qu’ils retiendraient de ce cours. Leurs réactions ont été fortes et ont suscité la réflexion. Plusieurs étudiants ont été étonnés d’apprendre que l’Église en Afrique était présente bien avant l’arrivée des puissances coloniales. Ils ont considéré que cela changeait la donne. Zongo Sibiri Samuel, l’un des étudiants les plus anciens, a commenté le fait que de nombreuses contributions importantes des chrétiens africains à l’Église en Afrique restent inconnues et non documentées. Il a déploré que l’Église africaine soit « comme une pirogue qui part sans laisser de trace ». En même temps, lui et d’autres ont exprimé leur sentiment que, malgré les difficultés persistantes d’accès aux sources et aux récits, ils avaient maintenant « des outils pour écrire l’histoire ».  

    Un mouvement qui se poursuit 

    Je suis enthousiaste à l’idée de travailler aux côtés de ces historiens africains. Mais je suis aussi frappée par les barrières persistantes qui font que certaines histoires ont encore bien plus de poids que d’autres. Je suis reconnaissante d’avoir l’occasion d’être en Afrique et de participer au mouvement missionnaire qui fleurit sur ce continent depuis les temps anciens : un mouvement diversifié, fidèle, et inspiré par l’Esprit.  

    Anicka Fast, ouvrière pour le Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) et le Comité central mennonite (MCC) 

    Tiéba Traoré, entouré de sa famille, vers 1985 (au moment de son baptême ou peu avant), à Kotoura.  Photo: Anne Garber Kompaoré 

    Tiéba Traoré (1958-1994), évangéliste et leader d’Église 

    Tiéba Traoré a joué un rôle-clé dans le développement des communautés mennonites au Burkina Faso. Sa biographie, rédigée par un étudiant, permet de (re)découvrir cette figure trop méconnue de l’Église africaine. Extraits.  

    Tiéba Traoré est né en 1958 à Kotoura, à l’ouest du Burkina Faso. En 1982, deux missionnaires de l’Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM), Anne Garber et Gail Wiebe, sont arrivées à Kotoura. Tiéba leur a servi de traducteur senoufo-français. Curieux au sujet de Dieu, il était content d’entendre la bonne nouvelle. Lors d’une campagne d’évangélisation en 1983 avec un évangéliste venu de la Côte d’Ivoire, il fut le premier à donner sa vie à Jésus. Sa première femme Mariam décida de se convertir aussi. En 1985, Tiéba et quatre autres personnes furent les premiers chrétiens à être baptisés parmi le peuple sénoufo.  

    Après son baptême, Tiéba vivait une vie pieuse et annonçait la Parole de Dieu. Un jour, quand un renommé voleur a volé son mil, Tiéba alla lui donner encore plus de mil au lieu de lui faire du mal. (…) Les chrétiens des trois villages – Kotoura, Kangala et Sayaga – se sont mis ensemble pour aller évangéliser au village voisin de Sokouraba. Tiéba et deux autres frères chrétiens, Larito et Joël Traoré, visitèrent régulièrement les nouveaux convertis et collaborèrent avec les Assemblées de Dieu dans les campagnes d’évangélisation.  

    Tiéba décéda d’une méningite le 22 février 1994 à l’âge de 36 ans. (…) Mais Dieu veilla sur son Église pour qu’elle ne meure pas. L’Église de Kotoura, l’une des premières assemblées de l’Église évangélique mennonite du Burkina Faso, a continué à se développer, d’abord sous la direction des anciens, puis des pasteurs Mamadou Traoré et Daouda Traoré. Elle est un héritage de la vie et du témoignage de Tiéba Traoré.  

    Josué Coulibaly 

    Pour aller plus loin… 

    Le site du DIBICA compte presque 3000 biographies, dont environ 500 en français. Pour lire la version intégrale de la biographie de Tiéba Traoré et celle d’autres chrétiens burkinabè, écrites par les étudiants à Logos, voir : www.dacb.org/fr/sort/stories/burkina-faso 

  • On 23 September 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the Intergovernmental Panel report on climate change was “a code red for humanity.” And yet Guterres was hopeful, saying “it is not too late to act to ensure that climate action contributes to international peace and security.” For Guterres, nations must work together because peace today cannot be separated from the problems of climate. 

    For Christians, a theological framework is needed to relate alarming climate problems to our commitment to peace. The story of creation provides this framework, where humanity’s existence is part of the Creator’s beautiful ordering of climate. 

    In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, there are two stories of creation. 

    The first story in Genesis 1 is famous to many of us. In it, the Creator made the heavens and earth in six days. This story sketches the creation in orderly, poetic, and rhythmic sentences, ones that can be found in religious rituals or church Sunday services. 

    In this story, the Creator saw that disorder was not good and thus separated light from darkness, water from dry land, and so on. These separations prepared for the coming of human beings as the pinnacle of creation. On the sixth day, God created humans after nature, plants, and animals. Man and woman were created in God’s image at the same time. 

    Yet Genesis 2 tells the story from another angle, reversing the order of creation. God created man first, then plants, and animals. And finally, God created woman as man’s helper. The importance of human beings can be seen in their place as the first and last of creation. But here, the creation of humans, plants and animals occur within the story of God preparing climate. The text reads that “when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up – for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground—then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:5-7). 

    Rain and stream are, indeed, related to climate. The word for stream here can also mean steam or mist. Streams of water rise from earth to flood the soil and water the dry land. And steam from the ground fills the air with water and falls as rain. Here we are given a beautiful story of climate origin. And then the first human was created from dust of the ground – moist dust, permeated by mist which rose from the earth. 

    Here is what is important: More than a story of humble beginning, the creation of human beings in Genesis 2 portrays humans as part of the climate story. The Creator prepared climate before creating living beings, including humans. 

    As the first and the last of God’s creation, humans are protectors not only of the garden but also the whole creation (Genesis 2:15-17). They must “till the ground,” the very ground from which humans came to be. But it is also the moist ground, the ground which will bring fruits because God has prepared it through ordering climate and by the work of human hands. 

    Here, humanity’s role is to be the mediator between earth and its Creator. Humans are responsible to the Creator for the preservation of the ground because their existence is dependent on the moist ground in the climate story. As such, humans are not only God’s emissaries to earth but also mediators who bring the groanings of all creatures to the Creator. 

    Praying is the first concrete step through which we can practice our mediatorial role in today’s climate calamities. When we pray, we reconnect our beautiful yet fractured earth to the Creator. In praying, we connect our desire with those who yearn for clean water and air, because, in the words of scholar and policymaker Maxine Burkett, those who “suffer most acutely [from climate disaster] are also those who are the least responsible for the crisis to date.” 

    When we pray, God will open our hearts to concrete actions as individuals, communities of faith, and policymakers for the peace and security of our common home. Friends, let us continue to pray. 

    —Nindyo Sasongko, a Mennonite pastor from Indonesia, is a PhD candidate in Systematic Theology at Fordham University, New York, theologian in residence at Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, NYC, and a member of the MWC Creation Care Task Force.  

  • “If there’s something scholarly happening, we want to know about it!” says Kyle Gingrich Hiebert, co-coordinator of the Anabaptist Mennonite Scholars Network (AMSN).

    The Anabaptist Mennonite Scholars Network connects students and professors within a network of networks. It fosters global connections in research and to provide a contact point for shared information and resources.

    “For example, I’m at Conrad Grebel University College, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada,” says Kyle Gingrich Hiebert, “but I may not know what is happening at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – which is so close.” The network aims to fill in that gap.

    Begun in the 1990s by Lydia Harder Neufeld at the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC), the original purpose was to help graduate students, particularly at the doctoral level, to connect with other Anabaptist-Mennonite scholars in their field.

    “It was a response to the need for more broad networking beyond the narrow confines of traditional Swiss/Russian Mennonite scholarship as well as becoming more inclusive of women,” says Lydia Neufeld Harder.

    Dormant for a while, the network has renewed energy under Kyle Gingerich Hiebert and Jamie Pitts (directors, respectively of TMTC and the Institute of Mennonite Studies at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary).

    AMSN is not only for scholars in Anabaptist-Mennonite theology and history, but also scholars in any field who identify as Anabaptist-Mennonite and find linkages between their research and their faith.

    Jamie Pitts first connected with AMSN as a PhD student new to the Mennonite family. Receiving newsletters from AMSN, he no longer felt alone. “I felt like part of a bigger conversation.” He wants to help other scholars in far-flung corners of the world to experience this kind of connection.

    “AMSN (Anabaptist Mennonite Scholars Network) helps me to see how the faith and knowledge of global Anabaptist scholarly communities are practiced in various contexts and interconnected with each other,” says Hyejung Jessie Yum, a network member who represents Korean Anabaptist Journal.

    Unlike the emerging MWC network GAHEN (Global Anabaptist Higher Education Network), which helps Anabaptist schools thrive, AMSN focuses on connecting scholars and fostering research.

    AMSN receives some funding to maintain its webpage of links to events, journals and institutes; send a semi-regular e-newsletter; and host an annual round-table. Its members self-select based on their identity as an Anabaptist or their work on Anabaptist-related themes.

    Research centres and institutions listed on AMSN’s site are mainly North American and European but its members want to see AMSN’s global presence to grow.

    “We need to decolonize Anabaptist-Mennonite scholarship,” says Jamie Pitts. He hopes AMSN can strengthen relationships with scholars in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and serve as a tool for them to find resources and connections to further their work.

    “We want to hear from people in MWC that are working in schools, editing journals, putting on events and conferences remotely related to Anabaptist scholarship. Get in touch, please! We want to make connection.”

    AMSN is preparing a workshop for Assembly 17 in Indonesia.

    Click here to learn more about AMSN

     

    Click here to register for Assembly 17.

  • “In the midst of the pandemic, the sense of sharing and communion between faith communities, churches and Anabaptist institutions has grown,” says Willi Hugo Perez, Mennonite World Conference regional representative for Latin America – Central.  

    At the dawn of a third pandemic year, there is weariness from the ongoing griefs, but churches are continuing with their mission despite old and new challenges.  

    Encouraged by the emerging Global Anabaptist Heath Network, Mennonite World Conference called for churches and individuals to support UNICEF’s efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations to low income countries.  

    MWC is raising money for UNICEF, the key delivery partner in the COVAX Facility, for global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. 

    Love My Neighbour 

    To share coronavirus vaccines around the world, Love My Neighbour, a non profit organization draws together 12 faith affiliations in Canada – including MWC. To date, Canadian Anabaptist-Mennonites have given $44 400 CAD to UNICEF Canada in the name of MWC.  

    By 30 September 2021, UNICEF Canada had raised $9.6 million CAD including $536 000 from Love My Neighbour donors. This was matched by the government of Canada for a total of $19 million for UNICEF’s distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations in low income countries.  

    For their efforts, Love My Neighbour was recognized as an Outstanding Foundation or Philanthropic Group. The AFP-Greater Toronto Chapter Philanthropy Awards granted the honour in December 2021.  

    “We have an extraordinary responsibility,” says LMN founder Sarah Hildebrandt. Nearly 80 percent of Canadians have received at least one vaccination dose but in low income-countries, it is only 8 percent. “We want to strengthen UNICEF’s arms… As we witness each other’s love for neighbour, our own love for neighbour continues.”  

    “Like Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms when he got tired (Exodus 17:12-14), members in our family of Anabaptist-Mennonite churches are strengthening each other through MWC’s Love Neighbours, Share Vaccines campaign in Canada and around the world,” says Arli Klassen, regional representatives coordinator. “We are grateful.” 

    In the name of MWC, US donors gave $24 535 USD to an interfaith campaign for UNICEF USA.  

    Losses and challenges 

    From Zimbabwe to Indonesia to Guatemala, church leaders report economic challenges from job losses and deaths of pastors from COVID-19. 

     In Guatemala, Willi Hugo Perez reports, one woman lost two sisters in two days. “There is desperation, anguish and sadness because of deaths and the economic situation.” 

    Disagreements on how to respond to the virus have hardened divisions in communities. In India, reports Cynthia Peacock, regional representative for South Asia, resistance to religious groups that are not Hindu has led to vandalism of church buildings and mosques, violence against church leaders and false accusations regarding proselytizing.  

    Yet it is a time of pastoral accompaniment. “There are beautiful expressions and actions of solidarity in favour of the most vulnerable, poor and needy. These are works of love that communicate faith, inspiration and hope in the current reality,” says Willi Hugo Perez.  

    “We continue to believe and hope in the Lord.” 

    Learn more 

    Love neighbours, share vaccines

    Donate:

    Find a weblink to donate to UNICEF in your country. *Where available, select MWC as your affiliated organization.

    Did you give?

    mail iconEmail Henk Stenvers, MWC Deacons secretary at vaccines@mwc-cmm.org to let MWC know you are supporting our global family in this way.

     

  • Austria

    Mennonitischen Freikirche Österreich (MFÖ) / Mennonite Free Church of Austria

    The Mennonite Free Church in Vienna is the community in which I had the privilege of growing up. We are a small but incredibly family-oriented church, centred around Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

    I can identify myself very well with the Mennonites because they see themselves as commissioned by God to bring about peace and to meet one another – and one’s neighbor – in love.

    In practical terms, this means that as a “living community,” we are constantly faced with challenges and a variety of difficulties. Nevertheless, there is the willingness and love to grow together with these obstacles and to want to overcome them in unanimity. However, unanimity does not mean that we always have one and the same opinion, but that we want to submit to the decision made together in the community meeting in peace.

    When I was baptized in faith in September 2011, I personally made the decision to serve in this church and therefore officially asked for membership. Since taking this step, I can say that it is incredibly blessing and enriching to follow Christ in the midst of God’s great family.

    I have been encouraged so often by other members to serve God with my personal gifts (in praise and in children’s services). I have learned a lot, experienced ups and downs and have been carried through difficulties. My character was formed; I can gratefully state that I have a patient Lord who is patient with me, even when I face the same problem for the third time.

    – Franziska, a member of MFWien, a Mennonite congregation in Vienna, Austria

    Mennonitischen Freikirche Österreich (MFÖ) / Mennonite Free Church of Austria

    Since the beginning of organized Mennonites in Austria, participation in Mennonite World Conference has been shared with German Mennonite Brethren national churches: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer Brüdergemeinden in Deutschland (AMBD) and the Vereinigung der Menoniten Brudergemein von Bavaria (VMBB). After the AMBD was accepted as a member of the MWC, the MFÖ has been represented by its own delegate.

    The MFÖ currently consists of 6 parishes with 385 members. After the number of members had slowly decreased for almost two decades because two congregations were closed and four church planting works were unsuccessful, an increase in members was recorded in 2019. Unfortunately, the “corona year” 2020 stopped this tentative growth of the MFÖ.

    History

    Anabaptism, starting in Switzerland, spread very quickly in the Habsburg hereditary lands. It is estimated that about one third of the population, next to the Catholics and Lutherans, were Anabaptists. However, the Habsburg monarchs saw themselves as defenders of the Roman Catholic church and thus fought the Reformation. Many Lutherans and Anabaptists were expelled from Austria. While “secret Protestants” may have existed in remote mountain areas, the Anabaptists disappeared.

    Only after the Second World War did Mennonites come to Austria again to help the Mennonite refugees from Eastern Europe. Communities have emerged through the refugee work in Upper Austria and Vienna. Missionaries from the Mennonite Brethren were active in Upper Austria. A community was founded in Vienna, in cooperation between MCC and Sonnenberggemeinde in Switzerland.

    The Mennonite congregations, like other Free Church congregations, were not recognized as churches in Austria. This has resulted in a variety of disadvantages. In order to remedy this unequal treatment towards the recognized churches, the Roman Catholic church, the Lutheran and Reformed churches, the Institute for Legal Philosophy of the University of Vienna and the ecumenical movement “Paths of Reconciliation – the round table” have endeavoured, in cooperation with the Free Churches, to obtain state recognition of the Free Churches (FKÖ). This was achieved in 2013 through the merger of the Free Church conferences of Baptists, Evangelicals, Pentecostal and charismatic movements, the Elaia Christian community and the MFÖ.

    In 2019, the Bruderhof movement was accepted into the MFÖ as the Bruderhof parish Austria.

    The people in our communities consist mainly of Austrians and members of various European and non-European countries. Because of the international refugee movements, people from the Middle East find a home in our communities. Therefore, the composition of the churches is very international, more in the larger cities, as expected.

    Many of our members come from Catholicism, some from the evangelical church. Due to the short history of the Free Churches in Austria, there are only a few Christians of the second generation and hardly any third generation.

    Currently, the congregations have sent missionaries to Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan and support them financially and with prayer.

    Challenges

    The Mennonite churches are small. The largest community is in Wels with around 100 members. Three churches have employed pastors on a part-time basis. Two churches are led by people who provide spiritual and practical leadership for their communities in addition to their full-time employment. In the foreseeable future, many leaders who have been tried and tested over many years will have to be replaced by younger colleagues – who in turn are busy with their professional and family tasks.

    In the communities there are also young families and co-workers whose heartfelt concern is to plant churches. In these matters too, the pandemic was and is a significant obstruction.

    Our people have brought different theological ideas from their personal stories and religious backgrounds. There is clear influence of the Brethren Movement through literature and influences of North American evangelicalism. What is typically “Mennonite” is less understood; as a more or less interesting history. Our pastors do not come from a Mennonite tradition, but from other traditions and therefore they do not have an eye for what is special in being Anabaptist. It remains to be hoped and expected that by participating in international Mennonite events our pastors and co-workers will discover these particularities.

    Opportunities

    An outdoor fellowship meal at the Steyr congregation in Austria. Photo courtesy MFO

    The Austrian population is very traditional and likes to orientate itself towards decisions made by authorities. This could be an aftermath of the long monarchical rule in Austria.

    As a result of the state accreditation, the Free Churches surprisingly have a significantly better acceptance among the population and, above all, with the authorities. Even if the diversity of the Free Churches still represents a considerable problem of understanding, explanations from the accredited Free Churches are increasingly being requested. The FKÖ therefore has the opportunity to join boards that discuss topics of high relevance to society and also the chance to help to shape those boards, both in ecclesiastical and political directions. Dialogue with other churches and religious societies is also more possible now.

    Through the Mennonites’ 500-year history of Anabaptism, Austrian society realizes the European roots of the Free Churches, as well as permanence, consistency and also reliability – good signs of an old tradition.

    Years ago, controversy and sometimes enmity between the Anabaptist-minded traditions and other Free Churches was possible, now the collaboration has led to much more respectful togetherness.

    Within the FKÖ, Mennonites were allowed to serve with a balancing position between widely differing attitudes, such as charismatics and evangelicals can have. It seems that Mennonite peace-loving serenity is valued.

    The five Conferences within the Free Church of Austria (FKÖ) have the chance to prove themselves in everyday interaction and thereby show that it is possible to be unified without having to give up one’s own identity. With the belief of the Evangelical Alliance, the FKÖ has given itself a theological framework and works with one voice on legal and social issues. Yet the conferences and their churches remain autonomous. In this way, Austrian society can be shown at once the diversity and unity of the five different traditions through our public appearance.

    These or similar principles could also be exemplary beyond the borders of Austria.

     

    		 Reinhard Kummer is the presiding officer of Mennonitischen Freikirche Österreich (MFÖ) / Mennonite Free Church of Austria
    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2021.