Prayers of gratitude and intercession

A Sunday school assignment in the 1940s to exchange letters with a missionary began a Canadian woman’s a lifelong investment in prayer for India.

A Sunday school teacher at Elmira Mennonite Church assigned teenaged Erla Buehler to write to Lena Graber, a registered nurse from Iowa, USA, who was serving with what is now called Mennonite Mission Network at Dhamtari Christian Hospital in India.

“Thus began my interest in India,” Erla Buehler writes in a letter to MWC.

“That spark continued to grow into a flame,” Buehler writes. At Ontario Mennonite Bible School in the 1950s, it grew as she learned about William Carey and the missionary movement.

Her dream to visit India came true in 1997 when her niece’s Indian-born husband led a tour to the Mennonite World Conference Assembly in Kolkata. Listening to speakers on the theme “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches” was “inspiring, uplifting, wonderful.”

“Assembly Scattered in addition to Gathered was also eye-opening,” Erla Buehler writes. The group visited the Mennonite Central Committee centre and an orphanage project.

When she returned home, Erla Buehler tracked down Lena Graber and resumed correspondence. She praised God to learn of Lena Graber’s work starting nursing schools in India and Nepal where she was one of the first Mennonite Board of Missions workers.

Today, Erla Buehler learns of the church’s work through the MWC Prayer Network email. By special request, she receives it every two months mailed to her in hard copy.

“All these years and still there is a marvellous network of faithful praying believers building the kingdom of God.” This 88 year-old continues to be part of it.

—A Mennonite World Conference release by Karla Braun

During its 2018 annual conference, Mennonite Church West Africa (MCWA) celebrated its first-ever credentialed leaders: Adriano MBackeh, Sangpierre Mendy, Daniel Djin-ale, and Gibby Mane.

More than 200 joyous attendees – the most ever for this type of event – filled Catel Mennonite Church’s new meetinghouse for MCWA’s annual conference 26–31 December 2018.

On 27 January 2019, Dijn-ale and Mane were ordained at the Catel congregation to serve the church in Guinea-Bissau. MBackeh and Mendy will be ordained in The Gambia 10 February 2019.

MBackeh also addressed the annual conference as a keynote speaker on “Jesus: Our model as a servant leader.”

“Christian leadership is meant to be servanthood, not masterhood,” said MBackeh. “Just as Jesus gave himself willingly, so also should church leaders today follow that example rather than seeking honour and prestige from their flock.”

Eastern Mennonite Missions volunteer worker Beryl Forrester indicated that the credentialing process is supervised completely within the oversight of MCWA. The church received input and information from MWC member church LMC — A Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches; however, this movement affirms the leadership of these local leaders, no longer under the supervision of missionaries.

The Catel congregation – which “took full charge of organizing and directing the program” according to Forrester – completed years-long construction of their building just prior to hosting the annual conference.

MCWA, an EMM partner, has been part of a Mennonite presence in the greater West Africa region since 2000.

— An MWC release by Micah Brickner of EMM.

General secretary César García and executive assistant Sandra Báez Rojas of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) have relocated to Canada in February 2019 to work out of the Kitchener, Ontario, office.

MWC is an international communion of Anabaptist related churches with members from around the globe. Regional representatives provide two-way connections between local churches and the global Anabaptist body through prayer and storytelling and news-sharing and relationship-building. The four Commissions and growing number of networks are comprised of experts and church leaders from our member churches on all continents. Face-to-face meetings are regularly supplemented by online communication.

César García is the first general secretary from the Global South. Upon García’s appointment in 2012, the second secretariat office moved from Strasbourg, France, (opened 1990) to Bogotá, Colombia. MWC’s first salaried secretary, Paul N. Kraybill, was appointed in 1973. The Kitchener office was established in 1992.

Given the demands on the general secretary to connect with Anabaptist churches around the world and to represent global Anabaptists among other Christian world communions, following a discernment process MWC leaders began in 2014, the MWC officers determined that a location closer to frequent flight paths and a larger portion of the constituency was more practical.

“We acknowledge that wherever the general secretary is located, there are advantages and disadvantages,” says MWC president J. Nelson Kraybill. “With this move, there is a loss of the symbolism of our general secretary coming from and living in the Global South. On balance, however, the greater ease of global travel from a North American hub makes the job more sustainable.”

The Bogotá office, in collaboration with Mennonite Central Committee, will remain in place for the Chief Administrative Officer Anna Sorgius, administrative assistant Nelson Martinez and Andean region regional representative Pablo Stucky. Chief Communications Officer Kristina Toews also moved to Canada in February to work out of a home office in Abbotsford, B.C.

Living close to the metropolitan centre Toronto with its busy international airport will improve the general secretary’s availability to the whole communion.

—Mennonite World Conference release

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.

It was already dark when we turned off the main road onto a bumpy track through the forest.

A delegation of the MWC Deacons Commission was visiting brothers and sisters in Ghana in 2010. Our plan was to visit a little congregation in Pimpimsu in the morning. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were only able to reach it late in the day.

After a 10-minute ride, we arrived at the church. A small group of people was waiting for us at the humble building. We heard that they had been waiting all day. Many had gone home. Yet, they welcomed us with singing, drumming and praying.

There was no electricity. The only light came from a few flashlights.

From where I was sitting next to the wall, I could just see into the pitch-black forest. To my surprise, I saw dancing lights approaching. At first, I did not have a clue as to what this was, but as they came nearer, I understood. These were the other church members. They came back when heard that we had arrived.

Slowly, one by one, they entered the building, each with his or her own little flashlight. With the arrival of each member, there was a little more light. Finally, the church was full and there was enough light to celebrate.

For me, this experience is a wonderful image of what it means to be an Anabaptist church, where the congregation of believers is a focal point. People who have committed themselves to Jesus through their baptism come together in the congregation to learn, worship, serve, witness and experience a glimpse of the kingdom of God in being together in peace.

Every member brings a little bit more light in the church when he or she is there. And when you are not there, the church is a little bit darker. Therefore, each and every one is needed for the church to be fully lit. Each one is equally important because each one carries a light.

Maybe in certain times your own light is not very strong. You may go through difficulties in life and start to doubt or even feel you are losing your faith. Then the light of others can help you go on and find new fuel for your light.

Conversely, when everything is going well, and you think you don’t need others, your light is still necessary to shine on others. We share with those who are in need.

That is what being a congregation is about on a local level; that is what Mennonite World Conference is about on a global level.

During the times of persecution and migration in Anabaptist history, but also very much today, we need each other to keep the light shining.

In a sense, the Deacons Commission brings light to churches in need. In times of celebration, the Deacons may also receive the light to share with the global family of faith.

In this way, the Deacons Commission shares the stories of the different Anabaptist churches, so that despite being spread out across the world through migration and mission, and despite our sometimes very different expressions of faith, we can be one in the Spirit as the body of Christ.

—Henk Stenvers is secretary of the Mennonite World Conference Deacons Commission.

*The Prayer Network sends out an email every two months containing four to five prayers. There may also be extra emails when an urgent call to prayer arises. The emails are available in English, Spanish or French. If you would like to share a prayer with us, please write to prayers@mwc-cmm.org

At Renewal 2027 – The Holy Spirit Transforming Us in Kisumu, Kenya, 21 April 2018, several people shared a testimony of one experience of the Spirit’s work changing people in the church. Several of the columns in this section have been adapted from their presentations. Additional testimonies also tell of the work of the Holy Spirit transforming lives.

How could I ever do justice to talking about the Holy Spirit? So often the Spirit’s work in my life has been convincingly real, but in a peculiar way it has also defied my ability to understand it, let alone express it.

I’ve seen the Holy Spirit work in the life of the church, bringing bewildered groups to decisions. I’ve seen the Holy Spirit work in the unbelieving world, surprising disbelief with the presence of God. I have certainly seen the Holy Spirit work in my own life in predictable ways, trying to make a selfish and destructive person less so.

The work of the Holy Spirit can be the most ineffable and subjective dimension of our spiritual experience. Romans 8:26 has always fascinated me: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”

I experienced this as a church planter.

A discouraging season

I was a pastor in an urban setting. It was a mixed story: half church plant, half a partially established, but small and often unstable congregation. There were some outstanding people there.

Working there, I became relatively poor, and it was not romantic poverty. I was trying to work with people who suffered from what seemed to be intractable problems. Things were not going well. I felt that the pastoral role got little respect, but then I would feel like I must be an especially weak excuse of a church planting pastor to be so sensitive.1

Why couldn’t I be more confident and believe that God was here and that I was doing what really mattered?

In any event, life didn’t seem to be on a tremendous track that would lead to success, well-being, and the love and warmth of a happy community. It was more like I imagine a rough marriage to be. It certainly wasn’t what I had hoped for when I stepped out of my former life as an aspiring musician to be a church planter.

It felt like I was wasting years (not months, weeks or days) and talent (such as it was) and energy. Worse, it felt like I was simply being depleted and had nothing appreciable to show for it. I had little power or material comfort to offer my family as they experienced it with me.

It hurt, and I say without balking, it still hurts!

A vision of abundance

One warm, southern summer evening, I meditated – and mostly whined – about it, looking down my driveway from my oily carport. Half in prayer, half in introspection, I saw an image of pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom and watching it run down my driveway (of all places).

I had come to a place of feeling a kind of apathy about apathy itself. It just seemed sad and futile, but it seemed to be my lot. Where was God? Why would he waste “our” time and resources like this?

Into that moment, I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me. I didn’t hear words, but the impressions seemed to be authentic and not the convenient creation of my own whirling imagination.

My strength and resources are certainly limited and imperfect, but the living water of God’s Word that I was trying to pour out into the world is not a finite resource. It cannot be depleted and doesn’t really belong to me anyway. This water was not going to run out at its source. Who knows where all that water pouring out on the ground would end up? It was part of a larger story that I may or may not understand.

My situation didn’t change. Somehow, though, I found that even when it was frustrating, I could experience God’s peace. That peace could still at times be elusive or vague. Yet it was real and could assert itself when needed.

Since then I have had to remind myself and relearn this truth about God’s presence several times, but as I do usually I am carried back to that evening thinking about a leaking bucket and water.

It passed all understanding, and it still does.

—Reuben Sairs is an instructor and librarian at Rosedale Bible College and associate pastor at London Christian Fellowship in London, Ohio, a CMC (Conservative Mennonite Conference) church.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2018.

At Renewal 2027 – The Holy Spirit Transforming Us in Kisumu, Kenya, 21 April 2018, several people shared a testimony of one experience of the Spirit’s work changing people in the church. Several of the columns in this section have been adapted from their presentations. Additional testimonies also tell of the work of the Holy Spirit transforming lives.

Can we talk about a mission without the Holy Spirit, or talk about the Holy Spirit but ignore mission?

I remember when I first learned about missions at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Jakarta. I was in my second year in university when I heard Rev. Dr. Mangapul Sagala speak. “The Holy Spirit is for mission,” he said.

This short sentence stuck in my heart and mind.

Inseparable from mission

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I -have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). The Great Commission begins locally to globally.

This is the meaning of being a witness for Jesus. It is an uneasy mandate, but the power of the Holy Spirit is given to us, to be with us in carrying out this task.

When the Holy Spirit is poured out, the apostles are given the power to witness, with authority and miraculous signs (Acts 2:32).

The existence of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from God’s dynamic power, which enables the apostles – and now us – to be witnesses of Jesus.

Holy Spirit: power to witness

If we read Acts as a whole, we will see how the personal role of the Holy Spirit, the Forgotten God, is the subject throughout the Acts of the Apostles. That is, Acts is the story of the Holy Spirit working through and in the believers, the early church and the church throughout the ages. After the Pentecost event, the gospel message spread to Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth.

Peter, John and the apostles were ordinary uneducated people (Acts 4:13). All the figures recorded in the Acts of the Apostles are ordinary people bearing witness to Jesus’ death and resurrection. God is using ordinary people for his extraordinary task, equipped by the power of the Holy Spirit.

An emboldened witness

I remember when I was on my way to my first mission trip to Lampung, South Sumatra, back in 1997. I was so moved by the desire to be a witness, as I just ended my class on Evangelism Explosion in that day.

One of my friends and I decided to take a 10-day trip to visit churches in Lampung to learn and explore anything about ministry. We were just so excited for God.

We went by bus for several hours, the continued our trip by ship. During the two hours we stayed on the ship, I was praying, “Lord please give me an opportunity to be able to meet a person with whom I can share about You.”

While I was walking and praying I saw one man sitting down by himself, having dinner. It was around midnight, but I asked permission to sit beside him. He smiled and said ok. So, I began a conversation.

I asked, “Sir, I know you are a police officer, and I just want to ask, have you ever shot a person?”

He became quiet and said yes.

Not stopping there, I asked again, “Have you ever killed people during your tasks?”

He suddenly bowed his head and said yes.

What gave me – just a student in university who was excited to share about Jesus – such courage to ask those question to a police officer? It was the Holy Spirit.

That night, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, I shared the gospel of peace to this police officer. In the middle of the night, on that ship, I led the man to accept Jesus.

After our ship arrived in the harbour, and we need to say good bye to each other, I asked my last permission to him, “Did you bring a gun?” He said yes. “Can I touch it with my own hand?” He said sure…

I touched my arm to his pistol underneath his clothes, confirming what he said was true. I said, “God, You are awesome; it’s all about You and it’s not about me.”

Will we walk with the Holy Spirit today, and let the Holy Spirit do mighty works in us?

—Andi O. Santoso is general secretary of GKMI (Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia – one of three Indonesian Mennonite churches). This testimony is adapted from The Holy Spirit and Mission by Andi O. Santoso, published in Berita GKMI (GKMI News), May 2016.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2018.

Mentoring is a key strategy of senior pastor Reverend Albert Ndlovu of Lobengula Brethren in Christ Church, Zimbabwe. Raised in this environment, leaders are now serving in the United Kingdom and South Africa – still connected to their mentors at home in Zimbabwe. Reverend Albert Nlodvu explains the role of mentoring in discipleship.

What is your philosophy of mentoring?

Albert Ndlovu: The lifestyle of every believer should example from Jesus who had 12 disciples that were very close to him. He still had even more (70) disciples.

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). This is the philosophy of discipleship.

A believer should live such a life that someone watching from a distance should desire to copy. This is not to be done only by pastors.

Is there a strategy for finding a mentor?

Albert Ndlovu: When I find a person who is available and shows interest, I begin to develop that potential. I bring people close to me and start giving them work to do. I take them with me when I go for ministry.

As a mentor, you must appreciate that your disciple is different from you. The mentor should be able to nurture the potential within differences in approach.

We shouldn’t be afraid that the people we mentor will not live up to the expectation. As mentors, we should also not be afraid to make mistakes. After all, we are all learning and growing every day.

What tools and methods do you use to disciple?

Albert Ndlovu: Mostly group discipleship. We organize leadership training seminars which contribute a lot to the shaping of leaders we now have all around.

Sometimes you can mentor some people indirectly. Our current bishop has made several references to instances where his life has been impacted spiritually from what I said.

In your early days in ministry, who mentored you?

Albert Ndlovu: Dr. Nicholas Benson Mnkandla, a pastor at BICC Mpopoma, played a major role in my growth before he left for the USA to undergo theological training.

I would go with him to the places he preached to people from different denominations. Sometimes, I would give a testimony. He would take me to the mountain for prayer early in the morning. At other times, he would even take us to beer halls to preach. But sometimes, he would not take me with him even though I would really want to go with him.

All this was part of the process of training me for leadership and ministry.

In the USA, my mentor asked Bishop Philemon Khumalo who was completing his studies to continue discipling me. Back in Zimbabwe, Bishop Khumalo encouraged me and convinced me to go for formal leadership training. I could say he really spoiled me, as he taught me a lot, motivated me to be very confident in my ministry, and instilled in me some key principles.

What have been the benefits of mentoring you have seen over the years?

Albert Ndlovu: It is so fulfilling in life to see someone you have seen with a passion grow and develop to become what you have seen in them.

What words of encouragement could you give to leaders?

Albert Ndlovu: We need to understand that we can never do this work by ourselves. We need to open up, share what we have with those coming after us.

The church does not belong to the pastor but to us all: the ground is level.

—Maqhawenkosi Mhlanga is a member of Brethren in Christ Church Lobengula. He interviewed Reverend Albert Ndlovu as part of an assignment for his studies at a theological college in Zimbabwe.

“Uganda is ripe for evangelism and the church is growing,” says bishop Okoth Simon Onyango, national coordinator of Mennonite Church Uganda. The new Mennonite World Conference member church currently reports 553 members in 18 congregations. Accepted by the Executive Committee in 2017, Mennonite Church Uganda has more than doubled the number of congregations reported in the 2015 MWC directory (7).

Congregations in Uganda Mennonite Church are springing up both in the capital city Kampala, and in peri-urban areas (the hinterlands outside cities).

Bishop Moses Otiento of Kenya Mennonite Church was inspired to plant churches in Uganda. Otiento supported mission efforts to Uganda, and John Otiento worked with local leaders in Uganda in 2004 to plant four churches that officially registered in 2006.

Growing greatly in number, Uganda Mennonite Church congregations face many challenges: buildings barely covered by a roof; lack of chairs for church members to sit on during services, pastors who have no formal training and sometimes no paycheque.

Mennonite Central Committee has served in Uganda since 1979, initially with war-reconstruction efforts; now with peace and reconciliation work.

Youth from Uganda have served in Mennonite World Conference and MCC’s exchange program YAMEN, learning about the global church by serving in a different part of the world.

The English-speaking East African country on the northern edge of Lake Victoria borders Kenya, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania. Some 45 percent of the nearly 40,000, 000 Ugandans identify as Protestant, 40 percent as Roman Catholic, and more than 10 percent as Muslim. Uganda struggles with a high number of deaths from HIV/AIDS and with large numbers of refugees fleeing neighbouring countries.

“The Mennonite Church Uganda is quite happy and honoured to be member of the global family of the MWC,” says Okoth. “Our prayer is that God will identify us partner churches or individuals to stand with us in some of our voluminous challenges. May God sustain us together.”

—a Mennonite World Conference release by Karla Braun

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2018.

Mennonite World Conference lost two leaders currently serving in official roles. Pascal Kulungu, member of the newly formed Global Anabaptist Peace Network steering committee, died 16 January 2019 after a short illness. Manjula Roul, member of the Faith and Life Commission since 2015 and General Council member, died 27 January 2019 of a heart attack.

Pascal Kulungu (66) was a long-time leader in the MB church (Conférence des Églises Frères Mennonites en Congo) in DRC. He established a peace institute and facilitated peace training workshops after receiving a master of arts in leadership, management and peace building from Fresno Pacific University, California, USA. Politically engaged in his own country, Pascal Kulungu was elected as a National Assembly representative for Kasongo-Lunda district in the December 2018 national election. He died after a short illness.

Manjula Roul (61) was a member of Brethren In Christ Church, Odisha. She served the church alongside her husband, Bishop Bijoy Roul, and was known for her gracious hospitality and leadership in Asia caucus gatherings. She was president of the All-India Mennonite Women’s Conference for one term and served on the Board for a number of years. Manjula Roul actively supported the formation of the Theologically Trained Anabaptist Women of India.

“We stand with the family and congregations of these beloved colleagues at a time of sadness,” says Nelson Kraybill, MWC president. “This is a loss for the churches with whom these leaders served and for the international Anabaptist family of faith. We thank God for their faithful witness and honour their contributions to mission and reconciliation in the name of Jesus.”

—Mennonite World Conference release

*Date and cause of death for Manjula Roul corrected 4 March 2019.

Deacons Commission secretary and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) president-elect Henk Stenvers and a Mennonite World Conference delegation consisting of Hanna Soren and Vikal Rao (Deacons Commission), Paul Phinehas (Executive Committee, Asia representative) and Cynthia Peacock (Regional Representative, South Asia) made church visits in India in December 2018.

In Raipur, India, they participated in the dedication of a new building for Antakiya Mennonite Church Kodopali, a Bhartiya General Conference Mennonite Church (BGCMC) 14 December 2018. This building received financial support from the Global Church Sharing Fund. Some 500 people came from the surrounding countryside for the celebration that included a program, lunch, dancing and singing.

Hanna Soren receives a welcome at the BGCMC Dangniya church as Paul Phinehas looks on.

With music and marching, the BGCMC congregation in Gehrapali welcomed the MWC delegation. BGCMC president and former MWC executive committee member Prem Prakash Bagh and his daughter Palak hosted the MWC delegates for breakfast at their home in Jhilmila.

The MWC delegation worshipped with the Mennonite Church India congregation in Dondi in their four-year-old building.

The Mennonite Church in India congregation at Dhamtari displays the Shared Convictions of Mennonite World Conference in Hindi.

Fellowship meal at Gehrapali congregation.

Deacons Commission secretary Henk Stenvers greets local Mennonites in Gehrapali.

A young choir leads worship singing at the Dondi congregation of Mennonite Church in India.

—Mennonite World Conference release