Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Coffee breaks at the triennial Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Council, Commissions and networks meetings in Kenya April 2018, allowed Colombia peacebuilder and human rights lawyer Ricardo Esquivia to share with an old friend his desire for the Global Anabaptist Peace Network (GAPN) to build networks to support peacebuilders in the field and to communicate with the broader Mennonite community.

    After years of planning and building on the work that has come before, the steering committee of the emerging GAPN met for their first face-to-face meeting 17–20 April 2018, in Limuru, Kenya.

    The steering committee representatives come from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe, and different member churches of MWC. Each representative brings a wealth of peacebuilding involvement in their local/regional organizations’ contexts.

    Karla BraunThe goal of GAPN is to provide the infrastructure to connect the many different peace initiatives and organizations that are the fruit of MWC-related churches working in peacebuilding, active nonviolence and conflict transformation. These organizations are often not known to each other, resulting in duplication of efforts and missed opportunities for mutual beneficial and transformative exchange.

    Meeting face-to-face allowed the steering committee to explore more deeply the formation of GAPN and its rationale, mission, potential actions and structure.

    The meeting in Kenya brought together GAPN steering committee member Wendy Kroeker and Esquivia. They originally met in the 1990s in Canada when Kroeker helped to organize Mennonite Central Committee events for Esquivia (then director of Colombian Mennonite peace organization Justapaz) to present on his peacebuilding work.

    “Ricardo and I stumbled through numerous dinners together and somehow found ways for our hearts and work passions to connect despite the challenges of communication,” says Kroeker.

    Now, they connected once again during the meetings in Limuru, Kenya. “There was a difference in our meeting this time,” says Kroeker, who now speaks Spanish more fluently. “Ricardo shared of the continuing challenges of his work. He asked GAPN to consider how we could build networks for supporting peacebuilders in the field and to alert the broader Mennonite community regarding the challenges Anabaptist peacebuilders face in their respective contexts and communities.

    “I want to take that request seriously in the context of my work in the Peace Commission and GAPN,” says Kroeker.

    The meeting between Kroeker and Esquivia exemplifies the pertinence of a network that enables peacebuilders to meet face-to-face.

    GAPN aims to share news and prayer requests, facilitate exchanges (resources, staff, internships, studies, etc.), and create space for mutually transformative relationships between members, and for solidarity and support in political advocacy initiatives. Rather than becoming an organization on its own, GAPN will create, enable and nurture the formation of relationships.

    The steering committee plans to officially launch GAPN at the second Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference and Festival taking place in Elspeet, The Netherlands, 27–30 June 2019.

    —a Mennonite World Conference release by Andrés Pacheco Lozano, coordinator of the Global Anabaptist Peace Network

    Every September, the Peace Commission invites churches to celebrate Peace Sunday with the global Anabaptist church.

    Click here for Peace Sunday Worship Resources

    GAPN steering committee members:

    • Andrés Pacheco Lozano (Colombia/Netherlands), GAPN coordinator
    • Andrew Suderman (Canada/USA), Peace Commission secretary
    • Wendy Kroeker (Canada), Peace Commission member
    • Scott Holland (USA)
    • Pascal Kulungu (DR Congo)
    • Christina Asheervadam (India)
    • Fulco van Hulst (Netherlands)

  • From a boat on the Sea of Galilee, a fisherman demonstrates the ancient art of casting a circular net. Weights along the outer edge sink rapidly, pulling the web around any living thing below. Waters next to Jesus’ ministry base at Capernaum teemed with tilapia, carp, and sardines when his first disciples plied their trade.

    Fishing was a significant part of the regional economy in the first century, evidenced by names of nearby towns: Bethsaida (“house of fishing”) was hometown to Peter, Andrew and Philip; Tariacheae (“pickled fish town,” called Magdala in Hebrew) probably was home to Mary Magdalene. Disciples of Jesus appear in the Gospels variously mending nets, fishing all night, counting fish, extracting a coin from the mouth of a fish, and eating seafood breakfast on the beach with the risen Christ.

    “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind,” Jesus told his followers. “When it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:47–50).

    At a time when some Christian denominations excommunicate or divide over contested matters, Jesus’ fishing parable is instructive. Galilean fishermen typically used nets, not hooks, to harvest their catch. Evangelism and church discipline, according to this imagery, are broad and inclusive. Nobody gets hooked individually by ruse or violence. Rather, the wide embrace of a net draws in a motley and diverse catch. At the end of the age, these get sorted – not by you and me, but by angels.

    How tempted I am to start sorting now!

    Toss out fish whose politics irritate me.

    Discard those not to my taste.

    Get rid of any whose views don’t seem biblical according to how I interpret the Bible.

    But instead of putting you and me into the sorting business, Jesus implies that we are to cast a wide net. “Follow me, and I will make you [net] fish for people,” he said (Matthew 4:19).

    Other biblical images likewise suggest that Jesus advocated an inclusive people-gathering. The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer’s field with both wheat and weeds, he taught. These grow side by side until harvest, then reapers (angels?) sort them and destroy the worthless plants (Matthew 13:24–30).

    In John’s Apocalypse, it is Christ who can remove lampstands (congregations), not the churches themselves (Revelation 2:5).

    Our Lord did not suggest that belief and behaviour are irrelevant to salvation. There are consequences for those who do not measure up. When God brings harvest at the end of the age, weeds will go up in smoke and bad fish end up in the furnace, “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We do well to learn, practice and teach what God requires for holy living.

    But thank God, we can focus on net-casting and let God do the sorting.

    – A Mennonite World Conference release by MWC president J. Nelson Kraybill. Adapted from “Holy Land Peace Pilgrim” (May 5, 2018, http://peace-pilgrim.com).

  • Le comité de pilotage du projet de formation théologique anabaptiste en ligne s’est rencontré à Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire, les 14–15 septembre 2018. Le point sur l’état d’avancement du projet.

    Ce programme a pour but de développer et de mettre à disposition des formations en ligne liées à la théologie anabaptiste, et particulièrement aux thèmes de la paix, de la justice et de la réconciliation.

    La mise en place et le suivi du programme sont assurés par le comité de pilotage qui vient de se réunir en septembre 2018. Il est constitué par Roger N’dri, théologien et informaticien, responsable du Département de Développement Holistique de la Faculté évangélique de l’Alliance Chrétienne (FATEAC) à Abidjan, John Masebi du Centre Universitaire de Missiologie (Kinshasa, RDC), Matthew Krabill, de la Faculté de Théologie Fuller (Californie, Etats-Unis) et bientôt au Centre Mennonite de Paris (France), et par l’auteur de ces lignes. Avec sa femme Toni, Matthew Krabill possède une expérience de la mise en place de programmes en ligne à Fuller. Toni Krabill et Martine Audéoud, professeur à la FATEAC, pourront jouer un rôle de conseil technique à côté de l’expertise de Roger N’dri.

    Un programme hébergé à Abidjan

    En raison d’une panne d’avion, John Masebi n’a malheureusement pas pu être présent à la rencontre, mais la communication via Skype et téléphone a été possible. L’aspect le plus marquant de cette rencontre a été l’examen du programme en ligne du Département de Développement Holistique de la FATEAC à Abidjan, et la découverte d’une vingtaine de cours qui pourront facilement entrer dans le projet envisagé : par exemple, « Partenariat et réseaux », « Culture, Ethnicité et Diversité », « Gestion des conflits », « Analyse de situation », « Église, Shalom et résilience des populations vulnérables », « Leadership, paix et réconciliation ».

    La FATEAC, en voie de devenir une université, propose ces cours en ligne aux niveaux master et doctorat. Ils ont été développés en grande partie par Martine Audéoud. Celle-ci, qui vient de rentrer en Alsace avec sa famille, a travaillé à la FATEAC en lien avec Mennonite Mission Network et elle continuera son engagement en Côte d’Ivoire avec plusieurs visites par an.

    L’ensemble des partenaires concernés (voir encadré ci-dessous) mettra en place le « Centre de formation à la justice et à la paix » qui sera hébergé à la FATEAC à Abidjan, faculté qui a des liens avec les mennonites depuis un certain temps déjà. Le Centre de formation à la justice et à la paix entrera donc dans le département de développement holistique qui, par la FATEAC, bénéficie d’une accréditation universitaire valable sur les trois continents concernés.

    Différents niveaux d’études

    Chaque école partenaire créera des cours qui pourront entrer dans le curriculum qui vise d’abord le niveau master et ensuite le niveau doctorat, sans oublier des cours de base en théologie et histoire anabaptistes. Les crédits pour les cours suivis pourront être ensuite reconnus par l’école où se trouve inscrit l’étudiant en question.

    Le défi est grand, car il faudra à l’avenir trouver des ressources, créer des cours et un curriculum cohérent. Cependant, le modèle et l’expérience du Département de Développement Holistique à Abidjan (qui compte plusieurs centaines d’étudiants des pays africains), ainsi que les cours déjà construits, ont été un signe concret que le projet pourra se réaliser.

    Interculturalité

    Lors de la première rencontre de 2017, Jean-Claude Girondin, pasteur de l’Église mennonite de Villeneuve-le-Comte, a insisté auprès des participants sur l’importance d’une véritable « interculturalité » du projet et sur le respect mutuel nécessaire entre les partenaires. Travailler ensemble entre partenaires de trois continents, sachant que la grande majorité des mennonites francophones se trouvent en Afrique, voilà un enjeu de taille.

    —Neal Blough, directeur du Centre Mennonite de Paris, Église de Châtenay-Malabry

    Historique

    En septembre 2017, à Abidjan, des représentants de neuf écoles bibliques ou théologiques et six institutions partenaires ont signé une convention de collaboration pour créer un « Consortium des institutions offrant des formations théologiques et bibliques anabaptistes ». 

    Ces écoles et partenaires viennent de trois continents et de neuf pays francophones et cherchent à réaliser un souhait qui s’exprime depuis un certain temps au sein du Réseau mennonite francophone. S’y trouvent évidemment des membres de ce Réseau représentant la France, la Suisse, la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), le Burkina Faso et le Québec, ainsi que des agences missionnaires ayant des liens avec ces Églises et écoles. En même temps, étant donné les liens existant depuis longtemps entre les mennonites et d’autres Églises en Afrique et l’intérêt de ces Églises pour le projet, des écoles non mennonites, plutôt interdénominationnelles, ont aussi signé la convention. Celles-ci se trouvent au Bénin, en Côte d’Ivoire, en RDC et au Tchad.

    [Sidebar : Alex, can you put this in a box ? Or use an <h2> subhead ?]

    Cet article et le Réseau mennonite francophone

    Cet article paraît aussi dans Perspective (journal mennonite suisse), Le Lien (journal des mennonites québecois) et sur le site de la Conférence Mennonite Mondiale (www.mwc-cmm.org). Il est publié sous les auspices du Réseau mennonite francophone. Coordination des articles : Jean-Paul Pelsy.

  • Songs, testimonies and biblical reflection celebrate the Holy Spirit at Renewal 2027

    As a local band played “You are the most high God,” international guests from the global Anabaptist family swayed and sang at this year’s Renewal 2027 “The Holy Spirit transforming us” event at Nyamasaria Primary School’s auditorium in Kisumu, Kenya, and headquarters of Kenya Mennonite Church (KMC).

    Mennonite World Conference’s annual event to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation took place between meetings of the Executive Committee, Commissions and Networks and the triennial delegate meetings of the General Council.

    “The global Mennonite church is connected as the true vine to Jesus Christ and dependent on God the gardener,” said Gordon Obado, one of the event masters of ceremonies, welcoming the international guests to Kenya.

    A church born of the Spirit

    Maasai women
    Maasai women’s choir. PHOTO: Len Rempel

    Strengthened by the East Africa revival, Kenya Mennonite Church (KMC) exemplifies the theme: “The Holy Spirit transforming us / Roho Mtakatifu Hutubadilisha Maisha” (Swahili).

    In the 1930s, two 12-year-olds from the Mennonite church in Shirati, Tanzania, and Rebeka (“Speedy”) Kizinza – a person of peace whose urgency to share the good news motivated her hospitality and fast walking – carried the gospel into regions where it was not known, and inspired others to do the same.

    “Across Kenya, at cooking fires, people gathered around the Word of God, and repented of their sins,” said Tanzanian-born, now-retired Eastern Mennonite Missions worker David W. Shenk.

    Shenk distilled four revival principles: focus on Jesus while meeting regularly with Christians; confess sins; be dependent on Jesus; and be joyful.

    The revival continues: “As the Spirit of the Lord works in the church, we become more and more like Jesus,” said Francis Ojwang, one of the event masters of ceremonies.

    “God is calling people from the Global South to bear witness to the gospel,” said Nelson Okanya, a native of Kenya, now president of USA-based EMM.

    Renewal 2027 is calling Anabaptists to “a spirit of repentance and renewal and a commitment to remembrance of the past to renew our relationship here and now,” said MWC General Secretary César García.

    Len Rempel.
    Children’s choir from Kenya. PHOTO: Len Rempel

    A Spirit of power

    “Why does it matter to us that the first Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit?” asked plenary speaker Elisabeth Kunjam (Deacons Commission, India). Reflecting on Acts 2, she observed three reasons the 2,000-year-old event is significant today: the Holy Spirit continues to empower the church; the church is diverse and inclusive in nature; the church displays a foretaste of the kingdom of God.

    The problems facing our generation call for the church’s active intervention, said Kunjam. “The Holy Spirit’s empowerment…within the global Anabaptist family is needed for the church to raise up a standard that bears a witness to the world.”

    “Where does the Holy Spirit go? The Holy Spirit goes where people are waiting,” said plenary speaker Alfred Neufeld (Faith & Life Commission, Paraguay). He presented an overview of understanding of the Spirit in the early church, the first Anabaptists and today.

    “God has not given us a spirit of weakness, but dunamos, a powerful spirit,” he said. “Dear friends, let’s enjoy this [agape – costly love/love of enemies] spirit of the Lord.”

    A Spirit of transformation

    “In the book of Revelation, testimonies defeat the enemies,” said Barbara Nkala (Regional Representative, Zimbabwe).

    Nkala, Jürg Bräker (Deacons Commission, Switzerland) and Oscar Suárez (YABs Committee, Colombia) shared testimonies of the Holy Spirit working in local churches: bringing unity despite diverse opinions in Switzerland; re-uniting a broken family and supporting conscientious objection in Colombia; and bringing physical healing and mission inspiration to women in Zimbabwe.

    Leaders with strong spirits

    Philip Okeyo, KMC moderator and bishop, led a ceremony to honour retired leaders of KMC, whose bodies may be weak, but spirits are strong.

    Echoing the words of the other retired bishops, Musa Adongo thanked God for the blessings received. Joshua Okello encouraged the church to carry on the work of sharing the gospel.

    Reflecting back at the later GC meetings, Rebecca Osiro, MWC vice president and ordained KMC pastor, said the small national church had challenges in finding the capacity to host the international event, but it was a great honour to be in solidarity with the global church in Kenya. “We feel encouraged and strengthened that we come to this reality today.”

    Local choirs interspersed the presentations with songs and dance. A group of Sunday school children aged 4–14, a ministry of KMC Women Fellowship in Kisumu, presented songs, dance, and “We are here to celebrate” special poem composed for the event.

    In closing, MWC president J. Nelson Kraybill said, “We are no longer Greek, nor Jew (Galatians 3:28), Kenyan nor American, we truly are one in Christ.”

    “May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord who is alive, give you strength so you may continue to spread the gospel of Christ,” said Samson Omondi, KMC general secretary.

    —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.

    “If we want to be a Peace Church,” says Garcia Pedro Domingos, “we must also respond to and offer other alternatives to those who need jobs and financial stability.”

    Domingos, who comes from Angola, made this comment during face-to-face Peace Commission meetings. He shared stories about some of the challenges of his country and how it continues to be a highly militarized society due to its long civil war which ended in 2002. One of the ongoing realities, Domingos says, is that the military is one of the most stable employers in a country that suffers from high unemployment rates.

    “This affects the Colombian context as well,” says Jenny Neme, a member of the Peace Commission (2009–2018).

    As Neme shared some of Colombia’s and the Colombian Mennonite church’s story, Domingos displayed both surprise and relief to hear how others also struggle with similar realities, even on different continents.

    Despite distance and difference, there is a connection in the challenges that confront our common quest to work toward God’s peace.

    Sometimes, within our local context, our view of the church can lead us to feel isolated. We may not know the struggles that others also face; struggles that may be similar to ours.

    Our churches may also seem quite homogeneous. We do not see the diversity that we may want. This, of course, is truer in some contexts than others.

    When, however, we only look to our local context and our expressions of church there as the foundation of our church, we fail to recognize how other churches from around the world offer a glimpse of who we can be together – sharing in each other’s challenges and burdens as well as gifts and differences.

    What’s more, with a narrow local focus, we fail to recognize the multicultural beauty that has become reality within our global communion as Mennonite World Conference. This broader perspective provides an encouraging glimpse that can feed our drive for local congregations to embody this multicultural mosaic in our own contexts.

    This mosaic of diversity offers a beautiful and hopeful reality. It demonstrates a church that is truly global. People from all over the world, representing different countries, socio-economic realities, races, ages and gender all come together as one family.

    It provides an opportunity to share our lives with one another.

    This does not, however, mean that tensions, differences, and/or challenges are not present. Like in any family, disagreement is part of the richness of relationships. It does, however, offer opportunities to learn from one another, experiencing different ways of doing things, and becoming more aware of the different challenges from around the world.

    In expanding our perspective to the realities of other global sisters and brothers, we learn about the challenges of witnessing to peace.

    Our world continues to suffer from the effects of an addiction to violence, greed and self-centredness that prevent us from living in right relationships with others, the world and with God. And yet, when we come together to worship, build relationships and share about the struggles we face, we open our lives and worldviews to the presence of the Holy Spirit who transforms us through these experiences.

    Such experiences provide ongoing opportunities to explore how we can walk together, witnessing to God’s peace in our world.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Andrew Suderman, secretary of the Peace Commission. He serves as Assistant Professor in theology, peace, and mission at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

  • “Stand up if you are weary, worn down by the cares of ministry.” From Portuguese-speaking countries on either side of the ocean, a Brazilian pastor crossed to embrace an Angolan pastor who stood in response to the Deacons Commission’s calls to prayer during the evening devotional time at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Council meetings. Throughout the room, huddles of delegates surrounded leaders, easing burdens with prayers of encouragement. Wilhelm Unger.

    Much of the time, MWC’s mission to create space for the Anabaptist family to meet together is fulfilled virtually, on social media or through email connections across continents, but once every three years, it occurs in person as the General Council (one to three delegates from each member church), commissions, and networks (Global Mission Fellowship, Global Anabaptist Service Network) meet. Representatives from up to 107 national churches from 58 countries gathered for triennial meetings 23–26 April 2018 in Limuru, Kenya. They discerned decisions, learned from teaching – and ate together and shared their hearts.

    General Council meetings are about “making connections, meeting beautiful brothers from here in Kenya, all parts of Africa, Indonesia, Japan, China, and from different parts of the world,” says Juan C. Colón of Convención de las Iglesias Menonitas de Puerto Rico, Inc. “Learning from them, seeing how they pray, learning from the humility that they show… – it has been a rewarding experience for me.”

    “We learn it’s not only in Congo we have problems that affect the life of the church; problems are everywhere, but each corner has its own. I was moved by the hardships of the church in Panama who have been displaced from their own land,” says Alphonse Komuesa of Communauté Mennonite au Congo. “The fact that we have shared these experiences together gives us an opportunity to comfort each other.”

    “We have space to be able to talk and get to know each other,” says Colón.

    A space to share prayer

    During a prayer time, Komuesa shared about the difficulties in DR Congo where a violent military group has displaced many of the Mennonite church’s members, resulting in deaths, separated families and poverty.

    From Germany, Alexander Neufeld of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer Brüdergemeinden in Deutschland said the many Middle Eastern refugees making a new home in the country challenge the church to learn and grow.

    Delegates from Nicaragua shared their concern about the government suppression of student-led protests happening during the meetings.

    The small church of 1 000 members in Nepal has been affected by flooding and earthquake in the past few years, and is restricted by anti-conversion laws, yet it continues to grow, said Hanna Soren of Nepal BIC Church/Brethren in Community Welfare Society.

    A space to learn

    Gathered in a rainbow striped tent that was both a metaphor for the diversity of the gathering and a real tabernacle for God’s people, delegates approved the Program Plan and financial projections 2018–2021, and reviewed Fair Share 2016–2021, and had lively discussion around Commissions Proposals. Strategic goals for the triennial: live out anabaptist identity, interdependent relationships, reconciliation and hope.

    “The unity of the spirit is the reason we walk together, not the result of walking well together,” said Thomas Yoder Neufeld, Bible scholar, new Faith and Life Commission chair, and speaker at three plenary teaching sessions.

    “God is to blame for the diversity in our unity,” he said. “This is a permanent problem we do not want God to solve for us.”

    The imagery of breaking down boundaries show how costly peace is, he said.

    A space to wrestle

    Delegates experienced pain when disagreement surfaced over the Faith and Life Commission’s guideline on responding to controversial issues.

    Yoder Neufeld’s teaching – patience, suffering, forgiveness, seeing in each other the face of God are the ways to walk in unity – were put to test. The General Council did not reach consensus on accepting the document which means that MWC continues without a clear process on how to discuss controversial issues.

    Karla Braun.

    Two other Commission documents received delegate approval: a statement of solidarity with Indigenous peoples and a teaching resource “Identity and Ecumenicity: A Theology of Interchurch Hospitality and Denominational Identity.”

    Delegates ratified new national church members approved by the Executive Committee since the previous General Council and new members in 2018: Lancaster Mennonite Conference (full member); and Iglesia Misionera Anabautista, Bolivia (associate members).

    Henk Stenvers was elected President Elect, to assume presidency at Assembly in Indonesia in 6–11 July 2021. Currently serving vice president Rebecca Osiro was affirmed to serve a six-year term.

    New Commission members and Executive Committee members were approved (see chart).

    Prior to the General Council, delegates and representatives of Anabaptist service and mission agencies travelled to western Kenya to participate in Renewal 2027, a day long celebration of the Holy Spirit in the history and life of the nearly 500-year-old Anabaptist church (see “Joy in the Spirit”). The next day, they worshipped in local churches in the Kisumu area.

    Osiro described it as a great honour for Kenya Mennonite Church to host the gathering of Anabaptist leaders worldwide. “We feel encouraged and strengthened that we come to this reality,” she said. “Where the roads are not defined clearly…, You bear with us and forgive us,” she said. “How nice, how pleasant and good that we stay together in unity.”

    —a Mennonite World Conference release 

     

    New Members:

    Executive Committee 

    • Samson Omondi (Kenya)
    • MZ Ichsanudin (Indonesia)
    • Wieteke van der Molen (Netherlands)
    • Carlos Martínez García (Mexico)
    • Juan Silverio Verón Aquino (Paraguay)
    • Bill Braun (USA)
     

    Commissions 

    Peace

    • Neal Blough (France/USA)
    • Adriana B. Rodriguez (Honduras)
    • Wendy Kroeker (Canada)
     

    Mission

    • Nelson Okanya (USA/Kenya)
    • Eladio Mondez (Philippines)
    • José Rutilio Rivas Dominguez (Colombia)
     

    Faith & Life

    • Nzuzi Mukawa (DR Congo)
    • Lydia Adi Sidharta (Indonesia)
    • Rebecca Gonzales (Mexico)
    • Thomas Yoder Neufeld, Chair (Canada)
     

    Deacons

    • Angela Opimi (Bolivia)
    • Ephraim Disi (Malawi)
    • Vikal Pravin Rao (India)

  • In many parts of the area near Kibwezi, Kenya, I see corn that has dried up. Driving around, it’s hard to find any corn that people will be able to harvest this season.

    In February 2018, MCC’s partner Utooni Development Organization (UDO), which I volunteer with, started a food relief project in one of the drought-affected areas in the eastern part of Kenya near the town of Kibwezi. The distribution is being done in two villages, Kathyaka and Ngulu and is funded by MCC’s account at Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

    I participated in the food distribution as a photographer. And it made me think about how easy it is to access fresh water in my home country of South Korea, where there is a reliable water system.

    But it’s not common in rural Kenya. In the village where I live with my host family, people have to harvest water and it is not easy to find clean water. In Kibwezi, people farm, but the dry climate means the land is unproductive. They work hard for a better life, but through no fault of their own they are suffering.

    UDO has already done three distributions of food in these villages because the drought has persisted. People here use the conservation agriculture techniques taught by UDO, but the drought has made it impossible to harvest crops this year.

    UDO also works to improve food security and enhance sustainable livelihood opportunities for small-scale farmers in Machakos, Mukueni and Kajiado counties through conservation agriculture.

    When we arrived at the distribution locations, many people were already gathered to wait for us.

    After a brief introduction, we started distributing the food assistance.

    Each group had a supervisor appointed by people from the village, and another helped them to confirm everyone had enough and was able to carry it home. Because the sun was very hot, people worked slowly to help each other to make food distributions. Each person received 30 kilograms of maize, four kilograms of beans and one and a half litres of oil.

    The people of the village helped each other carry their rations home.

    Most people looked happy to receive the food and many thanked us for the assistance.

    When I return to South Korea, I want to discuss the poverty I saw in Kenya with my friends and talk about what we should do about this.

    —Minyoung “Blee” Jung is a Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) participant from South Korea serving in Kenya. She’s working as a public relations coordinator for MCC’s partner, Utooni Development Organization (UDO) from 2017–2018. YAMEN is a joint Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) program.

    —A Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite Central Committee joint release.

  • The International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) is made up of 21 national churches in 19 countries with approximately 450,000 members. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.

    New vision for Uruguay

    Consejo de las Congregaciones de los Hermanos Menonitas en Uruguay (CCHMU – the Uruguayan MB conference) had an important meeting 29 July 2018. Missionary Andrés Prins, leaders from COBIM (Brazilian MB conference), and Doug Penner from MB Mission/Multiply met with the leadership of CCHMU. The meetings were a huge blessing beyond all expectations. They heard God’s direction for the conference have signed an agreement between CCHMU, COBIM and MB Mission to begin expanding the conference into the north/northwest of the country. In the northwest, a group of churches in 14 towns are eager to join the conference. Praise God for “his faithfulness as he continues to write the history of Uruguay…doors are opening, bridges are being repaired and built, and the pastoral leadership is united like never before.”

    —Rudi Plett, executive director

  • The International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) is made up of 21 national churches in 19 countries with approximately 450,000 members. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.

    Colombia women’s retreat, 30 June 30–2 July 2018

    The national assembly of Christian women of the Mennonite Brethren, held every other year, was this time in Pradera Valle, Colombia. 240 women gathered from different parts of Colombia, Panama and Paraguay. The topics included “A Resilient Woman,” “The Church as a Social Transformation,” “Reconciliation as the Centre of our Task,” and “Woman of Peace.”

    Testimony from participant Stella Villareal after the retreat: “’Sometimes God gives us dreams in order for us to awaken them in other people,’ this phrase is now key to my life… I was able to take a weight off my life…I had frustration at not having achieved some of my dreams, but now I understand many things and I know what God is doing with me.”

    Luz Estella Mosquera, retreat leader, said, “We have seen that women are so willing to be in the hands of God, for which they have been called. Their capacities allow them to carry the gospel of God out of their different contexts. Women are called to lead with faith, hope, love and justice. They are called to stand up to current challenges and act out of the guidance of the Holy Spirit…”

    Latin American Mennonite Brethren leaders meeting, 26–28 July 2018

    “Growing toward a missional church.”

    With this motto, we developed the first MB leaders meeting in Latin America and inaugurated a very intentional regional movement. 68 Leaders from 10 countries were present listening and discussing “what is a mature missional church,” “how can we work together so that we all grow toward it” and “how do we work together, so that the gifts of one conference supplies the need of others.”

    The main areas we reflected on were discipleship and education, mission and conference leadership. The intention was not to have only information sessions, but rather build relationships and commit to a stronger joint vision. In planned meetings and also in spontaneous conversations, there have been encouraging commitments toward this outcome, some even with fixed dates.

    We praise God for making this happen and we thank MB Mission/Multiply and both MB Conferences in Paraguay for all the support that enabled this meeting.

    —Rudi Plett, executive director

  • 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.

    People who are involved in service are typically practical, caring people, people of action. Of course, the motivation for doing service is to follow Jesus and his teaching, to reach out to the weak, to the orphans and widows, and so on (Jeremiah 22:3, James 1:27).

    People who have a heart for evangelism may be called people of proclamation. They are concerned with pointing the way to Jesus. They follow the command to go into the world, teach and make disciples.

    When accused of not caring about peoples’ souls, the first group might say, but you have to feed an empty stomach first before giving spiritual nutrition.

    The others might reply, what good is it to feed people and yet do nothing for their lost souls?

    I know this description is oversimplified and polarizing, yet it holds some truth, based on my experience.

    A tension

    In the past, I sensed a tension between these two groups: the people of proclamation and the people of action. Both would claim their mission to be holistic. Sometimes conflicts developed. Often there was a lot of judgement passed.

    When we established the Global Anabaptist Service Network (GASN) within Mennonite World Conference (MWC), there was much discussion regarding the commission in which it should be hosted: Mission or Deacons. The arguments for the one or the other reflected this tension.

    It was decided to host it in the Mission Commission. The decision was supported by the desire to overcome the gap between proclamation and service, word and deed.

    I was not very happy. As part of the coordinating committee of GASN, I was named as a specialist in the Mission Commission. I do not feel that I am a missionary. I am a servant. Now I had to identify with missions.

    A transformation

    I was a little lost at first. But over time, I realized that a change was taking place in me. I began to see that my gifts as a servant are as valuable as the gifts of others who are church planters and evangelists and teachers.

    God wants all of us in his mission. Only together are we complete.

    Since then, GASN has met twice. We had joint meetings with the Global Mission Fellowship (GMF) where we shared stories and teachings with the two groups together, and also had separate sessions.

    Particularly as the two groups met separately, I could sense that we still need the Spirit to teach us: together we are called to work in God’s mission according to our gifts, convictions and views.

    Empowered by God’s breath (both “spirit” and “breath” are translations for the Hebrew word ruach), we will see change and see God at work.

    During the meetings in Kenya in April 2018, one sign of that unity for me was the prayer map (see picture). All GMF and GASN members were invited to take time to identify a country, place a candle on that spot and pray for that country, for the people or for someone we knew there.

    During this time of silent prayer around that large map it was obvious: we are one in the Spirit.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Barbara Hege-Galle, a member of the Mission Commission. She served with Christliche Dienste for 32 years and lives in Bammental, Germany. She also serves the local church there.

  • The Constitutional Court of Korea brought an end to 70 years of imprisoning conscientious objectors (COs) when it ruled 28 June 2018 that it is unconstitutional for South Korea not to offer alternative service options for COs.

    An alternative does exist, but it requires four to six weeks of military training, and participants who finish it are considered reserves in the military. Men who go to jail rather than the military are barred from many professions, such as working in the education field.

    Korean Mennonites celebrated the ruling. KyongJung Kim, Mennonite World Conference regional representative for Northeast Asia, said he had been longing for this moment ever since he began taking seriously the implications of the gospel of peace.

    “I have paid close attention to the recent peace process between North and South Korea. I feel that things are falling into place one after another,” he said. “We may have a long way to go…[but] we have seen many signs of the light already.”

    Kim began working for such a societal change in 2001 at the Korea Anabaptist Center in South Korea.

    The Korea Anabaptist Center provides Anabaptist resources, translates materials and organizes lectures to promote the gospel of peace from a theological perspective. Representatives visit COs in jail, sharing their stories so others can also pray for them.

    South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reported six out of nine justices agreed the Military Service Act should list alternative options of service for COs. The ruling requires a revision to the military service law listing such options must be submitted by 31 December 2019.

    KyongJung Kim believes as space opens up in the public sphere for more widespread discussion of CO issues, Mennonite churches will have greater opportunities to address peace and justice issues in society.

    “CO suffering may be over in one sense, but there will be some other challenges,” he said. “Church life is not supposed to be comfortable, but challenging.”

    The typical jail sentence for refusing military conscription in South Korea is 18 months. Those who cite religious objection tend to be Jehovah’s Witnesses or Buddhists.

    The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated in 2013 that 93 percent of the world’s imprisoned COs are South Koreans. About 660 are jailed each year.

    SangMin Lee is believed to be the only Korean Mennonite to choose jail over military service. A member of Grace and Peace Mennonite Church in Seoul, he was released 30 July 2015.

    —A Mennonite World Conference reprint by Tim Huber of Mennonite World Review. Used with permission.

  • Kenya, over the last several years, has been a flashpoint for Christian-Muslim conflict in East Africa, with the militant group al-Shabab’s lethal attacks in Nairobi, Garissa, and elsewhere. With each incident of terror the tension increases.

    But Kenyan Mennonites are finding hope in small incidents of transformation. A major part of the challenge is that Kenya has received waves of refugees from Somalia over the last quarter century. Many of these people land in the largest refugee camp in the world (Dadaab) – or in the Eastleigh neighbourhood of Nairobi. There, at the Mennonite-initiated Eastleigh Fellowship Center, Christians and Muslims interact in many different ways.

    Yusuf, a Kenyan Mennonite who teaches English in Eastleigh, has regular discussions about faith with young Somali men in the neighbourhood. One day, one of his conversation partners became very angry and slapped him hard across the face.

    “I prayed to God that I would not be angry,” Yusuf says. “And I just continued the discussion.

    “Later, the other guys who were there came to me to say that they were sorry, and that they were surprised that I was not fighting. I said to them, ‘You don’t know how much Christ has forgiven me, and he called us to forgive.’

    “It became clear to me at that point that peace is the best witness,” Yusuf says. “And from that time my relationship changed with those men.”

    A woman who pastors a Mennonite church in Eastleigh confesses how hard it is to stay when so many other churches have left the area. There was a series of bombings in 2014, and tension can be very high at times.

    But she worked for many years in Eastleigh, teaching at the fellowship centre and helping young Somalis with immigration issues. Now those Somalis have children of their own and bring them to the centre, and they still refer to her as “Mama Rebecca.”

    There is hope that these sorts of transformative relationships are spreading, even as violent incidents dominate the news.

    Occasionally the fruit of these loving friendships blossoms in astonishing ways. One such incident occurred when al-Shabaab militants stopped a bus in northern Kenya, and ordered the Muslims and Christians to separate. The passengers refused. The Muslim passengers protected their Christian neighbours, and one Muslim man even lost his life in the attack.

    This new paradigm for neighbourliness reflects the best in both faith traditions – to love and obey God, and to love and protect one’s neighbour.

    Migrant prophets

    This new paradigm of neighbourliness, which is ultimately a practice of welcoming strangers – refugees, displaced persons, immigrants – may be one of the most important interfaith issues in our world. Welcoming vulnerable strangers is one of the deepest commonalities we share as Muslims and Christians.

    Central to our faiths are two prophets – Jesus and Muhammad – who were both displaced people. To these we might also add the prophet Moses, who was a castaway as a result of genocide.

    We can notice three things about Jesus and welcoming strangers.

    First, Jesus was born into a covenant that was revealed in the context of migration, beginning with the prophet Abraham and climaxing in the central event of the Old Testament, the Exodus from slavery.

    According to the Bible, immigration is a covenant between God and humans. This covenant was a gift and a responsibility; it reflected God’s goodness to them but also called them to respond to strangers in the same way that God responded to them in their slavery: “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).

    Second, Jesus was himself a refugee, fleeing from a murderous king into the land of Egypt. What a stunning reversal of the Exodus story! The land that held the children of Israel in slavery for 400 years became the land that received the vulnerable refugee Jesus the Messiah.

    Third, Jesus’ experience as a refugee surely impacted his view of the world. As someone who had been an outsider and a stranger, he spent his life challenging the divisions that kept people on the outside.

    In his life and ministry, Jesus went beyond borders of all sorts – clean/unclean, saints and sinners, rich and poor. Jesus’ life was about calling into being a community of generosity that would reflect God’s unlimited love for all people.

    This central teaching of Jesus is captured well in Matthew 25: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (vs. 35–36). Jesus fulfills the original calling on God’s people, to follow God’s example as deliverer and provider for our fellow humans.

    Prophet Muhammad, an orphan, joined a long line of prophets whose obedience to God resulted in hijra, the qur’anic term for migration. He identified as a migrant, saying that he is like a traveller who stays for a short time to rest under the shade of a tree and then continues on his journey.

    The Qur’an speaks on behalf of the oppressed and weak people on earth, saying, “Was not the earth of God spacious enough for you to flee for refuge?” (4:97). In other words, God owns the land, and those who have authority should take care of refugees.

    In the sixth year of the Muhammad’s prophethood, he sent 83 members of his community to find refuge from the Meccans in the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). When the Meccans asked King Negus to deliver the migrants over to them, the king protected the Muslim immigrants. His kindness is praised in several qur’anic verses. This incident is an important example of mutual love between Muslims and Christians.

    Our central prophets – Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad – were displaced persons. Our Scriptures tell us of God’s special concern for people who have been marginalized. We must recognize that caring for immigrants is central to living out our faith.

    —Peter Sensenig, along with his spouse Christy and two children, works with Mennonite Board in Eastern Africa in a majority-Muslim area of Tanzania, teaching peace studies in an interfaith centre at a university. He also has the opportunity to take part in Muslim-Christian dialogues in different parts of the East Africa. The above reflections emerge from such dialogues.

    This testimony is part of the Peace Sunday worship resource for 2018. Click here to see more: www.mwc-cmm.org/peacesunday