Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Background

    The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country located in Central Africa, inhabited by nearly 80 million people, belonging to500 tribes and living on a surface of 2 345 410 square kilometers. The country experienced two waves of evangelism. The first evangelism occurred during the15thcentury through the first European explorers. This evangelism did not produce appreciable results. The missionaries’ collaboration with the colonizers for slavery, the lack of the Gospel in local languages, the fighting between tribes, and the traditional religions were some of the main cause of its failure. As for the second evangelism, it refers to the era of missionary organizations. The American Baptist Mission (ABMFS) was the first organization to launch its ministry in 1878 in the Congo Central, in the west of the country.

    Among the missionary societies that followed, one can quote the Congo Inland Mission (CIM), a mission society founded by American Mennonites. The work that CIM started in the Congo in the 19th century has resulted in about 250 000 Congolese Mennonites belonging to three different denominations: the Communauté des Eglises des Frères Mennonites au Congo (CEFMC), the Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (CEM) and the Communauté Mennonite au Congo (CMCo).

    Congolese Mennonites initiatives

    Anabaptist-Mennonite churches in DR Congo preach a holistic gospel. This is why, everywhere they are established, they build chapels, but also schools, clinics or hospitals, colleges or universities. They are also involved in peace building and reconciliation initiatives with the support provided by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Brethren Mission.

    Moreover, Congolese Mennonites are presently active in cross-cultural evangelism. Their testimony goes beyond boundaries especially to Angola, Congo Brazzaville and South Africa.

    And in DRC, Mennonites continue planting churches in other provinces and are reaching even hidden or resistant people such as Batwa Pygmies in the Equatorial Forest. Four Batwa pygmies have been already trained at a Bible Institute and three of them are ordained pastors. Thirty-two local churches are established with them and led by themselves. In fact, mission departments are in charge of this important ministry in the Mennonite conferences.

    Besides, a program to reach especially Chinese citizens and/or foreign businessmen is already moving through prayers, distribution of Christian literature and other contacts.

    Major challenges

    In spite of the dynamism of the Congolese local Mennonite churches and the various natural resources in the country, the populations are confronted with poverty and the majority of them, even Mennonites, live in rural areas, below the poverty line. Political instability, wars, corruption, and the activism of the non-Christian religions are the major challenges that Christian ministries and churches are facing in the DRC.

    Mvwala C.Katshinga and John S. Fumana

  • Savez-vous qu’il y a davantage de mennonites en Haïti qu’en France ?

    Le Réseau mennonite francophone (RMF) est en contact avec un groupe d’églises en Haïti. Interview pour faire connaissance après le passage de l’ouragan Matthew à la fin du mois de septembre 2016

    RMF : Haïti a connu une nouvelle catastrophe naturelle, l’ouragan Matthew. Comment décrivezvous ce que vous-mêmes, votre famille et les personnes de votre entourage ont vécu durant ces heures où l’ouragan s’est abattu sur votre île et comment elles ont réagi à un tel fléau ?

    Lesly Bertrand : Dans le département de l’ouest du pays, nous n’avons pas été frappés directement par l’ouragan qui s’est abattu sur le département du sud d’Haïti. Mais étant donné que nous sommes une seule famille d’églises, indirectement nous sommes aussi affectés par le fléau parce que nos églises là-bas, les maisons de nos membres et celles de la population sont détruites. Tout est endommagé y compris leurs champs et leurs cocotiers. Ils sont dépourvus de tout, levant jour après jour leurs regards vers le ciel, sans espoir. En plus de tant de morts causés par l’ouragan, d’autres personnes sont en train de mourir de faim et de soif, car elles n’ont pas reçu rapidement de l’aide du gouvernement ou d’autres organismes parce qu’elles habitent les endroits les plus reculés, les voies de pénétration restant longtemps inaccessibles. Peu de temps après le passage de l’ouragan, la pluie est tombée pendant quatre jours : même sous les décombres, ces personnes ont connu de terribles inondations. Nous avons reçu alors des appels téléphoniques jour et nuit et nous ne savions que faire.

    Pouvez-vous nous présenter les différents groupes d’églises de Haïti qui se réclament d’une identité anabaptiste ?

    Lesly Bertrand : Il existe plusieurs groupes d’églises de type anabaptiste à Haïti qui regroupent environ 5 800 membres répartis en 65 églises locales. La majorité de ces groupes est de type conservateur, tels les Beachy Amish ou les Conservatives Mennonites.

    Pouvez- vous nous présenter le groupe des églises de la Grâce ?

    Lesly Bertrand : Le groupe des Assemblées de la Grâce comporte 24 églises locales. Ces églises n’ont pas été fondées par des missions américaines, mais par un évêque haïtien, le pasteur Lesly Bertrand. Notre groupe d’églises est attaché à la foi anabaptiste-mennonite. Ces églises sont réparties à travers tout le territoire. Le Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) est présent à Haïti.

    Pouvez-vous nous expliquer quelles sont les activités du MCC en Haïti ?

    Lesly Bertrand : MCC travaille en Haïti depuis 1958. Mais ce n’est qu’après le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier 2010 que nous avons commencé à travailler en partenariat avec le MCC. Par exemple lorsque MCC accueille des visiteurs étrangers, ils peuvent venir adorer dans notre église mère à Bellanton dans la région métropolitaine de Port-au-Prince. MCC a son bureau central à Delmas 75 (Port-au-Prince) dans le département de l’ouest, tout près de nous. Sa sphère d’action est dans le département de l’Artibonite qui se situe au nord de Portau-Prince, la capitale, où il a un projet agricole dans une localité dénommée Désarmes. Dans le domaine de l’éducation, beaucoup se fait dans la Cité Soleil, à Pétionville, à Carrefour, à Delmas et à la Croix-des-Bouquets, aux alentours de Port-au-Prince. Actuellement, l’aide est concentrée sur la région touchée par le passage de l’ouragan Matthew.

    Quel message souhaitez-vous transmettre à vos frères et sœurs de France ?

    Lesly Bertrand : Notre message va d’abord à nos frères et sœurs anabaptistes : la population haïtienne, particulièrement celle de l’église, a énormément besoin d’aide. Elle souffrait déjà avant le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier 2010. Elle a continué de souffrir après et elle souffre beaucoup depuis le passage de l’ouragan. Nous aimerions venir en aide à la population souffrante, mais malheureusement les moyens nous manquent. Votre amitié et votre amour fraternel, vos prières et votre soutien seront bienvenus en une circonstance aussi exceptionnelle.

    Lesly Bertrand, pasteur, Assemblées de la Grâce, Haïti

    Propos recueillis par Jean-Paul Pelsy

  • Robert Beutler knows all too well what it means to be persistent. After hearing of a Syrian refugee family’s arrival in his hometown of Enkenbach-Alsenborn, he made a point of contacting the family to welcome them. It was only after the third attempt, however, that Mr. Beutler finally caught the entire family at home.

    “These refugees come here to a completely foreign world, but we expect them to integrate,” says Mr. Beutler. “It’s necessary for them to get a foothold, and that means helping each other out and supporting each other.”

    Sometimes that support is as simple as making sure the mailbox is properly labelled with the new family’s name or helping get the trash out on the proper day. Filling out complicated paperwork and attending appointments are also on the agenda.

    Mr. Beutler is a member of the Mennonite church in Enkenbach-Alsenborn. When the church board heard of the wave of refugees coming to Germany, they organized a meeting of local churches, clubs and politicians, out of which a citizens’ initiative grew.

    “When the number of refugees and asylum seekers swelled right on our doorstep, the public authorities were faced with a huge, almost overwhelming task. That makes it all the more important that we as a church community step up and help where we can,” says Rainer Burkart, pastor of the Mennonite Church in Enkenbach-Alsenborn. “Right from the beginning, we worked closely with the Catholic and Protestant churches, and with town authorities.”

    This group calls itself “Begegnungen in Enkenbach-Alseborn: Menschen helfen Menschen.” The title makes the purpose clear: Encounter – people helping people. Regular visits to make certain basic needs like food and clothing are being met, a weekly 10-kilometer run, and free German classes are a few examples of their activities.

    One particular opportunity for building relationships is the Begegnungscafé, a meeting for young, old and everything in-between. Each Tuesday afternoon, a neighborhood church’s fellowship hall resounds with Arabic, Farsi, Urdu or Albanian, mixed with English and German. Everyone is invited – regardless of official residency status, nationality, language or religion – to eat cake and drink tea or coffee while laughing together over shared language attempts and hearing of new and interesting cultures.

    At the café, Mr. Beutler makes contact again with individuals or families he has visited in their new homes. They are usually reserved at first, unsure of Beutler’s intentions. “But their eyes always light up when I see them again. Eventually they build enough trust to open up a little bit,” says Beutler.

    As with any work where people are involved, aiding refugees can be very demanding and disappointing, especially when cultural differences seem insurmountable. One can feel exploited or frustrated by inaccurate perceptions of what life in Germany will be like. Conversations with others in the community and church family can be a positive way to deal with these difficulties.

    This area of community development gives Mr. Beutler the most joy. “The work with the refugees has something satisfying and comforting about it. But it is the overall trend that makes me happiest. Many from our church family and community are really dedicated to the work. There’s something warm and familiar in our interactions with each other. It’s great.”

    Written by Dora Schmidt, a member of Mennonitengemeinde Enkenbach (Mennonite church) in Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Germany.

    This testimony is part of the World Fellowship Sunday worship resource for 2017. Click here to see more: www.mwc-cmm.org/worldfellowshipsunday

    To read this article in German click here.

  • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – A downpour of rain preceded a shower of flowers as women paraded dancing and drumming to the shamiana (tent) that would shelter the All India Mennonite Women Conference (AIMWC) 6–9 October 2016. Bihar Mennonite Mandli (BMM) church hosted nearly 400 women representing nine national churches from India and Nepal who travelled by bus, train and foot to attend AIMWC at the mission compound in Chandwa, Jharkhand, India.

    “The women were not discouraged, but assembled in their best attire under the shamiana, singing songs of praise and thanking God for bringing all the delegates safely to this place,” says Ranjana Nath, AIMWC executive committee member.

    Main speaker and Mennonite World Conference vice-president Rebecca Osiro from Kenya spoke from Hebrews 12 about spiritual food and perseverance. Osiro explained her subjects so well, “everyone was able to understand” despite linguistic and cultural distinctions, says Peacock.

    “[Osiro] showed us how to recognize the difference between things that hinder our walk and things in life that entangle us and keep us from moving forward,” says Krista Vanderhout, an intern with Mennonite Central Committee’s SALT program.

    The conference nurtures spiritual growth through congregational singing, sermons, skits, dance and small group Bible study, and also offers workshops on practical issues like women’s health. Many participants don’t have other opportunities to learn about subjects like breast cancer and menopause.

    “During the past three years during all my travels to churches, besides sharing about MWC, I encouraged women to come for this conference,” says Cynthia Peacock, MWC South Asia regional representative.

    “It was so gratifying to see the large turnout,” says Peacock, grateful for “very capable women” who served on the committee. “We thank God for the way in which we were able to overcome many obstacles.”

    “BMM conference members and the youth played a very important role to make this conference happen,” says Nath. At this event, all 11 previous office bearers since AIMWC’s beginning in 1977 were acknowledged for their contribution to the association.

    Representatives of funding partners MWC, Mennonite Central Committee India and Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI) brought greetings and presented about their work.

    “With the financial assistance of MCC, MWC and MCSFI, and donors, this conference was a grand success,” says Nath.

    As a time to worship and pray together, “enjoy delicious food and chai…and share about the many different paths that brought us all together, [AIMWC] was a great encouragement,” says Vanderhout.

    —Mennonite World Conference release by Karla Braun, from reports by Ranjana Nath, Cynthia Peacock and Krista Vanderhout

     

  • 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.

    Consejo de las Congregaciones de los Hermanos Menonitas del Uruguay (Uruguay MB Conference) held their annual meeting. Secretary Gabriel Figueroa shared that they grew 3 percent last year to 187 members in 7 churches. They decided to systematize their annual contribution to ICOMB: sharing in love a certain amount per member. It’s a sacrifice for them and we are grateful.

    —David Wiebe, executive director, ICOMB

  • How can unity between different nations or communities be achieved? Many methods have been sought since the Tower of Babel times. In that Bible story, the people attempt to achieve unity by having a common vision and a call to work toward the same goal; and as we well know, the endeavour fails.

    Having a common narrative is another strategy to create unity. A unified story describing a common and inspiring origin can prove to be a cohesive element. However, it is very difficult to find a stimulating narrative involving various peoples or different cultures.

    Another alternative – sometimes attempted in politics and in religion – is to eliminate all differences and promote a single way of viewing life, thus destroying diversity. History has shown us many times the failure this alternative represents.

    An option sometimes preached in church circles is to establish a list of beliefs that must be sustained by a group of people in order to clearly determine who belongs in or who is outside of that group. Unfortunately, creeds and confessions of faith have sometimes been used in this sense.

    When we consider the outcome of the Global Anabaptist Profile research (GAP), we can ask ourselves the same question: What can facilitate the unity between groups of such diversity within Mennonite World Conference (MWC)?

    Over several years, MWC member churches were involved in a research process seeking to reveal who we are as Anabaptists today. In the present issue of Courier, we can see some conclusions indicated by this survey. As one of the articles suggests, such diversity within our global family becomes a unique opportunity for greater unity.

    And yet, what makes that unity possible?

    It isn’t the text of our Shared Convictions, which emerged in recent years as an expression of our experience of following Jesus in each context. MWC member churches walked in unity without this text for more than 75 years.

    Neither is it a question of a common history. Although as Anabaptist churches we identify with the Radical Reformation of the 16th century, clearly, the complexity of the origins of our faith is as amazing as our present diversity.

    According to the Scriptures, there is only one possible explanation. The unity of our global community has not been the result of human effort or something that we are able to produce. It is a gift of God that we can enjoy today through the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. True communion is made possible not by institutional laws and formalities, but by the work of Christ on the cross, where God created a new people including many cultures, races, tribes, and languages.

    Today, it is possible to sit down at the same communion table and appreciate the beauty of our diversity only if we do so around the Lamb of God, who is the center of our faith and the foundation of our unity.

    Come and celebrate with us the miracle of unity and the beauty of our diversity!

    —César García, MWC general secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.

    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier, October 2016.

     

  • 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.

    Pastor Fujii leads Japanese MB churches in Fresno and Sacramento, California. Recently he travelled to India and Sri Lanka to renew acquaintance with church leaders he met at a mission conference. God used him and his wife to bring people to salvation and healing. Fujii spent time teaching from the ICOMB International Confession of Faith in Sri Lanka. Pastor Anura, who has planted approximately a dozen churches said, “I want to join the Mennonite Brethren!” And so do some of the other pastors. We will keep in touch through Pastor Fujii.

    —David Wiebe, executive director, ICOMB

  • Tulio Pedraza: persecuted 1949–1964, in Colombia

    When missionaries arrived in Colombia to establish the country’s first Mennonite congregations, Tulio Pedraza and his wife Sofía became two of their first converts. They were baptized in June of 1949. Only a year earlier, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, a liberal political candidate, had been assassinated; his death ignited a civil war that would last for ten years. Because Protestantism was seen as another threat to Colombia’s already strained unity, Colombian Protestants faced significant opposition from municipal authorities, Catholic priests, and their own neighbours.

    Tulio was a coffin maker in the small town of Anolaima. He was also blind. This didn’t keep his business from becoming successful enough to provide for his family, since he was the only coffin maker in the town. But when the local Catholic priest learned about Tulio’s baptism, he began making life difficult for the Pedraza family.

    First he declared Tulio’s “Protestant” coffins unfit for Catholics to be buried in. From the pulpit, he told parishioners that he would not officiate any funeral using a coffin purchased from the Mennonite. Business plummeted. Tulio could only sell coffins to close friends and those ignorant of the priest’s declaration. And even those customers were forced to travel to surrounding towns to hold their funeral services, since the local priest refused to preside.

    Then the priest took steps to ensure that even these trickling sales would end. He met a carpenter in another small town. The priest helped procure a house and tools for this carpenter and convinced him to move to Anolaima to begin a rival coffin business. After the arrival of this new competition, Tulio could no longer pay his suppliers. He was forced to close his business.

    Though he was unsure of what to do next, Tulio never abandoned the love and decency he learned by imitating his Lord. Rather than begrudging the rival coffin maker, he reached out to him in friendship. When the blind man’s own business collapsed, he sold this competitor his tools. Through this gesture of benevolence, he helped establish the business of the very man whose presence finished his.

    Tulio and his wife did whatever they could to make ends meet. They tried to start a bakery, a chicken farm and a candle-making business, but with little success. Tulio’s expertise was in coffin making. None of these new businesses could bring in enough income to provide for the family. Tulio became more discouraged with every failed venture, but his faith gave him the strength to persist.

    Their struggles were exacerbated by other acts of persecution. Writing shortly after Tulio lost his coffin business, local Mennonite missionary Gerald Stucky reported:

    The persecution has continued. Tulio’s children were humiliated in the public school because they are Protestants. His property and the lives of his family have been continually menaced. People who were his friends now refuse to speak to him on the street; stores refuse to sell to him; he has become an outcast for the cause of Christ. In spite of this, Tulio continues firm in the faith, trusting in the Lord day by day. He holds no evil in his heart towards those who have worked evil against him. He continues to witness to the light he found in Christ. Tulio is a living witness to the power of the gospel to overcome evil with good.

    On more than one occasion, Tulio’s life was threatened for religious reasons. After one particularly frightening encounter, he and his wife spent the night in the refuge of a Mennonite school in the nearby town of Cachipay.

    Tulio died peacefully in 1964. The rival carpenter who had been brought in to destroy the Pedraza business donated a coffin for Tulio’s burial. Even though the funeral was a Mennonite service, the coffin maker attended, risking his own reputation in the community to honour a man who had shown him such unusual love, born from a deep faith.

    —Mennonite World Conference release. The Bearing Witness Stories Project (www.martyrstories.com) enables Anabaptist communities worldwide to share their stories of costly discipleship in ways that inspire greater faithfulness to Jesus Christ and strengthen the church’s unity. Stories like Tulio’s from the Bearing Witness website and others from history were published as a book in 2016. This excerpt is from Bearing Witness: Stories of Martyrdom and Costly Discipleship. Copyright © 2016 Plough Publishing House. Used with permission.

     

     

  • Indonesia is located on fault lines – geographic and sociological. The island chain at the convergence of 3 tectonic plates is prone to earthquake, tsunamis and volcanoes; its people scattered over thousands of islands speak some 700 languages, and the state recognizes six religions (Islam, Christianity – Protestant and Catholic, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism).

    In the midst of this volatility, Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia, an Indonesian Mennonite conference, is building peace through disaster relief and community development.

    “Diversity is an extraordinary wealth for the people of Indonesia, but if it is not managed properly, conflict can undermine the integrity of the state and nation,” says Mennonite Diakonal Service director Paulus Hartono.

    Mennonite Diakonal Service (MDS – initials shared with North America’s Mennonite Disaster Service) directs its humanitarian service and peace work into three avenues of mission: disaster response, conflict transformation, environmental preservation. Empowering services like community economic development support organic agriculture, scholarships and health initiatives.

    MDS collaborates with other nongovernmental organizations to respond to disasters (like earthquakes) within Indonesia’s borders, and in the region, like sending trauma recovery consultants to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.

    MDS’s work not only addresses structures and landscapes but also interfaith relations and even people’s hearts.

    In pursuit of GKMI’s goal to function “for the glory of God and for a caring and peaceful society,” the churches combined several pre-existing efforts (like FKPI, Indonesia Forum for Humanity and Peoplehood) to form MDS in 2006.

    Fledgling MDS was in the midst of a training session when news of the 2006 Yogyarta earthquake arrived. Sessions were cancelled as the members leaped into action. Hearing that relief was having difficulty getting through due to looting and rioting, Hartono asked a Hizbullah commander to send personnel to accompany the supplies. (Hizbullah is a militant nationalistic youth organization.)

    After the emergency passed, MDS invited the commander to apply his troops to rebuilding efforts. Encamped in the church yard, together Christians and Muslims worked, slept, cooked, ate and played guitar “in one language: humanity,” says MDS director Paulus Hartono. “Religious language was replaced with actions showing love to each other.”

    Co-authored with Muslim leader Agus Suyanto, Hartono has written a book on Islamic-Christian encounter for peace in Indonesia, called Laskar dan Mennonite (Paramilitary and Mennonite).

    —Mennonite World Conference release by Karla Braun

    Photos courtesy of Paulus Hartono.

    Christian and Muslim young people work together in disaster rebuilding.

     

    (r) Paulus Hartono, director of MDS Indonesia, and Hizbullah commander Yani Rusmanto.

    		  

     

     

     

  • Bogotá, Colombia – “How will the church respond to the different needs we hear and see around us?” The European Mennonite churches asked this question, especially relating to the refugee crisis, as they prepared the worship materials for Mennonite World Conference’s World Fellowship Sunday (WFS), 22 January 2017.

    “My Cry is Heard” is the theme of 2017’s package, redesigned with a more engaging format. It contains prayers for the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) family and liturgies for worship, song suggestions, notes for sermon preparation, stories of European Mennonite churches’ radical welcome to refugees, and recipes.

    “World Fellowship Sunday is our opportunity to remind our people that we belong to each other as sisters and brothers in God’s household,” says MWC general secretary César García. “Each local congregation belongs to a global community of faith that transcends language, nationality and culture. We are here to support each other, to uphold those who are suffering and being persecuted and to learn from each other.”

    The Sunday closest to 21 January is designated WFS to remember the first Anabaptist baptism in 1525; however, congregations are encouraged to celebrate the global Anabaptist family on a date that suits their schedule. Click here to see the World Fellowship Sunday 2017 Worship Resource.

    MWC fosters relationships within the Anabaptist family year round through its communications department and the regional representatives who are part-time volunteers responsible for developing and supporting relationships with MWC member, associate-member and potential-member churches, local congregations and MWC-related agencies and partners.

    In September 2016, Pablo Stucky joined the team as regional representative for the Andean Region of Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). Stucky lives in Bogotá, Colombia, where he serves as director of CEAS (Coordinación Eclesial para la Acción Psicosocial), a ministry of the Mennonite, Mennonite Brethren and Brethren in Christ churches of Colombia. CEAS resources local congregations to minister emotional, social and spiritual support to victims of armed conflict and other expressions of violence in Colombia, and fosters opportunities for transformation and reconciliation among churches and perpetrators.

    Coordinator Arli Klassen is grateful for the work of the 10 regional representatives, and hopes to gain representation for the Caribbean and Southeast Asia regions.

    Danielle Gonzales became web communications coordinator for MWC, working in Bogotá, Colombia, as a participant in Mennonite Central Committee’s Service and Learning Together program (SALT). Born to binational parents, her mother from Mexico and her father from the USA, Gonzales grew up living between two distinct cultures in Los Angeles, California. She studied theology and focused on human rights and women’s issues. Her passion for justice has given her the opportunity to work with migrants from Mexico and Central America at the USA-Mexico border and in her own city. Through SALT, she is following her dreams of living in South America to acquire Spanish language and broaden her understanding of human rights in the Latin American context.

     Pablo Stucky and Danielle Gonzales

    —Mennonite World Conference release

  • MWC regional representative KyongJung Kim visits Anabaptist/Mennonite churches in Japan, 1–18 July 2016

    It was a great privilege to visit national member churches in Northeast Asia as Mennonite World Conference (MWC) regional representative. As I planned to visit Japan, I prayed that it would happen if this were pleasing to God. As time went by, Japanese national member churches opened their doors one by one. (In Japan, there are 73 congregations and 2,801 members.)  

    The purpose of my visit was to introduce MWC and its relationship with national member churches. The overarching theme I prepared was “We need each other to grow together in the body of Christ.”

    On 3 July 2016, at Minami Mennonite in Miyazaki, I noticed the Korean national flower as the cover image of the church bulletin on that Sunday. Korea had a painful history with Japan’s colonization (1910–1945). I felt that our relationship had already been transformed to friendship in the Lord.

    After the worship service, the pastor Syozo Satou’s sister said she had attended MWC assembly in Winnipeg (1990), identifying herself with the MWC family. She apologized for what the Japanese ancestors had done to Koreans during the Japanese colonization. I appreciated her honest sharing, and we moved from the time of worship to fellowship time together.

    On 9 July, I attended the Hokkaido conference leaders’ meeting where I talked about MWC and its member church relationships. Throughout the fellowship meeting, I saw a great potential among young people. Some young adults participated in the MWC Assembly in Pennsylvania last year; they were very interested in exchange programs.

    On 10 July, I had worship and fellowship at Bethel Mennonite, a small house church in downtown Sapporo. In Japan, I found that most churches are too small to offer full financial support to their pastors. Members are encouraged to participate in the life and work of the congregation as fully as possible. (This is similar to my home congregation in ChunCheon, South Korea.) Everyone is a minister, doing what they can according to their gifts.

    It is good to have church leaders (or active members) visit congregations to share stories and receive insights from each other. The life of a local congregation should be shared with others as much as possible to encourage and strengthen our churches to grow together. Church-to-church relationship would also help us to find the better resources for future generations.

    On 11–13 July, I visited Osaka, where there are lots of Mennonite Brethren congregations and one seminary. Japan MB is the biggest Anabaptist group in Japan (63 percent), but they are not a member of MWC. One pastor asked me about conscientious objection to military service in the Korean church situation. I answered that not everyone in my congregation would agree with the church’s peace position. We have our weaknesses as well as strengths. That’s why we need each other. I encouraged MB churches to interact with other Anabaptist/Mennonite groups in Japan first and build relationships with others beyond.

    On 14–17 July, I met brothers and sisters in the Tokyo area. Like other conferences, they were very much open to the development of relationship building with other churches.

    What would make such a relationship building possible? We discussed a number of things including YAMEN, a joint exchange program of Mennonite Central Committee and MWC. I was glad that they were willing to explore this possibility. Sending and receiving volunteers means potential learning and growth through life-sharing experiences and being involved in the life and work of the larger body of Christ.

    Like other churches in the world, Japanese churches are facing many challenges. It is our duty and responsibility to walk with God not alone, but together with other brothers and sisters around the world.

    On the way back home, I reflected what I had learned; it was all about the relationship in Christ. Thanks be to God who renewed our relationships to him through Christ!

    —KyongJung Kim, Northeast Asia Regional Representative, Mennonite World Conference

     

  • 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.

    Mission Commission

    The goal of the Mission Commission of MWC is to imagine and build a new global mission partnership within the body of Christ that spans all the continents. We seek a partnership that is rooted in profound mutual love, ordered around mutual submission and that participates in economic sharing unfettered by ugly paternalism or unhealthy dependency.

    And we seek this not only as a gospel demonstration of our unity in Christ, but also for the sake of the mission of God in all the world.

    The story as guide

    The Bible is the story of God’s loving acts in creation and God’s redemptive purposes in history. As a consequence of human rebellion and sin, the world that God created good experienced distortion and destruction. Fear, pride, greed and selfish ambition led to estrangement from God and alienation between peoples. The consequence of this alienation is hatred, violence, war, oppression and injustice.  

    God’s purposes, revealed in Jesus, are to bring an end to hatred and fear, poverty and injustice, and to create one new family from all the different cultures, languages and ethnicities.

    Following Christ’s ascension, the church was constituted by the Spirit of God to proclaim and embody the good news that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God is reconciling all humanity and restoring all of creation. Diversity is God’s gift for our enrichment.

    The wellspring of our mission

    God’s promise to bless all nations on earth is the wellspring of our mission. God’s purpose is to create a people drawn from every tribe and nation who reflect God’s glory in their unity. Following God, we reject the evils of racism and ethnocentric pride.

    The mission of the church of Jesus Christ, therefore, requires that we act with justice and mercy, and that we engage every person and group with dignity, respect and compassion on the grounds of their value to God. It also obliges us to expose and resist every system and every action that oppresses and exploits those who are poor, weak or vulnerable.

    We believe that unity is a gift of the Spirit, not something that we originate. At the same time, we regard the preservation of our visible unity as a practical expression of love and a critical dimension of our mission. When Jesus prays for the unity of his followers and commands them to love one another, it is for the sake of God’s mission (“so that the world may know that you [the Father] sent me” [John 17:23]).

    There is no more compelling demonstration of the authenticity of the gospel than followers of Jesus who are reconciled to each other and united in love across barriers of ethnicity, colour, race, gender, social class, economic status, political alignment or national origin. By the same token, there are few things that so undermine the credibility of our witness as when we Christians alienate ourselves from each other and tolerate or intensify the very same schisms between us.

    The challenge of difference

    One of the challenges we face within the global community is how do we deal with our differences. Our biblical canon gives us some clues on how to balance the tension between unity and diversity. A basic feature of our Bible is the mix of genres and literary styles while maintaining unity and coherence. It contains legal documents, genealogies, historical notes, travelogues, etc., from a variety of authors, subjects, genres and eras. 

    Our Bible allows that there is diversity within unity. The formation of the canon is a testimony that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the early church chose to keep the four Gospels each with its peculiar and distinctive tone.

    A different image for diversity is a tuning fork. This tool is used to adjust the orchestra (a variety of instruments, sounds and qualities) to a specific tone. The presence of the tuning fork does not erase or delete the differences of the musical instruments, rather it aligns the pitches so these disparate instruments can make beautiful music together.

    As communities of faith, our task is to share about the redeeming love of our God. Christ is our tuning fork. When we are tuned to Christ, it is easier to distinguish those non-essential things that separate us. Instead, we work in the midst of diversity for the kingdom of God.

    Realizing our goal will require an unflinching commitment to honesty and solidarity. In a spirit of love and forgiveness, we must speak honestly with each other about the obstacles to authentic community. Mutual love also will require solidarity with each other. We must be willing to share in each other’s struggles and suffering, and eager to offer support, prayer and companionship in the challenges we each face in our witness to the gospel. 

    So, why does the work of the Mission Commission matter?

    It matters because as the body of Christ, the church is God’s good news in a hurting and broken world. In his book, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society*, Lesslie Newbigin describes the church as a “sign, instrument and foretaste” of the kingdom of God. Before a watching world, we are called through our unity in love and sharing to be a reflection of the reconciliation that God has accomplished in Jesus Christ. We no longer live for ourselves, but for the world which God loves and seeks to bless through us (Genesis 12:3).   

    —Stanley W. Green and Rafael Zaracho, Mennonite World Conference Mission Commission chair and secretary

     

     

    *(Eerdmans, 1989, p. 233)
     

    Rafael Zaracho

    Stanley W. Green