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An opportunity to cross barriers
“Jesus is our hope: even if we go through the valley of the shadow of death, he is by our side.” In the Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday materials for 2023, meet the Christian believer in Burkina Faso who declares this faith despite challenges – and more. MWC creates worship resource materials three times a year…
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Together proclaim the “manifold wisdom of God”
India The missionaries from USA started Mennonite mission work in central India, presently Chhattisgarh state in November 1899. They began with philanthropic works, providing relief to the drought-stricken people. The first baptism of 43 new converts was in December 1900. At the beginning, membership grew very rapidly. In 1949, when the Mission Work Golden Jubilee…
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Fostering relationships
“We want our regional representatives to develop deep relationships with each member church in their region,” says Arli Klassen, regional representatives coordinator. MWC’s regional representatives are part-time volunteers who develop and support relationships with MWC member, associate-member and potential-member churches; local congregations; and MWC-related agencies and partners. A new region was created in 2022 by…
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By our side
Testimonies from Africa When we receive the life of Jesus, a living hope is born in us, with our desires turned toward what does not perish: eternal life with God. This new life is constantly being tested in various ways. This is the story of a young Fula (a person from the semi-nomadic Fulbe people)…
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How Mennonites came to be
*updated on September 2023 Anabaptist historical context Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday is an annual event for MWC member congregations around the world, worshipping together in spirit using the same worship resources, knowing that we belong to each other in this global family of faith. Anabaptism is a Christian movement that traces its origins to the…
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Biblical background for sermon content
Choose texts that work in your context. Old Testament: Isaiah 40:28-31 Jesus Christ our hope is a theme that comes at the right time, an appropriate theme in the aftermath of crossing zones of turbulence in our world and in our lives in particular. Hope is a pure and disinterested confidence in the future. Don’t…
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Suggested liturgies for gathering and benediction
Gathering/Call to worship (loudly) Leader: Give me a J People: J Leader: Give me an E People: E Leader: Give me an S People: S Leader: Give me a U People: U Leader: Give me an S People: S Leader: What do we have? People: Jesus! Leader: What do we have? People: Jesus! Leader: There…
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Tithes and offering ideas
The offering time is as important as the sermon. Often someone will give a testimony and Scripture on the theme of giving. The pastor often asks one of the ushers to pray, to bless the givers and also that those who are not giving may be blessed to give. Sometimes the ushers take the baskets…
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Cultural suggestions from Africa
Check with Africans in your own community about incorporating their own worship traditions. The first hour of worship in Ethiopia is dedicated to prayer, including Scripture texts and songs guiding the hearts and minds of those who are praying, often on their knees Many traditional hymns are adapted to an African rhythm, and will include…
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The brightest and best
Canada It was 20 years ago when my husband and I were mourning the messy demise of our church, which had destabilized during the renewalism of the 1990s. I felt both cynical and yet wistful, regarding the charismatic. In search of sanity, stability and solid teaching, a nearby Mennonite Brethren church caught our attention. Could…
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Pentecostalism, Anabaptism and the Africa Christian climate
Zimbabwe Pentecostalism has become the most rapidly growing expression of Christianity in the world today. Anabaptists in the African context are not foreigners to this reality. The desire to break free from missionary control, or better put ‘a quest for spiritual liberty’, has seen an impetus in the Pentecostal expression within Anabaptist domains. In Southern…
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Time to correct the page
“Indigenous solidarity hits the heart of what we do in the Philippines with Coffee for Peace,” says Joji Pantoja, chair of the Peace Commission (2015-2022). The Peace Commission drafted a Statement of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples that was accepted by the Mennonite World Conference General Council in 2018.
