\u201cWe have to go to school [with] Jesus,\u201d says Erwin Cornelsen. The nearly 100-year-old retired pastor reads the Bible every day: \u201cI\u2019m still learning what Jesus has to teach me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) has always offered Cornelsen a view on the wider world. Now as a senior living Abbotsford, B.C., Canada, MWC\u2019s newsletters are a portal to the world beyond his home.<\/p>\n
A young village boy in West Prussia (now Poland), he remembers the excitement around the beginning of MCC and MWC in the 1920s and 1930s as they responded to hardship in Ukraine: \u201cMennonites from the other end of the planet [America] were coming!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the time I became aware of the worldwide Mennonite church,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Growing up, \u201cGod, congregation, Mennonites, were at the centre of my life,\u201d says Cornelsen. Nevertheless, he volunteered for the German air force. Teaching in Mennonite churches was ambivalent about the peace position; for a poor farm boy, the promise of free education after 12 years of service silenced concerns about military participation.<\/p>\n
Serving during World War II, \u201cI never had to shoot anyone,\u201d Cornelsen says. Working with the Red Cross, his job was recovery: \u201cWe rescued everyone, regardless. I felt good as a Christian in this type of service.\u201d<\/p>\n
His mother had expressed her desire for him to become a missionary. The man who became his father-in-law, a minister in the confessing church, decreed Cornelsen would teach Bible classes and soon had him preaching in pubs, just after the war.<\/p>\n
After his move to Canada, he had opportunity to take some courses the Mennonite Bible colleges in Winnipeg and Vancouver as he did his work as pastor of Sherbrook Mennonite Church, in Vancouver, B.C. \u201cI tried to learn as much as I possibly could,\u201d he says while taking care of the flock.<\/p>\n
Through attending four MWC Assemblies and subscribing to MWC\u2019s written communications, \u201cI am very happy to know about brothers and sisters in different countries who subscribe to the Anabaptist vision,\u201d he says. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be shy to say who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
A poignant memory from the Strasbourg Assembly is of his mother hugging two Japanese women; sharing a common faith and love despite their lack of shared words.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe was his last major travel for MWC. \u201cI wanted to live with the people,\u201d so he took advantage of the homestay option. \u201cI still have correspondence with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
At his age, long trips are no longer in the picture, but \u201cI had a hard time missing the last one [Assembly 16].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to think about all the Mennonites in the world to be of one mind. It will take a lot of work, a lot of patience, a lot of understanding of other cultures,\u201d says the old pastor. \u201cWe have to learn to get along with people who think differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every day, he prays. \u201cI don\u2019t think only of my own congregation, but the worldwide challenge. Jesus has not expected his disciples to be practical, but to be faithful witnesses and leave the rest to God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWherever I am, I want to be just like Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n