Young adults offer imaginative support to MWC Assembly

Posted: November 10, 2014

Micah 4:1-5 welcomes all creatures to the mountain of the Lord. Christians receive this welcome from a Trinitarian God. Hence the three mountains, each with its own particular aspects. The far left mountain has sharp lines. This demonstrates the sharp reality of Christ in full humanity. This is simply unfathomable. But it is sharp, striking, mind-boggling, rage-inducing, and awe-inspiring. The middle mountain has swirls. They speak to the Spirit. The mountain on the far right is made up of vines and footprints. This is the Mother, welcoming her children, making way for them to stream up her sides and meet her under the vines and fig trees. The entire piece is in green, the theological color of hope. Mennonite World Conference is, at its best, the church being the church, a gathering of peoples from around the world who become family under the lordship of Jesus. This is indeed a hopeful image. - Lisa Obirek

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – A group of young adults in Manitoba are producing “bread cloths” and then selling them to raise both money and awareness for the July 2015 Mennonite World Conference Assembly and Global Youth Summit.

“Since we are the host continent for this upcoming Assembly, and for the Global Youth Summit which immediately precedes it, we wanted to put something physical into people’s hands and homes so that MWC would be on their radar and in their prayers,” explained Kathy Giesbrecht, who works in Leadership Ministries for Mennonite Church Manitoba.

Brainstorming together, the young adult working group decided to invite three artists from Manitoba – Liesa Obirek, Nicole Leax, and Kayla Hiebert – to each create a design that will be heat-pressed into the fabric and then reproduced.

“We asked each artist to come up with a design inspired by the MWC Assembly theme, ‘Walking with God.’ These cloths will be tangible reminders of this upcoming global event, and they will be useful as cloths in bread baskets and as placemats. They’re a symbol, too, that within Mennonite World Conference, we all are welcome to sit around the Table,” said Giesbrecht on behalf of the group.

The young adults have placed an initial order of 300 cloths. They were planning to sell them at the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly in Winnipeg, 3-6 July 2014 and after that, while visiting Mennonite Church Manitoba congregations.

The cloths sell for $10-$15 each. All monies raised beyond the cost of the cloths will go to the MWC Assembly (to be held 21-26 July 2015 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and the Global Youth Summit (to be held 17-19 July 2015, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania).

MWC release by Phyllis Pellman Good

 

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