Working hand-in-hand to serve God’s kingdom

22 November 2025

“The Courage to Love” is still evident in our polarized world today. “Working for peace does not mean we are going to fold our hands, but we are going out there. Peace is action,” said Oscar Siwali (South Africa) of SADRA, a member of GAPN.

The Global Anabaptist Peace Network (GAPN) hosted a webinar on 22 September 2025 in conjunction with Peace Sunday and the International Day on Peace. Panelists from Colombia and South Africa (including Oscar Siwali) discussed the pressing issues affecting peace today and participants shared experiences of nonviolent actions in their contexts.

“Commissions include representatives of churches, while Networks mostly include representatives of church-related agencies. Commissions primarily serve national churches and Networks primarily serve their member organizations, but both work on matters of vital concern to the global church,” says J Ron Byler (USA), MWC director of Commissions.

During the General Council meetings in Germany this year, all five Networks also met on 25-28 May 2025 to clarify their vision and mission, appoint new leaders, and decide matters relating to membership, program and finances.

The goals of Networks are to

encourage stronger collaboration among members;
share best practices;
provide shared opportunities for training;
accomplish things together that each cannot attempt individually.

“Working hand-in-hand, Networks and Commissions together help fulfill MWC’s vision of being a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service and witness,” says J Ron Byler.