We exhort the Church at all levels – ecumenically, denominationally, and globally – to reject erroneous interpretations of the Bible that justify the mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples. We renew our commitment to embody the spirit of Jesus as indicated in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
“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.
“The statement is there now, but the hard work is to use it: to admit that unless we are Indigenous, we are likely the colonizer; to amplify the voice of people whose voice we didn’t hear at the time; and to accept the truth when it hurts,” Joji Pantoja says.
The statement was formulated after 2015 when MWC leaders visited La Iglesia Evangélica Unida Hermanos Menonitas de Panamá, an MWC member church comprised of Wounaan and Emberra peoples.
“When I was invited to join the delegation in Panama, I said yes. I wanted to see if the plight of Indigenous people [in Panama] would be the same as Indigenous peoples here,” says Joji Pantoja.
Joji Pantoja
“It’s so sad when you hear of a community getting their resources stuck because they are controlled by government. This was visible in Panama. Even some leaders in tribal communities were the ones selling the cocobolo trees to [commercial interests] and allowing to cut more.”
While in Kenya for General Council meetings in 2018, Joji Pantoja was also able to meet with Indigenous peoples. “They don’t have a say or they don’t know what to say. As long as the government allows them to use the land, they keep quiet.
“When I was living in Vancouver, Canada, in 1986, my husband and I saw First Nations [Indigenous] people living outside. How can this be possible that I’m in the developed world while in their backyard there’s this kind of living? That’s when my heart got pinched in terms of marginalized First Nations.
“Observing that in other countries made me thankful how the Philippines are well advanced in educating Indigenous people in the right to self determination as written in the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).”
UNDRIP “isn’t perfect,” she says, “but there are systems.”
Joji Pantoja hopes the MWC statement will help member churches advocate for and stand with Indigenous peoples who are oppressed.
“Where we are part of settler communities, our churches should be asking for forgiveness.”
“This is all related to the doctrine of discovery. Even though we (our ecclesiological ancestors) were not the ones who persecuted Indigenous peoples through the Doctrine of Discovery, we should respect them because they are human beings created by God.
“I hope we come to that level wherein the churches recognize that our ancestors did these things. We are now trying to rectify this. The MWC solidarity document has passed in the General Council but it hasn’t sunk in in the minds of the colonized and the colonizers.”
“With the world issues happening right now, this document is useful for people in our churches to start dialogue so we can really reconcile and correct the page.”
Through dialogue, churches can learn to see from the perspective of Indigenous people. “How can we help them without creating another conflict? How can they voice out what they are feeling, what they could not say before? That takes wisdom too,” says Joji Pantoja.
“Read the document, become aware. See how God talks to you. Then be ready to use it to amplify the voices of marginalized people when they need help… So they have something to fall back on and say, ‘oh, thank God, the Mennonites are behind me!’”
“Realization is a journey. Acceptance is a journey. Once it hits you in the head or the heart… you need to act.”
MWC Deacons and Peace Commission delegates visit Panamanian church leaders in 2015
Like the chambers of a heart, the four commissions of Mennonite World Conference 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.
Reading: Matthew 5:3-20
In June 1981, our family moved to Cochabamba, Bolivia, where my parents were to teach in a Baptist seminary that wanted more Anabaptist input.
We arrived at a particularly raucous point in Bolivian history. In July 1980, Luis García Meza, a commander of the Bolivian army, led a coup d’etat, initiating a brutal Pinochet-style regime. Meza only ruled for about 13 months: due to pressure from the international community, he was forced to resign in August 1981. His friend and fellow army general, Celso Terrelio, succeeded Meza with almost an equally repressive rule.
Like other dictators, García Meza introduced a “banned book list.” This move was an attempt to squelch that which could potentially influence people’s thinking, which could also then challenge his rule. Interestingly, Meza included Matthew chapters 5-7 – the Sermon on the Mount – in this “banned list” of books.
The problem, of course, was that my father was supposed to teach the book of Matthew. This led to many significant conversations within the seminary. Would they listen to the government and therefore focus on another book of the Bible? Would they plan to teach Matthew but skip over these three chapters?
They eventually decided to ask the foreigner to teach the course (including the Sermon on the Mount)!
But this came with risks, especially as Meza’s government actively silenced the voices of those whom it perceived as challenging the narrative that it sought to instill. In fact, Meza’s chief repressor Colonel Luis Arce who served as the Minister of Interior cautioned all Bolivians who opposed the new order by saying that they “should walk around with their written will under their arms!”
Why would a dictator want to ban these three chapters? Why did he find these chapters threatening?
There have been interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount that do not challenge power.
When my wife and I served as youth pastors, The 700 Club, a weekday American television program made its way onto televisions screens in our little area of southern Ontario (Canada). Airing since 1966, it describes itself as “a news/ magazine program that has the variety and pacing of a morning show…. It also features indepth investigative reporting…[and] covers major events affecting our nation and the world.”
One day, out of curiosity, I watched a program that focused on Matthew 5:13-16.
What I found striking about the host’s explanation was the way in which he interpreted the categorical statements of Matthew as though it was speaking to American Christians.
You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world…
Americans, he suggested, had an obligation to share about the American way of life. This Godordained American way of life, with its emphasis on freedom, economic prosperity and of course democracy provides an example to the rest of the world, according to the host. It offers, the host suggested, American hope that provides flavour and light for the rest of the world.
This program demonstrated how easy it is to interpret the Sermon on the Mount, and the biblical story in general, as an expression of Manifest Destiny, which is itself a product of nationalism. The Western missionary enterprise, notes the late South African missiologist David Bosch, assumed the superiority of Western culture and that God has chosen Western nations as standard bearers.1 “The nation-state,” he argues, “replaced the holy church and the holy empire.”2
Kelly Brown Douglas – a Black, womanist theologian in the United States – depicts this mindset as “American exceptionalism,” grown from seeds of the white, Protestant, Anglo-Saxon myth. “The ‘city on the hill’ that the early Americans were building,” she says, “was nothing less than a testament to Anglo-Saxon chauvinism,”3 that shaped democracy though a particular perception as to how the country should be structured defined by race;4 the repercussions of which we continue to see today.
Part of the issue – as my students at university hear often – is the tendency to not take the socio-political context or the literary context into consideration when reading and interpreting Scripture. The host of The 700 Club, for example, assumed the “you” in the “you are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world…” to refer to him and/or American Christians as Americans.
But, if we pay attention to the text and the flow of Jesus’ words, the “you” refers to the final Beatitude: “you who are persecuted for my sake” (Matthew 5:11). It is those “you” who will function as salt and light in this world.5 It turns this passage into a revolutionary and subversive tool.
Jesus is very clever in his preaching style. Note how Jesus highlights a different logic. Those who are “blessed” are the ones who typically would not have mattered in society (the poor, the meek, the merciful). They are the ones who do not first come to mind (those who mourn, those who are pure in heart, those who are the peacemakers).
Remember that the type of blessing Jesus talks about is not something passive that one simply receives, but rather is active and impels people to get up and move. The Beatitudes highlight an alternative logic that moves away from the desire toward seeing ourselves as “exceptional” precisely because that would then replace God who is the very source of exceptionality, salty flavour and light in our world
It doesn’t seem as though Jesus encourages us to determine who is salt and who is not, or who is light and who is not. Rather, Jesus makes these categorical statements as a way to describe when someone serves as salt and light; when someone embodies Jesus’ alternative logic.
What’s more, Jesus’ use of “you” – “you are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world…” – moves away from an individualized understanding and highlights the corporate nature of this claim. As New Testament scholar Douglas Hare notes, “You are salt, yes, but for the earth, not for yourselves. Likewise you are light, but for the whole world, not for a closed fellowship.”6
The “community as a whole is challenged to fulfill its corporate mission of serving as salt and light for the world…. It is one we must work at together.”7
When we adopt Jesus’ alternative logic as our vision and embrace our communal walk to participate in it, we liberate ourselves from narratives that destroy, demean, exploit and exclude. In other words, we listen to the voices of those who are oppressed, poor and marginalized precisely so that we may hear God’s cry. Things are not as they should be; we must continue to struggle to make things right. Jesus’ logic challenges the clamour of other narratives that seek not only our attention, but our allegiance.
In standing up to these other narratives, narratives that seek to maintain “exceptionalism,” cause injustice, and create systems of oppression we embody an emancipatory politics. This term from Jacques Rancière (a French philosopher) means a form of politics that ruptures and disrupts the “what is” with the “what can be.” In other words, it challenges systems that perpetuate death, exclusion and violence, exposing the contingencies on which they rest, and reasserts an alternative political agency that embodies the future God desires in and for this world.
At the end of teaching the book of Matthew at the Baptist seminary in Bolivia, my father asked whether Luis García Meza, the Bolivian dictator, was right in banning Matthew chapters 5-7. The students all responded with a resounding “yes!” These chapters provide the seeds of a revolutionary logic that would challenge Meza’s – or any dictator’s – rule.
Jesus invites us to participate in a community called to resiliently embody Jesus’ subversive and revolutionary logic of liberation in our world.
—Andrew G. Suderman is secretary of the Peace Commission, Assistant Professor of Theology, Peace, and Mission at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Pennsylvania, and the Director of Global Partnerships for Mennonite Mission Network.
1. David Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2004), 298.
2 David Bosch, Transforming Mission, 299.
3 Kelly Brown Douglas, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2015), 10.
4 Kelly Brown Douglas, Stand Your Ground, 10.
5 Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew: Interpretation (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993), 44.
6 Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew, 44.
7 Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew, 44.
People are at the heart of the worldwide community of faith that is Mennonite World Conference. “Our global community is itself the message,” declares MWC’s Reference Notebook in section 7.2. “As a church, our overall administrative approach is pastoral and people-centred instead of institution-centred.”
With the latest Assembly now in the realm of memory, there are shifts in MWC staff.
Bruce Campbell-Janz (announced earlier here) steps into the role of Chief Development Officer. He leads a team of volunteer consultants (Bill Braun – USA, Janet Plenert – Canada, David Martin – Canada) and J Ron Byler as development executive.
After a brief service as information technology and development coordinator, Greg Chandler Burns is moving on to other opportunities. Preshit Rao remains on the MWC team as information and technology coordinator. He previously served with the Assembly registration team. Preshit Rao is a member of Rajnandgaon Mennonite Church, India.
Having overseen MWC visual identity for several years, Irma Sulistyorini joins the communications team full-time in August 2022. A member of GKMI (Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia) Kudus, Indonesia, Irma Sulistyorini is an experienced graphic designer who also served Mennonite Church Canada as an International Volunteer Exchange Program intern.
With Henk Stenvers taking on the role of MWC president, Tigist Tesfaye Gelagle becomes the first woman from the Global South to serve as a Commission secretary (Deacons). Tigist Tesfaye Gelagle is a youth leader and a member of Debub Meserete Kristos Church. She served as Africa representative on the MWC YABs Committee (2011-2015) and as YABs mentor (2015-2022).
Ebenezer Mondez has been appointed YABs mentor, a staff role to advise and monitor the work of the YABs Committee. Trained in field of communication and technology, Ebenezer Mondez is a member of Lumban Mennonite Church, the Philippines.
For many Brazilian evangelicals, Pentecost is not a one-time event of the past. There is a clear awareness of the Spirit in daily life. About 70 percent of evangelical churches in Brazil are Pentecostal and the others are influenced by the Pentecostal movement.
Factors that influence our view of Pentecost
We don’t have a tradition of critical thinking in Brazil. We live with the expectation that God will change my life through a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit, as evidenced through the first outpouring at Pentecost.
Another factor that influences us is Spiritism. With influences from the practices of Umbanda, when supernatural manifestation occurs, Brazilians tend to accept what is going on without questioning or discerning if we are dealing with the Holy Spirit or other spirits.
When we hear reports of supernatural manifestations in a church, we want to see it with our own eyes to experience what God is doing today. We often read without historical awareness. In Acts 2, we skip past the wind and the proclamation aspect: the “real thing” is tongues – proof that God is at work and that we are his special people. If it happened in those days, it could and should happen again to us today (Mark 16:17–18).
This perception is so strong that those who are not of the Pentecostal camp feel they are missing something. Often, as some ask themselves why these supernatural manifestations do not occur to them or in their church today, they blame themselves for not being open for the Spirit. Others become defensive, asking if the manifestations (tongues, healing, prophecy) really change the lives of those who claim to have these gifts.
Seeking the Holy Spirit
However, neither response helps us to understand what Luke was trying to tell us.Our reading then becomes not a search for the meaning in the text, but a meaning “for me.”
When we talk about the Holy Spirit, we are often not really concerned with the Holy Spirit, but what the Spirit can give us: power.
The same worldview dominates our reading of the Gospels. There is no concern with the crucial question the Gospel writers try to get across: “Who in the world is this Jesus?” Our reading is: “What can this Jesus do for me?”
What scares us is that this question already appears in the Gospels when Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to perform a miracle before them (Matthew 12:39), or Herod, when he wished to be entertained with a miracle (Luke 23:8–9). The answer Jesus gave the Jewish leaders was the sign of Jonah, and to Herod, Jesus did not speak a word.
In our pragmatic search for the power of the Spirit, we look for personal benefits from the Spirit instead of authentic worship. In this sense, we need to hear the words of A.W. Tozer: “Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God.” This raises an intimidating question: If these people don’t find God, whom or what are they finding?
The work of the Spirit as transformation
Nevertheless, God’s grace is beyond our shortcomings. Even though we all read the Bible with our presuppositions, God reaches out and changes lives. Those who are open to the work of the Spirit, through the Word, personal conversations, daily situations, even supernatural manifestations, and try to discern what God is doing are being transformed. Often, we would hope this growing in faith would be much faster, however the maturing process is slow.
We are not easily changed from our view that God is at our disposal to satisfy our needs. We must learn what the Bible teaches about the Christian life, accompanied by people who model this lifestyle. We don’t need heroes; we need everyday Christians who defy the success models and have Jesus as their model.
I rejoice at the fact that as my fellow Brazilians – both Pentecostals and Mennonites – open themselves to the work of the Spirit in their lives, they are convinced of their sins (John 16:8) and guided by the Spirit to all truth (John 16:13).
We know that the work of the Spirit is far from finished in our own lives and pray that the transformation process may go on till “we become in every way like Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, New Living Translation). This might take more than a generation. We are called to model our lives according to Jesus and influence those around us. Only God can change the world.
—Arthur Duck is on faculty at Faculdade Fidelis, a Mennonite Brethren-affiliated Bible school in Curitiba, Brazil. A version of this article appeared in the MB Herald, 1 June 2011.
Émanation du Réseau Mennonite Francophone, le Centre de Formation à la Justice et à la Paix (CFJP) propose une formation anabaptiste francophone en ligne dans les domaines de la paix, de la justice et de la réconciliation.
Officiellement hébergé à Université de l’Alliance Chrétienne d’Abidjan (UACA), le CFJP a été lancé en 2017 en lien avec quinze institutions partenaires en Afrique, Europe et Amérique du Nord. Parmi elles, douze sont situées en Afrique subsaharienne.
L’ADN du projet CFJP
Le CFJP a pour but d’offrir aux responsables chrétiens des possibilités de formation académique et pratique portant sur la justice réparatrice, la transformation des conflits et la consolidation de la paix. Il vise à former des artisans de paix qui servent l’Église au sens large tout en étant enracinés dans la théologie, les valeurs et les perspectives anabaptistes. Ces artisans de la paix se concentreront sur un changement holistique à long terme, profondément ancré dans le shalom divin, qui intègre la transformation personnelle, sociale et systémique. La diversité des contextes ministériels, y compris les questions et les besoins particuliers qu’ils suscitent, nous oblige à proposer des outils, des compétences et une expertise contextualisés à l’Église et aux communautés chrétiennes. Finalement, les artisans de paix seront appelés à développer des partenariats au-delà des lignes confessionnelles, institutionnelles, organisationnelles ou culturelles.
Abidjan, février 2022
Alors que les tanks de Poutine franchissaient la frontière ukrainienne et tiraient leurs premières balles, une vingtaine de spécialistes de paix et de justice se réunissaient sur le campus de l’Université de l’Alliance Chrétienne d’Abidjan. Le groupe était chargé de concevoir les formations diplômantes d’un master dans les domaines de la justice réparatrice, de la résolution des conflits et des études sur la paix, ainsi que de proposer une première ébauche de ce programme aux écoles et aux institutions théologiques partenaires du consortium CFJP. Les participants venaient du Bénin, du Burkina Faso, de Côte d’Ivoire, de France métropolitaine et de Guadeloupe, du Nigeria, de la République Démocratique du Congo, de Suisse et du Tchad. Le groupe était constitué de professeurs et de pasteurs, de missionnaires et de militants, de diplomates et de médiateurs au niveau de la base.
Un cursus à construire
Le groupe s’est mis au travail autour de tables de conférence, discutant de la nature d’un premier master, identifiant les besoins-clés des membres de nos Églises, définissant les compétences nécessaires pour former des artisans de paix, tout en débattant vigoureusement des cours qui devraient constituer le cursus. Le partage des repas, au cours desquels nous avons eu des échanges personnels et familiaux, a permis de tisser de nouveaux liens et de poser une fondation solide au travail qui est devant nous. Nous avons également partagé les défis auxquels nous faisons face dans nos contextes respectifs ainsi que nos témoignages et parcours spirituels.
Les liens se tissent pendant les repas. Photo : Matthew Krabill
À l’écoute des besoins de l’Église
Au cours des échanges, une professeure et doyenne d’université de l’Est de la RDC a évoqué 25 ans de conflit dans sa région et le traumatisme générationnel qui en a résulté à tous les niveaux de la société. Elle a parlé en particulier de la violence à laquelle de nombreuses femmes ont été soumises, mais aussi du rôle indispensable qu’elles ont joué dans la transfiguration et le renouvellement de sa ville. Malgré les nombreuses cicatrices et les traumatismes d’un conflit prolongé, la résilience des femmes a permis à la communauté de vivre une transformation qu’elle n’aurait pas pu connaître autrement. Dans ce contexte, elle nous a implorés de répondre aux besoins de l’Église en fournissant à ses membres des outils et des compétences pratiques pour faire face aux conflits, aux divisions et aux ruptures qu’ils connaissent ; elle a insisté pour que ces compétences soient fondées sur les valeurs bibliques et la réflexion théologique afin que la communauté puisse continuer à guérir et aider les autres à faire de même.
Ce témoignage émouvant a permis, avec beaucoup d’autres, de catalyser une prise de conscience des « murs d’hostilité » destructeurs, toxiques et isolants – constituant la distanciation sociale ultime – qui ont été construits dans nos contextes, mais aussi de la puissance du Prince de la paix, qui nous a appelés à être des ambassadeurs de réconciliation.
“As a worldwide community of faith in the Anabaptist tradition, people in ministry are key to Mennonite World Conference,” says César García, MWC general secretary. After Assembly 17 and associated meetings, there are new people serving this global family of churches.
The General Council selected new continental representatives for the Executive Committee for 2022–2028:
Sindah Ngulube, a bishop from Brethren in Christ Church of Zimbabwe (Africa);
Amos Chin, a leader from Bible Missionary Church in Myanmar (Asia);
Francis Peréz de Léon, a leader from Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Boliviana (Latin America);
Doug Klassen, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada (North America).
Linda Dibble, moderator of Mennonite Church USA, will serve until 2025, finishing a term that was vacated. A representative for Europe will be appointed at the Executive Committee meetings in December, which will be held in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
The Executive Committee is elected from the General Council (GC) and meets annually. (During the coronavirus pandemic, these meetings took place over Zoom. Instead of several days in person, the Executive Committee met over two days several times throughout the year.)
Two members from each continental region are elected from the GC; a president and vice president are also elected by the GC. The treasurer and general secretary are also members of the Executive Committee.
At Assembly in Indonesia, the presidency of MWC transferred from J. Nelson Kraybill to president-elect Henk Stenvers from the Netherlands (2022-2028). Lisa Carr-Pries of Canada became vice president (2022-2025) to complete the term of Rebecca Osiro of Kenya, who stepped down for family reasons.
Andi O. Santoso (GKMI – Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia – pastor from Indonesia and now regional administrator for Asia with Mennonite Mission Network) becomes Deacons Commission chair;
James Krabill (retired from Mennonite Mission Network) steps into the Mission chair (having served as Commission member 2009-2015).
At December meetings, the Executive Committee will confirm the following appointments: chair of the Peace Commission, new General Council appointments to the Commissions and new YABs Committee members.
“MWC is called to be a global communion,” declares the Mennonite World Conference Reference Notebook. “This implies that our focus is not only on the goals we want to achieve, but also on how we achieve them and what type of community we are as we move toward them.”
“MWC – Continuing the work Jesus began through worship, service, mission, and evangalism” (sic). These words are inscribed upon a wooden shepherd’s staff that J. Nelson Kraybill gave to president-elect Henk Stenvers 8 July 2022 as a symbol of Mennonite World Conference servant leadership.
During the Assembly 17 worship service at GITJ Margokerto, the presidency of Mennonite World Conference transferred from J. Nelson Kraybill (2015-2022) to Henk Stenvers (2022-2028) at GITJ Margokerto, Indonesia.
The congregation of GITJ Margokerto hosted a dozen MWC guests for four days during Assembly. Margokerto was one of the first colonies founded by Dutch Mennonite missionary P.A. Jansz for the evangelization of the region.
Speakers for evening Assembly worship services were broadcast from a different satellite location each night to the main stage at STT Sangkakala in Salatiga, Indonesia, and to online viewers around the world.
Incoming president Henk Stenvers has served a decade as Deacons Commission secretary, during which he pioneered Online Prayer Hour and played a key role in the coronavirus task force. He has served Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit (the Dutch Mennonite church) and the European Mennonites for almost 20 years.
“We wholeheartedly supported Henk in the past years to travel a lot and serve in MWC…[and] express our continuing support,” said Miekje Hoffscholte-Spoelder, current chair of Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit. “We know that we are but a small part of Mennonite World Conference – a very interested part, however; with many projects and friendships in other countries.”
“Our global church is deeply grateful for the ministry of Nelson Kraybill during these seven years,” says César García, MWC general secretary. “We will miss his pastoral heart, wisdom and willingness to serve unconditionally.”
“Henk’s experience as a church leader in The Netherlands and his knowledge of the world church will be a great blessing in the years to come. It will be a privilege to work with him.”
*Today, there are three Anabaptist-Mennonite groups in Indonesia:
Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa (GITJ –Evangelical Church in the Land of Java)
Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI –Muria Christian Church of Indonesia)
Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (JKI –Indonesian Christian Congregation)
The GKMI synod office is “our home together” and a “house of prayer” for GKMI congregations. The GKMI synod had a longing: to invite the MWC executive committee, Commission secretaries, regional representatives, General Council, and MWC staff to “our home” for a welcome dinner.
Since the beginning of June, we were preparing for this 4 July 2022 event. Approximately 70 people were involved.
There was only one thing on our minds: to give the best we have, even in the midst of a lot of busyness and limitations.
Although, the GKMI synod office building is still under construction, it was transformed for the guests. All existing shortcomings were not covered, but highlighted, so that guests could see how far the work has gone and what this building will look like in the future.
The long-awaited day arrived. We were very excited (and nervous).
When the 100 guests got off the bus, they were immediately greeted by our synod board. Pagar bagus and pagar ayu (ushers) – dressed in traditional clothes of many regions in Indonesia –provided hand sanitizer and guided guests to enjoy traditional snacks: serabi from Solo; risoles, a Semarang specialty; tea and juice.
The Youth Commission of GKMI Sola Gratia accompanied by karawitan, a Javanese traditional music group from GKMI Lamper Mijen, performed the welcome dance, the Gambang Semarang Dance. Notably, Rev. Budi Santoso, pastor of the GKMI Lamper Mijen, played the bonang instrument in the gamelan.
Our eyes sparkled with joy when we saw the excitement of the guests while watching it, even capturing it with their smartphone cameras.
On the main staircase facing the pool, guests watched events in front of the chapel at the centre of the synod office. The performance of angklung, a musical instrument from West Java, played by GKMI Sola Gratia Sunday School children, punctuated speeches by the GKMI synod board and remarks from MWC president J. Nelson Kraybill (2015-2022).
MWC regional representative for Southern Africa Danisa Ndlovu receives a gift from GKMI for the Mennonite church in Ghana.
Mr. Undianto, a member of the GKMI Surakarta congregation and part of the GKMI synod office construction team, spontaneously gave offerings to Mennonite churches facing difficult times, accepted by representatives of the Mennonite church in Ghana, DR Congo and Bolivia. GKMI provided assistance through the Algemene Doopsgezinde Societeit (Dutch Mennonite church) to Mennonite brothers and sisters in Ukraine who are victims of the war. And as stated by Rev. Amos Thang Chin, GKMI has also provided financial assistance to purchase food, medicine and medical equipment for around 450 church members who were forced to flee to the forest and live in makeshift tents due to the conflict in Myanmar.
Under the shade of the night’s sky, the guests feasted on a dinner of Indonesian and international dishes, so that all could enjoy it. The meal was accompanied by soft music and lights, praises from GKMI worship and kulintang, a traditional Minahasa musical instrument, from the GKMI Sola Gratia Women’s Commission.
GKMI synod staff carefully prepared the Maumere dance, later reprised with participation.
Before the event closed, the staff of the synod office stood in the midst of the guests as traditional music with beats originating from Maumere, Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara reverberated through the sound system, followed by an exciting lighting game. We danced the Maumere dance, joined by the guests who also danced with enthusiasm!
“I have travelled to many places in the world, and I have never been greeted like this,” said J. Nelson Kraybill in his remarks, “The Mennonite brothers and sisters in Indonesia have truly wowed us with their extraordinary hospitality. Thank you!”
His words, the smiles and laughter of the guests, and our dancing together were priceless. We felt like the child who brought five loaves and two fish to Jesus (Matthew 14:13-21). Although our offerings were homespun and not fancy, they were accepted. Jesus smiled. And he made it a blessing for many!
At the event’s close, guests asked for the Maumere dance song…to dance together again! Praise the Lord!
—Mark Ryan, “berita GKMI” magazine, Indonesia. Used with permission.
Introducing the Global Family:
Conferencia Peruana Hermanos Menonitas – Peru
ICOMB Member Conference
The Peruvian Mennonite Brethren Conference has approximately 457 members and 631 attendees; it is made up of 9 established churches and a number of these have annexes. In line with the work plan of the Conference, this year visits were made to the churches; through these visits, the leaders were able to see the needs of the churches and help them, some churches needed financial support, others needed training for their leaders, also some churches required repairs due to the recent earthquake that took place in the country of Peru.
Thanks to God, the conference has the help of missionaries, such as Stacy Kuhns, who resides in the country and supports the conference. In the following months, they will receive the visit of the Chavez family, missionaries who will also contribute to the conference. Let us pray for the conference, that God will continue to send people who want to serve God in Peru.
Courses for Sunday school teachers.
Conference training courses
During the last few months, courses have been held for pastors and leaders in homiletics and hermeneutics. This training is held in the Piura and Sullana areas, because of the distance between them, so that more people can have access to the courses. Likewise, Sunday school teachers are participating in courses. These will be extended until November.
On July 21 and 22, the church is expecting a visit from Emerson Cardoso, who will conduct mission training in Piura and Sullana.
Pastors and leaders are currently studying online, thanks to the certificate courses offered by the Instituto Biblico Asuncion in Paraguay. The conference hopes to provide more pastors and leaders with laptops so that they can continue learning through virtual classes.
Visiting the construction site of Nuevo Paraíso Church- Piura
Prayer Requests
The farthest area is Trujillo, as the distance between the conference and the churches in this area is quite large, communication and visits to the church are very difficult. Pray for the churches in this area, that they may find more ways to work together and have a closer relationship.
We thank the missionaries that support and serve in this conference, and ask God to continue to raise people that want to serve in Peru.
Thank God for the training opportunities in the church, may God continue to provide the means to keep training the leaders.
The International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) is made up of 22 national churches in 19 countries. ICOMB also has associate members in more than 20 countries, all at different points along the pathway to full membership. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.
Germany
My church journey in and out of Mennonite and Pentecostal traditions begins before I was born. Because of a thoughtless and frankly embarrassing comment from the pulpit toward her at age 15, my mother left the Mennonite church at the age of 18.
She and my father raised their children in evangelical churches until emotional healing finally came from a church plant in New Holland, Pennsylvania, USA. Interestingly enough, though classed as non-denominational, this congregation was planted by Mennonites and was marked by the gifts of the Holy Spirit which sprang from the Pentecostal movement.
After leaving for Bible school, my own church journey took me through a spectrum of movements that some might find uncomfortable at the very least and others name as cult-like at worst. I finally found stability when I based my faith not on a movement or denomination but rather my relationship with God and in the study of God’s Word.
Anabaptist research opens questions
Also interestingly, it’s precisely because of research I did on Anabaptist history, a movement which emphasized the principles of truth from the Word, pacifism and social justice, that I began to question some things. Why did both Pentecostal and Mennonite movements back-burner things that were hallmarks of the other’s movement when good things clearly sprang out of them?
For example, why did it seem charismatic churches sent their children to Mennonite and Calvinist camps to memorize Scripture and learn more Bible stories?
On the other hand, why does it seem Mennonite preachers often relegate teaching on the Holy Spirit to a brushed off sermon once or twice a year?
Although there are secondary doctrinal issues that define us differently as Pentecostals and Mennonites, eventually I realized it doesn’t have to be an “either/ or” mentality but a “both/and.”
Pentecostal zeal enlivens faith
This realization came when I researched the history of the Anabaptist movement and I saw the zeal that fired up so many in the early days of the movement to give up their lives for the truth that they believed. It changed my thinking because I realized that their fire was as much- if not morezeal for the Lord then I experienced in any Pentecostal or charismatic church.
In my own history, more than one ancestor lost entire families for not backing down on their Protestant beliefs in France, or fled Germany with other persecuted Anabaptists.
Just as my own mother’s journey came full-circle to receive emotional and spiritual healing through a Mennonite church plant, so my family’s healing continues through the places God is leading me. Now I serve on the leadership team of a multi-cultural international church in Halle, Germany, planted through cooperation between Verband Deutsche Mennoniten, Eastern Mennonite Mission and Deutsches Mennonitisches Missionskomitee.
Balance guides multi-cultural welcome
The balance I’ve learned of acknowledging the Holy Spirit as much as loving the Father in Jesus Christ as a living and active part of the God I worship has served me well.
At Soli Deo Church, we offer services in multiple languages at almost every gathering including Sunday services, so we’ve learned we need a similar balance. We have to be patient and be open with people from all sorts of different backgrounds as much as they have to be patient with us.
There is a balance between holding onto our beliefs that may be based on Western church culture and recognizing that other cultures have an expression of Jesus inside of them that is based on their backgrounds as they come to the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit. We may look different, but we are one as we look toward Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Learning to listen to each other in love is so important. Some who have joined us are not comfortable with overt expressions of the Holy Spirit that came out of the Pentecostal movement while others find it essential to their belief practice. And yet both groups have found a home with us. They all want to worship together, so we find a way where some would say there is no way.
It is precisely the appreciation of Anabaptist principles of following Jesus held in balance with the spontaneity of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit that equips me to help lead an international church.
That kind of love and appreciation of differences is the very message of the gospel and is what keeps us fellowshipping together despite our multi-cultural backgrounds. And I believe learning this balance will thrust us into the next big movement of God on this earth.
—Kellie Swope is a member of the leadership team of Soli Deo Church, a Mennonite church in Halle, Germany.
An Executive Committee is elected from the General Council and meets annually. Two members from each continental region are elected from the General Council; a president and vice-president are also elected by the General Council. A president-elect begins a term three years before the handover of responsibilities. The treasurer and general secretary are also members of the Executive Committee.
See the October 2021 issue of Courier to meet the officers.
Africa representatives
Samson Omondi
Congregation: Majiwa Mennonite Church, Kisumu, Kenya
“It is an honour to serve the global Church through MWC because it provides an excellent opportunity to share experiences and ideas from varied cultures all over the world.”
Asia/Pacific representatives
Paul Phinehas
Congregation: Gilgal Mission Trust Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India
“I am grateful to be part of MWC because we can do more together than we can as individual flock, and we gather together to worship God in the ways he has exposed in the Bible.”
MZ Ichsanudin
Congregation: GITJ Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia|
“It is an honour to be involved in the ministry of the church globally through Mennonite World Conference (MWC) because organizationally, MWC is the only forum for churches that specifically promote peace, not only on a small scale, but on a world level; between faiths, between tribes and nations. How to achieve peace without going to war using weapons and politics is a big challenge for MWC. We do not only think for ourselves but for all human beings on this earth.”
Europe representatives
Alexander Neufeld
Congregation: Evangelischmennonitische Freikirche Dresden, Germany
“I am grateful to be part of MWC because it boosts my sense of belonging to a wonderful family of faith and provides me with an opportunity to meet and to interact with so many loving and interesting people. My prayer for the global AnabaptistMennonite church is that we may glorify Christ and make known the Gospel of Jesus and his way of relating and living.”
Wieteke van der Molen
Congregation: Doopsgezind Gemeente Schoorl, Netherlands
“The most beautiful thing in MWC is that we try: try to reach out, to truly listen (to each other, ourselves, God), to see Christ looking at us through the eyes of a brother or sister. We fail utterly and completely and constantly. In understanding, in communicating, in truly helping each other, in creating a safe space for all of our brothers and sisters to join in that one story about God and humankind. And still we try. It is this trying and failing and trying again, that builds the kingdom of God.”
North America representatives
Lisa Carr Pries
Congregation: Nith Valley Mennonite Church, New Hamburg, Canada
“As a volunteer, I desire to engage people in the vision of Mennonite World Conference by holding out Jesus’ hope and Christ’s light so that they are transformed, known deeply as God’s beloved children and can notice God’s activity.”
Caribbean, Central and South America representatives
Carlos Martínez García
Congregation: Fraternidad Cristiana/Vida Nueva (CIEAMM), Mexico
“It is a great privilege and blessing to get to know the challenges and opportunities that our global family faces. It is enriching to share our experiences and projects related to being Christ followers in an increasingly diverse world.”
Juan Silverio Verón Aquino
Congregation: Iglesia Maranata de los Hermanos Menonitas (Mennonite Brethren), Asunción, Paraguay
“My prayer for the global Anabaptist church is that it continues to carry Christ’s peace to every corner of the Earth.”
Vacant **
Africa
*Steven Mang’ana Watson died 4 March 2021
North America
*Bill Braun’s term came to an end in December 2021 when his local congregation Willow Avenue Mennonite was suspended from membership in the US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
When we look back at what happened in the last two years all throughout the world, one could just offer a sigh. We were never prepared for this.
Being locked down for several months in the Philippines forced us to reconfigure our social life. We tend to look at each family member from a different angle; the pandemic has made us realize that our families are treasures that we should nourish.
Everyone was worried about getting simple colds or a little sneezing, as this could be interpreted differently. When you went to the hospital for a check -up, there was a chance that you would be put in an isolation room with no relatives near you.
Panic and loneliness are our worst enemy.
Simply not having control over the situation and feeling disempowered makes us feel lost.
One good thing that happened during this disruptive and challenging situation was that our creativity was squeezed.
In our country, movement of goods stalled because of lock down. People were hungry. Agricultural products need to move.
This caused a new concept to emerge: “Produce Peace Plus” was born. Produce Peace Plus was a way of moving produce from the farm to the consumer’s table while providing a solution for products discarded because of lock down. We were able to deliver food to people in need.
Creativity comes from our great Creator.
As human beings, we submit to the one who created us, we say, “Not my will, but your will be done.”
Although we enjoy God’s creation, we must not worship Creation itself rather than the Creator. When we trust God, the creative Creator provides imaginative ways to respond to the challenges that emerge during the pandemic and beyond.
—Joji Pantoja is chair of the Peace Commission and founder and chief executive officer of Coffee for Peace in Davao, Philippines.
Samson Omondi
Paul Phinehas
MZ Ichsanudin
Alexander Neufeld
Wieteke van der Molen
Lisa Carr Pries
Carlos Martínez García
Juan Silverio Verón Aquino
