Prayers of gratitude and intercession

“Unity is not being in unison, but, with all the differences we have, it’s to come with one purpose – for the glory of God,” says Dawit Getachew Abraham, a band leader and musician who has played in worship sessions at Mennonite World Conference gatherings.

As the global church walks together in the Holy Spirit, “Harmony is one of the biggest lessons; there are different roles but one purpose,” he says.

Dawit Getachew Abraham coordinated the worship band who lead in song at Mennonite World Conference’s Renewal 2027 event and General Council meetings in Kenya in 2018. He was also a member of the music team at Assembly 16 in Pennsylvania, USA in 2015.

He writes and arranges music to express diversity. In Ethiopia, traditional music is based on rhythm and a pentatonic scale – and every band has a saxophone – so he incorporates these elements even when playing popular worship songs from the West.

“I’m so happy the General Council came to East Africa,” says Dawit Getachew Abraham. “It allowed us to come as a band, and it gives us a comfortable feeling like I know them.”

Music ministry

Besides playing in Meserete Kristos Church (Mennonite church in Ethiopia) congregations nearly every Sunday and participating in gigs for other ministries, Dawit Getachew Abraham also runs Heavens Echo, a music school, and Love and Care for his Little Ones, a ministry.

Through Heavens Echo, Dawit Getachew Abraham aims to support church music. The children have classes in one instrument, Bible, singing, and choreography and art. Teenagers learn an instrument, music theory and Bible. The 20-week program runs a few times a year.

Love and Care coordinates weekly visits to some 500 children in 18 orphan residences. Some 300 volunteers are drawn from church youth groups, many from MKC.

“Sharing love with them, singing and reading the word of God, playing with them, and helping them with their psychological and educational needs – we call it worship in action,” says Dawit Getachew Abraham who founded the ministry with Rahel Ashebir in 2012.

“Worship is indeed a majestic lifestyle that pervades every moment of a believer,” he writes on the “about” page of his website. “Through God’s grace we are enabled to even offer our very breath as worship to the One who is the source of our life. In so doing, we are able to know him more and deepen our relationship with him,… Everything we do then; we do to the glory God.”

 —A Mennonite World Conference release by Karla Braun

Earlier this year in Tshikapa, DR Congo, four Congolese women laughed together as they filled a water trough for their pigs – animals that hold the promise of income for them in the year to come.

Their laughter stands in contrast to their experiences, just two and three years ago, when they fled their villages in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) to avoid being killed. They and thousands of other displaced people brought nothing with them except memories of beheadings, burned houses and lost family members.

In another part of Tshikapa, sixth graders Mayambi Mayambi, Luta Nguadi and Mputu Shayi walked home from school in their blue and white uniforms. Hundreds of displaced children go to school every day now instead of hiding from or fleeing warring Kasai fighters, who created many orphans in their rampages.

The educational opportunities and pig projects, and maybe some smiles, can be credited to Mennonite, Evangelical Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren churches in the cities of Tshikapa and Kikwit and in the Kabwela area.  

In partnership with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and with support from Anabaptist organizations around the world, including Mennonite World Conference, churches reached out to minister to the displaced people who flooded their neighbourhoods and settled in their church yards with an initial food distribution in 2017.

Overall, more than 1.4 million people were displaced and about 5 000 killed since political fighting began between Kasai militia group Kamuina Nsapu and DR Congo security forces in 2016. The initial conflict incited more violence among ethnic groups in Kasai, drawing out the crisis.

Through MCC’s account at the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the churches continued distributing emergency food in 2018–2019 to 1 180 displaced families. They also helped pay school fees and provided school supplies for 950 children.

“This response helped to strengthen the church. It brought people to Jesus,” said George Kaputu, an evangelist at the Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (CEM: Evangelical Mennonite Church) in the Kabwela area. “Because of this response, we are able to observe the compassion of those in the church to respond to the needy.”

Although the violence has abated in Kasai now, many displaced people are still trying to rebuild their families, homes, emotional health and income in a new place. For many, their home villages were destroyed or are still unsafe.

The churches continue to help displaced people this year by providing pigs, gardening supplies and garden plots, with the support of MCC.

Churches also are providing trauma healing workshops, led by lay leaders who were trained to help workshop participants recognize how trauma has impacted them and to share their experiences with each other in supportive ways.

“Wounds of trauma are deep and wide,” said Mulanda Juma, MCC representative for DR Congo. “Trauma healing response will remain a critical component of recovery both for individuals and communities.”

Learning to manage large distributions was a growing edge for MWC member churches CEM, Communauté des Eglises des Frères Mennonites du Congo (CEFMC; Mennonite Brethren), and Communauté Mennonite au Congo (CMCo; Mennonite Church of Congo) in Tshikapa.

But through the MCC trainings of the relief committees, churches have become more confident and skilled in carrying out distributions, said Ruth Keidel Clemens, director of programs for MCC U.S. Through interaction among the three church groups, new relationships were formed.

“Without this partnership [between MCC and CEMFC and other Mennonite groups], I would have never known about my other Mennonites sisters,” said Leontine Matula, member of the CEMFC relief committee. “This has helped to open up my life to these new friendships. It pushed me to understand how we can reach out our hands together to help others.”

The work of the relief committees continues even though food distributions have now ended. MCC continues to fund the churches’ educational, trauma and livelihood projects, but health care is still an unmet need, said Mulanda Juma, MCC representative for DR Congo.

Life is still uncertain for displaced people as they wait for the farming and pig-raising projects to provide a stable income, but compassion is strong.

Organizations supporting these distributions include Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission; Caisse de Secours; International Community of Mennonite Brethren; Multiply (MB Mission); Mennonite Church Canada Witness; Mennonite Mission Network; and Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz (Alttäufer)/Conférence Mennonite Suisse (Anabaptiste).

—An MWC news release by Linda Espenshade, news coordinator for MCC U.S. Quotes in this story were collected by Ruth Keidel Clemens, director of programs for MCC U.S., on a 2019 trip to DR Congo.

From my platform seat at Mopulu Mennonite Church in Ngaba, Democratic Republic of Congo, I can see everyone in the congregation during worship. Children near the front are captivated as a series of choirs come forward to praise God: women’s choir, men’s choir, young women’s choir…and children’s choir. Even the youngest know they are valued and needed.

As happens in many churches in Africa, the offering is a celebration. With the congregation singing joyfully and musicians giving their best, age and gender groupings process one at a time to a table holding five offering baskets.  

In sequence, adult women, adult men, young women, young men, children dance forward with their gifts. Some give to every basket, others to one or two.  

MWC Regional Representative Francisca Ibanda explains to me that the various baskets are for “the normal offering, the social help offering, the offering for construction, the offering for the preacher and the offering for whatever special day is being celebrated.”  

The joy and generosity of givers reminds me of Israelites bringing offerings to build the tabernacle. “The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us,” Moses exclaimed as abundance poured in for building the tent of worship (Exodus 36:5).

What lessons the children at Ngaba are learning! 

With five baskets, they learn budget allocation: some resources for people in need, some to support church leaders, some for facilities, some for program.  

Giving is part of obedience to God; giving is a joy.

I have helped with fundraising for Mennonite World Conference and other church entities. People who “give until it hurts” paradoxically are happy. Christians in the West could learn from African sisters and brothers that bringing tithes and offerings in a visible, joyous way can be an act of worship. The next generation is watching and learning.

—J. Nelson Kraybill, MWC president (2015–2021), lives in Indiana, USA.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2019.

From 25–27 June 2019, leaders and members of the four Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Commissions met together for a time of face-to-face discussion, reflection, worship and strategic planning to advance the mission of MWC.

Approximately 40 women and men from around the globe gathered for the meetings convened at the Mennonite Conference Centre Dopersduin, one of three retreat centres run by the Algemene Doopsegezinde Sociëteit (Dutch Mennonite Church).

“The work of the commissions can strengthen the bonds of communion between the churches in different parts of the world,” says Neal Blough, member of the Peace Commission. “It will help us to be aware of the larger and often complex context of our work, allow a sharing of resources and of deepened intercessory prayer.”

Commission members are volunteers from around the world who represent the General Council or bring expertise in caring, service, theology and peace work. They guide Mennonite World Conference in proposing resources and facilitating fellowship within MWC networks. Commissions have eight members (nine on the Mission Commission) including a chair and a part-time staff secretary.

Faith & Life

“Faith & Life Commission is helping MWC as a brain, as a theological commission to maintain our identity and practice what we believe,” says Tewodros Beyene.

Larry Miller, the secretary of the Mennonite delegation for the Trilateral Dialogue with Lutheran and Catholic churches about baptism, reported to the Commission on the document arising from the five-year dialogue concluded in 2017.

“Catholics, Lutherans and Mennonites express themselves differently in different parts of the world. The faith lives and experiences of each group are permeated by the local culture and history. Even so, through education processes that take that into account, they can incorporate new ideas.” says Rebeca Gonzalez Torres. “It has not been easy to talk about three historic baptism traditions associated with the Catholics, Lutherans and Mennonites, not now or in the past. We value and are grateful for all the work and the process that have led to this document.”

The Faith and Life Commission recommended creating spaces where MWC member churches might learn from each other’s understanding and practice of baptism in their local settings, presenting the Trilateral Dialogue on Baptism official report to the General Council and producing a study guide for churches to accompany the report.

The Faith and Life Commission also discussed a document about the doctrine of justification and continued working on the possibility of a name change to better reflect all the members of Mennonite World Conference.

Mission

The Mission Commission reported on the progress of translation on God’s People in Mission: An Anabaptist Perspective, forthcoming in Spanish 2019 and French 2020, assigned Missional Frontiers profiles for 2019–2021, and began planning the 2021 global consultation of the Global Anabaptist Service Network (GASN) and the Global Mission Fellowship (GMF), both comprised of Anabaptist agencies serving the church and the spread of the gospel around the world.

“We need each other’s strength and gifts in order to serve together,” says Andi Santoso. “One of the most challenging things that we discussed during our meeting was about the need for sharing our resources to others who are in need.”

“We want to keep our family united with things that are going on,” says GASN and GMF coordinator José Arrais. Different concerns stem from the specifics of local situations, so meeting together allows for better understanding and support, he says. “It’s important to have feedback so we can interconnect.”

“As we work through these agencies, they are involved in various ministries of justice,” says Nelson Okanya.

Deacons

The Deacons Commission responds to prayer requests, publishes a bimonthly prayer network email in partnership with MWC Communications, and administers the Global Church Sharing Fund (GCSF).

In December 2018, secretary Henk Stenvers and members Vikal Rao and Hanna Soren visited several churches in rural India celebrating church dedications after building projects partially sponsored by the GCSF and national churches.

“As a member of Deacons Commission, I was invited to walk with them in this joyous moment and experience the joy of sharing with our Anabaptist brothers and sisters around the world,” says Vikal Rao.

“We received wonderful traditional welcome,” says Vikal Rao. “We could see the happiness in their faces.” A church building was a dream come true for Antakya (Antioch) Mennonite Church, part of Bhartiya General Conference Mennonite Church, whose farmer and labourer members were not able to save enough to construct their own meeting place.

Peace

The Peace Commission worked on documents for approval by the General Council, including a statement on conscientious objection, prepared for the launch of the Global Anabaptist Peace Network and considered next steps on recent statements and the Children on the Move initiative.

“Our agenda sought to focus us on real issues facing us in the church,” says Wendy Kroeker. “The work of the Peace Commission seeks to articulate theological foundations – and create meaningful discussion – for Anabaptists/Mennonites on issues facing us in society and within our own church communities.”

“Our work grows out of direct places where the church around the world is experiencing difficulty in living their faith as we understand it,” says Ken Hoke. “It is good to be able to come alongside with sisters and brothers.”

Following the Commission meetings, the Global Anabaptist Peace Network (GAPN) launched at the second Global Mennonite Peacebuilding festival in Elspeet, Netherlands. “Linking to the GAPN will broaden and strengthen the work for peace in the worldwide Mennonite, ecumenical and human family,” says Neal Blough.

—Mennonite World Conference release

Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions 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.

Right relationships lie at the heart of biblical peace or shalom. Peace is not simply a state of being or a tranquil place. Rather shalom arises when we relate to one another, with creation, and with God rightly. It emerges out of relationships. It is a process, not a place.

For example, Psalm 34:14b encourages us to “seek peace, and pursue it….” It’s not just about finding peace. We must actively seek it out. This happens when we “depart from evil and do good” (Psalm 34:14a).

We’re given the impression that peace might not be easy to achieve. But the demand is unequivocal – we must chase it!

Second, Psalm 85:10 says: “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” Without justice (in Greek, the same word as righteousness) there will be no peace. Put differently, justice is an essential element in peace.

And third, James 3:18: “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” The way one plants matters. Interestingly, in this case, the fruit does not match the seed planted. The fruit of righteousness (or justice; these two are variations of the same word) comes from the way in which the seed is sown.

Just as justice is essential for peace, James suggests that the pursuit of justice must be done in peace for a fruit of righteousness to emerge.

Unfortunately, a quick glance through news articles highlights the fact that the world is not at peace. There is unrest as people come together to challenge the way in which their governing authorities are ruling; wars and violent conflicts endure; poverty and economic instability and exploitation continue to sow hopelessness, exacerbating scarcity.

These realities show that people around the world are not experiencing peace that includes justice. Recognizing this lack of peace helps to understand why people feel the need to migrate.

The reality of migration touches us all: we may be the ones on the move, we may be supporting those who are on the move, or we may be the ones who benefit from the systems that cause people to take a perilous journey toward a more hopeful and dignified life.

News broadcasters and leaders too often describe this as an “immigration crisis.” Such a depiction, however, fails to recognize the injustice from which people want to escape. In other words, we fail to understand why people choose the dangerous journey to leave home in search of peace; we fail to recognize the forces that cause inhumane, undignified, and/or violent realities people seek to escape.

As Christians we are confronted with the reality that the one whom we follow – Jesus – was himself an immigrant and refugee. His parents fled the threat of death from Herod.

Forces of death continue to pursue people today. And as followers of the refugee Jesus, we too should be concerned in how to help others. In helping those who are fleeing, we help the Jesus who also was forced to flee!

The Peace Commission seeks to walk with, support, and animate ways in which our member churches embody Christ’s peace in and for our world. This means finding ways to respond to the mechanisms of death that grip many around the world. It also means exploring how we might – consciously or unconsciously – participate in forces of injustice, oppression, exploitation, and violence toward our own brothers and sisters.

To this end, the Peace Commission has been involved in:

• Children on the move. MWC has been part of a global faith consortium to help children who are migrating, and to mobilize faith communities to be centres of support.
• Working with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. Our most recent document, “Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples,” approved in 2018, has been a helpful tool for our churches to explore, confess and seek to repair the way in which our own history of migration has also caused, created, or perpetuated new forms of injustice. We continue to pursue more just and restorative relationships with our Indigenous brothers and sisters.
• Conscientious Objection. We support our member churches whose governments require their young people to serve in the military. By request from our churches who struggle with this reality, we are drafting a document regarding Conscientious Objection that our churches can use in their particular struggles with their governing authorities.

As a global communion that values life and living in right relationship with one another, with creation, and with God (i.e., shalom), we inevitably become involved in challenging forces of death. We recognize our culpability in such forces, but also seek to work toward life. This is a large and daunting task!

As the Peace Commission, our hope is to support our churches throughout the world pursuing peace with justice while stepping out of the cycle of violence that inevitably perpetuates death. In this way, we can hopefully demonstrate Christ’s way of peace through our witness of being pilgrims on a journey that transcends borders.

May God grant us the strength and courage to continue on this journey.

—A Mennonite World Conference release by Andrew Suderman, secretary of the Peace Commission. He serves as Assistant Professor in theology, peace, and mission at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) is made up of 21 national churches in 19 countries with approximately 450,000 members. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.

Church planting in the Philippines

Pray for the many initiatives by the Mennonite Brethren church in the Philippines, conference name Kapatirang Menonita ng Pilipinas (KAMPI). This year KAMPI has done Vacation Bible School, hosted an Action basketball team led by Ricky Sanchez, put on a youth camp, and led 100 parents in a welfare program through a Romans 6:23 evangelistic tool (pictured). They continue do regular Bible studies and outreach. Pray for Sam and Evelyn Arcano and the leadership team.

—ICOMB Update August 2019

“Normally when I am away from home, I only want to go home again. Now, I just want to stay here,” said one participant in the first European Menno’s Global Youth Assembly.

From 30 May to 2 June 2019, 45 young Mennonites from The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine met in Dopersduin, Schoorl, to connect, inspire each other and learn from each other about what it means to walk together as one church.

Every day concluded in church with reflection and prayer, songs of gratitude and contemplations on calling and hope from the book of Jonah.

In this issue, we have examples of how members of the Anabaptist Mennonite family are making a place for children in their local churches around the world.

“Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy?6:7).

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2019.