Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • L’Eglise de Samoghohiri au Burkina Faso a vécu la joie de la consécration de Fabé Traoré et de Kari Traoré au ministère pastoral.

    Le 1er mai 2016, deux pasteurs ont été consacrés à Samoghohiri, dans la province du Kénédougou dont le chef-lieu est Orodara. Cela fait plus d’un quart de siècle que des missionnaires mennonites se sont installés dans ce village pour traduire les Saintes Ecritures dans la langue Dzùùn et annoncer la Bonne Nouvelle au peuple samogho. C’est la première consécration de pasteurs originaires de ce peuple. Elle concerne deux grandes familles de l’Eglise de Samogohiri : celle de Fabé Traoré et son épouse Abibata et celle de Kari Traoré et son épouse Biba.

    Fabé et Abibata ont 15 années de vie de couple et le Seigneur les a bénis avec deux filles et un garçon. Ils exercent leur ministère à Samoghohiri, après leur formation à la Faculté de théologie à Abidjan et un stage pratique dans l’Eglise à Orodara. Le second couple, plus jeune, a deux enfants, un garçon et une fille. Ils se sont également engagés dans la traduction de la Bible en Dùùngoo après l’obtention d’une licence dans un institut biblique au Togo. Ils exercent leur ministère dans un village voisin, Saraba, où des missionnaires ont travaillé pendant environ 20 ans.

    Ces deux couples veulent, par leur vie d’obéissance à la Parole de Dieu et par leur dévouement, être des instruments utiles entre les mains du Seigneur.

    FOULE DES GRANDS JOURS

    Petit à petit, le hangar dressé pour la circonstance a connu une telle affluence qu’il a fallu refuser du monde. De toutes les zones et régions, les frères et sœurs avaient mis à part ce jour pour venir manifester leur soutien à l’Église de Samoghohiri et aux deux couples consacrés. La cérémonie s’est déroulée comme un culte d’adoration du dimanche avec cependant quelques spécificités, notamment les cantiques de louange et d’adoration, de joie et de consécration au Seigneur.

    PAS UN GRADE !

    Lors de la prédication, le pasteur Abdias Coulibaly a insisté sur les implications de la consécration dans la vie et dans le ministère des pasteurs. Le chrétien est appelé à se donner dans sa totalité, comme l’apôtre Paul le mentionne dans son épître aux Romains : « Je vous exhorte donc, frères, par les compassions de Dieu, à offrir vos corps comme un sacrifice vivant, saint, agréable à Dieu, ce qui sera de votre part un culte raisonnable. » (Rm 12.1). La consécration ne doit pas être perçue comme une simple cérémonie, mais comme un acte de renoncement à soi-même, un engagement pris de façon libre et consciente de ne vivre que pour le Seigneur Jésus-Christ. C’est ce que signifie la vie de disciple du Seigneur Jésus-Christ qui, lui-même, est le modèle de serviteur par excellence. La consécration, c’est d’avoir pour priorité l’obéissance personnelle au Seigneur et de servir les autres et non soi-même. Selon ce que le Maître disait : « Car le Fils de l’homme est venu, non pour être servi, mais pour servir et donner sa vie comme la rançon de plusieurs. » D’aucuns pensent que la consécration est un grade que l’on obtient dans le ministère et qui aurait des privilèges d’ordre matériel ou financier. Loin de là ! C’est un engagement à une vie de disciple de Jésus-Christ dans tous les domaines de la vie. Pour être consacré, le pasteur doit remplir trois conditions : avoir accompli au moins trois ans de ministère après sa formation pastorale ; être recommandé par son Église locale ; être approuvé par l’Église nationale.

    ENGAGEMENTS COMME PERE, EPOUX, SERVITEUR

    Pour le temps de consécration, le pasteur Siaka Traoré a exprimé sa reconnaissance au Seigneur, félicité la communauté pour sa grande mobilisation et brièvement rappelé les circonstances de la présente cérémonie. Par des questions suivies de réponses, chaque pasteur s’est engagé à être d’abord un bon père de famille et un bon époux avant d’être un serviteur fidèle à l’image du Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Enfin, les responsables de l’Église nationale ont prié et ont imposé les mains aux deux couples pour les accompagner dans leur engagement à être des témoins de Christ dans leur vie de famille et dans le service de la communauté mennonite et leur communauté d’origine : les Dzùùn. Pendant la cérémonie de consécration, le nouveau pasteur Fabé Traoré a eu l’opportunité de présenter au Seigneur les enfants de son collaborateur Kari Traoré. C’était son baptême de feu !

    Nous voulons féliciter les deux nouveaux couples pastoraux et les encourager. Leur engagement est digne, louable et honorable. C’est ce que le Seigneur demande à tous ses disciples, qu’ils soient engagés dans un ministère ou non. A nous tous qui traînons les pieds dans notre marche avec le Seigneur : il nous veut engagés, à quelque niveau que ce soit. Nous sommes appelés à être des disciples et des faiseurs de disciples.

    —Othniel Dakouo Sabere, Eglise d’Orodara, Burkina Faso, étudiant en théologie, coordinateur du programme mennonite de prévention du Sida

    Cet article et le Réseau mennonite francophone

    Cet article paraît dans le cadre d’articles publiés par le Réseau mennonite francophone de la Conférence Mennonite Mondiale, et il relie les Eglises du Burkina Faso, de la République démocratique du Congo, du Québec, de la Suisse et de la France. Coordination : Jean-Paul Pelsy.

  • “Uganda is ripe for evangelism and the church is growing,” says bishop Simon Okoth, national coordinator of Uganda Mennonite Church. The new Mennonite World Conference (MWC) member church (accepted by the Executive Committee in 2017) grew from 310 members in 7 congregations reported in 2015 to 553 members in 18 congregations in 2018.

    Every three years, MWC collects information from its members to publish for its members, showing the growth of national churches around the world in member churches and those who are not members or are on the path, like Uganda Mennonite. Global statistics, a global map showing the most recent statistics for Anabaptists churches in each country and a large wall map are found here.

    One international association (IBICA) and 107 national churches are MWC members, comprising 69 percent of the total Anabaptist-Mennonite faith family identified.

    Overall, Anabaptism worldwide has grown: 2 131 000 baptized members in 86 countries.

    Much of the growth in Anabaptist-Mennonite congregations can be seen in the Global South, in national churches like Uganda that are springing up in peri-urban areas (the hinterlands outside cities). Growing greatly in number, Uganda Mennonite Church congregations face many challenges: buildings barely covered by a roof, and no windows; lack of chairs for church members to sit on during services, pastors who have no formal training and sometimes no paycheque.

    MWC member churches in Africa reported 701 814 baptized members in 2015. That increased by five percent to 738 315 baptized members in 2018.

    Asia and the Pacific saw a two percent growth in baptized members, although the number of baptized members of Mennonite World Conference decreased slightly. Greater precision in reporting accounts for some of the decreases reported in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Bharatiya Jukta Christa Prachar Mandli, an Anabaptist church based in Kolkata, India, shows the greatest increase: 36% growth from 2015’s 2 725 baptized members to 4 260 in 2018.

    Baptized members of MWC member churches in Latin America grew by six percent: from 102 377 in 2015 to 109 177 in 2018.

    Two national churches in Latin America grew by more than thirty percent. New MWC member COBIM, the Mennonite Brethren church in Brazil, grew from 6 960 baptized members in 2015 to 10 400 in 2018. Conferencia Peruana Hermanos Menonitas went from 664 members in 2015 to 1 000 in 2018.

    In Venezuela where economic collapse has made daily life difficult, MWC associate member church Casa de Restauracion y Vida Shalom saw their members fall by more than half from 250 in 2015 to 120 in 2018.

    Europe, cradle to Anabaptist faith, sees losses in historic areas, like the Netherlands where the Algemene Doopsgezind Societeit fell from 7 650 members in 2015 to 5 725 in 2018. However, new expressions of Anabaptism are growing in Albania and Spain. The former grew exponentially from 30 baptized members in 2015 to 120 in 2018, while Anabautistas, Menonitas y Hermanos en Cristo in Spain increased from 376 to 501, aided by mission work from Amor Viviente of Honduras.

    In North America, Mennonite Church USA reports a 33 percent decrease in baptized members as Lancaster Mennonite Conference leaves the alliance to form a separate conference. Several other national churches report slight decreases overall, while the Conservative Mennonite Conference in USA shows two percent growth. The Be in Christ Church of Canada (formerly Brethren in Christ) is growing steadily with approximately 17 000 attendees in 2018. (2015’s reported membership of 4 080 used a narrower measure of membership).

    Overall, Mennonite World Conference member churches have grown by two percent since 2015 while Anabaptists counted globally have grown one percent. Globally, two thirds of Anabaptists are found in the Global South.

    Counting only MWC-member churches, that number shifts to 81 percent of members living in the Global South, in places like Uganda.

    “The Mennonite Church Uganda is quite happy and honored to be member of the global family of the MWC,” says Okoth. “May God sustain us together.”

    —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.

    Suffering is a world-wide reality. It affects all people sooner or later. Yet, from the very beginning of time, people have tried to find credible answers to this suffering.

    It is consoling to find that the Bible is not distanced from human suffering but confronts human suffering head on. (E.g., in the books of Job, Lamentations, and in Romans 8:18–28).

    In Romans 8:18–28, we see a fellowship of groaning and hope emerge from the futility and suffering experienced by all people in futility and in suffering.

    1. Fellowship in futility and suffering

    All human beings share the common fate of fallenness, as mentioned in Genesis 3. The apostle Paul says that the whole creation is subjected to “futility” (Romans 8:20). This futility is experienced by living beings and non-living things alike.

    Ultimately, all living beings, including humans, perish. Paul compares the corruption and destruction of this futility in the creation with “birth pangs” (Romans 8:22). And, like birth pangs, this corruption and destruction keeps increasing in frequency and intensity.

    We see this happening in nature – earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and droughts – and also in human intolerant behaviour and erosion of civility, human dignity and biblical ethics.

    But believers can take comfort that God takes responsibility for this futility and reveals a resolve to do away with the fate of the fall.

    2. Fellowship in groaning

    The creation (v. 22), the believers (v. 23), and the Holy Spirit (v. 26) are groaning because of creation’s subjection to futility.

    The personification of creation as groaning reveals the fact that the Creator God is concerned about what he has made. And as part of that concern, the Creator God makes his children see the sufferings and the futilities in the world, especially in the lives of fellow believers, as their own sufferings.

    Believers not only feel sorry for the ones suffering, but they share the affiliations of their fellow believers (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). That is how we enter into the fellowship of groaning together with our fellow human beings.

    But, more than us, it is God who suffers in the sufferings of his people. The Holy Spirit groans on behalf of God’s people (v. 26).

    It is comforting for believers to know that when they suffer, they are not alone. Brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are with them, experiencing their sufferings, feeling concern for their wellbeing.

    3. Fellowship in hope

    Paul mentions four facts that are comforting and hope-filled amid suffering:

    1. (v. 21). The futility of creation has a purpose: the realisation of the glorious liberty of the children of God. When this purpose is realised, God will deliver creation itself from its bondage.
    2. (v. 23). We fellowship in the sufferings and pains of creation. But God has a plan for believers to fully experience godly adoption as sons and daughters of God in Jesus Christ. This is our glorious hope.
    3. (v. 26). We are not alone. Even if we are physically alone, the Holy Spirit is with us. Jesus, ‘Emmanuel,’ is God with us. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us, praying according to the will of God.
    4. (v. 28). The corruptions, futility, sufferings and pains in this world are for the benefit of the believers. (“Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” v. 39). That is, nothing can damage our status as the children of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

    These comforting facts strengthen our hope in our God. This hope is common to us and hence we fellowship in hope also.

    Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is a part of this fellowship in futility of pain and sufferings, in groaning, and in hope and therefore the members of Deacons Commission of MWC visit especially those churches that experience suffering. If God is for us, present in the form of fellow believers and of the Holy Spirit, who can be against us? (v. 31).

    Therefore we can shout, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37).

    —Elisabeth Kunjam is a member of the Mennonite Brethren church in India. She served on the Deacons Commission (2015–2018). This article is inspired by her participation in the Deacons visit to flood-affected Mennonite Brethren churches in Peru in 2017.

  • 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.

    Victor Wiens, ICOMB Equipping Coordinator, travelled to Asia in October. Here follow updates from three emerging Mennonite Brethren conferences in Asia:

    • Myanmar: a new MB conference of 10 churches is emerging in Myanmar. It is being led by Burmese leaders Isaiah and Moe Aung, with assistance from MB Mission/Multiply workers Louise and Dave Sinclair-Peters (pictured above with Victor Wiens in front of a map of Myanmar).
    • Thailand: another beach baptism of 10 new believers was held October 10 in Chonburi. This was during the Thailand Anabaptist Gathering. After the baptism, we celebrated the Lord’s Supper with sticky rice and red juice right on the beach. What a great way to witness to new life in Christ.
    • Philippines: after teaching the new ICOMB-based Mission Leadership Training module #1 to Filipino church workers, Victor and Bob Davis participated in a MB-initiated youth praise festival in Baguio called October Praise. It draws hundreds of youth to an evening of worship as a Christian alternative to Oktoberfest. MB elder Sam Arcano gives leadership to this event.

    —Victor Wiens, equipping coordinator, ICOMB

  • Three reasons the Holy Spirit is relevant to the church today

    Len RempelFifty days after Passover, the Jewish community gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks. At the same time, the followers of Jesus gathered in a room awaiting the promise of the Holy Spirit.

    As they were waiting, “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages” (Acts 2:2,4). Jesus’ followers miraculously start to speak languages they hadn’t known before.

    Soon, the news of the followers speaking in different languages spreads throughout Jerusalem. People are bewildered, amazed or skeptical.

    Then Peter – the same Peter who 50 days earlier had denied any associations with Jesus – stands and preaches his first sermon. Now, with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, Peter stands in front of thousands who had crucified Jesus. The crowd that could not stand Jesus 50 days ago now attentively listens to a sermon in defence of Jesus.

    Reportedly, 3 000 people believed in Jesus and were added to the church that day.

    Peter interprets the events of that morning in light of a prophecy of the prophet Joel.

    In Joel 2:28–29, God promised to pour out God’s Spirit on all flesh. God promised to empower all people to exercise divine power. And this prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. That is how the day of Pentecost became the day of the birth of the church.

    Two millennia later, why does it matter to us that the first Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit? What could the church learn from the events of Pentecost?

    1. The Holy Spirit continues to empower the church

    In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised his disciples the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to witness. Before Pentecost, disciples are scared and direction-less. After, they boldly present themselves as followers of Jesus.

    The empowerment they received did not end with the day. They do powerful acts of healing, raising the dead, and witnessing in the Sanhedrin. They live with boldness, most to the point of execution.  

    The Holy Spirit continues to empower the church today. Christian institutions work to tackle major issues such as human trafficking, displacement, poverty and hunger, violence and war.

    Individual members of the church risk their lives to live out their faith.

    Greta Lindecrantz from Colorado, USA, chose jail over supporting death penalty.

    Sang-Min Lee from South Korea refused to complete the government’s mandatory military service and spent 15 months in prison as a conscientious objector.

    Mennonite youth from Colombia have refused to join the armed groups because they believe “it is incompatible with the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ.”

    In India, believers follow Christ in the midst of growing religious intolerance and persecution.

    This is possible only due to the power of the Holy Spirit.

    2. The church is diverse and inclusive in nature

    On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enabled the gathered believers to “declare the wonders of God” in languages they had not spoken before. This miracle symbolically reinforced the diverse nature of the church: multilingual, multiracial and multicultural.

    From there onward, instead of a homogenous group of Galileans, the church became a community of people of all nations, drawn together by love for Christ.

    In his sermon, Peter quotes the prophet Joel to interpret the events of that morning:

    “In the last days it will be, God declares,
        that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
        your young men shall see visions,
        and your old men will dream dreams.
    Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
        in those days, I will pour out my Spirit;
        and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17–18).

    The day of Pentecost was a historic event because God fulfilled the prophecy given hundreds of years ago.

    In the days of the Old Testament, the Spirit was almost always poured out only on prophets, priests and kings. This changed with the day of Pentecost. All believers were empowered by the Holy Spirit regardless of their age, gender and economic status.

    The church became a place where all people – young and old, men and women – mattered. And everyone received the power to contribute to the life and mission of the church.

    3. The church displays a foretaste of the kingdom of God

    Acts 2:42–47 shows what the kingdom of God looks like on earth.

    The first church lived together in one accord. They fellowship with each other; they devote themselves to the teachings of the apostles. They pray and break bread together. They sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. The Lord blessed them by adding “to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).

    Len Rempel

     Characteristics of the kingdom were present in the first church.

    There was unity in midst of diversity; there was satisfaction – a desire to fellowship and learn instead of dividing and dominating; There was sharing and caring for each other with glad and sincere hearts, with no place for greed; and a desire to praise God.

    The first church is a template for us to follow. It is a model for us to examine how the characteristics of the kingdom are present among us.

    The table before us

    John Driver, in his book, Life together in the Spirit, gives us a beautiful picture of a “table of fraternal communion.”

    Through MWC, a table of fraternal communion is set before us. At this table are people from around the world, sharing stories of the work of Holy Spirit – empowering the church; declaring the wonders of God; and uniting and including us in the body of Christ.

    As we partake of these stories, may we be inspired to have faith in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and submit ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us.

    The problems glaring at our generation call for an active intervention by the church. It is not possible to tackle these problems by mere human efforts. The Holy Spirit’s empowerment and a spirit of oneness within the Global Anabaptist Family is needed for the church to raise up a standard that bears a witness to the world; that bears the values of the kingdom.

     

    —Elisabeth Kunjam is a member of the Mennonite Brethren church in India. She served on the Deacons Commission (2015–2018).

    She spoke at Renewal 2027 – The Holy Spirit Transforming Us – in Kisumu, Kenya, 21 April 2018. This paper been adapted from her presentation.

    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2018.

  • Many written testimonies of the early Anabaptist movement point toward the work of the Holy Spirit as the central driving force. The Holy Spirit goes to people who are awaiting. It was the case in Pentecost (Acts 2) while the disciples were praying; it was the case in Reformation times; and it is the case today.

    The Holy Spirit from the time of the apostles to Luther

    Anabaptists and Protestants in general have to be careful in remembering that the Christian church did not start with them. There had been 1 500 previous years with many manifestations and fruits of the Holy Spirit. Let us remember the early Christian martyrs, who by the strength of the Spirit were willing to give their lives and be faithful through torture unto death. There are the many mystics who in monasteries, deserts, caves and often in important church leadership positions sought to be filled with the Holy Spirit and acted by the Spirit’s power and wisdom. And then there are the missionaries who brought the gospel to Europe, Russia, India and North Africa, evidencing that God’s Spirit is a sending one, eager to cross all cultural barriers.

    The Holy Spirit in Reformation times

    Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin all pointed toward God’s Spirit when they rediscovered and redefined the biblical gospel of grace. Not only a deep experience of spiritual peace and comfort, but also a very strong sense of “freedom from religion” and “freedom from social oppression” came with it. Thomas Müntzer, although tragically misled at the end, applied the work of the Holy Spirit to the questions of social justice and the rights of the poor and marginalized. Melchior Hoffman related with a very special spiritual sensitivity the outpouring of the Spirit to the coming New Jerusalem.

    A memorial stone to Anabaptist martyrs drowned in the Limmat River in Switzerland. Photo: Roland zh, Wikimedia CommonsThe Holy Spirit and the Anabaptist dissent in Zurich 1525

    The group of young scholars around Zwingli related in a very early stage the authority of Scripture to a church practice under the guidance and leadership of the Spirit. In the October debates of 1523, they challenged Zwingli to subordinate the decision of the city council to the authority of the Spirit. Conrad Grebel put it this way: “The Spirit of God has made a decision already.”

    In the night of 21 January 1525, “15 brethren were gathered in prayer in the house of Felix Manz after the mandate of the Zurich council forbade the future propagation of their faith. We are told that they rose from prayer and, moved by the Spirit, George Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptize him on the confession of his faith…”

    Very soon the Anabaptists again got caught in a different problem: Does Swiss nationalism or European security stand above God’s mandate toward nonviolence and love of enemies? The Anabaptist believers in Switzerland exhorted Thomas Müntzer and those joining the Peasants’ Revolt not to take the sword, but to trust in the intervention of God’s Spirit.

    And when Michael Sattler wrote the Schleitheim Confession, the congregation made it clear that Christians renounce the physical sword by taking the “sword of the Spirit.” At his death trial, Michael stated that he preferred to be killed by a Muslim to being part of a “Christian army” that kills them.

    So, the peace witness and the power of the Spirit are very closely linked in the Anabaptist tradition.

    The Holy Spirit in our day

    When Mennonites and Pentecostals met in Pasadena 2006 to celebrate 100 years of the Azusa Street Revival, they realized that renewal movement and the Anabaptist one have a considerable number of things in common, including missions, nonviolence, the doctrine of the new spiritual birth and Spirit baptism.

    Conclusion

    In my opinion the Anabaptist movement recovered three crucial dimensions on the theology and practice of the Holy Spirit:

    • The Spirit leads to truth and a new life in Christ.
    • The Spirit gives strength in weakness and persecution.
    • The Spirit breaks down barriers (cultural, social, national) and moves toward mission.

    Paul sums up this experience in 2 Timothy 1:7–8: “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but of power, and of love, and of discipline. Be not ashamed, therefore, of the testimony of our Lord.”

    —Alfred Neufeld was chair of the Faith and Life Commission (2009–2018). He recently served as rector of Universidad Evangélica del Paraguay in Asuncion, Paraguay. He is a member of Vereinigung der Mennoniten Brüdergemeinden Paraguays (Mennonite Brethren).

    He spoke at Renewal 2027 – The Holy Spirit Transforming Us – in Kisumu, Kenya, 21 April 2018. This paper been adapted from his presentation.

    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2018.

  • Decision making in a large group can feel like a game of misunderstood messages, says Matthias Claassen, General Council delegate for Konferenz der Mennonitengemeinden in Uruguay. It’s important to have leaders in the room representing a variety of ages and experience in addition to the various national churches that make up MWC.

    Claassen was one of two under-30 delegates at the equipping and decision making meetings of the General Council in Limuru, Kenya, 21–24 April 2018.

    Mana Terasawa of Japan

    Only 1.6 percent of the population of Japan identify as Christians, with Anabaptists comprising a tiny fraction. Twenty-six-year-old Mana Terasawa is one of these believers. She is a member of one of the seven Brethren in Christ congregations in Japan.

    Almost half the young people raised in Japanese congregations leave the church. As a minority in a collectivist culture, Christians in Japan may be shamed for being different.

    Nevertheless, Terasawa stayed in the church. Attending a Christian summer youth camp encouraged her to commit to grow her faith. She studied youth ministry at Tokyo Christian University. Now she is on staff at her church, in charge of children’s ministry.

    The small BIC church in Japan seeks those who have the energy, time and resources to serve as a delegate to General Council meetings. Terasawa fit the requirements and was delighted to represent her national church.

    Throughout the meetings, Terasawa relied on the help of another Japanese General Council member to interpret the proceedings into Japanese. For the minister, it was different to be the recipient of help instead of the helper.

    “I deeply appreciated the relationships built with people,” Terasawa said through her interpreter. “I especially loved singing with the global spiritual family, especially when the whole group sang a Japanese song.” She was touched that although only three of nearly 200 people present were from Japan, the whole congregation joined together to sing in her heart language.

    Mathias Claassen of Uruguay

    Among the nearly 60 percent of Christians in Uruguay, the Konferenz der Mennonitengemeinden in Uruguay (KMGU) is made up of mostly German-background Mennonite congregations. Many of these Mennonite communities were started by people who left Germany after the Second World War. They own family and community-run businesses.

    The mindset of Mennonites in Uruguay has changed over the years from one of survival to one of outreach now that life is more stable. More than one-third of people in the church are aged 12–30. Young people are very involved in the church.

    KMGU elects the GC delegate for MWC every three years and every church has the opportunity to propose someone to send on behalf of the conference as a whole.

    Twenty-five year-old Claassen gained the nomination this year: he speaks three languages fluently (German, English, and Spanish) along with some French, and he has global service experience (six months in Burkina Faso in 2017).

    “There are times when I think there should be a pastor or leader [at these meetings],” said Claassen who has a degree in computer engineering. However, he sees the advantage of investing in future generations. The difference of opinion between the younger generation and older generation was noticeable, he says, but it provided opportunity to listen and learn about following God together.

    Young Anabaptists and the global church

    Says Terasawa: “I was happy and encouraged to see young Anabaptists (YABs) my age working and volunteering in the church.”

    How does your national church make opportunities for young adults to become involved in leadership to learn and contribute?

    —a Mennonite World Conference release by Larissa Swartz, chair and North America representative of the YABs (Young AnaBaptists) Committee

  • Renewal 2027 testimony: historical profile

    Renewal 2027 is a 10-year series of events organized by Mennonite World Conference’s Faith and Life Commission to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement. This series highlights leaders in the movement from history to the present.

    This is the story about how Tee Siem Tat (1872 – 1940) and his wife, Sie Djoen Nio (1875 – 1962) were transformed by the Holy Spirit and founded Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI).

    Tee Siem Tat was a successful businessman in Kudus, Central Java. He ran a big co-partnership printing company named Sam Hoo Kongsi. This company progressed very well and served government offices, companies and schools.

    Healing

    In 1917, Tee Siem Tat became seriously ill. He visited some necromancers and klenteng (Confucian temples) and also tried the modern medication of doctors from Netherland. Nothing worked.

    Tee Siem Tat felt desperate.

    Sie Djoen Nio remembered the stories she read in a Malay-language Bible she received from an aunt in Yogyakarta. Sie Djoen Nio loved to read the Bible. She was so impressed by Jesus: his sacrifice on the cross, his miracles.

    “Can Jesus heal my husband too?” Sie Djoen Nio talked to her husband. They agreed to ask for help as in the Bible. But from whom?

    They remembered their uncle Oei Biauw An who knew about Christianity. Oei Biauw An introduced them to Lieutenant Tanuhatu, a Salvation Army officer from Ambon who lived in Rembang. Lieutenant Tanuhatu gladly came to Tee Siem Tat’s house in Kudus many times to teach him about Christianity.

    Tee Siem Tat wanted to know Jesus. His faith grew strong. Along with it, his fear and illness were gone.

    Tee Siem Tat was healed!

    Courtesy GKMI

    Connected with the Mennonites

    Tee Siem Tat read the Bible diligently and earnestly. He attended services at the Salvation Army church in Rembang and invited Lieutenant Tanuhatu to come teach his friends about the Bible.

    However, Tee Siem Tat came to disagree with the church’s practice of baptism and their adoption of military codes. He approached the Seventh Day Adventists, but disagreed with their adherence to Old Testament law. Tee Siem Tat then approached Salatiga Mission, but disagreed about child baptism.

    Finally, Tee Siem Tat approached the Mennonite mission in Jepara, Pati, and Tayu. He quickly felt that Mennonite teaching fit very well.

    So, 6 December 1920, Tee Siem Tat held a baptism for 25 new believers in his house in Kudus. Leonard Silalily preached, Nicolai Thiessen served the baptism, and Johann Hubert prayed for the children. This became the birthday of Muria Christian Church in Indonesia or Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI).

    GKMI has spread, from the hillside of Mount Muria (Kudus, Jepara, Bangsri, Welahan, etc.), to Central Java and the Indonesian archipelago.

    Today, there are 61 GKMI churches and hundreds of GKMI posts (church plants) in Indonesia.

    Courtesy GKMI

    Evangelism strategy

    Tee Siem Tat based his evangelism strategy on Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be

    my witnesses in Jerusalem (the closest family: husband/wife, children, son/daughter-in-laws, grandchildren), and in all Judea (extended family) and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (friends, coworkers, business relations, and those who don’t know about Jesus).”

    Even though they were new Christians, Tee Siem Tat and his friends had a huge spirit for spreading the gospel. Using Javanese-Malay language, they were accepted across ethnic boundaries. They were also well known as good people in business and good example in everyday life.

    Courtesy GKMI

    In serving the poor and needy, Tee Siem Tat took his principle from Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received, freely give”

    Last words

    On his deathbed, Tee Siem Tat called his sons, Tee Yan Poen and Tee Yan Siang, and his son-in-law, Tan King Ien. To them, Tee Siem Tat spoke his last words: “Djagalah anak kambing koe” (“Tend my lambs,” John 21:15 in Old Bahasa). His grandson, Rev. Herman Tan, believes his last words were to ask his children, his son/daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and the generations to come that GKMI would stay faithful to a Doopsgezind (Mennonite) perspective.

    —Paul Gunawan is a senior writer and editor from GKMI. Translation from Bahasa Indonesian by Mark Ryan.

  • “Our global value of peacemaking is expressed in the Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples,” says Mennonite World Conference general secretary César García. “How a church in South Korea or Colombia lives that out is not something we can legislate. It’s an issue we need to discern as churches in our specific contexts.”

    For Steve Heinrichs, director of Indigenous-Settler relations for MWC member church Mennonite Church Canada, solidarity with Indigenous people means action.

    On 20 April 2018, Indigenous leaders and spiritual elders of the Tsleil Waututh Nation invited Heinrichs and other church leaders to participate in a public prayer witness to support their struggle. The group opposes the plan to expand capacity of a transmission pipeline for crude oil and diluted bitumen.

    The expansion of a 1 150-km pipeline that transmits oil from source to shipping terminal is a contentious subject in Canada. Many Indigenous groups cite environmental degradation and usage of unceded land as reasons to oppose the pipeline.

    In wider Canadian society, some oppose pipelines on environmental grounds, others favour the economic benefits.

    What began as a prayer event ended in arrest for some participants. They blockaded the entrance to Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C., for several hours until police intervened, dispersing the gathering after handing out criminal charges.

    Heinrichs was arrested, tried and convicted. He spent six days in jail in August.

    “I chose to act because at the centre of the Christian faith lies the conviction that the Creator suffers with the oppressed; that God takes sides with the victims over-against the dominant powers; and that the people who see the issues of our day most clearly are those pushed to the socio-political margins,” said Heinrichs in his statement to the court at his sentencing hearing.

    This language echoes the newly approved MWC statement of solidarity, approved at the General Council meetings in Kenya: “In the Gospels, Jesus Christ, the living example for the church, embodies God’s preferred presence with the neighbor who is excluded, oppressed, ignored, rejected or treated as alien.”

    “We have global consensus to act on behalf of Indigenous groups [see MWC statement here],” says MWC general secretary César García. “This is one example of one person who did that on behalf of a local indigenous group and the church he represents, regardless of the controversies.”

    —Mennonite World Conference release

    Click here to read more in English.

  • Mennonite World Conference weaves a web of connections within the Anabaptist Mennonite family around the world through website, emails, social media, publishing and relations with other organizations. Here are some new connecting points.

    José Arrais

    • The Mission Commission appointed José Arrais of Portugal to a newly created part-time role as coordinator of networks. He is the contact person for the agencies and organizations of the Global Mission Fellowship and the Global Anabaptist Service Network and works closely with Mission Commission secretary Rafael Zaracho.

    • At their annual meeting, from 18–19 May 2018, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, the Global Anabaptist-Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) management board agreed on a plan for increasing the number of articles by authors from the global church. In collaboration with Mennonite World Conference’s annual Renewal 2027 event, GAMEO will solicit 20 new articles each year from writers in the country that hosts the commemoration event. This year, Francis Ojwang, co-author of Forward in Faith: A Seventy-Year Journey, 1942-2012 (a history of Kenyan Mennonite Church), has agreed to write a series of congregational and biographical profiles from Kenya. Editors will also update theological articles during the coming year, while also moving forward with targeted updates of several North American Anabaptist groups.

    • The second Global Mennonite Peacebuilding Conference and Festival (GMPC II) will take place at Mennorode, Elspeet, The Netherlands, 27–30 June 2019. Endorsed by the Peace Commission, the conference will launch MWC’s emerging Global Anabaptist Peace Network (GAPN). The event provides a space for interaction among academics, church workers, practitioners, artists, among others who work for peace with an Anabaptist perspective. Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit (Mennonite church in the Netherlands), Doopsgezind Seminarium (Mennonite seminary Amsterdam) and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are conference hosts. Click here for more information.

    • From 16–19 October 2018, Faith Action for Children on the Move – Global Partners Forum will be held in Rome, Italy. The Global Church Partners Forum will provide a platform to bring together a diverse group of Christian faith-based organisations to reflect on their respective contributions to end violence against children as it relates to children on the move (forcibly displaced internally or refugees). MWC is one of the 14 partners. Click here for more information.

    • The Francophone Network, a hub for French-language Anabaptist communities, periodically posts stories on the MWC website in French. The latest article there by Neal Blough explains considerations for the French Mennonite church to join the French Protestant Federation and its evangelical counterpart.

    —Mennonite World Conference release

  • As an Indian living in Canada on MCC’s International Volunteer Exchange Program, I have made dal (lentil soup) a number of times. When I made it for the first time, I was little nervous, but it was requested again for different groups of people and every time quantity increased.

    First, I cooked dal for my host family. Then, my host mom suggested I make it for Thrift on Kent staff (eight people) for our once-a-week soup day. Later, she asked me to make it for Avocat, a MB Mission event she was organising (50–60 people).

    Every time the responses were happy faces with happy tummies – which made me happy to share a little bit of India in a bowl (sometimes two)!

    Dal is a basic everyday food in India, frequently eaten with flatbread such as roti or chapati or with rice (a combination referred to as dal bhat).

    This is the recipe I made for soup day. It’s my personal favourite.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release. Ashisha Lal serves as a management support worker at Thrift on Kent in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. She is from Korba, Chhattisgarh, India. Her home church is Katghora Mennonite Church, part of Bharatiya General Conference Mennonite Calisiya (BGCMC).

     

    Recipe:

    Palak dal 

    Servings: 4

    Ingredients:

    ¼ cup tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentils)
    ¼ cup masoor dal (pink lentils) Ashisha Lal
    2 cups palak (spinach), chopped
    1 cup chopped tomato
    1 tbsp chopped garlic
    1-2 hari mirch (green chilies), chopped
    1 inch adrak (ginger), chopped
    1 teaspoon sabut jeera (cumin seeds)
    ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
    ½ teaspoon haldi (turmeric powder)
    ½ teaspoon lal mirch (red chili powder)
    2–2.5 cups water, for cooking lentils
    ½–1 cup water, to add at the last step
    2–3 tablespoons ghee or oil
    salt as required
    coriander/cilantro for topping

    Directions:

     

    Wash lentils. Prepare in a pressure cooker with turmeric powder, tomato and chopped garlic. Add 2–2.5 cups of water. Pressure cook for 5–6 whistles or until dal becomes soft and mushy.

     

    Mash and set aside.

    In a pan, heat ghee. Fry cumin, then add chopped ginger. Fry until the raw ginger aroma abates.

    Add chopped chili. Fry for half a minute. .
    Add chopped spinach. Add red chili powder and asafoetida
    Sauté until spinach becomes soft and stops releasing water.
    Add mashed lentils.
    Add water (½–1 cup, to desired thickness).
    Add salt and coriander/cilantro. Simmer 5–6 minutes.

    Serve hot with rice and a side vegetable dish or salad or raita (Indian yoghurt).

    *Finding unfamiliar words in this recipe? Use your favourite search engine to learn about these new (to you) ingredients.

  • A local church in Colombia lives out peace

    Why won’t a country forgive? Why are there people who seem to prefer war? These are questions that disturb the soul and invite us to look for answers, not in the cold streets of the city, but the forgotten countryside, in the small towns of Colombia directly affected by armed conflict.

    On 19 July 2017, in search of answers to these questions, a team from Fundación Edupaz headed to La Esperanza, a village surrounded by deep green mountains and eternal blue skies.

    Given its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, La Esperanza is a strategic area for the production and transportation of cocaine. For decades, many military groups exercised threatening sovereignty over the people with landmines, forced disappearances and outright combat.

    Paradoxically, it was following a violent incident 13 April 2015 that a light began to dawn for the community of 500 families. (Read more.)

    Misael y Luis Yonda. Installation of the memory plaque in the sports arena in the village of La Esperanza. “Forgiveness is not for the one who deserves it, seeks it or asks for it but for the one who needs it, although they are not conscious of it. Our hope is reconciliation for all! Christ the Only Hope Mennonite Brethren Church. 20 July 2017.” Photo: Sebastián Navarro Medina

    Edupaz entered the community through the Mennonite Brethren church to facilitate a process of healing, transformation and response. As we engaged with the community, we found a church willing to form spaces of peace and reconciliation, using organized group work and inspiration from the Word of God.

    We knew there would be challenges. The village of La Esperanza was still marked with fear caused by 50 years of the armed conflict.

    In light of this situation, new questions arose: What should we expect from a population who rejects war? What role could a rural church have in healing wounds, sharing forgiveness and creating spaces for reconciliation? What example would this small faith community give to the urban megachurches?

    Our hope was to accompany the whole community in an event for peace, memory, forgiveness and reconciliation – with the participation of FARC-EP ex-guerillas from the village Carlos Patiño (a place where the ex-guerillas are grouped together to guarantee the cease fire and laying down of weapons).

    To this end, on 20 July 2017, a reconciliation event took place. Children smiled and waved the flag. Combatants of the FARC-EP walked firmly toward a different life. The community took no account for political, religious or social difference, but through songs to eternal God, made space for public repentance and sincere forgiveness, for reconciliation between victims and victimizers.

    Photo: Lina Maria Forero Segura

    Every step was directed toward the town’s sports centre. This infamous arena would no longer be remembered as a place where death, terror and wrongs of the war met on a rainy April night, but rather as a place where the community came together to worship, forgive and love.

    During the activity, everything happened in perfect harmony. Children created a representation of what war meant to them. People sang songs of peace as prayers to the heavens. The church invoked God’s presence and support. Social leaders and state representatives gave hopeful messages. And an ex-combatant asked for forgiveness for what happened in that place.

    A plaque memorialized the motto of the day: “Forgiveness is not for the one who deserves it, seeks it or asks for it, but for the one who needs it, although they are not conscious of it.”

    Photo: Lina Maria Forero Segura

    Finally, under a star-lit sky, hundreds of inhabitants of the village La Esperanza held glowing candles representing the spark of hope that illuminated the whole country. Everything that night was hugs, unity and messages of reconciliation. It was the first coming together of those sons, daughters, and fathers who had once joined the war but today hope to return to their homes to build a new life and heal wounds inflicted by violence.

    Now, this community is being transformed into a place with open doors and smiles. People are ready to contribute to the construction of a stable and lasting peace. True to its name, La Esperanza has become an example for Colombians, showing that healing and forgiveness is possible, changing a gray and gloomy picture into a blue sky of hope.

    That day in the stadium, with the presence and participation of many, unfailing love and truth met together; righteousness and peace kissed (Psalm 85:10).

    —Juan David Morales Sánchez, coordinator of the Actuar desde la Palabra (Act from the Word) program of Fundación Edupaz, a non-profit organization founded by the Mennonite Brethren Church in Colombia to promote peace and conflict resolution through training sessions and accompaniment.

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