Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Bogotá, Colombia – “How will the church respond to the different needs we hear and see around us?” The European Mennonite churches asked this question, especially relating to the refugee crisis, as they prepared the worship materials for Mennonite World Conference’s World Fellowship Sunday (WFS), 22 January 2017.

    “My Cry is Heard” is the theme of 2017’s package, redesigned with a more engaging format. It contains prayers for the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) family and liturgies for worship, song suggestions, notes for sermon preparation, stories of European Mennonite churches’ radical welcome to refugees, and recipes.

    “World Fellowship Sunday is our opportunity to remind our people that we belong to each other as sisters and brothers in God’s household,” says MWC general secretary César García. “Each local congregation belongs to a global community of faith that transcends language, nationality and culture. We are here to support each other, to uphold those who are suffering and being persecuted and to learn from each other.”

    The Sunday closest to 21 January is designated WFS to remember the first Anabaptist baptism in 1525; however, congregations are encouraged to celebrate the global Anabaptist family on a date that suits their schedule. Click here to see the World Fellowship Sunday 2017 Worship Resource.

    MWC fosters relationships within the Anabaptist family year round through its communications department and the regional representatives who are part-time volunteers responsible for developing and supporting relationships with MWC member, associate-member and potential-member churches, local congregations and MWC-related agencies and partners.

    In September 2016, Pablo Stucky joined the team as regional representative for the Andean Region of Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). Stucky lives in Bogotá, Colombia, where he serves as director of CEAS (Coordinación Eclesial para la Acción Psicosocial), a ministry of the Mennonite, Mennonite Brethren and Brethren in Christ churches of Colombia. CEAS resources local congregations to minister emotional, social and spiritual support to victims of armed conflict and other expressions of violence in Colombia, and fosters opportunities for transformation and reconciliation among churches and perpetrators.

    Coordinator Arli Klassen is grateful for the work of the 10 regional representatives, and hopes to gain representation for the Caribbean and Southeast Asia regions.

    Danielle Gonzales became web communications coordinator for MWC, working in Bogotá, Colombia, as a participant in Mennonite Central Committee’s Service and Learning Together program (SALT). Born to binational parents, her mother from Mexico and her father from the USA, Gonzales grew up living between two distinct cultures in Los Angeles, California. She studied theology and focused on human rights and women’s issues. Her passion for justice has given her the opportunity to work with migrants from Mexico and Central America at the USA-Mexico border and in her own city. Through SALT, she is following her dreams of living in South America to acquire Spanish language and broaden her understanding of human rights in the Latin American context.

     Pablo Stucky and Danielle Gonzales

    —Mennonite World Conference release

  • MWC regional representative KyongJung Kim visits Anabaptist/Mennonite churches in Japan, 1–18 July 2016

    It was a great privilege to visit national member churches in Northeast Asia as Mennonite World Conference (MWC) regional representative. As I planned to visit Japan, I prayed that it would happen if this were pleasing to God. As time went by, Japanese national member churches opened their doors one by one. (In Japan, there are 73 congregations and 2,801 members.)  

    The purpose of my visit was to introduce MWC and its relationship with national member churches. The overarching theme I prepared was “We need each other to grow together in the body of Christ.”

    On 3 July 2016, at Minami Mennonite in Miyazaki, I noticed the Korean national flower as the cover image of the church bulletin on that Sunday. Korea had a painful history with Japan’s colonization (1910–1945). I felt that our relationship had already been transformed to friendship in the Lord.

    After the worship service, the pastor Syozo Satou’s sister said she had attended MWC assembly in Winnipeg (1990), identifying herself with the MWC family. She apologized for what the Japanese ancestors had done to Koreans during the Japanese colonization. I appreciated her honest sharing, and we moved from the time of worship to fellowship time together.

    On 9 July, I attended the Hokkaido conference leaders’ meeting where I talked about MWC and its member church relationships. Throughout the fellowship meeting, I saw a great potential among young people. Some young adults participated in the MWC Assembly in Pennsylvania last year; they were very interested in exchange programs.

    On 10 July, I had worship and fellowship at Bethel Mennonite, a small house church in downtown Sapporo. In Japan, I found that most churches are too small to offer full financial support to their pastors. Members are encouraged to participate in the life and work of the congregation as fully as possible. (This is similar to my home congregation in ChunCheon, South Korea.) Everyone is a minister, doing what they can according to their gifts.

    It is good to have church leaders (or active members) visit congregations to share stories and receive insights from each other. The life of a local congregation should be shared with others as much as possible to encourage and strengthen our churches to grow together. Church-to-church relationship would also help us to find the better resources for future generations.

    On 11–13 July, I visited Osaka, where there are lots of Mennonite Brethren congregations and one seminary. Japan MB is the biggest Anabaptist group in Japan (63 percent), but they are not a member of MWC. One pastor asked me about conscientious objection to military service in the Korean church situation. I answered that not everyone in my congregation would agree with the church’s peace position. We have our weaknesses as well as strengths. That’s why we need each other. I encouraged MB churches to interact with other Anabaptist/Mennonite groups in Japan first and build relationships with others beyond.

    On 14–17 July, I met brothers and sisters in the Tokyo area. Like other conferences, they were very much open to the development of relationship building with other churches.

    What would make such a relationship building possible? We discussed a number of things including YAMEN, a joint exchange program of Mennonite Central Committee and MWC. I was glad that they were willing to explore this possibility. Sending and receiving volunteers means potential learning and growth through life-sharing experiences and being involved in the life and work of the larger body of Christ.

    Like other churches in the world, Japanese churches are facing many challenges. It is our duty and responsibility to walk with God not alone, but together with other brothers and sisters around the world.

    On the way back home, I reflected what I had learned; it was all about the relationship in Christ. Thanks be to God who renewed our relationships to him through Christ!

    —KyongJung Kim, Northeast Asia Regional Representative, Mennonite World Conference

     

  • 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.

    Mission Commission

    The goal of the Mission Commission of MWC is to imagine and build a new global mission partnership within the body of Christ that spans all the continents. We seek a partnership that is rooted in profound mutual love, ordered around mutual submission and that participates in economic sharing unfettered by ugly paternalism or unhealthy dependency.

    And we seek this not only as a gospel demonstration of our unity in Christ, but also for the sake of the mission of God in all the world.

    The story as guide

    The Bible is the story of God’s loving acts in creation and God’s redemptive purposes in history. As a consequence of human rebellion and sin, the world that God created good experienced distortion and destruction. Fear, pride, greed and selfish ambition led to estrangement from God and alienation between peoples. The consequence of this alienation is hatred, violence, war, oppression and injustice.  

    God’s purposes, revealed in Jesus, are to bring an end to hatred and fear, poverty and injustice, and to create one new family from all the different cultures, languages and ethnicities.

    Following Christ’s ascension, the church was constituted by the Spirit of God to proclaim and embody the good news that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God is reconciling all humanity and restoring all of creation. Diversity is God’s gift for our enrichment.

    The wellspring of our mission

    God’s promise to bless all nations on earth is the wellspring of our mission. God’s purpose is to create a people drawn from every tribe and nation who reflect God’s glory in their unity. Following God, we reject the evils of racism and ethnocentric pride.

    The mission of the church of Jesus Christ, therefore, requires that we act with justice and mercy, and that we engage every person and group with dignity, respect and compassion on the grounds of their value to God. It also obliges us to expose and resist every system and every action that oppresses and exploits those who are poor, weak or vulnerable.

    We believe that unity is a gift of the Spirit, not something that we originate. At the same time, we regard the preservation of our visible unity as a practical expression of love and a critical dimension of our mission. When Jesus prays for the unity of his followers and commands them to love one another, it is for the sake of God’s mission (“so that the world may know that you [the Father] sent me” [John 17:23]).

    There is no more compelling demonstration of the authenticity of the gospel than followers of Jesus who are reconciled to each other and united in love across barriers of ethnicity, colour, race, gender, social class, economic status, political alignment or national origin. By the same token, there are few things that so undermine the credibility of our witness as when we Christians alienate ourselves from each other and tolerate or intensify the very same schisms between us.

    The challenge of difference

    One of the challenges we face within the global community is how do we deal with our differences. Our biblical canon gives us some clues on how to balance the tension between unity and diversity. A basic feature of our Bible is the mix of genres and literary styles while maintaining unity and coherence. It contains legal documents, genealogies, historical notes, travelogues, etc., from a variety of authors, subjects, genres and eras. 

    Our Bible allows that there is diversity within unity. The formation of the canon is a testimony that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the early church chose to keep the four Gospels each with its peculiar and distinctive tone.

    A different image for diversity is a tuning fork. This tool is used to adjust the orchestra (a variety of instruments, sounds and qualities) to a specific tone. The presence of the tuning fork does not erase or delete the differences of the musical instruments, rather it aligns the pitches so these disparate instruments can make beautiful music together.

    As communities of faith, our task is to share about the redeeming love of our God. Christ is our tuning fork. When we are tuned to Christ, it is easier to distinguish those non-essential things that separate us. Instead, we work in the midst of diversity for the kingdom of God.

    Realizing our goal will require an unflinching commitment to honesty and solidarity. In a spirit of love and forgiveness, we must speak honestly with each other about the obstacles to authentic community. Mutual love also will require solidarity with each other. We must be willing to share in each other’s struggles and suffering, and eager to offer support, prayer and companionship in the challenges we each face in our witness to the gospel. 

    So, why does the work of the Mission Commission matter?

    It matters because as the body of Christ, the church is God’s good news in a hurting and broken world. In his book, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society*, Lesslie Newbigin describes the church as a “sign, instrument and foretaste” of the kingdom of God. Before a watching world, we are called through our unity in love and sharing to be a reflection of the reconciliation that God has accomplished in Jesus Christ. We no longer live for ourselves, but for the world which God loves and seeks to bless through us (Genesis 12:3).   

    —Stanley W. Green and Rafael Zaracho, Mennonite World Conference Mission Commission chair and secretary

     

     

    *(Eerdmans, 1989, p. 233)
     

    Rafael Zaracho

    Stanley W. Green

  • 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.

    Introducing “The Church on Mission”: an ICOMB consultation on mission and prayer

    Location: Bangkok, Thailand

    Dates: 7–11 March 2017

    The global MB family is seeking God’s direction for our greater mission calling. MB Mission is a vital part of this event as we work together. It will be historic. In 1988, a mission consultation was held in Curitiba, Brazil. ICOMB was a result. In 1999, a smaller mission consultation was held in Wichita, USA. This is the first time that the global MB church itself is calling for such a meeting.

    Our vision is that each conference will leave with a renewed sense of God’s calling with three or four specific mission initiatives (global and local). Our faith vision is that each group will leave with a commitment to build a prayer movement in their national church.

    Steering committee: Heinrich Klassen (Germany), Paul Duck (Brazil), Vic Wiens (MB Mission), David Wiebe (Canada)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Elkhart, Indiana, USA – Holy Spirit fire dances in Bercy Mundedi’s eyes. It sets aflame the ministries to which she has been called – the most recent being to lead the Kalonda Bible Institute in Democratic Republic of Congo.

    She was named director during the 29 June 29–3 July 2016 general assembly of Communauté Mennonite au Congo (Mennonite Church of Congo), which takes place every two years. The institute, located about three miles from the denomination’s headquarters in Tshikapa, is one of the main centres where Mennonite pastors are trained in Congo. There are 36 students enrolled at Kalonda, eight of whom are women.

    “Reverend Pastor Mundedi is a woman who has strong spiritual, moral and intellectual qualities,” said Adolphe Komuesa Kalunga, national president of Mennonite Church of Congo. “She has shown herself to be committed to Jesus Christ and devoted to pastoral ministry. We have seen her to be eager to respond to whatever ministry the church requests of her.”

    Mundedi has an intimate knowledge of KBI, having taught there for 10 years. She was one of the first three Mennonite Church of Congo women to be ordained in 2013 and rejoices in being part of the breakthrough work that God is doing in her denomination.

    “My joy overflows,” Mundedi said just prior to her installation as KBI director. She described her vision for this ministry church leadership training to lead to transformation of the whole person.

    “I want to promote holy leadership in our churches,” Mundedi said. “I also want to inspire other women and girls to use their gifts in the church, to let them know that the gifts the Holy Spirit gives them are to be used in building up the church.”

    When she was 14, Mundedi was already preaching to her classmates. Older women noticed her spiritual understanding and encouraged her to pursue theological studies. Mundedi said she never would have made this decision without their intervention because, at that time, women could not teach and preach in the church.

    In 1996, after completing her degree in theology in Kinshasa, Mundedi returned to her village to teach. Her gifts came to the attention of national Mennonite leaders, and they hired her as a KBI professor. The irony was clear: Though church policies did not allow Mundedi to be a pastor, they invited her to train pastors.

    Rod Hollinger-Janzen, executive coordinator of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, said Mundedi is the first woman to direct a Mennonite Church of Congo institution since Elvina Martens, a North American missionary doctor, oversaw the denomination’s medical work in the 1960s.

    —Lynda Hollinger-Janzen, Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and Eastern Mennonite Missions

     

  • “Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18).

    In a world ravaged by violence, it is not easy to be a Peace Church – a church dedicated to the ways of Christ’s peace. These ways require much intentionality, persistence and even sacrifice. It is not always certain that Christ’s ways of peace will be effective. And yet the author of James reminds us that how we plant our seeds matters. If we indeed want the fruit of righteousness (which is closely related to the principle of justice), we must plant in peace. 

    Along with the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Church of the Brethren, Mennonites are one of three historic Peace Churches. These churches have, throughout their history, confessed peace and the ways of peace as central to participating in God’s kingdom.

    How does your church form a faith identity rooted in the ways of peace?

    As a worldwide communion of faith, we will be commemorating Peace Sunday on 18 September 2016. How does your church foster the peace that is so needed in our world?

    —Andrew Suderman, Mennonite World Conference Peace Commission secretary

    Click here to see the Peace Sunday 2016 Worship Resource.

     

  • Over the past three years, my family has enjoyed friendship with an extended family from Iraq who came to the USA as refugees and asylum seekers. We have enjoyed meals together in our homes, picnics, hiking trips, choir concerts and church services.

    When terrible events happen in the news, we lament together.

    Occasionally, where there has been illness, I have been invited to pray for healing in the name of Jesus the Messiah.

    Why is this family so open to friendship with Christians?

    They remember their mixed neighbourhood in Baghdad where their ancestors shared community with Christians for the past 600 years. They tell of going to their Christian neighbours’ homes to celebrate baby baptisms and likewise of Christians coming to their family weddings and baby naming ceremonies.

    This all ended in 2003 with the second Iraq war and the departure of virtually all Christians from their community. Today, warfare, terrorism and inflammatory rhetoric put tremendous stress on both Christian and Muslim communities around the world.

    How can this stress be relieved?

    One recent example came in January 2016: Muslim leaders from around the world gathered in Marrakesh, Morocco, to consider the responsibilities of Muslims toward religious minorities living in their midst. They grounded their deliberations on the Treaty of Medina (circa 622 AD).

    The Marrakesh Declaration calls upon Muslims in politics, education and arts to develop a more just approach to those with other religious convictions. It confronts extremism, affirming “that it is unconscionable to employ religion for the purpose of aggressing upon the rights of religious minorities.”

    Anabaptists along with Christians everywhere should rejoice at this sincere effort to address a contentious, ongoing problem. “The Marrakesh Declaration has the potential to be…a powerful, peacemaking counterweight to the violent Islamic extremism embodied in groups like ISIS,” says Rick Love, founder and leader of Peace Catalyst International, who attended the Marrakesh gathering.

    The reality is that all human communities fall short of the vision God gave through Moses nearly 4,000 years ago:

    “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

    And the vision of healthy community Jesus gave 2,000 years ago:

    “‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’… ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29–31).

    A hadith from Buhkari paints a similar vision, “Of the necessity of love for the neighbour, the Prophet Muhammad ( ??? ???? ???? ???? ) said: ‘None of you has faith until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself’” (from A Common Word between Us and You).

    One concern recent initiatives the Muslim community fail to address is the question of conversion from Islam.

    James Schrag, then-executive director of Mennonite Church USA, expressed this concern in his formal response to A Common Word between Us and You (a scholarly initiative Muslims offered to Christians 2007):

    “We believe that in any society, the love of neighbour…includes respect for that person’s freedom to believe or not to believe, to choose his or her faith and religion.”

    The lordship of Jesus over all things means my first allegiance is to the Kingdom of Heaven and thus I bear witness faithfully that all people are created in the image of God and worthy to be treated with honour and value. I long for both Muslims and Christians to be transformed by the truth that Jesus really is the Saviour of the whole world.

    Together with my Iraqi friends, we are experiencing the joy of friendship, community and hospitality as we share freely and openly.

    —Jonathan Bornman is a member of Eastern Mennonite Missions’ Christian/Muslim Relations team.

     

    A voice from the Indonesia Mennonite community:

    The Jakarta Declaration is a positive signal for peace and constructive relations between Islam and Christianity, especially in a Muslim majority country like Indonesia. I hope it doesn’t remain only a declaration, but also can be realized in society. We can celebrate it as a commitment for peace among communities.

    —Danang Kristiawan is pastor of GITJ Jepara, a congregation of the Sinode Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa (Evangelical Church of Java Synod).

     

  • “There is no path, Pilgrim. The path is made by walking.” This lovely phrase by the poet Antonio Machado epitomizes my life journey, particularly the two years I sojourned in Colombia.

    Each person’s identity is marked by their family and social contexts, and other histories. To tell the truth, my identity as Rut Atarama, a Peruvian and a Mennonite Brethren, was redefined during my time of service with Mennonite Central Committee Colombia Seed program.

    For two years, I lived in the city of Ibagué: capital of the Tolima region, and considered the birthplace of the FARC (the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces). My job with the Mencoldes Foundation consisted of walking alongside of families displaced by the armed conflict in all the different processes that come with adjusting to a new life in Ibagué. I also worked with the Ibagué Mennonite church accompanying community processes. This story refers only to the church.

    As part of the call to be a positive influence in the community, the church works in a number of areas, in particular, with children and youth from communities with a high incidence of drug addiction, delinquency and poverty.

    “Teacher, what do you do when the shooting starts?” This question posed by a seven-year-old girl reveals the daily reality for these vulnerable young people. “My brother and I hide underneath the bed.”

    Due to the complexity of this violent context, it is necessary to address themes of abuse prevention, peacebuilding and values by taking a local perspective.  A group of brave professional women – Fabiola Arango, Rosa Triana, Amanda Valencia and Diana Suérez – decided to get to work and create new Christian education material for the community children and youth with whom the Ibagué Mennonite church relates.

    Praise be to God that I was called to be a part of the work of this beautiful group. A social communicator and Mennonite Brethren Peruvian woman working alongside Colombian Mennonite women made for a lovely Anabaptist fellowship opportunity!

    Structuring lessons, long conversations about thematic focuses, observations from the communities, methodological investigations, revisions and corrections, among other things, marked our meetings for more than a year. All of this remains in my memory forever. My dear friends taught me these wise words: “Children should have spaces where they can be as they are, to be free, happy, dreamers… to feel loved and valued.”

    In December, 2015, with great joy, Aguapanela!!![1]: A Christian Curriculum for Childhood and Adolescence was born. This curriculum is not only used by the church in Ibagué but also by other Anabaptist communities in Colombia.

    After finishing my time of service in Colombia, I returned to my country bringing with me good experiences, memories, stories and also new perspectives of my faith. I also brought some copies of Aguapanela and I shared them in my community with joy. Currently, the children’s program of my church Iglesia Hermanos Menonitas de Miraflores (Miraflores MB church) is using this educational material.

    I am profoundly thankful to those who have crossed my path in Colombia. Thanks to my dear friends who worked so hard on Aguapanela. Thank you for sharing your stories, passion and your faith lived out in acts of love for God and your neighbour. These have strengthened my identity – as Anabaptist, Christian and Peruvian with hints of Colombia.

    –Rut Atarama, a member of the Iglesia Cristiana Hermanos Menonitas, Miraflores. Piura, Perú (Mennonite Brethren church in Peru). 

    To find out more about the Aguapanela resource in Spanish, write to: menonita_ibg@hotmail.com or fabiola.arango@gmail.com

     

    Aguapanela!!!: A Christian Curriculum for Childhood and Adolescence

    [1] Aguapanela is a drink made from jaggery (sugar in its rawest form) that is often served at meetings or when people are sick.

     

     

  • 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.

    Meeting with César García

    After the Panama Summit, I met Cesar for the third annual meeting between Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and ICOMB. We discuss matters of mutual interest and concern. We consider MWC to be our “umbrella” global family. We always collaborate so that we don’t relate to MB national bodies in different ways, especially if there are problems.

    ICOMB is the Mennonite Brethren community – the global “denomination.” It is the end result of mission. Service to others and proclamation of the gospel are the means to establish local churches that will eventually result in a Mennonite Brethren national church – an indigenous body serving and proclaiming within their own cultural context. As the expression of the Mennonite Brethren global family, altogether we form the MB denomination as an “international community.”

    –David Wiebe

     

  • The annual Central America, Mexico and Caribbean Anabaptist Consultation (CAMCA) took place 5–9 July 2016 in the Escuela de Capacitación Adventista Salvadoreña, San Juan Opico, La Libertad, El Salvador. Fifty-nine participants came from México, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Argentina. It was organized by Sandra Campos, member of Asociación Iglesias Cristianas Menonitas de Costa Rica (Costa Rica Mennonite church) and the Executive Committee of Mennonite World Conference, and Samuel Martínez, a pastor from Iglesia Evangélica Menonita de El Salvador (El Salvador Mennonite church).

    It was a real blessing to receive helpful input for carrying out pastoral work amid current realities. The keynote speaker was pastor Gilberto Flores, with more than 40 years of pastoring experience in Central America and the United States. The overarching theme was “Responsive Pastoral Ministry for Contemporary Challenges: Re-imagining pastoral action for postmodernity.”

    Various reports were also part of the agenda. Olga Piedrasanta from Guatemala with Mary Cano and Ondina Murillo from Honduras coordinated the work and report of the “Latin American Anabaptist Women doing Theology” while Ester Bornes from Argentina facilitated a workshop called “Created Equal.”

    Agency representatives gave brief reports about programs at Seminario Anabautista Latinoamericano: SEMILLA (Latin American Anabaptist Seminary), the Central American peace network and Mennonite Central Committee. As the new Mennonite World Conference regional representative for the Central America region, Willi Hugo Pérez, rector of SEMILLA, also shared his vision for collaborative work amongst Mennonite and Anabaptist churches, organizations and church members. Participants laid hands on Pérez and prayed words of blessing and sending upon him for this important task.

    We celebrated the renewal of CAMCA and the desire to meet again in 2018 hosted by the Honduran Mennonite Church.

    Each country named a CAMCA representative who is commissioned to promote CAMCA in their churches so that more youth, women, pastors and even families start to plan to attend the next consultation. 

    Many thanks were extended to the Salvadoran Mennonite Church for receiving us with such warmth and tenderness. The participants were inspired to do their best in carrying out their pastoral duties. All experienced the presence of the Spirit of our Loving God via the presentations, studying the Word, the testimonies, praying and singing. We have returned to the words of Jesus Christ, the lamb that was slain, “I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). 

    —Jaime Prieto is from Costa Rica, married to Silvia de Lima from Brazil, and they are the parents of Thomáz Satuyé. Jaime has a PhD in Theology from the University of Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany (1992), has been a member of the Costa Rican Mennonite Church since 1971, and now belongs to the Asociación de Iglesias Evangélicas Menonitas de Costa Rica (member of MWC).

    Participants of CAMCA 2016. Photo: Andrew Boden.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A group of participants at the Latin American Anabaptist Women doing Theology event. Photo: Andrew Boden.

     

  • What comes to your mind when you hear the word hospitality? It usually reminds me of the experience I had when I visited a country in another continent.

    I thought Colombians were good hosts until a family from a different culture hosted me. It was just amazing: the amount and quality of food they offered, their tangible efforts to make me feel very welcomed, every detail in my room, their questions, their respect and readiness to serve in every possible way.

    However, more than anything else, it was their attitude that touched me. They were ready to stop all their activities and just focus their generous hearts on serving their guest.

    Hospitality is defined as the ability to pay attention to a guest. This is very difficult because we are troubled by our own needs. Our own concerns prevent us from shifting our focus from ourselves towards others. If sin is the focus of the soul on itself, as Augustine of Hippo described it, then a life without sin is one that is able to focus on others. In other words, a life of hospitality is a life with no sin.

    Jesus is the best example of what hospitality means. In his life and death on the cross, God enters into the world of human existence. Through his compassion, he focuses his attention on others instead of on himself. It is through Jesus’ suffering and brokenness that God shares the mortality, frailty and vulnerability of humanity. And then, in the book of Revelation, Jesus makes room in his glory for the multitude of all the nations that come to worship him.

    Jesus’ attitude and focus on the other brings healing to the people who have been abused, who have experienced pain and suffering. Neither the injustice of Jesus’ wounds, nor the reality of his ultimate triumph and lordship lead him to take care of himself. He is there to bring comfort, guidance and to shepherd others. Jesus has come to serve, not to be served – and this even in his glory.

    Today, when we face the crisis of refugees that we see around the world, our call to hospitality as the body of Christ invites us to reveal God’s presence in the midst of that suffering and pain. It is a call to provide hope, healing, guidance and care. It is a call to focus our attention on those that are persecuted, sick and without a home. Even though we may experience many needs and enough problems to worry about, the call to serve others is still there. Regardless of our poverty, lack of resources, disagreements, conflicts, projects and plans, the call to focus our attention on others is still there.

    That is the reason why this issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier addresses this topic. The family that received me was such a good host not only because of their culture but also because of the way in which they lived out their experience of Christ. May God lead our global community to respond to others with the same attitude, living out our experience of God according to the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ!

    —César García, MWC general secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.

    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2016.

     

  • 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.

    Fraternal visit to Platanares, Panama: 6–8 June 2016

    After a somewhat rough, very wet boat ride through rain storms and ocean waves splashing into our boat, 11 delegates from the annual ICOMB summit were welcomed warmly by Hermes and Aleida Barrigon. Their home is spacious; the food was delicious; and the fellowship connected us in Christ. 

    Associate director for Latin America appointed:

    Rudi Plett, currently the delegate from Vereinigung der Mennoniten Brüder Gemeinden Paraguays (German Mennonite Brethren church in Paraguay) and ICOMB chair, will become half-time associate director under David Wiebe. His assignment is to lead and coach the Latin America MB national churches to strengthen and connect for their greater health and capacity for mission. His other half time role is serving the missionaries in Latin America as regional team leader for MB Mission. We look forward to what God will do, since God has been working already in special ways to bring Rudi (and his wife Ruth) to this point.