Prayers of gratitude and intercession

St. Jacobs, Ontario – After four and a half years in various Mennonite World Conference staff roles, Bert Lobe will complete his service at the end of 2012.

Lobe was first appointed in May 2008 as the MWC Global Church Advocate in North America. He provided leadership in the restructuring and administration of the Global Church Sharing Fund within the Deacons Commission and was also involved with fundraising activities leading up to the 2009 MWC Assembly in Paraguay.

In the fall of 2009, Lobe was appointed as the North American Representative, which involved nurturing relationships with MWC members in North America. He had a continuing role in fundraising, related to the MWC Asia Caucus and served as liaison with Mennonite Central Committee along with other responsibilities.

“I believe the church is the best movement and institution we have!” commented Lobe. “I believe that the church is a primary vehicle for the redemption of the human community, an authentic demonstration of community which provides both hope and immense joy, along with moments of utter despair. I believe that the mystery and comprehensive wisdom of Christ is best made known through the church and this is our treasure.”

Lobe added: “Think about it – we are one people who speak in hundreds of voices but we are united as a people around one message, shaped by hundreds of contexts and experiences which animate our ever growing understanding of God.”

“It is hard to express in a couple of sentences our gratitude for what Bert has done,” commented César García, MWC General Secretary. “His energy and initiative, along with his emphasis on the church as central to the God’s salvation project, made of him a respected leader in many circles.”

García added: “Bert’s commitment to the global church went beyond his required responsibilities. Only a person who understands his work as God’s calling is able to do so. It is our prayer that the new stage in Bert’s life allows him to be a vehicle of God’s grace for many people. May joy and peace be a constant on his years ahead!”

Lobe expressed appreciation for the opportunity to work within MWC. “Be assured of my strong support into the future,” he added.

MWC release

Bogota, Colombia – Lynn Roth of Harrisonburg, Virginia, has been appointed as the North American Representative for Mennonite World Conference beginning part time in January 2013.

The appointment was announced by César García, MWC General Secretary. “Lynn’s international experience plus his years of service in Mennonite institutions and churches in North America make him an excellent representative,” said García.

“His knowledge of and love for our churches, as well as his academic and management background will enrich our global community and facilitate our vision of building a global and and interdependent community that bears witness to Christ.”

Roth is currently Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, a position he has held since 2007. He will continue in that position until June 2013 as he begins his assignment with MWC.

Prior to his work at EMU, Roth served with Mennonite Central Committee in a variety of positions: 18 years as Executive Director of MCC East Coast, four years as co-country representative for Mennonite Ministries in Botswana, and other assignments.

Roth is originally from California. His undergraduate degree from Fresno Pacific University was in Political Science. He has a Masters in Social Work from Fresno State University.

Roth and his wife, Kathleen, are members at Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, VA. They have four adult children.

“I have always felt a strong call to the ministry of the worldwide church,” commented Roth. “It is exciting to have the opportunity to work with the North American church as it engages with the worldwide community of believers.”

With his appointment, Roth succeeds Bert Lobe, who has served as MWC North American representative since 2008.

MWC release

German translation pending

Awassa, Ethiopia – The Meserete Kristos Church (MKC) hosted the 16th annual meeting of the International Missions Association (IMA) in Awassa, Ethiopia, September 18-26, 2012, on the beautiful shores of Lake Awassa.

The IMA consists of 22 Anabaptist groups dedicated to fellowship, prayer and fasting, information sharing, resourcing, and partnership for global mission, especially in places where the church is weak or nonexistent. Eighty percent of the IMA members also belong to Mennonite World Conference (MWC).

MKC chose Awassa for the 2012 meetings because it is a large regional center on its growing southern edge. The largest Anabaptist communion in the world, MKC has more than 230,000 baptized members in 726 local churches and 846 new church plants.

IMA President Yesaya Abdi from PIPKA, the mission arm of the Muria Synod of Indonesia (GKMI), opened the meetings with a meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-5, “Moving by the Spirit.”

“Entering into Jesus’ ministry is not about what we do for him but allowing him to do what he wants through us,” said Abdi as he spoke about being ankle deep in the river of God. Moments later, he spoke of being knee deep in the river and simultaneously distributed a prayer booklet containing significant facts about each of the 54 countries of Africa. He challenged the 48 international participants to pray for Africa throughout the meetings.

But he didn’t stop there. In describing what it means to be waist deep in the river, Abdi told the story of someone who was being discouraged from giving too sacrificially. In response the person pleaded, “Please give me the chance to feel the hurt of giving!”

Moved by the sacrificial giving of others, the Indonesians brought a computer to donate to the Tanzanian Mennonite Church whose offices had recently been burglarized – even though PIPKA also needed a new computer.

Yemiru Tilahun, director of missions for MKC, challenged the group to be compelled by the Holy Spirit rather than by their cultures, past experiences, busy schedules, the people around them, finances, or the contexts in which they find themselves.

“Culture is often more powerful than Jesus,” he said. “That’s why many of you are hesitating to eat injera [Ethiopian flat bread]! But the Holy Spirit is always compelling us to be free from our culture.”

The next day there was a noticeable rise in the consumption of injera!

Special features of the IMA annual meetings are the Holy Spirit in Mission Conference (HSIM) short-term ministry trips to mission locations in the hosting country, and strategic conversations for partnership and best practice in mission.

Local MKC leaders had planned a series of seven public evangelistic rallies as part of the HSIM Conference. The mayor of Awassa gave permission to hold the rallies in the large central sports arena, and at the final meeting it was estimated that more than 4,000 people were in attendance. One hundred forty people came to faith in Jesus during the rallies.

Henry Mulandi, director of African Christian Mission International (ACMI) of Kenya, spoke in the first evening rally. Mulandi noted that the Ethiopian word injera sounds like “the way” in his Kenyan Swahili. “Let’s feast on ‘the way!’” he said, using John 14:6 – Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life.

In the final rally, hundreds of people danced with abandon in praise to God. The meeting could hardly be stopped as the fervent praise went on and on. Choir B, an MKC choir from Addis Ababa which has served the church since 1973, led the worship.

“These meetings are not a flash in the pan,” said Tilahun Beyene, coordinator of the IMA and former MKC church leader. “IMA energizes the church for mission wherever we meet, and Awassa is no exception. Local leaders are already making plans for future public rallies.

Outside the large rallies, the Awassa meetings also gave birth to stimulating reflection. Nelson Okanya, EMM president with roots in Kenya, called the group to reflect on the relationship between mission and church. “As a mission entity, how do you relate with the local church? The North American church is trying to re-discover its missional soul. Is there a way for a mission agency to help with that rediscovery?”

Relation of church and mission

Okanya’s questions led to vigorous discussion about the mission structures of the IMA member groups. In some, there is almost no difference between church and mission. Javier Soler, mission leader in Amor Viviente (AV) Honduras noted, “From the beginning, mission was part of the DNA of Amor Viviente. For us, mission and church are the same. We don’t distinguish them organizationally. But now we need to insure that we don’t lose that initial missionary DNA.”

In another pattern, some churches have developed departments of missions. MKC is one such. “Our department gets a lot of our funds from donors,” said Yemiru Tilahun, director. “To be frank, it’s not perfect. Administration is not always smooth. The budgeting and activity have to go parallel with other activities of the denomination. Should we create a more separate agency for greater effectiveness and efficiency?”

MKC has recently begun promoting church-wide giving for missions at the rate of one birr [unit of Ethiopian currency] per member per month, and he finds this encouraging.

A third major pattern for some IMA members is that of a mission agency which functions under the authority of a board established by the church. This tends to create greater separation between “mission” and “church” than do the other two. EMM North America, PIPKA Indonesia, and ACMI Kenya fall into this category. This mission agency/church distinction not infrequently creates tension between mission structures and other church structures.

Okanya noted, “In the west, the evangelical church has seen the mission task as primarily a sending activity. We have set up specialist structures to guide our sending activities. Local churches have had very little to do with the mission task beyond releasing workers and finances so the specialist structures could do their specialized work. But now the local church is re-claiming its mission.”

Is one pattern better than the others? In discussion, members returned frequently to IMA’s historic stance. “We affirm diversity in mission structures,” said Richard Showalter, IMA president emeritus and chair of MWC’s mission commission. “Mission is an integral expression of every faithful church just as church is an integral expression of every faithful mission. But God is infinitely creative in the choices of structures for mission.”

David Shenk, IMA resource person and global consultant for EMM, led a series of mentoring sessions for younger mission leaders on the subject of Christian witness among persons of other major world religions. “I’m going back home with a new understanding of how to reach out to my neighbors,” said a Kenyan mission leader. “My ministry has been transformed, and I have a new life goal.”

James Krabill, Mennonite Mission Network leader and MWC Global Mission Fellowship planner, enjoyed his first visit to Ethiopia and the IMA. He joined Nelson Okanya in leading a workshop and led the group in rousing West African worship.

SIDEBAR: South-to-south support grows

In the IMA members’ assembly, coordinator Tilahun Beyene highlighted the support which comes regularly from IMA members such as PIPKA Indonesia and Amor Viviente Honduras. Referring to PIPKA, he noted that this year they gifted MKC in Ethiopia with seven brand new laptops.

A few minutes later President Abdi clarified that the seven computers were not from PIPKA as an organization, but came was a gift from his congregation, Anugerah Mennonite Church of Jakarta.

Abdi added, “I also told the church about a need God had placed on my heart for a vehicle for the mission work of MKC. So before coming to Ethiopia we also raised money to buy a van for them. God provided the van through the local church and its mission agency PIPKA!”

It was a holy moment. Yemiru Tiluhun, mission director for MKC, could hardly believe his years. Just weeks earlier he had written to a western friend in IMA to share the desperate need for a vehicle for MKC missions. “I administer 140 missionaries on behalf of the churches,” he said, “but I am reduced to being a pedestrian. Please pray with me. We need a car.”

A group of six Indonesians had accompanied Abdi to the meetings, enjoying the international fellowship and experiencing the Ethiopian church.

Witnessing this south-to-south interchange, Richard Showalter, chair of the mission commission of MWC and IMA coach, said, “From its beginning IMA was formed to be a group of peers in mission‚Äînorth, south, east, and west coming together. It’s thrilling to see that happen before our eyes. We might have expected funds for a vehicle to come from Europe or the United States, but God provided from the south!”

Beyene also recognized EMM for its generous support of IMA. “Even during the hard times from 2008-2011, EMM did not restrict the support it gave to IMA. Every year EMM budgets $15,000. Not only that, but as our nesting agency EMM’s services are used freely. They also give quarter-time support for me as coordinator,” he said.

SIDEBAR: Missional Stories

As always at IMA gatherings, stories and testimony dominated both the formal and informal conversations. Pastor Tetty Sinulingga of Indonesia said, “I was a government worker, and I loved my job. It was a good one. But after 15 years God spoke to me to leave it. This meant giving up my future. God spoke to me through Numbers 20, “Speak to the rock, and water will come out.” That gave me courage to resign from my job and work for God full time.” Since then Sinulingga, a PIPKA missionary, has planted numerous churches in Sumatra.

Bishop Henry Mulandi of Kenya described a Kenyan missionary, Benson, or “Desert Boy” who was trained in an ACMI school. “After leaving school he started planting churches among the Turkana, (a nomadic desert tribe). Now he has 550 churches that meet under trees. My recent trip to visit Benson was unforgettable‚ÄîI’ve never seen such churches, such joy.” Mulandi said these young Turkana churches are now also sending their own missionaries to neighboring tribes.

At the end of the IMA meetings, Paul Kimani, an ACMI missionary from Kenya to South Sudan, shared a story from his IMA ministry team just that week. When they ministered in a village about 50 miles outside of Awassa they met a man who followed them from the town center to the church. He sat in the back, but at the altar call came forward to give his life to Jesus.

The man shared his story with the IMA team: “My village is six kilometers away. Just now I’m coming from prison in Awassa. I was in prison because I killed two people and two horses. I was returning from prison for revenge.

“I was going to kill all the members of my family because they didn’t visit me in prison. But now, something has changed in my heart. I have never before knelt for anyone, this was the first time. I’m going back home now. I’m going to tell my family, ‘If you kill me, okay, but I am a changed person.’”

MWC distribution of news release by International Missions Association

Photo: International guests and participants at the recent IMA meetings in Awassa, Ethiopia, pose with hand woven stoles from their Ethiopian hosts. Photo by Javier Soler

Word count: 1,976

Cuttack, India—Indian and Asian women theologians officially formed two networks on October 26, 2012, at the All India Mennonite Women Conference (AIMWC) in Cuttack, India.

Twenty women theologians participated from India, Indonesia, Japan and Nepal. Following the declaration of formation, Rev. Yukari Kaga of Hokkaido, Japan, preached about hope and self-confidence in the midst of suffering and loss.

Rev. Rachel Bagh, assistant professor at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India, initiated the formation of an India Mennonite Women Theologians network, while Cynthia Peacock, with the approval of the MWC Asia Caucus, initiated the Asia Anabaptist Women Theologians network. Both Bagh and Peacock took the opportunity to form these networks at the time of the All India Mennonite Women Conference, where women theologians from India, Nepal, Japan and Indonesia would be present.

Peacock explained, “While the program was conducted in a manner where all were present together, in reality they are now two networks that will begin working separately, though Indian women will be part of the Asian network.”

Bagh noted, “It is high time that theologically trained women get organized in India. Africa and Latin America have women theologian networks, but we have not had one. We want to learn from other women in the world.”

“Our dream needed a channel to be fulfilled,” Bagh said. While studying in the peacebuilding program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., Bagh received support through Mennonite Women USA’s International Women’s Fund for church leadership training for women. When MW USA co-director Rhoda Keener visited with her in Virginia in 2008, Bagh shared with Keener her dream of establishing a network for Indian women theologians.

In 2010, Mennonite World Conference commissioned Cynthia Peacock, chair of the MWC Deacons Commission, to promote a network for Asian women theologians. Peacock and Keener both contacted Bagh in 2008, encouraging her to begin the formation of a network.

A steering committee then developed the mission, vision, criteria and activities of the proposed networks. Elisabeth Kunjam, youth leader and former student at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., said, “The birth of these networks is a dream come true for me in working toward empowerment of women.

Rev. Wara Adiati of Indonesia said, “If women theologians can connect with each other, we can support each other and be better equipped to serve.”

Peacock stated, “I believe and hope that this is opening doors for women to become more involved in the church and to use their gifts for the extension of God’s kingdom and to help people experience spiritual growth.”

The mission of the Indian and Asian women theologians: to empower, enable and utilize gifts and skills of theologically trained women; and to equip, edify and build the body of Christ in God’s reconciliation and healing ministry in and through the church, to the society.

To be part of the networks, women must have had theological training or studied for a minimum of six months through any recognized college or seminary either by residential study or extension. The organization will seek recognition as a group from Mennonite World Conference in the near future.

News release by Mennonite Women USA

Nairobi, Kenya – Mennonite bishops from Kenya and Tanzania formed a mission board during their annual meeting, held in August at the Mennonite Guest House. “We are no longer churches which just receive missionaries, but churches which send missionaries,” the church leaders stated.

EMM has a 78-year history of working with churches in East Africa. “It is immensely satisfying to see this expression of the churches’ maturity and passion for missions,” said Aram DiGennaro, EMM’s regional representative for East Africa.

The new mission board, named International Mennonite Mission of East Africa, or IMMEA, reflects the bishops’ conviction that East Africans have what it takes to do missions on their continent.

Leaders agreed that their churches must become more overtly missional. Their first step will be to create a missions training program.

To stimulate passion for missions, the leaders are introducing the concept of a “Year of Service for Christ” into their churches, with a goal to train 100 people as disciple-makers by the end of 2013.

A committee of three – Bishop Philip Okeyo and Pastor Rebecca Osiro of Kenya Mennonite Church, and Bishop Christopher Ndege of Tanazania Mennonite Church – will take responsibility for the ongoing development of IMMEA. Both churches are members of Mennonite World Conference.

From EMM release by Debbi DiGennaro

Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico—Delegates from the six national church conferences that form Iglesia Anabautista Menonita Unida de México (IAMUM, United Anabaptist Mennonite Church of Mexico) gathered here August 2–5 for their third assembly. The meeting drew nearly 120 participants from around Mexico as well as from Colombia, the U.S. and Canada.

Ricardo Esquivia, a Mennonite peace leader from Colombia, provided biblical teaching and reflection on the theme ”Be and Act as a Church that Works for Justice and Peace.”

Much of the teaching was focused on the church’s call within contexts of violence. “If we do nothing against violence, we are responsible for the violence that exists,” said Esquivia, whose work has put his own life in danger.

Delegates committed themselves to two goals: working together toward having an official, united voice both inside the church and in relation to the broader Mexican government and society; and developing ways to support victims of violence and help prevent violence.

The IAMUM delegates also recognized a need for a deeper understanding of their own history and Anabaptist theology as essential for the living of one’s faith.

From IAMUM reports

Kitchener, Ontario—Arli Klassen of Kitchener, Ontario began serving as Development Manager for Mennonite World Conference (MWC) beginning October 1, 2012.

Until May or June of 2013, she will work half time with responsibilities for MWC fundraising and donor relations in North America. Then her role could become full time with fundraising responsibilities not only in North America but also in other parts of the world.

“I am passionate about the global church,” commented Klassen. “We don’t understand God fully,” she added, “until we get to know people from other cultures and hear about their understanding of God.”

“It’s not enough to relate to other cultures within your own city,” said Klassen. “We need to learn from other cultures in their own distinct and different settings.”

Her leadership positions with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for the past 12 years have given Klassen many opportunities to be in contact with parts of the global church. From 2008 through March of 2012, she served as MCC Executive Director, based in Akron, Pennsylvania. While in this position, she represented MCC at the annual meeting of the MWC Executive Committee.

When announcing Klassen’s appointment, César García, MWC General Secretary, said he was pleased and excited to have her join the staff team. “When I met Arli several years ago, her interest in walking with those who suffer in the global church impacted me. I remember her arriving at an MWC meeting with a clear position about a decision to be made there. However, during the discussion she was sensitive to the diversity of global voices. She was able to build new ways and possibilities as a result of such intercultural exchange. Her availability to listen to the global church and her interest in it is something I appreciate and welcome in our global family.”

Klassen’s earlier experience includes eight years (1999-2007) as Executive Director of MCC Ontario, Assistant Director of the MCC Africa Program, Connecting Peoples Resource Person with MCC and a time of service in Lesotho, Africa.

“I had dabbled in fundraising in my Executive Director work,” commented Klassen. She said that since leaving her position with MCC, she had been looking for a fundraising role with some organization that matched her interests and commitments.

Klassen said she is looking forward to talking with people about the value and importance of global relations which are made possible through MWC—not only through the large assemblies every six years but through many other points of contact. “We need each other,” she emphasized.

MWC release

The North American Mennonite history, the fifth and final volume in the Global Mennonite History Series, was released in late September 2012. Seeking Places of Peace by Royden Loewen and Steven M. Nolt, completes the Mennonite World Conference History Series, which has been overseen by historians John A. Lapp and C. Arnold Snyder.

The new 400-page book is organized into three sections: “Settling in North America, 1683-1950,” “Integrating in North America, 1930-1980,” and “Growing in North America, 1960-2010.”

“Authors Loewen and Nolt are both masters of the North American story, and they have charted a fresh journey through remarkably diverse experiences,” say Series editors Lapp and Snyder. “They both bring the insights of social history, which means that they focus on people in many geographical environments rather than on institutional development and theological controversy.”Royden Loewen is Professor of History, with a Chair in Mennonite Studies, at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba. Steven M. Nolt is Professor of History at Goshen College, in Goshen, Indiana.

Together, they describe their task as writers of this inclusive and sweeping history as “seeking to answer a single question: How did Mennonite men and women live out their distinctive religious calling to follow Christ in North America?

“The answer is that they did so as ordinary people, in everyday life. In their lives they often aimed for holiness, neatness and orderliness, but the fact is that life is not always neat, it is never sin-less, and indeed it is often messy. There have been joys and tears, moments of achievement and times of failure.”

John A. Lapp remarks about the book, “Readers will find fresh information and new insight on virtually every page. The tone is positive but quite honest. This is a significant contribution to North American church history. Seeking Places of Peace deserves wide reading and study in congregations and classes on Mennonite history and life.”

Co-published by Good Books in the U.S. and Pandora Press in Canada, the book is available in the U.S. by calling Good Books at (1) 800-762-7171. The book is available in Canada by calling Pandora Press at (1) 866-696-1678.

The first four volumes in the Global History Series, available from the same publishers are: Anabaptist Songs in African Hearts (2003); Testing Faith and Tradition (2006, Europe); Migration and Mission (2010, Latin America); and Churches Engage Asian Traditions (2011).

– Phyllis Pellman Good

In 100 years, the Communauté Mennonite au Congo has thrived, growing to include 110,000 members, 798 congregations, 95 schools and seven hospitals.

Tshikapa, Democratic Republic of Congo—Fifty-some young musicians walked nearly 160 kilometerscarrying their drums, luggage and a few babies to attend the centennial celebration of Communauté Mennonite au Congo – CMCO (Mennonite Community in Congo), July 16–22. For a week, the choir members from Djoko Punda, one of the first Mennonite mission stations in this central African country, traveled along rugged paths through forests and savannas, crossing rivers on make-shift bridges and spending nights in school rooms.

Chorale Grand Tam-Tam (Big Drum Chorale) arrived in Tshikapa, the headquarters of this Mennonite denomination, to lead Mennonites from three continents in praise for “100 years of evangelization and cultural encounters”, the CMCO tagline for the occasion.

In his opening address, the CMCO president, Adolphe Komuesa Kalunga, named weaknesses and failures in the missionary approach of those who came to Congo through Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and its predecessor agencies in his historical overview of Mennonite history in Congo – paternalism, a heavy focus on the spiritual with less concern for conditions that oppressed the Congolese people, and a reluctance to trust the Congolese church with financial management.

However, Komuesa also acknowledged with gratitude these same missionaries, hundreds of them, who were faithful to God’s call to share the good news Jesus – braving sickness, a harsh climate, difficult living conditions and political instability. Komuesa asked the gathered assembly to stand for a moment of silence to remember all the Mennonites who sacrificed their lives in obedience to Christ’s call.

In his concluding address, Komuesa said, “I salute those missionaries who gave of their youth and their lives for our country. I also render homage to their descendants who are still laboring for the welfare of our church. Let all of them know how grateful we are.”

Missionary accomplishments were only possible because Congolese people worked hand-in-hand with their brothers and sisters from the North America, Komuesa said, in congratulation to his church for their solidarity.

Today, CMCO is a member of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission that brings together eight partners, including Mennonite Mission Network.

Approximately 400 participants gathered for the final worship service on Sunday, July 22. Many of them held candles lighted in celebration of CMCO’s birthday.

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the second century that begins today, take care of our church,” was Komuesa’s birthday wish, as the candles were extinguished as a symbol of the end of CMCO’s first centennial anniversary.

During the week-long celebration, CMCO’s story was communicated in many forms – through original songs in the tradition of griots (singer-historians), through a book of short biographies of early Congolese Mennonites, through a PowerPoint program presented by François Tshidimu Mukendi – Mennonite pastor and historian, and through many examples in sermons and testimonies.

“CMCO has been doing God’s work for 100 years starting in 1912,” sang the Chorale Evangélique Mennonite de Dibumba (Evangelical Mennonite Choir of Dibumba). “Today, we are here to thank God. Now, we are many Mennonites. May we work in unity to spread the good news of Jesus.”

In succeeding verses, the choir went on to describe how eight mission stations were built.

Today, although some of the mission station buildings have crumbled into disrepair, the church has thrived, growing to include 110,000 members, 798 congregations, 95 schools and seven hospitals, according to a conference given by Anastasie Tshimbila, a professor at the Mennonite Bible institute in Kalonda, about five miles from Tshikapa.

The most passionate debate at the celebration centred on the decision to ordain women. Of the three Mennonite denominations in Congo, CMCO was the only one still denying ordination to women. La Communauté des Frères Mennonites au Congo (the Mennonite Brethren Church) ordained its first woman pastor in 2000. Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (the Evangelical Mennonite Church) was preparing to ordain its first woman pastor a few days after the end of CMCO’s centennial celebration.

Komuesa was given the mandate for his second six-year term as CMCO president just hours before the centennial festivities began, as the annual general assembly concluded around 2 a.m. on July 15.

Among Komuesa’s accomplishments in his first tenure was the construction of a welcome centre, which includes a large conference room, a dining room and kitchen, and three dormitory blocks. The new facilities enabled CMCO to receive 30 delegates from three continents representing eight Mennonite agencies (see sidebar). Because the centre is within walking distance from the airport, CMCO hopes that it can be used as a guest house to generate income for the church.

The welcome centre was a collaborative effort that included Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, CMCO, building teams from Mennonite Church USA congregations and Arnold Harder, who traveled to Congo four times for a total of six months of volunteer service to facilitate the construction process.

Executive coordinator of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, Rod Hollinger-Janzen, coordinated the international component of the Congolese anniversary event. He said that the experience communicated how profound relationships within the body of Christ can be. He was moved by the affirmation that choirs from different ethnic groups – Tshokwe, Lulua and Pende – gave each other. People, who had been feuding a few decades ago, were now singing about being brothers and sisters.

“This was one way the centennial celebration became an avenue for CMCO members to reaffirm their unity in Christ, and accept their ethnic diversity as a positive and creative reality,” Hollinger-Janzen said. “Our international delegation was also told in many different ways how important it was that we had come.”

Hollinger-Janzen said that CMCO leaders and members repeatedly expressed the desire to continue to nurture fraternal relationships and to partner with the church conferences and agencies which had worked together to plant Mennonite churches in Congo.

International agencies represented at the centennial celebration included: Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission; Fellowship of Evangelical Churches; Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Church USA; Mennonite Church Canada; Mennonite World Conference; Mennonite Central Committee; and the Francophone Network (serving the global French-speaking Anabaptist community).

Written for Mennonite World Conference by Lynda Hollinger-Janzen, a writer for Mennonite Mission Network of Mennonite Church USA.

Photos

Menno Simons’ favorite verse was chosen for the cloth commemorating the centennial of Communauté Mennonite au Congo – CMCO (Mennonite Community in Congo). The eight original mission stations of, what is today, Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, are also printed on the cloth. Photo by James Krabill.

Adolphe Komuesa Kalunga, Communauté Mennonite au Congo – CMCO (Mennonite Community in Congo). Photo by James Krabill.

In collaboration with Mennonite World Conference, the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism at Goshen (Indiana, USA) College is launching a two-part research initiative.

Combining data and personal stories, organizers hope to develop a more accurate understanding of the MWC constituency specifically and global Anabaptism generally.

“We’re trying to provide a sort of X-ray of our body in a way that could help local church leaders have a better perspective of their own groups as they set priorities,” said John D. Roth, the research leader and professor of history at Goshen College.

Both parts — the Global Anabaptist Profile and the Bearing Witness Stories Project — will require years of research. Both are independently funded. Conrad Kanagy is serving as associate director.

At the MWC General Council gathering May 20-26 in Basel, Switzerland, the MWC Faith and Life Commission agreed to serve as a reference group for the Global Anabaptist Profile.

Roth plans to invite 25 MWC-related groups to participate in the survey of topics such as demographics, beliefs and practices.

The profile could also help MWC discern how best to serve its members.

North Americans often conduct their own surveys, he said, “but we haven’t really pursued them in the global context.”

The Global Anabaptist Profile will be based partly on a survey led by Conrad Kanagy and Richard Showalter among churches that relate to Eastern Mennonite Missions.

At an MWC Executive Committee meeting in May 2011, a proposal for the profile was approved — provided that it not be dominated by theological and cultural questions that come only from the Global North. Roth is sensitive to this concern.

The original project proposal suggested randomly selecting 25 church groups to participate. After consultation with MWC, Roth is now opening up participation to any interested group and will likely coordinate the project with Mennonite mission agencies.

MWC member groups can contact Roth and express interest.

Rather than just extracting information, Roth said he hopes the profile can invite diverse groups into shared conversation.

“At its best, the profile can deepen a sense of shared identity and fuller recognition of our diversity,” he said.

Coinciding with this mostly quantitative research is the Bearing Witness Stories Project, a gathering of personal accounts of costly discipleship and suffering.

Anabaptists have a long tradition of remembering events by telling stories, evidenced in part by the book Martyrs Mirror.

This new project will collect “accounts of Christian faithfulness in the face of adversity among Anabaptist-Mennonite groups since 1685 and among groups around the world today,” Roth said.

To give further clarity on how the stories will be used and to address challenges of the project, Roth and Gerald Mast, professor of communication at Bluffton (Ohio) University, are convening a consultation. “Bearing Witness: A New Martyrs Mirror for the 21st Century” will be held Aug. 5-8 at Goshen College.

By Sheldon C. Good, assistant editor, Mennonite World Review

Distributed by permission of Mennonite World Review