Unity in Christ should enable us to recognize and celebrate ethnic diversity, not sublimate it.
Until the Low German network learns to share power with those outside the circle, we will not be free. BY
Journey of curiosity
The path one Mennonite Brethren took from "sameness" to an appreciation for "otherness."
JANET E. BOLDT
A misinterpretation of "Ham's Curse" in Genesis 9 has hurt black-skinned people at home and abroad. BY NZASH LUMEYA
Seven practical things parents can do to point the next generation in the right direction. BY SPENCER PERKINS
• Matters of time
• The great gospel mystery
the Journey
• Surprised by love
by Philip Wiebe
20
Jim Holm
by Rose Buschman 22
• Jesus's order to carry a sword / The state between death and afterlife
• SPECIAL FOCUS: Our growing 'adoption option' 25
• Congress thwarts threat of litigation 29
• Rempel to join MBBS faculty 30
• Former Tabor College president dies 31
• The editors' top 10 news stories for '95 32
• MBBS speakers call for racial healing 34
• Racism: The shoe fits
ART CREDITS: Page 6, Alan Cliburn; pages 9, 70 and 78, Jim Whitmer; pages 7 7, 74 and 76, Cleo Freelance Photography,' pages 72 and 79, Skjold Photography,' page 25, Lincoln Hills Bible Church; page 27, FPC photo by Melissa Waltershield,' page 28, Good News Fellowship,' pages 32 and 33, Leader staff photos.
ABOUT THE COVER: Tim Ladwig, a free-lance artist from Wichita, Kan., created the image. For 75 years, he worked as an inner-city missionary with World Impact. He says, "As I worked on this illustration, it occurred to me that the central figure needed to receive the help of another in order to be freed. I thought it was probably more difficult for this figure to receive help (from the figure on his right) than to give help (to the figure on his left). This seemed to be true from my own attempts to become 'unshackled. II'
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Categorical
Racism, identity and the possibility of change
by lODY MILLER SHEARER
FIVE BUSINESS EMPLOYEES in a diversity seminar finished their sweet potato pie and exclaimed over the wonderful meal. Conversation slowly turned from cholesterol counting to bean counting. Quotas came next. Then, affirmative action.
"It only makes us think of ourselves as categories, not people," said one.
"But I think of myself first as a woman," said another, a sentiment quickly echoed by her friend, also a white woman.
"Yes, I am first Latino," said the man across the table. His partner, also Latino, nodded his head.
The first speaker shook his head, "No, I am a human being first and foremost. You can call me a white male if you want. But that is not how I think of myself. Those categories divide. They don't bring us together."
The business world is not the Christian world. Followers of Christ declare a common allegiance and shared identity which place greater demands on us than any federal program. The biblical call to reconciliation an. 17:22-23, Eph. 2: 19-22, 2 Cor. 5:17-19 and elsewhere) is clear and uncompromising. We are meant to be one.
This identity, claimed in the midst of the waters of baptism, is built upon the promise that by Jesus's blood there have been "ransomed for God, saints from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Rev. 5:9). That vision of all God's children joined together in praise and adoration offers hope to the world.
But wait! The inclusion of categories (tribe, language, people, nation) in one of the most clearly rendered drawings of Christian unity seems out of place. Shouldn't the vision of this unified com-
ference boards all but five have "traditional" (read white, Dutch-Russian) Mennonite Brethren names. He notes that at one point, "the only nominees for one board position were three pastors named Klassen."
In a similar vein, Juan Martinez notes in the January 1995 issue of the Christian Leader, "Latinos have found that the German-Russian ties are so strong that they never feel at home." Likewise, Connie Faber notes that Mennonite Brethren "foreign" mission included work ainong Latinos in the United States. Even though the Dutch-Russians had been in the United States for less time than the
Latinos they worked among, the missionaries' identification with the larger white culture undergirded their assumption that they were the norm by which others would be judged.
Still again, in the Mennonite Brethren world and elsewhere, the most popular schools of church growth have promoted the homogenous unit, or "like-with-like." All too clearly, we are told that growth comes most "effectively" through planting churches where people can feel comfortable with people like themselves. A part of me nods my head to this comforting message. I don't need to move beyond my safety zones.
Test your P.Q. (Prejudice Quotient)
1. True or False: More than 20 cent of Mennonites believe it is preferable for blacks and whites not to mingle socially.
2. North American Mennonite wor ship services are conducted in at least languages.
a.9
b. 14
c.24
3. True or False: Ninety percent of all sports in America are dominated by white people.
4. In which city did 25 Mennonite men form a section of the Nationalist Party of Canada, a pro-Nazi organization, during the 1940s?
a. Elmira, Ont.
b.Winkler, Man.
c. Rosthern, Sask.
5. Who are you most likely to be victimized by?
a. A person of another race.
b. A person of your own race.
c. Race is not a factor.
6. In which country were people of
Japanese descent rounded up and put in detention camps in spite of military opposition?
a. China.
b. Canada.
c. United States.
7. Which group was referred to by the media as "misguided youths"?
a. Boys from Howard Beach, N.Y., who killed one man and beat two others for being in their neighborhood after dark.
b. Boys from New Jersey who gang-
raped a special education student.
c. Boys from East Harlem, New York City, who assaulted and raped a woman jogging in New York's Central Park.
8. Chances that a white suspect pictured on a network TV evening news program will be shown in police custody are 1 in 6. Chances that a black suspect will be are:
a. 1 in 9.
b. 1 in 6.
c. 1 in 3.
ANSWERS:
1. True. Twenty-three percent of all Mennonite groups combined believe it is preferable for blacks and whites not to mingle socially. (Mennonite )}losaic, Herald Press, 1991)
2.North American Mennonite worship services are conducted in at least 24 languages.
3. True. Ninety percent of sports (including auto racing, baseball, basketball, diving, football, golf, hockey, horse racing, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball and water polo) in America are dominated by white people. (TimesPicayune, Aug. 17, 1993)
4. b. In Winkler, Man., during the 1940s
we were returning from a nearby church and Dylan asked, "Daddy, why do you talk so much about racism?" Zachary echoed his brother, "Yes, why racism?" I had to laugh because Zachary had a difficult time pronouncing the word. It sounded like "erasers sum."
I tried to explain to them how racism hurts all God's children, how God gave us a wonderful gift of diversity, how we have sometimes thrown it away. I told them racism makes it possible for institutions to harm people of color and no one says they're sorry. I also talked about the many times friends of ours have been shut out and excluded right here in our Anabaptist community.
Maybe they understood, maybe they didn't.
As we drove home through the rich darkness
of a November night, I kept thinking about Zachary's mispronunciation, "erasers sum." He had it right. Racism works to erase the sum of God's creation. Racism tries to tell us only one identity is good, wise, able to hold power. All other groups need to be erased. The sum is diminished. We move further from the vision of the New Jerusalem. We step back from holy ground. We dare not get too close.
We might be changed.
jody Miller Shearer is a staff associate for racism awareness with Mennonite Central Committee U.S. His book, Enter the River: Healing Steps from White Privilege Toward Racial Reconciliation, was published by Herald Press in 1994.
Change begins one person, one step at a time
How DO WE BEGIN to dismantle the racism within ourselves?
Here are a few starting points, with suggested resources to help you along the way:
1. Enter into worship:
• "Racism: A Worship Resource Packet." Mennonite Central Committee. An extensive collection of litanies, readings, sermon outlines, scriptural reflections and other materials suitable for worship settings in both Canada and the U.S. Available from U.S., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA (717) 3889.
2. Spend time in study:
• Barndt, Joseph. Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Fortress, 1991.
• Matthias, Dody S. Workingfor Life: Dis1nantling Racism. Lima, Ohio: Fairway Press, 1990. Available from Dody Matthias, P.O. Box 820, Valley Forge, PA 19482; 1 (800) 8289093.
• Shearer, Jody Miller. Enter the River: Healing Steps from White Privilege Toward Racial tion. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1994.
3. Watch a video:
• "Beyond the News: Racism." Jerry L. Holsopple. Harrisonburg, Va.: Mennonite Media Productions, 1993. Available from Mennonite Media Ministries, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; (800) 999-3534.
• "Free Indeed: Of White Privileges and How We Play the Game." Mennonite Central Committee. A dramatic portrayal of White young adults playing a prerequisite card game about white privileges prior to doing a work project with a Black church. Available from MCC at the addresses above.
4. Ask lots of questions:
• Where do our offerings go?
• How are people, angels, religious figures depicted in OUf Sunday school curricula?
• In our giving projects do we make attempts to enter into the lives of the people we work with?
• Do we consider supporting financially those racial justice efforts led by people of color?
• Do we structure our governing and mission boards to ensure more than token representation of people of color?
• Do we spend time in acts of charity that leave us feeling good but do not change the way power is distributed in society?
• Do we ask that our pastors preach about the reality of racism and white privilege on a regular basis?
• Do we pray for release from this oppression?
5. Follow the Spirit's leadership from there.
•
Who ? Us, racist?
An inability to share power with those outside the Low German circle speaks for itself
by KATIE FUNK WIEBE
HAT SIGN OR SYMBOL proves to a hispanic Mennonite Brethren that he is a full-fledged brother in the church?
Make that a Slavic woman or even an African-American. How do they know when they are truebrothers and sisters with Mennonite Brethren of Russian-Germanic "Low German" stock and not a subgroup?
The pulse of the Mennonite Brethren, until recent years, has been the General Conference and the district conferences. To be nominated for a conference committee means you are on the way to being in. To be elected means you are in. At the congregational level, the pulse beats strongest where decision-making takes placechurch councils, elder and pastoral ministries boards.
We've enjoyed tremendous growth in hispanic and Slavic churches, particularly on the West Coast. Why don't we bring them and those living among us into full fellowship at the local and various conference levels in greater numbers? Their absence in leadership roles points to a racist attitude among us. We still worship a tribal god with Low German traits.
No one likes to be called racist. ]ody Miller Shearer states in Enter the River, people are not racist simply by holding prejudices. Everyone holds prejudices. But when people with power enforce their prejudices, they are racists. In our denomination, those whose roots are in the Low German culture most often have access to the institutional power required to enforce their prejudices. In other words, they enjoy ethnic Mennonite Brethren privilege. And use it.
Voices from the inside
Numerous study papers have been prepared in recent years on the topic of Mennonite Brethren and culture. Several writers acknowledge unwillingness among the ethnic majority to share power with emerging churches.
•A challenge to the Mennonite Brethren is "incorporation of non-German/Russians into the
leadership, both of the local church and the conference .... But let us freely admit that in crossing this threshold we need help." -Elmer Martens, former MB Biblical Seminary professor
• "How can we organize a conference in which all the churches have equal say? The central issue here is one of power and the willingness of the older Teutonic churches to share it." -Paul G. Hiebert, anthropologist and missions consultant
• "Because the Mennonite Brethren lack selfconfidence, they try to hide their ethnicity and they overemphasize ethnicity without being aware they are doing so. In both situations, the outer boundaries between 'insiders' and 'outsiders' continue because the inner boundaries of the group
remain consistent." -Miriam E. Warner, professor of anthropology, San Jose State University
• "We are free to suspect that a significant number of choice members are hurt by their inability to enter the ascribed level of membership shared by the [Low German] members despite their full participation in the beliefs, mission, and management of the 'public' congregation"-Delbert Wiens, professor ofphilosophy, Fresno Pacific College
The threat of evangelistic success
handful of conference committee members, perhaps 5 percent of senior pastors, and about 15 to 20 percent of the church membership (excluding Quebec and North Carolina) are not [Low German] Mennonites, the dominance and pervasiveness of Mennonite ethnicity in the MB congregations in North America remain firmly entrenched," said John Redekop, professor at Trinity Western University at a 1988 symposium based on the 1987 publication of his provocative book A People Apart: Ethnicity and the Mennonite Brethren (Kindred).
wanted when I
A minority church leader once said, "I know I'm Apparently we don't need people of color as leaders or they'd be visible in leadership.
Our racism has roots that stretch back to the early days of Mennonite Brethren outreach. After evangelistJ.B. Siemens (1876-1930) had reported at a district conference about mission work among the Oklahoma Indians, a listener said to him, "Don't go. In the end they might be converted, and what shall we do then?" The dire thought had hit this man that the converted Comanches might want to join his congregation. And maybe teach his children in Sunday school, marry his daughters, and become a member of the church council. Perhaps even preach.
In earlier years, converts among the Comanche Indians at Post Oak, the Jews in Winnipeg, the Russians in North Dakota and Saskatchewan, and later, the know I'm needed." Sioux Indians in South Dakota and the Indians of British Columbia were expected to develop their own churches. Even if they were called Mennonite Brethren, they were not considered "real Mennonite Brethren" to whom one entrusted the work of leading the kingdom of God within the broader conference fold.
To be converted and baptized-even by immersion-did not yet mean the believer was a Mennonite Brethren. That was reserved for those with a Low German background. Mennonite Brethren never consciously intended to bring people of color from the community into the church that would sit on the same pew, year in and year out, and share in the full work of the church-preaching, leading, making decisions about polity and theology, and using their spiritual gifts in the building up of the body of Christ.
Mennonite Brethren have seldom accepted a non-Low German person as moderator of the General or major district conferences. "Although a
A minority church leader once said, "I know I'm wanted when I know I'm needed." Apparently we don't need people of color as leaders or they'd be visible in leadership. We feel most comfortable when people from the original Low German stock lead us.
"I think it's plain prejudice and bias," said Loyal Funk, u.S. Director of evangelism and church planting only four yearsago in a Christian Leader interview. The prejudice, he adds, is both racial and socioeconomic. "There's no question that it exists among us."
The myth of inclusion
Yet we live with the myth that our ethnoreligiosity is not a problem. We say we welcome people of color to our congregations. We're not racist. We've gradually stripped ourselves of our Mennonite Brethren ethnicity over the years, layer by layer, to make outsiders more welcome. Here's our boasting list:
• We do not expect newcomers to learn to speak Low German or go on a diet of zwieback andpluma moos. We'd have to admit that for a long time we used language as a fence to protect ourselves from the world. No more. Most of our own children would fail the test if language and food were the shibboleths of Mennonite Brethren identity.
• We don't expect newcomers to have names like Reimer, Penner and Schmidt. We know that kinship ties and common experience are no longer a good indication of who is or isn't a Mennonite Brethren. Once that was true, but no more.
• Some congregations have ditched Mennonite Brethren/Anabaptist distinctives to show their openness to people who do not grasp the significance of these doctrines.
• Likewise, some congregations have dispensed with the cumbersome and archaic label "Mennonite Brethren Church" and with it all the
other Mennonite baggage as a sign of their being free of Low German encumbrances.
Yet getting rid of language, food, peace theology, denominational name, history-anything that has connections to Low German roots-still doesn't get at the key issue, which is an unwillingness to share power. We aren't yet ready to hand over the ownership of the Mennonite Brethren Church to people, regardless of how strong and pure their faith, who can't trace their roots to the early "brethren" who struggled in southern Russia in 1860 to gain doctrinal purity coupled with discipleship.
How do we build a single Mennonite Brethren conference in which hispanics, Indians, Chinese, Slavics, Europeans, and others have an equal place and where Paul's word to the Colossians is true: "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (Col. 3: II)? For Paul, keeping people at the fringes was a spiritual concern. It was a sin.
For Paul, keeping people at the fringes was a spiritual concern. It was a sin.
"Sociologically, segregation leads to oppression and injustice. The dominant society uses the minority groups for its own purposes, but refuses to admit them into full membership in the society We need to consciously restructure our conference so as to give leaders in new churches respect, a voice and power .... As long as our ethnicity is our deepest identity, our churches will not grow," said Paul Hiebert at the Fresno symposium.
Enlarging our identity
How can we give people from the emerging churches a voice and power? First, of course, there has to be a willingness to do so.
• We could give the topic of racism and racial prejudice more visibility on congregational and conference agendas. It came up once in 1963 at a General Conference convention when a committee produced an all-encompassing statement. Follow-up has been hard to trace.
• We could commission a study guide on the topic of racism as it relates to our congregations.
• We could openly celebrate all ethnicitiesincluding our Low German ethnicity. The strange
thing is that even as we work hard to downplay that ethnicity, we plant churches among distinct ethnic groups and encourage them to keep their customs.
The basis for this strategy is, of course, the "homogenous unity" theory of church growth: People like to "become Christians without crossing racial, linguist or class barriers." Which, in our case, works out to the anomaly that we encourage other ethnic groups to keep their own language and cultural customs, but we want to get rid of our own because we see them as a hindrance to evangelism and church growth.
• At the General Conference convention, we could devote an entire evening to celebrating emerging ethnic churches and allowing them to share their vision. To let go of ownership of these evening programs would be real evidence of humility and readiness to share power.
• We could follow the example of our youth who have subsidized representation for minorities at the national youth conference for years. Last spring's event was especially significant with an extra effort to include new Slavic youth. We could start a travel fund for people from emerging churches to attend conferences so that conference-attenders learn to know them by name and by face.
• We could establish a position on each board for a minority person as the Pacific District Conference has done.
• We could work more deliberately at building and creating a people of God from diverse groups. "Unless we move to a larger peoplehood, we will stagnate," writes Delbert Wiens (Direction 1988). Without a strong theology of peoplehood as a covenanting body of Christ that includes all races, both sexes, all ages, all social levels-taught, modeled, preached-our Low German identity keeps us racist.
"The time for action is rapidly running out," John Redekop writes. How and where should the sharing of power begin? •
Katie Funk Wiebe is a frequent contributor to the Christian Leader. She is a member of First MB Church, Wichita, Kan.
RACISM
"proper" white college student who was out to change the world. Some families graciously welcomed this "Bible club teacher" into their homes and hearts.
In]une 1978, I joined an inner-city missions organization and was sent to Fresno, a diversely populated city in the San]oaquin Valley. My primary ministry was among hispanics and AfricanAmericans. It was a significant departure from my roots to become a missionary to the city, to the poor, and to these two cultures.
I labored there among the poor and disenfranchised for 12 years. At least that is how I saw it at the time. A more accurate statement would be that my community friends labored for 12 years to transform my narrow perspectives. My lenses were smudged with judgmental attitudes based on color, economic status, intelligence and morality. I began to hear the stories behind the differences, and to find the common ground of mutual creation in God's image.
Following my years of ministry in Fresno, I attended Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Men and women from more than 60 countries gathered to learn together. I listened with curiosity to hear the pulse of believers who were "other" in their race, ethnicity, history and faith tradition. One revealing moment came for me in a language learning class. Our instructor showed a video of an orchestra playing Ravel's "Bolero" and simply asked, "What can we learn from this?" The camera panned the orchestra, zooming in on the single player and drummer who began the haunting refrain. Gradually, the refrain gathered momentum as instrument after instrument was added. What a travesty, I thought, if all the instruments made the same sound. Musical harmony was not created from sameness, but from difference.
The refrain of "Bolero" often plays in my mind as I encounter difference. Dialogue with]ews, Catholics, Lutherans, Greek Orthodox, Anglicans has nurtured my soul. Trips to Europe, Hong Kong, EI Salvador and Guatemala have challenged any views of a "one-instrument" universe. It is diversity that is the beauty of God's refrain.
Irealize now that I have grown up influenced by two conflicting experiences-one of sameness and one of difference. I am female, white, middle-class, Canadian, Mennonite Brethren and a whole range of other singularities. These profoundly shaped and shape my perceptions of the world around me. Growing up white and middle-class in urban Ontario caused me to
blend in with the dominant culture, but growing up Mennonite Brethren put me in touch with particularity. Being "MB" meant being part of a minority whose identity was grounded in its "otherness." We were distinctive by our language, foods, way of practicing religion, and attitudes toward work. Being part of the dominant culture sheltered me, but being particular made me curious about the experiences of those who were different.
I am aware now of subtle attitudes,long since ingrained in me, which over the course of my life have interfered with genuine friendships across racial or ethnic lines.
Racial superiority was one such attitude. This outside package of "white" skin came with many unearned privileges: being treated with respect, innocent unless proven guilty, assumed to be intelligent, and first chances at jobs, loans and educational opportunities.
I am aware now of subtle attitudes, long since ingrained in me, which over the course of my life have interfered with genuine friendships across racial or ethnic lines.
Mine was perhaps also an attitude of religious superiority. As a Mennonite Brethren, I was taught that we were "set apart" by God, and our way of understanding conversion, baptism and church membership was the "right" way. An insulated
A rabbinical story*
ARABBI WAS ASKED by his students: "How do we know when darkness has ended and dawn has come? Is it when we can distinguish between a dog and a sheep?"
"No," responded the rabbi.
"ls it when we can distinguish between a grapevine and a fig tree?"
"No," said the rabbi.
"Well, is it when we can distinguish between a white thread and a black thread?"
"No."
"Tell us, master, we must know when the Sabbath has ended."
The rabbi responded, "You will know when darkness has ended and dawn has come when you have enough light in you to recognize the person you meet as your brother and sister. Until then it is night and darkness is still with us."
* Source unknown
world of safety was created where sameness in belief, worship, dress and behavior was encouraged. Differences that were too noticeable were quickly identified and diminished.
"Life is what you make it" was another subtle attitude. The "work ethic" was like Scripture to me. Little did I realize how easily I could talk about "equal opportunity" as though it were actually possible to pull oneself up by one's own boot-
All Because of Ignorance
by Dorothy Thompson
straps. I grew up with many resources that came through no virtue or hard work of my own, and others, branded by the color of their skin, began at a very different place.
I have since done a great deal of reflecting on my years of ministry in the diverse setting of Fresno. I have apologized to many of my hispanic and African-American friends for these subtle but impacting attitudes of prejudice and narrow mind-
The things that we say to people
The things that we do.
The ignorance between me and ignorance between you.
Why can't we know that just a harmful word or two
Can do the same damage as taking a knife and cutting a heart into ....
The way that we act
The way that we feel.
If only we could become wise, and see that others' feelings are just as real. How can we act?
How can we feel, how can we get to a point of knowing that others' feelings are real? That others' feelings are the real deal?
I listened today to someone whose heart was hurt.
I felt today from someone whose heart was hurt.
It gave me pain, to understand and see, and as I sat and listened, Those words I heard began to cut, stab and hurt me.
After the hurt some anger, frustration and a hint of despair.
Because the person who said those words either didn't know or didn't care. That the words they said cut high and cut low, cut down to the very soul.
We should listen to the things that we say.
We should watch the things that we do. Then maybe we won't say just a harmful word or two.
We should see the way we act, We should see the way we feel, And maybe our hearts and others like ours can begin to heal.
Then, we will no longer be ignorant.
But wise.
-Dorothy Thompson
edness. They have forgiven me and continue to be my friends, showing themselves to be vehicles of grace to one in need of it.
Over the course of many seemingly unrelated encounters, I have come to feel more comfortable with "otherness." I have sought to hear the voices of all those whom God has created in his image.
Iadmit, though, that I am not always sure how to be Christian, Mennonite, and at the same time, loving toward people of diverse ethnic ity, religion, sexual orientation, social class and gender. I try to be generous and inclusive, for this is how I see Jesus portrayed in the gospels.
Yet, Christians differ in how they experience Jesus. Some focus on Jesus's sayings which at times can sound restrictive, others on his barrierbreaking ministry and his loving actions toward society's outcasts. Sometimes narrowly defined boundaries are thrust at me as being "biblical." The corollary is that I must be "unbiblical" if I experience a broader perspective.
Having friends who are gay, on welfare, feminist, Sikh, or far from the narrow path, puts me at risk of being labelled "liberal," or "other," this time by my own faith community. But I cannot go back. Now that I have begun to be curious about those who are different from myself, now that I have begun to hear their stories, their pain and
Is the majority still moral?
KLASS
BRUIN writes that prejudiced attitudes do not automatically lead to racist behavior. The overt expressions of discrimination are affected by whatever is socially acceptable in a group. During the Nazi regime, overt discrimination was accepted by mainstream society. The same, until recently, was true in South Africa. If there is no public approval of racist comments, then the majority would keep silent, even though they may feel prejudice toward someone.
I wonder what this might say to the Mennonite Brethren community today. Are there enclaves where it has now become socially acceptable to make derogatory remarks about another person based on language, ethnicity, color or economics? Are we no longer shocked at discriminatory remarks?-JEB
their joys, I can no longer see difference as "unbiblical" or something to try to diminish.
I've asked myself often what it means to be a follower of Jesus in a world where the "other" is no longer simply on our news screens, but next to us on the buses and trains, in elevators and grocery stores, in our schools and-unfortunately to a lesser extent-in our churches.
What is my part in demonstrating the "shalom" of the kingdom of God? I believe it means more than just avoiding overt acts of discrimination. I cannot be indifferent to or merely tolerant of others who are unlike me. I need to constantly critique my human instinct to categorize people, to stereotype and label. I know labeling is unfair and dehumanizing.
To be a peacemaker means I will point out injustice when I encounter it, speak kindly of those who are different than me, and deliberately choose to be inclusive in my thinking and speaking so that I not forget the barrier-breaking message of the gospel. When I preach, pray, write, or give a cup of cold water, I do so remembering Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, male something to try to and female. We are created in the image of God. To fully under- diminish. stand God's identity and my own, I need to welcome the diversity that is all around me, to "love the strangers among us." God did not create a homogenous world and never intended that we should live in one.
Now that I have begun to be curious about those who are different from myself, now that I have begun to hear their stories, their pain and their joys, I can no longer see difference as "unbiblical" or
One morning at a conference, an inter-Mennonite group of men and women gathered for communion. Dark rye bread, tortillas, papadums, rice cakes and simosas were our bread. As we took and ate, we did so in community with our brothers and sisters around the world. A profound picture of unity and diversity.
I want to be an umbrella. I want to be curious and open to hearing from those who are different. And I want to go deep into Jesus who spoke good news to the Samaritan woman and the short, fidgety tax-collector alike. The good news he spoke, continues to be peace-"peace on earth, goodwill to all." •
Janet E. Boldt is on the faculty of Columbia Bible College, Clearbrook, B. C.
by NZASH LUMEYA
Cursed bya heresy
Contrary to popular interpretation, Noah did not prescribe racial discrimination
For generations, the biblical defense of racist assumptions about black-skinned people has rested on the account of Noah's curse of Ham in Genesis 9. Many white missionaries exported that teaching when they went to Africa to evangelize. The result has been to damage the selfunderstanding and outreach of African Christians. In the following article, Nzash Lumeya, a leader in the Zaire MB Conference, confronts this heretical teaching and its effect on the church.
HE CURSE OF HAM in Genesis 9 has been applied generally to all black peoples and specifically to the Mbala Kipuka of Zaire, who believe they live under an eternal divine curse. The result of this unfortunate doctrine has been to produce a spiritual asphyxia among many Christians in Zaire. They regard themselves as accursed and hopeless in God's sight.
As cursed people groups, some Zairian Christians go so far as to claim they have no real future. They believe that in some way Ham and Canaan, their ancestors, were excluded from the Noahic covenant blessing. Naturally, in their church life, the conviction is widespread that all spiritual blessings reside with the whites and all leadership roles should be filled by the mindele (whites).
Missiologist David J. Basch notes that the curse on Ham's descendants is one of the primary tenets of apartheid (separateness), a policy of racial segregation practiced in the Republic of South Mrica.
As a Bible teacher in our denomination, I discovered this erroneous teaching had, in fact, permeated our churches-but there was no one with enough courage to expose the matter publicly. The people seemingly were afraid of our North American missionaries. As a result the issue went underground.
In 1986, I discussed the controversy with our leadership. They acknowledged the widespread acceptance of the teaching. Since then, some young Zairian Mennonite Brethren leaders have phoned me expressing their gratitude that this issue is now being confronted.
Revisiting the text
Because Genesis 9:20-27 has been used to give biblical sanction to racism, many Christians have regarded all blacks as congenitally inferior to other peoples and hence condemned to serve their alleged superiors, particularly the white people of the world. But only eisegesis (reading into the text) and not exegesis (read-
ing out of the text) can justify linking the Noahic curse on Canaan to all black people.
Precise understanding of this text requires attention to three terms. First, the "nakedness" of Noah has nothing to do with sexual sin between Noah and his younger son, Ham. Rather, the sin of Ham is his disrespect-even mockery and merriment-at his father's disgrace. Ham's sin consisted in seeing and telling.
The second critical term, "curse," usually means an evil wish. Noah used arur (curse) to wish evil on his grandson, Canaan. To be cursed is not to express a threat, but strictly to look to God to punish a particular sin. The words spoken by Noah were not empty sounds, but constituted a reality whose achievement depended on God.
The third term, "servant of servants," means to be the lowest or meanest servant or slave. Noah's pronouncement is wishing Canaan, not Ham, the disgrace of servitude. Canaan is thereby forced to submit to his brothers. Historically, the subsequent subordination of the Canaanites to the Israelites is understood as fulfilling this judgment. Even so, the concept of Canaan's curse needs to be perceived from the perspective of an Old Testament world view, which grants to even the lowest servant the sort of social status that involves human rights.
Why was the grandson cursed, and not Ham himself? Some say it was because God had already blessed Noah and his sons (Gen. 9: 1). Calvin invoked God's providence. The function of the story is to focus attention on the mysterious eruptive presence of sin and judgment in the human family after the flood. The post-flood age is decadent. Its degeneration moved from direct contact with and dependence on God (Gen. 9: 1-17) to selfexaltation at Babel (Gen. 11 :4).
To affirm that Ham was black is to do violence not only to the text but also to the etymology. It is simply erroneous, in Hebrew, to translate the name Ham as "black." According to the Old Testament, the Canaanites inhabited Palestine, not Africa (Gen. 10: 18; Jos. 5: 1; Ex. 33:2). To identify the curse of Canaan with the present state of the so-called negroes in Africa is unbiblical. Any attempt to establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between Canaan's curse and skin color today is absurd-and very wrong.
RACISM
What's more, the New Testament reveals that in God's sight "all are under a curse" (Gal. 3: 10). But the good news is that God can undo a curse. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law" (Gal. 3:13).
John Regehr and other Bible scholars affirm "It is not clear why Noah cursed Canaan instead of Ham. But the curse cannot be used to justify either the enslavement or the mistreatment of black people." Rather, the Bible affirms racial unity. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam, son of God (Lk. 3:38). God is concerned for all humankind. In Adam we are all united in nature and need. Racism is self-evidently nonChristian and an affront to our Creator.
Once the Mbala have faith in Christ they are fully God's blessed people-at one with Abraham and Sarah, Mary (the mother of our Lord), Simon Peter, Paul, Menno Simons, even with tata Madikani (father A. Aaron Janzen) and mama Nkenda (Ernestine Janzen).
Repairing the damage
Our Zairian church leaders should take time to refute the theology of the so-called Ham's curse upon our people when they explain the meaning of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Our catechism must include a specific clause denouncing this heresy. We should clarify publicly that the curse was uttered not upon Ham, but upon his son Canaan- and that there is no linkage between Canaan and the Mbala people. The one being cursed by Noah is not the ancestorof the black African.
Even if it were possible to identify all the Canaanites in today's world, Christ would still invite them to be saved and share in his blessings as he does to all believers (In. 3: 16).
The Sunday on which we celebrate the Lord's Supper is an appropriate time and place to deal with the racial curse issue because it helps us commemorate the birth of our hope and the oneness of our community with all believers. At the distribution of the bread, for example, the person passing the bread could say to the one receiving it: "Remember the body of Christ cursed and broken for you. "
Thus the unifying message of the cross can correct the racist misinterpretation of Ham's curse. •
Nzash Lumeya is director of a school mission in Kinshasha, Zaire. His article was excerpted and adapted from his doctoral dissertation (Fuller Seminary, 1988), ((The Curse on Ham's Descendants: Its Missiological Impact on Zairian Mbala Mennonite Brethren, " by Elmer Martens, professor emeritus of Old Testament at MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif.
Raising kids to be reconcilers
by SPENCER PERKINS
During Christmas vacation our family stopped in at a McDonald's in northwest Florida for lunch. To the delight of my 5year-old daughter, they were giving away a Barbie doll with each kid's meal. There were three types, two of them white and one black. My daughter was given a white Barbie. Since she already had a white Barbie, we graciously exchanged it for a black one.
The black girl taking our order seemed delighted. I asked her how many kids request the black Barbie. She lowered her voice. "No white kids ever ask for the black Barbie," she said. "In fact, I've seen several kids cry if a black Barbie ends up in their meal."
This subtle rejection obviously hurt her. But she cleared her throat, forced a smile and politely asked the next person in line, "May I take your order please?"
For most parents, helping their children to be more comfortable with those of other races will require going out of the way. Here are some ways to begin:
• BE INTENTIONAL. For the most part, whites live in white neighborhoods, go to white churches, and send their kids to white schools. Lately, Christians are making the long overdue realization that we should have been showing the world a different way all along. But after such a thorough job of separating, reaching across the barriers will require intentional effort
• USE MOVIES AND VIDEOS. One way to begin the educational process is through films and videos. Use them to introduce to your kids the
worlds of others. The "Eyes on the Prize" series and "Roots" are excellent for expanding horizons. "Carbon Copy," "The Power of One," "Imitation of Life," and "The Long Walk Home" are a few movies that explore racial and cultural differences. Watch and discuss them with your teenagers
• TAKE THEM ON AN INNER-CITY MISSIONS TRIP. Dozens of Christian inner-city ministries around the country allow youth groups from churches and Christian schools to come work and learn. These are billed as opportunities to aid the less fortunate, but your kids will get a valuable experience. It is an excellent environment for black and white kids to get to know each other
• VISIT AN INNER-CITY CHURCH. Many black Christians tell me they are tired of being the only black person in a Christian group. One Minneapolis woman said, "I'm tired of being the one reaching out to whites all the time. Why don't they come to my church?" Minorities often go out of their way to cross over into the white world. It's time that white Christians reciprocate.
• CREATE ENVIRONMENTS WHERE UNLIKELY RELATIONSHIPS CAN DEVELOP. Churches can form urban/suburban partnerships. They should seek creative ways to enhance a relationshipfriendly environment-joint missions projects and youth trips, joint services featuring mass choirs with members from both churches, to name a few.
• PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH. Some parents are shocked by their kids' racist attitudes. "I have repeatedly told my children to love and respect all people," they say, "regardless of color." But it is easy to understand why the kids didn't get the message. The parents themselves did not "walk their talk." They expect their children to do what they have not done themselves. Their whole world is white or black, yet they expect their children to learn something different.
The best way for kids to develop friendships with people of different races and backgrounds is for the parents to do so first. It is a natural progression for the children of such friendships to become friends.
• MAKE KINGDOM CHOICES. Going by what we say, unbelievers could assume our faith in Jesus and our Christian witness were the most important aspects of our lives. However, we often
The best way for kids to develop friendships with people of different races and backgrounds is for the parents to do so first.
compromise our witness of the gospel through unconscious lifestyle choices. Where we decide to live, go to church, send our children to school, spend our money, and with whom we socialize all bear witness to what's in our hearts.
Those who claim race has nothing to do with these lifestyle decisions, but who end up in all-white settings with all-white friends, should perhaps question the sincerity of their desire to help their children know and appreciate other races and cultures.
Likewise, black Christians should begin to question what kind of Christian witness they are making to their kids when they voluntarily separate into an all-black world.
If our Christianity is to be the salvation of the world then it must be able to break down racial walls. The world is watching.
•
Spencer Perkins is co-editor of The Reconciler magazine, from whence this article is reprinted with permission. The Reconciler is published quarterly by Urban Family magazine.
PHILIP SIDE
BY PHILIP WIEBE
Matters of time
jesus's ministry comes across as amazingly spontaneous and non-linear, a living insult to modern time-management doctrine.
WHENEVER a new year rolls around, I find myself making some kind of resolution to become a better time manager. You'd think I would have learned by now. Not to be a better time manager, but to quit making resolutions.
But I can't help myself. Since my eyes are often bigger than my calendar, it becomes necessary to find new ways to fit everything in. So why, you may ask, don't I simply quit trying to slide extra stuff into my schedule?
Surely you jest.
Recently it occurred to me that I'm too busy not because life is too busy, but because I like being too busy. I'd rather have too much to do than too little. Though I'd like to say I can't help it when things get hectic, in reality I help things get hectic. To my knowledge, it isn't calendar gnomes who keep writing things into my day planner.
So if I resolve to do anything about time this year, it should probably start with complaining less about having so little. Me being the person I'd have to complain to, I'm sure I'd get tired of all that whining. Time is funny. I once read that western culture's concept of time is largely artificial, a fake linear grid slapped on a nonlinear world. I can see that. Time used to be measured in seasons-now it's seconds. No wonder I feel testy when I get a couple of hours behind. That's 7,200 seconds to make up!
Maybe with better time management, crisper organization, smarter planning, fuller attention, keener
concentration, sharper focus uh, what was I talking about again?
Oh yeah, time. Lately I've been wondering if it's all it's cracked up to be. Editor Marjorie Kelly has written that the prevailing linear view of time causes us to "approach time management as the task of inserting appropriate tasks into appropriate slots. And when our days fail to follow such orderly paths, unfolding instead in chaotic and unpredictable ways, we think ourselves undisciplined. We blame ourselves, rarely thinking that our world view might be askew."
Time management, in other words, can be risky business. The more I try to micromanage each minute, the more I set myself up for frustration. It happens all the time. As soon as I lay my work out in a neat linear fashion, the real world rushes in and blows it all over the place.
Isuppose this should tell me something, but I'm not sure what. I'm not going to stop writing appointments in my day planner. I'm not going to start telling editors, "I've decided to quit viewing the world in a linear fashion, so forget those deadlines." I'm not going to look at my alarm clock at 6 a.m. and ponder, "What is time anyway, but a string of faux pearls on the Adam's apple of life?" I do, after all, have work to do.
But I'm not sure if stricter time management is the answer.
On the most amazing life ever lived, we have barely a three-year
record. And even then John ends his gospel with the astounding claim that "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
All this from someone who never even once cracked open his Day Runner and read, 4 p. m. - Feed 5,000. Jesus's ministry comes across as amazingly spontaneous and nonlinear, a living insult to modern timemanagement doctrine. He was in tune with the music our age is losing: the rhythms of nature, the hearts of people, the knowledge of self. And of God. "I do nothing on my own," Jesus said, "but speak just what the Father has taught me" (In. 8:28).
And all along I've been pointing toward my day planner saying, "My brains are in there." Better to point toward my heart and say, "My plans start here."
A few months ago I had decided I'd invest in one of those fancy "time management systems" with 16 tabbed sections to organize every detail of my life. At the last minute I chickened out, however, and plunked down five bucks for the kind of basic pocket planner I've been using for years. At the time I thought I just didn't want to spend the money. Now I see I didn't want to spend the time.
Good thing. It isn't my time that needs more management, I've decided, but my timing. "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" (Eccles. 3:1). I like the sound of that. Much better than, "There is an hour for everything, and I have to fit it all in!"
Speaking of which, I see my Day Runner says 4p.m.- Put column in envelope and lick stamp, so I'm outta here.
MUSINGS
BY JIM HOLM
The great gospel mystery
God became human, doing so to reach out to us with all his love and grace.
HAVING JUST come through the beautiful Christmas season, I find my thoughts are still reflecting on the greatest mystery of the Christian faith. More on that in a moment.
Some people struggle with belief in the atonement. They can't accept the idea that someone would die for the sins of others. Others stumble over the resurrection. How could a person really rise out of the dead? Still others are troubled by the virgin birth, or belief in miracles. These things just seem impossible.
But none of them is the greatest mystery of the gospel. The most difficult struggle I can imagine is with the incarnation, with the idea that God became human. If that staggering thought is true, then the rest seems plausible. Yet that is precisely what the Bible teaches; the little baby born on Christmas Day was none other than God in human form.
That he was God is borne out by Scriptures such as John 1: 1-14, which emphasizes the existence of the "Word" with God before time began, or by Colossians 1:19 and 2:9, which declare without hesitation that the "fullness of the deity dwelt in bodily form."
That he was human is demonstrated by his eating, sleeping, weeping, thirsting, and so on while he was here on earth. All of those are completely human things. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of his humanity is that he died. A God cannot die. But Jesus did die at the hands of his enemies. His death was
a totally human thing.
One further note regarding his humanity: he maintained it, at least in some form, after he rose from the grave. His disciples recognized him when they saw him post-resurrection; and Stephen recognized Jesus at the moment he was being martyred (Acts 7). Most interesting, in 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul the Apostle writes, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ]esus .... " (italics added). Note the present tense verb. Somehow, even to this day, Jesus still has his human nature, if not his human form. He still knows what it is like to be one of us.
Here's another question: Why the incarnation? Why did God put himself in human flesh? Scripture offers several answers. First, John writes that Jesus was sent to make eternal life possible (3: 14-17). He offered salvation to the world.
Second, Hebrews 2:14-15 declares in dramatic form that he came to destroy Satan and all his power, and to free those who were held captive in the grip of that evil force. In Jesus, there is the possibility of victory over evil.
Third, and best, he came to show God's glory (Tn. 1: 14). Jesus offered us a fresh experience of the grace and truth of the heavenly Father.
God wanted to get in touch with us, the apex of his creation. Our revolt against him had opened a great chasm. The only way God could see to bridge that gap was to become one of us. So he did. But he didn't become a philosopher or
scholar or a king. He became something even a child could understand: a child.
Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, described our relationship to God with the following story. Suppose a child had a small sum of money, enough to buy either a book or a toy, both at the same price. Suppose he buys the toy; can he then buy the book with the same money? Of course not. The money is already spent.
But what if he goes to the bookseller and asks him to make an exchange, giving the book in return for the toy. The bookseller would say, "My son, your toy is not worth anything. It is true that when you still had the money you could have bought either the book or the toy. But once you bought the toy, it lost all value." Now, the child would think this was very strange.
Kierkegaard goes on to say there was a time when humans could have bought either freedom or bondage at the same price because of the soul's free choice. They chose bondage, and now they cannot come forward with a proposal for an exchange.
God would probably reply, "Undoubtedly there was a time when you could have bought whichever you pleased, but bondage is a very strange thing; when it is bought it has absolutely no value, though the price paid for it was originally the same."
Like the little boy, we have made our choice, and now we cannot get back to God. The only hope was for him to get to us, and that necessitated the incarnation.
This is perhaps the most awesome truth in the universe. God became human, doing so to reach out to us with all his love and grace. As the poet John Donne wrote: "'Twas much, that man was made like God before / But that God should be made like man, much more."
Think about that. It will make Christmas linger a little longer.
INQUIRING MINDS
BY MARVIN HEIN
QIs it possible that the Luke 22:36 passage, where Jesus tells his disciples to buy a sword, is an expression ofJesus's humanness? Later Jesus scolded Peter for using the sword, but was Jesus just being very human with this counsel? (OHIO)
AThe inquirer prefaces this question by expressing perplexity about Jesus's humanity. Even divinity, with all our humanness, seems more readily understood than does his humanity. Perhaps even more puzzling for us is how both the human and divine can be intermingled in one person. What was Jesus really saying when he advised the purchase of a sword?
I believe Jesus was trying to prepare the Twelve for a changing environment. He may have been saying: "To this time you have had me with you. I was there when the boat rocked in the storm. I handled the assaults of people when they might have attacked you. But very soon you are going to be cast upon your own resources. You may have to fight for your very existence."
In other words, Jesus may be saying, "The attitude of the Jewish people is changing. Doors that have been open will close. Welcome will turn into enmity. Precautions will need to be taken. Your mission hereafter will call for all the strategies and skill you can summon. You will need money because I won't be around to feed the masses and you. You will need provisions and maybe even some defense. You will have to fight for your very existence."
A variety of explanations have been offered. The "sword" to be purchased was likely not a battle sword, but rather a short dagger-like weapon generally used to cut through brush in a primitive environment. Even those who do not
espouse the peace position as we Mennonites do generally conclude that Jesus's words were not an incitement to violence. It may have been a vivid eastern way of telling the disciples their lives were at stake. In that sense, yes, Jesus was speaking to their human situation. His own humanity told him what the disciples would need once he had been put to death.
The lesson for us-and this may be more important than understanding exactly what Jesus meant-is that the Christian life is not placid, unruffled and safe. Jesus warned the Twelve, and us, I think, that our walk as faithful disciples may be turbulent and dangerous. We too can become so "spiritual" that we think all should go well with Jesus-followers. We can fall prey to the optimism that says Jesus's faithful disciples will be healthy, wealthy and wise. A writer once put it this way: "To set about our life jauntily is the part not of a wise person, but of a fool."
QWhere are the redeemed who have died between their demise and the resurrection? In what state do they exist? We say they have gone to heaven. What changes for them in the resurrection? (CALIFORNIA)
AI have often pondered this question myself without satisfactory resolution. I suspect our inability to come to terms with this part of the afterlife is that we mortals just can't understand what God has in store for us. How can we know very much about the resurrected body? We've never talked with one! How can we fathom a being that is spirit but will also take on a body-one that is far different from the kind we possess today? Having said that, let me try to say simply what the Bible says. It's the
Have a question about a Bible passage, doctrine, conference policy, or other spiritual issue? Send it to Minds, JJ c/o Marvin Hein, 4812 E. Butler, Fresno, CA 93727.
intermediate state we are considering-the time between death and the Lord's coming. The Bible affirms that both the righteous and the wicked have a conscious existence after death and prior to resurrection. Paul makes it clear (1 Thess. 4: 16-17 and 1 Cor.15:52) that there is an interval of time, climaxed by a rising "at the last trump."
Some insist the souls of both righteous and wicked sleep during this intermediate period. That assumes you have to possess a body in order to have activity and consciousness. I cannot accept that.
Others contend all who die at peace with the church, but are not perfect, pass into purgatory. In purgatory they make satisfaction for their sins by a longer or shorter period of suffering, according to their degree of guilt. The church, too, according to this view, has power, by prayers, to shorten these sufferings or to eradicate them completely.
I cannot accept this view either. The Bible doesn't indicate believers suffer after death, nor does it, except for one questionable text, sanction praying for the dead.
The New Testament does say the souls of believers, at death, enter into the presence of Christ. In what form? I don't really know-except that the Bible clearly says the spirits of departed believers are with God (Eccles. 12:7; In. 20:17).
The Bible also says this intermediate state is truly alive and conscious (Mt. 22:32; Lk. 16:22; 1 Thess. 5:10) and that it is greatly to be preferred to that of faithful believers still living on the earth (phil. 1:23).
Finally, the Word is also clear that, while the soul is active and alive, it is also at rest and blessed (Rev. 6:9-11; Rev. 14:13). I may have difficulty understanding how a spirit can be both resting and active, but I suspect that's due to my limited understanding, and not a contradiction for God.
grams, and offering other practical help to newcomers (See accompanying stories).
In most cases, immigrant congregations and host Mennonite Brethren churches worship separately. Funk has found that combining groups into one congregation doesn't often happen because language, culture and tradition make integration difficult.
"In the next 20 years, if the Lord tarries, we could very well be over half third-world people. "-LOYAL FUNK
drawn to the church because of culture and the language. They hear the gospel, are converted and baptized."
"Many of these immigrants have had Christian roots that go back many generations-but they don't think like Westerners," he says. Sharing facilities with several cultural groups is "the wave of the future," he adds.
Many of these newcomer congregations share the Mennonite Brethren zeal for evangelism and are eagerly witnessing to neighbors who share their language and culture.
"There are many people in these congregations who are uncommitted (to the Lord)," Funk says. "They are
ADOPTION OPTION: Lower Midwest
If the trend of supporting evangelistic immigrant churches continues, Funk says the "face" of the denomination will change. "In the next 20 years, if the Lord tarries, we could very well be over half third-world people. That's a distinct possibility, if we're willing to let that happen."
What will continue, he says, are opportunities Mennonite Brethren will have to reach other cultures in this country. And that could have repercussions for Mennonite Brethren membership worldwide.
"Our mission vision will not dimin-
Truly brothers and sisters
WHEN Slavic immigrant families who had associated with Mennonite Brethren in Fresno, Calif., moved to Tulsa, Okla., to begin a training ministry, they found two congregations of friends eager to welcome them.
Dave Froese, pastor at Westport MB Church, Collinsville, Okla., and Mark Isaac, pastor of Parkside MB Church, Tulsa, visited the temporary offices of the International Slavic Christian Institute (ISC!) with open arms.
"Even with the cultural and language barriers, it quickly became clear we were in love with the same Jesus," says Froese. "It also became apparent that adjusting to Tulsa, America, was not easy. They needed help becoming established economically and relationally."
A task force was formed by the two congregations to "listen, pray, counsel and connect the Slavics and their ministry to the resources in the area," recalls Froese. The group was comprised of men and women from a variety of vocations and met regularly for about six months.
During spring 1994, ISCI's temporary office space became crowded and the group struggled with a rent increase. So Westport invited the institute to use their campus until they could find affordable office space.From July 1994 until March 1995, the offices of ISCI were located at Westport.
Both Tulsa-area Mennonite Brethren congregations also wanted to worship with their new Slavic friends. The Slavic families gave an evening program at
ish because all the third-world people groups are in America," he says. "But I think fewer and fewer of us westerners will go out (to other countries) as missionaries. It makes good sense that we send back the people who already have the language and the culture. That's as it should be."
Funk believes that in 10 to 20 years, Mennonite Brethren will be challenged to "walk their talk" when it comes to sharing denominational leadership positions with these recent immigrants. Sharing leadership is a key sign of full assimilation into the family.
"Most of these immigrants don't desire leadership positions in the conference (presently), largely because of language and culture," he says. "But as they become westernized, they will aspire to share their leadership views and to practice them." -Connie Faber and Lori Claassen
Westport, while Parkside and the Slavic Missionary Church planned a joint service.
The Parkside music and worship committee met with leaders of the Slavic congregation to plan the service's structure, songs, theme and logistics. "It was important in planning to make sure songs were included with tunes familiar to both groups and that could be sung in both languages simultaneously," Isaac says.
"Likewise, the service's structure needed to be comfortable for both styles of worship and for such unique elements as two sermons, pastoral and congregational prayers and a variety of special music," he adds. The church also planned a noon potluck dinner for after the service.
When the two congregations met in September, 1994, the two-hour service brought together 140 people. The event was covered
by a local television station. "After the news reports were aired, many people throughout the metro area expressed positive reactions," says Isaac.
This year the Slavic congregation held its Thanksgiving and Christmas services at Parkside and joined the Parkside congregation for a second joint meal. "We have been mutually blessed by the interaction," says Isaac.
"Our initial barrier of apprehension has been removed," says Froese.
"These are now our brothers and sisters in relationship as well as in redemption."
Three months ago, Froese, as incoming chair of the Southern District Conference, had the privilege of welcoming the Slavic Missionary Church, pastored by Nikolar Michka, into formal membership with the Mennonite Brethren family.
Learning to assimilate
SLAVIC students at Fresno Pacific College are being given an extra chance at success, thanks to Vyachislav Tsvirinko, a Mennonite Brethren pastor in Fresno, Calif., and the vision of FPC leaders.
As coordinator of the new Slavic student program, Tsvirinko acts as a "trouble shooter," helping these immigrants adjust to their new environment. "I check in with the students each week," says Tsvirinko, who leads the young Slavic Evangelical Missionary Church. "We pray together, we study the Bible together. I'm here for them when they need to visit or when they have problems. I'm a mediator, a negotiator and comforter to them."
Tsvirinko credits Loyal Funk, U.S. Conference minister, Cary Tempelton, FPC admissions director, and Richard Kriegbaum, FPC president, with the vision that led to the development of this unique program in June 1995. In addition to hiring Tsvirinko as a part-time counselor to offer special support to Slavic students, FPC also offers the students significant financial scholarships.
"These three men wanted to help our churches educate our young people to be 'bridge people,' by helping them succeed in the outside world," says Tsvirinko. "The Slavic churches live in a separate world here. The church needs bicultural/bilingual people to bridge the gap between Slavic culture and American society."
Kriegbaum describes the goals of the program this way: "Enabling recent
immigrants from the former U.S.S.R. to get an education at FPC gives them the chance to succeed in the United States. It is a very expensive program for us in the short run. But it is a good investment in the long run. It is one way FPC can show its commitment to building a better community for tomorrow."
Six new Slavic students have enrolled at FPC this fall. They join two other Slavic students, both in their third year of study.
While living in Russia, Tsvirinko converted to Christianity at age 24 while in the last months of a graduate degree program in engineering. He was dismissed from the university and told to leave town.
"My family and my government considered me an 'unwanted' person," he
says. He moved north near the border of Poland to live near his mother's family; his mother was a Christian.
In 1990, Tsvirinko and his family, along with eight other Slavic families, resettled in Fresno, where they joined Bethany MB Church. "We felt very welcomed at Bethany. Our children attended the Sunday School program and the church
ADOPTION OPTION: Bay Area
A happy threesome
WHEN three Mennonite
Brethren congregations in San Jose, Calif., gather to celebrate World Fellowship Sunday, you can expect a diverse menu of verenika, enjera, alcha and keay wot, kinche, zwieback, sausage, puri, curried chicken and vegetable and fried rice-and hot dogs.
The three congregations are the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship, India Community Fellowship and Lincoln Glen Church.
Lincoln Glen is a 55-yearold congregation in transition from its original 100 percent Germanic Russian roots. Today's membership
is about half that percentage. Travis Reimer is the pastor.
Wilson Koppula, pastor of India Community Fellowship, was born in India and received his early education from Mennonite Brethren missionaries in Hyderabad. He and his wife, Mary, moved to San Jose in 1988 to reach the 15,000 or so East Indians living in the area.
In early 1995, Lincoln Glen began renting classroom space to a small group of Ethiopian Christians. The initial group of 15 has grown to nearly 90 and is led by pastor Tesfai Tesema. The Ethiopian chil-
members were very helpful and kind to us," says Tsvirinko.
While attending Bethany, Tsvirinko learned of the MB Biblical Seminary and the English as a Second Language program at FPC. He began English study at FPC, graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1993 and went on to study at MBBS, graduating in 1995. (FPC)
dren attend the Lincoln Glen Sunday school classes and some parents help in an effort to learn the basics of organiZing and conducting an American Sunday school program.
The three groups have been working at developing a comfortable relationship with each other for four years, says Dennis Hart, a member of Lincoln Glen's board of missions. Joint worship services are held regularly.
"The services have evolved over the last three or four years from merely having our Ethiopian and Indian brothers and sisters join us, to the present where both of their pastors
See Bay Area, p. 28
Vyachislav Tsvirinko (center) helps two new FPC slavic students, Miroslava Manjuik (left) and Neliya Yanovic, during registration.
Bay Area, cont'd from p. 27
participate in the worship service," Hart says.
Pastor Tesfai brought the morning message at a joint service. "As always, he graciously agreed to keep his sermon to 25 minutes compared to the hour and a half or so which is more typical of their services," jokes Hart.
Members from each group serve as ushers and provide music. Some attempts are made at congregational singing too. The services are always followed by lunch.
"Lunch is always a true celebration," says Hart. "One of the goals is to foster relationships among individuals to promote more understanding and acceptance of our differences. We want to learn that there are other ways of hearing and seeing and worshipping.
"Having the goal is one thing," he adds. "Making it happen requires a fair amount of planning. The natural tendency is for folks to sit down with those with whom they feel comfortable. So we encourage people to sit with
ADOPTION OPTION: Pacific Northwest
Aiming to build bridges
"WE AT Good News Fellowship have found our mission field delivered to our doorsteps!" says Mary Ann Johnson, a teacher with the congregation's English as a Second Language (ESL) program.
The Ferndale, Wash., community has experienced an influx of Russianspeaking newcomers and Good News Fellowship has
found a practical way to welcome them. _The congregation realized the most pressing need of the immigrants was to learn English, so they developed the ESL program.
"Our primary goal is to build a bridge of communication so that they can acquire job-training," Johnson says. It seems to be working. Many of the men orginally enrolled in the
someone whom they do not know. People in every culture have their own comfort zone and they don't get left at the door to the fellowship hall or the sanctuary. "
To help the three congregations learn to know and appreciate each other, organizers have tried various strategies. Written questions about Ethiopia guided mealtime conversation at one potluck. Fashion shows where ethnic dress was modeled and explained have also been featured.
"These activities and
program are now employed.
Currently 25 to 30 students are enrolled in GNF's program. Most have been in the United States less than a year and range in age from 10 to 60. The students meet two to three afternoons a week for 90 minutes of instruction using ESL curriculum that is Bible-based.
The Good News ESL program has a volunteer staff of nine teachers and helpers. Since the ESL teachers don't speak Russian, they use many piCtures and gestures to illustrate the vocabulary words.
Johnson reports that as their language skills grow, the students "share with us a wealth of experiences. They leave behind them many hardships but bring with them continual reminders of the pain and suffering of loved ones remaining in their home country."
The ESL teachers also invite young Slavic adults to live in their homes for several weeks giving them the opportunity to be immersed in an English-Ian-
attempts at relationshipbuilding do not take place without the occasional downside," says Hart. "Most bothersome is an underlying feeling that our efforts haven't produced much in the way of true friendships and closeness among individuals in the three congregations."
Hart says the experience has stretched everyone. "It seems we haven't yet succeeded in becoming really, truly comfortable with each other. One thing is certain: If we keep trying, God will make it happen."
guage situation.
Good News Fellowship has also tried to incorporate the Christian Slavics into its church life, but with limited success. Joint worship services, which included an interpreter, were well attended and "a blessing to both congregations." ESL vocabulary lessons include religious terms such as baptism and resurrection. This has helped the Russian-speaking Christians talk more easily about their faith.
Johnson says the inability of the two groups to communicate in the same language hinders their efforts to mingle socially. "The barrier of language and the fear of misunderstanding keep our fellowships, including youth groups, from mixing at the social level, " she says.
"We are indeed thankful that we have been given the opportunity to reach out a helping hand of support, kindness and friendship to these wonderful people God has placed right inside our doors at Good News Fellowship," Johnson says.
Mary Ann Johnson (standing) leads an ESL exercise where students finish the sentences on the chart to the left. Sitting counterclockwise around the table are Lyubov Andrushenko, Inna Andrushenko, Tanya Andrushenko, Nila Andrushenko, Yuliya Martynova, Sergey Yudin, Vlad Chernomorets and Paul Chernomorets.
Legislation likely to end litigation threat
II Class-action suit might have involved MB Foundation, FPC
FAST-TRACK legislation passed by Congress Nov. 30 and signed into law Dec. 8 by President Clinton may have kept a number of Mennonite Brethren annuitants from becoming unwitting plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that could have had serious financial impact on the denomination.
Mennonite Brethren Foundation (MBF) and Fresno Pacific College are two of about 1,900 charitable institutions affiliated with the American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA), the defendant named in a class-action suit filed in late October in a federal district court in Texas.
The suit was filed by lawyers for a disgruntled heir who claimed a Lutheran charity violated federal antitrust laws in issuing charitable gift annuities and federal securities laws in how it managed its funds. The judge expanded the defendants in the case to include almost all charities that sponsor the ACGA.
Lynford Becker, MBF president, says it is not clear whether the foundation would have been named in the suit. Even if they were named, individual charities would have had the legal option not to respond. That would have exempted them from the classaction suit, but also made them vulnerable to individual suits if the plaintiff had prevailed.
A gift annuity enables a donor to designate money to a charity and receive regular payments from that gift until she or he dies, at which time the remainder of the gift reverts to the charity. The arrangement also provides significant tax advantages to the donor.
The plaintiff claimed the Lutheran charity conspired to fix its payout rate at a rate lower than the donor, her 96year-old great-aunt, would have received if the charity had not followed the rates suggested by ACGA.
"We were surprised the courts gave this kind of suit any consideration at all because it seemed to be based solelyon the greed of a potential heir," Becker says. "The plaintiff's suggestion that rates were less than an annuitant would receive elsewhere is basically
false, especially if you factor in the charitable intent of the annuitant."
Had the plaintiff achieved her objective in the class-action case, all charitable annuity funds nationwide would have been returned to their donors plus triple damages.
MBF has about $2.5 million in gift annuities, involving 135 annuitants. Fresno Pacific College has just over $200,000 in gift annuities, involving 12 participants, according to Art Ens, vice president of advancement at Fresno Pacific.
"We wouldn't have been hit nearly as bad as some institutions, like a Wheaton College, that have millions of dollars in annuities," Ens said.
Becker said he and his staff had been frustrated because it was not clear whether court action prevented potential defendants from contacting their annuitants-by direct correspondence or even through the denominational magaZine-to explain the nature of the suit.
"We felt that was unfair to us and our annuitants," said Becker. "We want our people to be assured our annuity program is alive and well, funds are secured and the annuitants are well protected."
The ensuing legislation, which passed in the House by unanimous vote and the Senate by unanimous consent, effectively exempts organizations that use the ACGA suggested annuity rate from federal anti-trust laws.
The suit, which had been scheduled to go to trial Feb. 7, will likely be dismissed by plaintiff's counsel because it no longer has an arguable basis, says Terry L. Simmons, a director of Charitable Accord, the lobbying arm of the ACGA.
The frantic legislative effort did not come without cost. Charitable Accord estimates their lobbying expenses will total between $650,000 and $700,000. Those expenses are expected to be covered by contributions from member institutions. MB Foundation has donated $3,000 toward the effort. FPC has contributed $100.-DonRatzlajf
IN BRIEF
• GROUNDBREAKING: Fresno Pacific College president Richard Kriegbaum (left) shares a laugh about his wellworn shovel with Jim Slentz, facilities manager. Kriegbaum used the tool during the ground-breaking ceremony held in early December for the college's new facilities management building. The structure is only the first phase of the larger College Commons project, which will include a student center, dining hall and performance arts center. The 15,000-square-foot building will serve as the headquarters for the school's maintenance staff, which includes 30 part-time student workers. (FPC)
• FUND-RAISING: Tabor College has begun the public phase of a $3.28 million capital campaign that includes the construction of a natural science center. When completed, the two-story, 19, 586-sq uare-foot sola r-heated structure will house a lecture hall, faculty offices, nine laboratories, greenhouse, animal observation area and a 1,850square-foot central atrium that will also serve as a commons area for students. The college hopes to begin construction in early 1997. The capital campaign also includes $395,000 to complete the schoot's chapel renovation project. (rC)
• ELECTED: Oscar J. Becker, a member of College Community MB Church in Clovis, Calif., was recently elected president of the California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association. Becker has been employed by the Fresno County Probation Department since 1968. He is a graduate of Fresno Pacific College and the MB Biblical Seminary.
Rempel appointed to MBBS faculty
II Former staff member will teach history and theology
VALERIE
Rempel has been appointed to the faculty of MB Biblical Seminary as assistant professor of history and theology, beginning this fall. Rempel, currently in doctoral studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is a graduate of MBBS and a former staff member.
"Valerie not only Rempel strengthens the MBBS faculty in her specialty areas of history and theology, she is also a committed Anabaptist in her theology and is well connected in the Mennonite Brethren Church," says Henry J. Schmidt, MBBS president.
"The seminary has been a significant shaper in my own life," says
Rempel. "I'm excited about being involved in theological education in an MB setting."
Rempel visited the seminary Nov. 16-20 to interview. Schmidt reports that comments after her visit were "positive and encouraging," commending her for her chapel message, knowledge of her field, communication skills, balance of scholarship with addressing current issues, strong character and academic excellence.
Rempel was born in Fresno, Calif., while her father, Nick Rempel, a veteran Mennonite Brethren pastor, was a student at MBBS. She spent her childhood in Seattle, Wash., Wasco, Calif., and Buhler, Kan.
She is a 1978 graduate of Tabor College. Following graduation, she entered a Christian Service appointment at a church plant in Federal Way, Wash. Following four years with a Wichita, Kan., insurance company, she accepted a position in 1984 as secretary for admissions and publicity at MBBS. From 1987 to 1992 she was director of admissions and administrative assistant to the academic dean.
While on staff, Rempel completed a master's degree in theology, graduating in 1992. She is completing a doctorate in religion at Vanderbilt with a church history major and theology minor.
She won the Susan Ford Wiltshire Essay Prize this year for her work on "Christian Womanhood in the Novels of Grace Livingston Hill," and won the John Horsch Mennonite Historical Essay Contest in 1992. She is also coeditor of "Your Daughters Shall Prophesy" (Kindred Press, 1992).
Rempel has been active in Mennonite Brethren conference work. This summer she was elected secretary of the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. She has been on the MB Historical Commission and the Confession of Faith Revision Committee since 1994.
Bandits terrorize household, but can't escape witness
• Godards spared in Cali, Colombia
M·. .. B Missions/Services worker Trever
Godard has found a unique use for his beeper: to tell the armed bandits who stole it from him that "God loves you. You are forgiven."
Six people invaded the home of Trever and Joan Godard who live on the outskirts of Cali, Colombia, Nov. 7. Trever, Joan, their three children and seven young people currently being discipled by the Godards were in the home at the time.
The bandits herded the 12 into a bedroom and then ransacked the house, clearing it of small appli w ances, watches, jewelry, money and a new computer monitor. The robbers
threatened to take one of the children if they weren't given additional cash; Godard gave them his cash rent money.
While the thieves plunw dered the house, the Godards and their Christian guests sang choruses, prayed and told their captors God would forgive their sins. This prompted the nervous robbers to continually command the 12 to keep quiet.
The Godard children reacted calmly. Having "big brothers" around her house wasn't new to 4yearwold Kenia, so she chatted and invited the thieves to see her room.
Eventually, Trever's hands and feet were bound and he was laid face down
Rempel's appointment is the second this fall. Pierre Gilbert of Montreal, Que., was appointed in November as associate professor of Old Testament. He is also starting next fal1.-Kent Gaston which advises and helps in missionary crisis situations, has become involved.
on the bed. When the gang was ready to leave, they tied up the others, except for the two children and two girls.
All 12 captives were then taken to the bathroom with orders to stay there. The robbers sprayed tear gas into the room and closed the door. They cut the phone lines and left the house in the Godards' jeep.
The qUick-thinking prisoners turned on the water faucets, opened a window and sucked on wet towels to combat the effects of the tear gas. After 20 minutes they untied themselves and left the house.
The Colombian MB Conference has advised the Godard family to relocate. An interdenominational committee in Bogota,
The Godards are in need of financial help in recouping some of their losses.
In the month prior to the attack,an MBM/S prayer partner in Canada became unusually concerned for the Godards. Whenever the Godards came to mind, this woman was moved to prayer. Her pastor was also prompted in the middle of the night to pray for the missionary couple.
The Godards live in one of the most dangerous areas in the world, accord ing to MBM/S. The area is plagued by drug cartels, political terrorism and violent crime.-Gary Hardaway
A.E. Janzen left his mark on
Tabor and foreign missions
• Past Mennonite Brethren leader dies at age 103
Janzen
A BRAHAM EWELL "A.E." Janzen was 1\.remembered as an immaculate man of discipline and a contemporary Good Samaritan at the funeral service held for him Dec. 5 at the Hillsboro (Kan.) MB Church. Janzen, former Tabor College president and foreign missions executive for the Mennonite Brethren, died Dec. 2 in Hillsboro at the age of 103.
Janzen's long connection with Tabor began in 1909, a year after the school opened, when he enrolled in the academy program. He joined the teaching staff in 1916. His teaching career at Tabor spanned 34 years.
Janzen was asked to assume the presidency in 1934, a year when the future of the college was clouded by the Great Depression. Under his frugal and creative leadership, Janzen stabilized the school's financial base. Not one year of his administration ended with a deficit.
"He initiated a 'Thousand Friends Program,' which probably saved the college," says Wesley Prieb, Tabor faculty emeritus. "Each friend was expected to give $10 per year. Janzen was a tough manager, but never abusive."
The other passion of Janzen's career was missions. In 1943, he took a semester's leave from teaching to work for Mennonite Central Committee in Paraguay. His assignment was to provide economic assistance and spiritual refreshment for the struggling Mennonite settlers there.
From 1945 to 1960 he served as executive director of MB Foreign Missions (now MB Missions/Services). Janzen oversaw a significant expansion of mission activity after World War 2 and helped engineer a major shift in strategy, from colonial mission
stations to indigenous partnerships.
During his long retirement, Janzen served the mission board and Tabor College as archivist historian. In the arena of public service, Janzen was chair of the county historical society and a member of the county board on aging. In the latter role, he pioneered programs which combined the resources of government and the private sector to serve the needs of senior citizens-a partnership which became a national model.
Janzen, born Nov. 22, 1892, immigrated to Kansas from the Ukraine with his parents and four siblings in 1904. In addition to Tabor, he attended Salt City Business College in Hutchinson, Kan. He received a bachelor's degree from Kansas University in 1924 and a master's degree from K.U. in 1927. He completed residency requirements for a doctorate in economics from the University of California-Berkeley in 1930, but never completed his dissertation due to an urgent call to return to Tabor College to chair the business department.
In 1917, he was married to Zola Lantz, who predeceased him in 1979. An adopted son, Philip, died at age 35 in 1958.He and his wife were known for their hospitality, opening their home to hundreds of college guests, furloughed missionaries and students.
Janzen was committed to the Mennonite Brethren Church, locally as well as denominationally. He taught Sunday school at Hillsboro MB Church most of his life, was an ordained minister, served on the local pulpit committee for 30 years and was an active member of the church council. Janzen was frequently called upon to preach and teach in other congregations as well; he had a particular interest in eschatology.
"Before his illness, Janzen had expected to witness the Second Coming of Christ with the sound of trumpets in the sky," Prieb says. "This vision was the driving force that energized his faith. Waiting for the Lord was translated into a life of responsible action and ordered sacrificial service."
Janzen is survived by a brother, Cornelius, his daughter-in-law, Ilda Fay Janzen, and six nieces and nephews.-Don Ratzlaff, with reports from Tabor College and Wesley Prieb
IN BRIEF
• PASSING: Mamie M. Standing Elk, wife of long-time Central District pastor Ted Standing Elk, died Nov. 29, 1995. Mamie Standing Elk was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D., in 1928. She and her husband accepted Christ as Savior in early 1957 at Lakota Gospel (MB) Church in Porcupine, S.D., during revival services led by J.A. Froese. After attending Mokahum Indian Bible School in Case Lake, Minn., from 1960-64, the Standing Elks returned to Lakota Gospel Church as pastoral couple and ministered there for the next 30 years. They were involved in Bible teaching, tent meetings, revival services, and a radio ministry. Ted continues to lead the Lakota Gospel Church.
• PURCHASED: Lithuanian Christian Fund, the multi-faceted ministry partner of MB Missions/Services in Lithuania, has purchased a 64-room building to serve as its headquarters. The acquisition will bring the agency's many programs under one roof. The building will house Free Christian Church, a Bible school, an English teaching center and LCF translation and publishing services. The massive, unfinished castle-like structure of 25,000 interior square feet, was purchased for only $120,000 using funds donated and loaned by private sources in North America. (MBMjS)
• DEDICATION: The Campo Grande MB Church in Campo Grande, Brazil, dedicated its new 2S0-seat sanctuary Oct. 22. The work in Campo Grande began in 1985 when the Brazil Convention sent Dietrich Reimer and his wife to plant a church there. The congregation was assisted in financing the building project by Mennonite Brethren in Canada and the United States. The late Mennonite Brethren missiologist G.W. Peters helped to publicize the need to build a major urban ministry center in Campo Grande. A significant portion of his estate was donated to the building project. Between 1989 and 1994, MBM/S missionaries Jim and Gay Arthur, followed by John and Celia Fehr, assisted in the church's development. (MBMjS)
ing of generosity by North American Mennonite Brethren was inspiring too.
Is it unrelated news that 1995 was also the year the Zaire Conference, despite its context of crises, emerged as our largest national conference with 70,000 members?
5. Increased conference giving. After several years of belt-tightening, denominational ministries generally had a good year. The U.S. Conference experienced record giving (though still well below its goals) and, in May, MB Missions/Services raised its 199596 budget to $4.85 million-$350,000 more than the limit the board had projected six months earlier. May the bucks not stop here.
6. College developments. Both U.S. colleges, Fresno Pacific and Tabor, posted strong enrollment numbers and are in the process of major building campaigns. David Brandt was inaugurated as Tabor president, and both schools welcomed new academic deans. Additionally encouraging is the commitment of both institutions to become significant players in Mission USA.
7. Reconciliation efforts in India. The leadership feud in our second-largest national conference continued to be a point of sorrow for Mennonite Brethren worldwide, but there were signs of hope. As a result of negotiations between Indian leaders and a North American delegation, MBMjS soothed one sore point when it agreed to reinstate some of the program funding it had previously suspended.
In summer, Werner and Elsie Ann Kroeker, of Reedley, Calif., were commissioned for a twoyear pastoral ministry in India to help facilitate listening and healing between the two quarreling factions.
Keep praying.
8. Earthquake in Kobe, Japan. The Jan. 16 quake killed a Mennonite Brethren university student, but the Japan Conference was otherwise spared personal or property loss. Still, their efforts to assist with disaster relief were commendable. North American church members, meanwhile, contributed more than $63,000 for relief efforts-far surpassing the initial goal of $10,000.
9. Mennonite merger. This summer's decision to merge the two largest Mennonite groups in North America, the Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church, didn't stir many Mennonite Brethren. But this major realignment in the Anabaptist constellation could affect us down the road. Or maybe should.
10. Anniversary celebrations. MBBS (40), Mennonite Central Committee (75) and Mennonite Mutual Aid (50) all reached significant institutional milestones, as did several of our U.S. congregations. All in all, it was a good year to be reminded that God honors the vision of faithful men and women.
May that reminder inspire each of us to be faithful in 1996.
IN BRIEF
• RELIEF: Mennonite Central Committee is responding to disasters in a variety of locations. When heavy September rains swelled rivers in West Bengal, India, a dike failed and water gushed into Midnapore District. Some 60,000 people were affected. MCC has provided rice, lime to disinfect water, and tarps to a local aid group. Three typhoons struck the Philippines during October, leaving more than 1.2 million people homeless and killing more than 1,000. MCC is shipping rice, dried fish, beans, blankets and mats to some 800 homeless families. MCC has also granted an additional $19,000 to relief efforts in the flood-ravaged Mexican states of Tabasco and Campeche. (MCC)
• DEPLETION: Mennonite Disaster Service general funds are depleted, forcing the organization to make the first year-end appeal in its history. As of mid-November, the organization needed $100,000 by Jan. 15 to fund current programs and provide a onemonth operating balance to begin the new year. "It's not that MDS is far off budget this year," said MDS executive coordinator Lowell Detweiler. "Our income has been right on target. It's that natural disasters and the damage they're going to do are hard to predict." Over the past two years Mennonite Disaster Service has responded to some little-known natural disasters including flooding and tornado damage in Albany, Ga., and hurricane damage to Crestview, Fla., and St. Thomas in the Caribbean. The growing complexity of disaster response, the need to hire additional staff and MDS's legal separation from MCC have also affected the current financial needs. (MDS)
• INTERNET: Mennonite Central Committee's World Wide Web site was visited nearly 123,000 times in its first six months, exceeding expectations. A visit is counted each time a browser in the Internet looks at an item on the site, such as a press release or index page. The most popular items on the web site include the Africa index and criminal justice issues index. The address for the MCC web site is: http://www.mennonitecc.ca/mcc/ (MCC)
INDIA MISSION: General Conference moderator Edmund Janzen (left) says a prayer of commissioning for Elsie Ann and Werner Kroeker during Fresno '95. They are joined by Harold Ens (right), general director of MBM/S.
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Wochner were received as members Nov. 19.
DINUBA, Calif.-Tom and Luann Regier and David, Rhonda and Samuel Ysusi were received as members Nov. 26. Alex Cotner, Barbara Rosedale, Ricky Alvarado and Dale Nunce were received as members Dec. 3.
ADAMS, Okla.-Susan Fast was baptized Nov. 26.
HILLSBORO, Kan.-Dionne Jost, Lisa Scharenberg, Ashley Hiebert, Jennifer Siebert and Robin Hiebert were baptized Nov. 26 and welcomed as new members. Jim and Mary Regier joined by transfer.
SHAFTER, Calif.- Tara Frantz, Melissa Bergen, Jacob Bergen, Jennifer Reimer, Nathan Penner, Sean Giles and Tony Ghazel were baptized Dec. 3. Teresa Cummings was accepted into membership.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Community Bible Fellowship)-Crystal Washkow and Todd Monroe were baptized and received into membership Dec. 10.
• Ministry
FERNDALE, Wash. (Good News Fellowship)-A work trip to Guatemala is being planned for spring 1997. Bill Cochran explained the project during the Sunday school hour Nov. 19.
HILLSBORO, Kan. (Parkview)-The congregation sent copies of the 1972 Mennonite Brethren Worship Hymnal to the North Carolina MB Conference to help with church-planting efforts there. The congregation had recently purchased the new hymnal, Worship Together.
KINGSBURG, Calif.- The congregation sent the Together publication by mass mailing to all Kingsburg households in December. The publication is published by a Mennonite-related organization in Virginia that works cooperatively with local churches to produce a quality every-home outreach mailer with a local touch. The publication included a full-page ad for the church's Christmas outreach, a live nativity.
• Fellowship
EUGENE, Ore. (North Park)-Garry Kargel shared his "gift of photography" with the congregation during November. He took individual or family photos Nov. 19, then developed the pictures and provided a negative and finished copy for anyone in the church family interested in including a
photograph in Christmas cards. Kargel offered the service at no charge.
WICHITA, Kan. (First)-Ron and Kathy Seibel, pastoral couple of Silver Lake MB Church in Freeman, S.D., provided music and shared stories about their lives with the PrimeTimers, the congregation's 60plus group, Dec. 7.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Laurelglen)-A father-child outing held Nov. 17 at Morro Bay included a day hike.
DALLAS, Ore.-The annual spaghetti supper, carol sing and Christmas tree decorating night was held Dec. 3. It included a special spaghetti sauce cook-off.
CIMARRON, Kan. (Valleyview)-Harvest Missions Festival special guests Nov. 5 were Manuel and Anne Franco, MB Missions/Services workers in Portugal.
DALLAS, Ore.-Elmer Martens, professor emeritus at the MB Biblical Seminary, was the missions conference speaker Nov. 3-5.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Desert Valley)-Ted Thiesen and Don Loewen talked Nov. 19 about their volunteer work in Germany under MB Missions/Services.
SHAFTER, Calif.-Gary Hardaway, MB Missions/Services secretary for communications and public relations, was the guest speaker during the Thanksgiving/Missions Festival Nov. 19.
DINUBA, Calif.-Fritz and Susi Peters, MB Missions/Services appointees to Thailand, talked about their new assignment Nov. 12.
CORDELL, Okla. (Bible)-Harvest Festival guests Nov. 12 were MB Missions/Services workers to Thailand, Russell and Elizabeth Schmidt.
HESSTON, Kan.- Thanksgiving/Missions Sunday guest speakers Nov. 19 were Braden and Lisa Decker, who described their experiences in India, and Jason Trego, who talked about his experiences in Zaire delivering medical supplies.
BALKO, Okla.-The congregation hosted the community Thanksgiving service Nov. 19
CORDELL, Okla. (Bible)-Flowers marked Manuel and Mary Flaming's 60th wedding anniversary Oct. 29.
FAIRVIEW, Okla.-Ike and Eva Neufeld celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house Nov. 12.
SALEM, Ore. (Kingwood Bible)-Ervin and Erma Neufeld celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Nov. 25 with a reception
DINUBA, Calif.-Flowers in the sanctuary marked the 50th wedding anniversary of Marvin and Alma Heinrichs Nov. 26.
REEDLEY, Calif.-Lloyd and Susie Buller celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in November.
Workers '.
WICHITA, Kan. (First)-Mike Andrews has accepted a call to be director of adult ministries. He and his wife, Diane, are from Phoenix, Ariz., where he has been working with Young Life. He is a graduate of Dallas Seminary.
LITTLETON, Colo. (Belleview Acres)John Pitt is serving as interim pastor.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (Mennonite)-Eldon Epp is serving as pastor.
.DEATHS
EPP, ESTHER MILLER, Buhler, Kan., a member .of the Buhler MB Church, was born Sept. 29, 1905, to Henry P. and Dora Traudt Miller near Giltner, Neb., and died Sept. 25, 1995, at the age of 89. On Sept. 11, 1929, she was married to Abraham R. Epp, who predeceased her in 1990. She is survived by two children, Harold and wife Lillian Epp of Buhler, and Mary Ann and husband Vernon Kliewer of Newton, Kan.; one sister, Lydia Cook of Fort Worth, Texas; two sisters-in-law, Agatha Kroeker of Inman, Kan., and Katharina Epp of Buhler; eight grandchildren and spouses; and 16 great-grandchildren.
FADENRECHT, ESTHER FROESE, Cordell, Okla., a member of the Bible MB Church, Cordell, was born Nov. 22, 1908, to Henry and Susan Jansen Froese in Beaver County, Okla., and died Nov. 9, 1995, at the age of 86. On Feb. 13, 1927, she was married to John R. Fadenrecht, who predeceased her in 1991. She is survived by three daughters, Arlene and husband Jonah Schmidt of Idabel, Okla., Irene and husband Jerome Adams of Burkburnett, Texas, and Viola and husband Leon Neufeld of Balko, Okla.; one brother, Irving Froese of Redding, Calif.; one sister, Lydia Berry of Groesbeck, Texas; eight grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
HODEL, VERNA MAE, Reedley, Calif., a member of the Reedley MB Church, was born May 8, 1920, to Henry T. and Anna H. Krause and died Nov. 19, 1995, at the age of75. She was married to Paul Hodel.
JANZEN, ABRAHAM EWELL "A.E.," Hillsboro, Kan., a member of the Hillsboro MB
FELLOWSHIP
Bobbi Nickel and Helen Goertzen
PaIm. Village Retirelllent COll1lllunity in Reedley, Calif.
Church and former president of Tabor College, was born Nov. 22, 1892, in Williamsburg of the Ukraine to Abraham H. and Eva Neufeld Janzen and died Dec. 2, 1995, at the age of 103. On Dec. 24, 1917, he was married to Zola B. Lantz, who predeceased him in 1979. He is survived by a daughter-in-law, Ilda Fay Janzen; one brother, Cornelius; and six nieces and nephews, George A. Wall, Johnie M. Wall, Adell C. Thomson, Catherine Groerer, Evelyn Ediger and Vera Heidebrecht.
JANZEN, MARTHA A., Mountain Lake, Minn., a member of the Mountain Lake MB Church and former missionary to Zaire, was born Oct. 30, 1904, to Peter and Anna Peters Hiebert in Carson Township, Minn., and died Nov. 11, 1995, at the age of 91. On Jan 23, 1943, she was married to Aaron Janzen, who predeceased her in 1957. She is survived by a sister-in-law, Rubye Hiebert of Mountain Lake.
MARTENS, KATHERINE P., Reedley, Calif., a member of the Reedley MB Church, was born March 6, 1893, to Henry and Marie Fast Penner near Henderson, Neb., and died Nov. 25, 1995, at the age of 102. On Nov. 25, 1914, she was married to Frank Martens, who predeceased her in 1948. She is survived by one daughter, Tillie Martens of Reedley; one son, Franklin Martens and his wife Laura Schafer of Shafter, Calif.; one sister, Martha Penner of Dallas, Ore.; six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
ber of the Enid MB Church, was born Jan. 7, 1907, to Henry and Elizabeth (Willems) Rempel at Cooperton, Okla., and died Oct. 31, 1995 at the age of 88. On Sept. 1, 1934, he was married to Mildred Jaeb, who survives. He is also survived by his daughter, Marilyn and Homer Brown of Norman, Okla.; two sons, John and wife Ann of Wichita, Kan., and Thomas and wife Kay of Greensboro, N.C.; one daughter-in-Iaw, Carleen Anderson of Manchester, Mo.; one brother; Sam of Dallas, Texas; 16 grandchildren and 10 greatgrandchildren.
SCHMIDT, MARTHA JANZEN, Enid, Okla., a member of the Enid MB Church, was born June 19, 1904, to Jacob S. and Helen (Warkentin) Janzen in Marion County, Kan., and died Nov. 27, 1995, at the age of 91. On Aug. 26, 1923, she was married to Ben T. Schmidt, who predeceased her in 1993. She is survived by two daughters, Verda Mae and husband Paul Thomas of Ringwood, Okla., and Diann and husband Lonell Patrick of Broken Arrow, Okla.; two sons, Vernon and wife Ruby and Kenneth and wife Carol, all of Fairview, Okla.; three sisters, Susie Reimer of Medford, Okla., Bertha Dirksen and Lena Biles, both of Blackwell, Okla.; 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
DAVID REIMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
For more information, call (209) 638-6933
MENDEL, MARY WOLLMAN, Bridgewater, S.D., a member of the Salem MB Church in Bridgewater, was born March 1, 1906, to Andrew M. and Rachel Gross Wollman near Menno, S.D., and died at the age of 89. On April 28, 1927, she was married to Sam Mendel, who predeceased her. She is survived by three sons, Jonathan and wife Angeline of Freeman, S.D., David and wife Selma of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Gary and wife Linda of Freeman; one brother, Mike G. Wollman of Freeman; and nine grandchildren.
REMPEL, PAUL H., Enid, Okla., a mem-
STANDING ELK, MAMIE M., Porcupine, S.D., a member of the Lakota Gospel Church, Porcupine, was born to Lester and Eva Lone Hill on Jan. 14, 1928, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and died Nov. 29, 1995, at the age of 67. She and her husband, Ted Standing Elk Sr., were the pastoral couple of the Lakota Gospel Church for the past 30 years. She is survived by her husband; one son, Ted Jr. of Porcupine; one daughter, Charlene Quilt of Rapid City, S.D.; one brother, two sisters and two grandchildren.
SUDERMAN, JOHN H., Hillsboro, Kan., a member of the Ebenfeld MB Church, Hillsboro, was born Aug. 13, 1902, to Peter and Caroline Suderman near Hillsboro and died Dec. 9, 1995, at the age of 93. In 1925, he was married to Louise Claassen, who pre-
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RECONCILIATION
When words hurt
When it comes to working for racial reconciliation, even the best of intentions can go awry.
This summer, the Peace/Justice/Service Commission (PJSC) of the Ohio Conference of the Mennonite Church came to the Wichita '95 convention excited about its Peace Book Wraps project. The commission annually creates book wraps on the theme of peace as an alternative to military book covers in public schools.
One of the winning designs incorporated a quote submitted by a ninth grader: "Peace is a maze, winding and twisting to find a way out of confusion and blackness." Some 30,000 book wraps went into print and a sample was included in convention packets for high school youth. Not once did anyone
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associated with the project connect the images and words with thoughts of race or offensive language.
Until Wichita '95, that is. "Our anglo minds did not see the offensive nature of the quote which couples the word 'blackness' with 'confusion,' therefore giving it a negative connotation," wrote J enelle Buschur, PJSC chair, in a statement first released at the convention.
During a three-hour meeting with Buschur and several mediators, Stan Maclin, president of the
African American Mennonite Association, talked at length about the word "black" and the meaning it held for African Americans.
"It didn't just identify a color, he said, but evoked images and feelings from an ongoing history of suffering, discrimination, humiliation, indignities, powerlessness and pain. To attach that word to a negative term as 'confusion' multiplied the insult and its effect," according to a report in the Ohio Evangel, a publication of the Ohio Conference.
THREE evangelical organizations are coming together to create a new date on the Christian calendar: Racial Reconciliation Sunday. The day will be observed on the Sundayptior to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, beginning Jan. 14.
The National Association of Evangelicals, National Black Evangelical Association, and Zondervan Publishing House have teamed up to begin the campaign, which has been in the works for five years.
Materials produced by the three sponsoring groups will encourage churches to
pursue racial reconciliation. This year's theme is taken from a familiar Sunday school song: "Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in God's sight."
Zondervan is creating posters and bulletin inserts promoting Racial Reconciliation Sunday. Part of the campaign will be to help churches organize their own racial reconciliation task force and to equip this group with an information kit, listing resources that present biblical teaching against racism, a history of racial offenses, actions being taken to address the problem, and more. (EP)
The meeting, after "hours of anger, painful dialog, intense listening, tears, and finally acceptance and understanding," ended with a tearful hug between Maclin and Buschur.
"Stan opened my eyes and helped me see how the meaning behind words touches people differently," said Buschur. "He was concerned for my feelings and yet he tried to show me the situation through African American eyes." (Ohio Evangel)
LANGUAGE
Leery about labels
You say you don't know how to refer to the racial and ethnic categories of people? A good rule of thumb is to use the moniker they prefer.
But even that rule has shortcomings. A U.S. Labor Department survey of 60,000 households has discovered that "politically correct" references may be incorrect after all.
• Among households, as polled by race, about 44 percent want to be called black; 28 percent prefer African-American.
• Nearly half of people want to be called "American Indian," while 37 per-
cent prefer "Native American."
•A majority of those surveyed want to be called "hispanic" instead of "Latino" or "of Spanish origin."
• An overwhelming majority prefer to be called "white," but about 3 percent opt for "EuropeanAmerican." (Wall Street Journal)
PERCEPTIONS
AIDS as a weapon?
A survey of about 1,000 black church members in five cities nationwide found that more than one-third believe AIDS was created in a germ warfare laboratory and has been used to commit genocide against blacks. Another third said they were "unsure" about this theory, leaving only about a third who disagreed with it.
The findings were reported by Sandra Crouse Quinn, a health educator at the University of North Carolina, at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. (EP)
BELIEFS
Evil in the flesh
Could it be Satan?
According to a Newsweek poll, two out of three Americans say yes. The national poll conducted by the Princeton Research Associates found that 66 percent of American adults believe in the devil; 37 percent say they have been tempted by Satan.
Among evangelicals, 85 percent say they believe in Satan and 61 percent say they have been tempted by him. A majority of evangelicals blame Satan for crime (59 percent) and pornography (63 percent), while only about a third of the general public agrees. (EP)
CONVERSION
A Christian confession
It's not unusual for a convicted criminal to claim a life-changing conversion to Christ-especially before the parole board.
But how often does a conversion experience lead a free man to coqfess a crime that sends him to prison?
John Claypool, 34, is expected to be sentenced Jan. 4 after pleading guilty to two counts of seconddegree homicide. Claypool confessed the crime to his pastor last September and wanted his help "in talking to the authorities and making it right."
Claypool was 14 at the time of the killings. He told authorities he had experimented with LSD just weeks before the killing and had been high on drugs and alcohol the night before he shot and killed two neighbors on impulse.
"I was naturally shocked," said Claypool's pastor, Roger Thompson, of the Berean Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn. "We're in the business of wanting God to change people radically, and it's very humbling and gratifying to hear someone who has taken to heart the gospel and his own personal walk to such depth."
The county attorney has recommended that Claypool receive concurrent sentences of just under 10 years, with eligibility for parole in about six-and-ahalf years. (EP)
END TIMES
MARC of the beast?
Is the Marine's new multi-technology automated reader card (MARC) a forerunner to the "mark of the beast" described in the
Mennonites are named after him, but what do we really know about Menno Simons, the 76th century reformer? To mark the SOOth anniversary year of his birth, we decided to interview him. Posthur mously. These are his actual words. Really. We'll l\ 1 carry excerpts in each issue during 1996. Ifr\
You're known for your radical commit· ment to live out the Word of God. Is it true that you became a priest even though you had never read the Bible and preferred partying to piety?
At the age of 24, I entered the priesthood in my village of Pingjum (Northern Holland). Two others my age served there as well. These two had read the Scriptures to some extent; I, however, had not so much as touched it, fearing I would be led astray if I read it!
The two above-mentioned young men and I spent our days in gambling, drinking and similar vain amusements, as is unfortunately the custom among such idle people. If we then began to discuss the Scriptures, I could not say a word to them without being derisive, for I myself did not know what I wanted, so closed was the Word of God to me.
One year later, as often as I handled the bread and wine in the performance of the mass, the thought occurred to me that these did not really constitute the Lord's flesh and blood. At first I thought this idea came from the devil who might be trying to lead me away from the faith. Finally, I decided in all diligence to examine the New Testament. I had not read far when it became clear to me that we had all been deceived.
Then, before I had ever heard of any of the brethren, it happened that a God-fearing, pious man name Sicke Snyder was beheaded at Leeuwarden because he had been rebaptized. It seemed strange to me that one should speak of a different baptism. Eagerly I searched the Scriptures and gave serious thought to the issue; but of infant baptism I could find no justification in the Bible.
Soon thereafter I was called to Witmarsum, the village of my birth. I moved there for the sake of fame and personal profit, but continued to preach God's Word without spirit or love, as is the way of hypocrites. The disciples I produced were no better than I their teacher: vain boasters and frivolous babblers, who, like myself, really had no interest in these matters.
And while I had already gained much knowledge from the Scriptures, I nevertheless wasted that knowledge on the lusts of my youth in an impure, sensual, unprofitable life without any fruit, and sought nothing but gain, ease, the favor of men, splendor, reputation and honor as those generally do who are afflicted by this illness.
NEXT MONTH: Menno's metamorphosis.
SOURCE: The Mennonite Brotherhood In Russia, by P.M. Friesen
SESSION 1: Racism
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
A GUIDE FOR GROUP INTERACTION
Based on: "Categorical Denial" (p. 4), "Who? Us, Racist?" (p. 9) and 'I/Adoption Option' Broadens Horizons" (pp. 2528).
GET READY-Getting started
• What is your memory of the first time you realized different races exist?
GET SET-Examining the issues
1. How would you define racism? How is it different from prejudice?
2. Is it possible to think of oneself only as Jlhuman"? Why or why not?
3. In what ways does your congregation deal with racism-both positively and negatively?
4. What does Scripture say about the abuse of power as it relates to racism? (For starters: Gen. 1:27, Rom. 2:9-11, 1 Cor. 12: 12- 13, Eph. 2: 13- 16)
GO-Applying ideas to the way we live
1. In what ways can you affirm the attempts of the Mennonite Brethren conference to Jl move beyond"? How does our conference need to grow and expand its vision for various cultures/ethnic groups?
2. Is there a need to confess the sin of keeping people at the fringes? If so, how?
3. If you could develop some "do's and don'ts" to encourage inclusion within your congregation, what would they be?
4. How can you as a person/congregation apply the principles of Acts 15?
SESSION 2: Racism
Based on "Journey of Curiosity" (p. 12) and "Racism: The Shoe Fits" (p. 44).
GET READY-Getting started
• Share words that you use to identify yourself. Which ones are most important-and why?
GET SET-Examining the issues
1. With which parts of Janet Boldfs pilgrimage do you identify?
2. In what ways might we communicate smugness to others (intentionally or unintentionally)?
3. With which of Richard W. Breslin's six categories of prejudice do you struggle most?
4. What examples do you find in Scripture of Jesus addressing the prejudices and narrow-mindedness of people?
5. What does Scripture say about the difference between tolerance and acceptance? (For starters: Lk. 6:2735, In. 13:34-35, 1 Cor. 13)
GO-Applying ideas to the way we live
1. Identify specific attitudes and actions that could broaden your appreciation for diversity.
2. In what areas, if any, should we strive to be or remain "different" ?
SESSION 3: Racism
Based on "Cursed by a Heresy" (p. 16) and "Raising kids to be reconcilers" (p. 18)
GET READY-Getting started
• To what extent have you been exposed to the "Ham's curse" teaching?
GET SET-Examining the issues
1. What were the causes and results of this false doctrine?
2. According to the article, what is the proper interpretation of the Genesis passage?
3. How have you heard other Scripture passages used to defend racist attitudes?
4. How do the celebration of the Lord/s Supper and the issue of racism relate to each other?
GO-Applying ideas to the way we live
1. What factors make it difficult to confront inaccurate interpretations of Scripture?
2. How can we improve our ability to communicate the truths of Scripture in ways that meet the needs of people?
3. What part should the church play in raising kids to be reconcilers?
SESSION 4: Challenges to faith
Based on "The Great Gospel Mystery" (p.21)
GET READY-Getting started
n Which, if any, of the Illysteries of the Christian faith do you sometimes find most difficult to believe?
GET SET-Examining the issues
1. Review the evidences/examples from Scripture of Jesus's humanity. Could you add others?
2. Share ways in which you have experienced the three reasons Holm offers to explain the need for incarnation.
3. What is the danger of over-emphasizing Jesus's humanity? His divinity?
GO-Applying ideas to the way we live
1. In what ways do we continue to "choose toys rather than books"?
2. How would you respond to someone who says that the humanity/divinity questions surrounding Jesus are peripheral?
3. Create a prayer of praise based on your discussion of Jesus's humanity.
Racism: The shoe fits
NOBODY LIKES to be called racist. Anyone who is a follower of Christ should be offended by the charge because being racist and Christian are incompatible identities. John said it best: "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness" (1 In.2:9).
We who have been called racist elsewhere in this issue will be tempted to deflect the charge in any of several ways:
• "It's 'politically correct' these days to call anyone in the majority a racist; let's get beyond what's culturally chic."
• "Focusing on racism only sidetracks us from our real mission; let's talk about saving souls."
• "I'm not racist, but I sure hope So-and-so reads this issue."
• "This issue doesn't apply to me; we don't have people of other racial groups in our church (or community)."
• "The gulf between racial groups in our country is too wide; it's hopeless to think anyone person or denomination can change that."
rakhan-would fit this form. So would racial slurs and jokes. Such expressions are indefensible in the body of Christ.
2. Symbolic racism. Some of us have negative feelings about a given group because we feel the group is interfering with aspects of our culture with which we have become familiar. We don't like the status quo to be threatened: "(Name of group) are getting too demanding (or are moving too fast) in their push for equal rights." Unlike red-neck racism, those of us gripped by symbolic racism won't actively work against programs that promote change. We are more likely to say, "What's all the fuss about?"
Anyone who is a follower of Christ should be offended by the charge because being racist and Christian are
• "I'm so tired of hearing about the racial issue; just let me live my life in peace." incompatible
• "If I'm part of the ethnic majority in a denominational structure that is identities. racist, I guess I should withdraw from participating in it-even though I love being Mennonite Brethren."
These responses are natural. Any or all may flit through your mind at one point or another as you read our feature articles. They did mine. But settling on any one of these responses will not help us, individually or collectively, mature more fully into the image of the inclusive Christ. Our hope is that this issue will both encourage and prod us at our point of need, whatever that may be.
Racism, you see, is not a "one size fits all" problem. Prejudice comes in different sizes, colors and styles. Richard W. Brislin, an intercultural educator, has identified six forms:
1. Red-neck racism. This is prejudice in its most blatant form. It sounds like this: "The many faults and the general inability to get along of (insert name of group), who have recently flooded our community, prove that we ought to send them back where they came from as soon as possible." The white supremacist movement-or the strident rhetoric of a Louis Far-
3. Tokenism. In this form, we do not view ourselves as prejudiced. One way we reinforce this view of ourselves is to engage in unimportant, but positive, intergroup behaVior. For instance, we might vote for a plan to include minority representation, but not work conscientiously to make the effort effective.
4. Arm's-length prejudice. Some of us engage in friendly, positive behavior toward members of other groups in certain situations, but hold those same members at arm's length in other situations. "Casual friendships at work are fine, but don't date my daughter or expect a dinner invitation to my home."
5. Real likes and dislikes. We can harbor negative feelings about a given group because members of that group engage in behaviors we don't like. It may be a music style, a mannerism or maybe the way they care for their property. Having honest likes and dislikes is natural. The problem comes when we let our preferences affect the way we relate to members of another group.
6. The familiar and unfamiliar. Having been raised in a certain culture, we become comfortable with it-and uncomfortable in different environments. We naturally gravitate to our comfort zone. We also develop our circle of friends within it-and then generally keep the circle closed.
Within these styles is at least one shoe that fits each of us. And, as the saying goes, if the shoe fits, wear itlong enough, at least, to identify it and "own" it. We are racist. But also hear this: We can be changed. Help us, Christ, to begin to set aside the cumbersome shoes of prejudice so that you might fit our feet "with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace" (Eph. 6: 15).-DR
