IN MY ADULT LIFE SO FAR, I've gone through several stages in how I relate to and perceive the church. In my early 20s, I struggled to find the "right" church for me. In other words, my central focus centered on what the church had to offer me. Gradually, I started to realize that church wasn't there for me, but that I was there to serve the church. This radically changed the reasons I went to church. I started looking for ways to contribute and ways to get involved.
In the last five or so years, I've begun another shift in stages. I've started to realize that the church is more than a place to serve God. The church is also my family. When I started becoming involved in local ministries, I began rubbing shoulders with people I probably never would've gotten to know otherwise. With each new ministry I become involved in, I meet more people, many of whom are very different from me. But I find I learn a lot from them-about myself, about God and about being a family. Often, I learn more from them than I do from my closest friends.
I've begun to appreciate the church precisely because I am thrust into a community with people I'd never meet otherwise. As Ron Sider says in our first article, ''We do not choose family-we are born into one. Just so, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are born into his family." With that family comes differences in opinion, new ways of seeing things and a host of other challenges. With family also comes love, forbearance and strength. All of these have become precious blessings to me.
The articles in this issue open the doors of the church and take us inside. I hope they will bless-and challenge-you as much as they have me.
Blessings. -CA
COMING
-JULY 25-27-U.S. Conference and General Conference conventions in Abbotsford, B.C., Canada
NOVEMBER 1-3-Central District Conference convention, Grace Bible Church, Gettysburg, S.D.
4 The church is God's family-and ours
For many, the search for God and a place to worship is no different than choosing a car. How do we tell them that God-and his church-is so much more? BY ROGER
7 Thinking about church some more • •. What does the MB Confession of Faith say about church? BY
REUBEN PAULS
The gathering of Christians in each others' homes is as old as the New Testament. What is it that draws us together? BY
MIKE FURCHES
VOLUME 65, NUMBER 5
EDITOR
carmen Andres
ASSOOATE EDITOR
Connie Faber
BOARD OF COMMUNICATIONS: Kathy Heinrichs Wiest, chair; Peggy Goertzen, Harold Loewen, Phil Neufeld, Dalton Reimer.
What hurdles face small groups, and how can we overcome them? BY DAVID
THIESSEN
14 Should we eliminate Sunday school?
We have forced Sunday school to be what it was never designed to be-the primary agency of biblical instruction. BY LINDA
16 Contagious Christianity
CANNELL
When Christians catch the Spirit, it is impossible not to pass it on. BY
TIM TEN CLAY
• Interesting, but strange Inquiring Minds by Marvin Hein 21
• Baptism and membership and the American flag in church
• An African
• Houses of answered prayer 24
• New contacts after 9-11 26
• Ramallah resident does about-face 26
• Keys to sharing the Gospel with Arabic-speaking people 27
• Afghans can't go home 28
• Optimism
The Christian Leader (ISSN 0009-5149) is published monthly by the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, 315 S. Lincoln, Hillsboro, KS 67063. The Christian Leader seeks to inform Mennonite Brethren members and churches of the events, activities, decisions and issues of theirdenomination, and to instruct, inspire and initiate dialogue so members will aspire to be faithful disciples of Christ as understood in the evangelicaVAnabaptist theological tradition. However, the views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Christian Leader, the Board of Communications or the Mennonite Brethren Church.
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REO l. Y I INTERVIEWED Tim, a I5-year-old who is t, handsome and troubled. At one point, I asked him, "Are you religious?" He replied, ''Yes, I am." r asked him to tell me more. He paused a moment, then said, ''Well, I haven't really chosen a religion yet. t'm searching for the one that's right for me." Had I asked Tim his thoughts about the church, he probably would have described it as "a sort of religious club where people who have the same beliefs hang out together."
"I'm searching for the one that's right for me." What a profound summary of the deepest assumptions of our postmodem culture. On the one hand, Tim is refreshingly candid about his spiritual need. He knows that something is missing. He acknowledges that if this life and this world are all there is, that is not enough. He yeams for meaning, for purpose, for spiritual connection, for God. Yet Tim's measure of the faith he is looking for is nothing greater than himself-"the one that's right for me." Implicit in Tim's mind is the belief that choosing his God and his place of worship are not fundamentally different from choosing a car or an apartment.
What do we as Christians have to say to Tim and to the millions of his contemporaries throughout the world? More specifically, how does our understanding of the church as God's community help us to communicate the message that we believe is the only satisfying answer to Tim's search?
The Good News for Tim
The first thing we have. to share with Tim is that his search for God has been preceded by God's search for him. From the dawn of creation, God the Creator has been on a quest for us--a quest to be in personal relationship with men and women everywhere. Second, we can tell Tim that]esus Christ is God's gift of love to us, our salvation, our hope, our perfect ideal. Third, we can tell Tim that the Bible is God's revelation to us; in the Scriptures we leam of God's faithfulness, first in the Old Testament to his chosen people, the Israelites, then in the New Testament to all people everyWhere who are willing to receive him.
So far, we are affinning for Tim the core of Christian orthodoxy, believed by all Christians for 2000 years. But, when we share our understanding of the church, we who are rooted in the Anabaptist tradition have something distinctive to say-our understanding that the church is much richer and deeper than a religious club or a consumer choice. The Scriptures reveal God's plan for his children to live in communitywith other believers, which is God's recipe for his children to flourish here on earth. It is this understanding of the community of believers as the body of
Christ that those of us in the Anabaptist tradition have developed more fully than some other Christian traditions have. For us, the gospel is lived with, and among, our brothers and sisters, and thus it is inconceivable that someone could be a Christian on his own. Quite often patients tell me, "I believe in God, but I don't go to church." What a curious oxymoron. Since the life God calls us to can only be lived together, how could we claim to "believe" and not be "in community"? As Christians, we are called to relate to one another as brothers and sisters, as family.
Contract or covenant
We cannot understand this family of Christians unless we first understand the gift of covenant. Tim lives in a culture that is rapidly losing its experience with, and the skills necessary to live in, covenant relationships. Tim lives in a world of contracts, not covenants. Contracts are voluntary agreements between two or more parties to provide specified goods or services in exchange for some paymentusually money. Contracts are excellent vehicles for commerce: buying and selling houses, leasing cars and obtaining loans from the local bank. Everything is negotiated in advance, both parties voluntarily sign the agreement, and when the contract is complete, no further obligation remains on either side. Contracts encourage prior calculation of risk and benefit. This contractual way of relating to others works quite well in business. Yet it is disastrous in personal relationships. In the end, contractual relationships leave us feeling uncared for and disposable. Nowhere is the corrosive effect of the contractual mentality more obviolJl than in the current, sad state of the institution of marriage. Nothing so clearly demonstrates the difference between contract and covenant than the difference between the time-honored promise in the marriage covenant ("For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live") and the modem contractual ("As long as we both shall love'')
Covenants begin with a promise-not to a set of ., conditions--but to a person. A covenant is a promise of love, loyalty and faithfulness. A covenant precedes, and is larger than, the covenanting parties. They do not negotiate the terms of the covenant. Rather, they acknowledge and commit themselves to terms that are already there in the nature of a cbvenant relationship. When I promise lifelong faithfulness to mY wife in marriage, I do so realizing that I am submitting myself to what is fundamental in marriage. If my commitment to her is anything less than "For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live, II then I am not really entering into marriage. Because
covenants are promises between people, their obligations cannot be fully specified in advance. In a covenantal relationship, I promise faithfulness whatever may come. Because a covenant commitment to a person is not time-limited, there is no honorable exit. I cannot terminate a covenant. I can either abide by it in lasting faithfulness, or I will be unfaithful.
Just as there can be no marriage without a covenant commitment by each partner, so there can be no true brotherhood in the church without a similar covenantal understanding of the nature of our relationship with our brothers and sisters. This
WHAT WE BELIEVE
is why studying the Scriptures together is so central to our congregational life. It is as we learn together from the Bible about God's covenant with us that we realize that it is this covenant which forms the basis and model for our covenant with one another. The teachings of Jesus and the example of the early church teach us what it means to be a covenantal fellowship.
For Tim and his contemporaries, it won't help much to talk about covenant. He just won't get it. His whole mind-set and life experience make such talk incomprehensible. What will convince Tim is to experience covenant-to feel what it is like to be
Nature of the Church
called by God
ARTICLE 6:
MENNONITE BRETHREN CONFESSION OF FAITH
Fel lp accountability
We believe the church Is the people called by God through Jesus Christ. People who respond In faith are united with the local congregation by the public confession of baptism. Church members commit themselves to follow Christ In a life of discipleship and witness as empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Body of Christ
The church Is one body of believers, male and female, from every nation, race and class. The head of this body Is Christ. The church, united by the one Spirit, makes Christ visible In the world. The church exists as local bodies of believers and as a worldwide community of faith.
Worship
The church Is nourished and renewed 88 God's people gather regularly to glorify God. The early church gathered on the first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The worshipping community celebrates God's faithfulness and grace, reaffirms Its faithfulness to God, builds up the members of the body, and seeks God's will for Its life and mission. As the church observes baptism and the Lord's Supper, It proclaims the good news of salvation.
The church Is a covenant community In which members are mutually accountable In matters of faith and life. They love, care, and pray for each other, share each other's Joys and burdens, admonish and correct one another. They share material resources 88 there Is need. Local congregations follow the New Testament example by seeking the counsel of the wider church on matters that affect Its common witness and mission. Congregations work together In a spirit of love, mutual submission and Interdependence.
The New Testament guides the practice of redemptive church discipline. The church Is responsible to correct members who continue to sin. Congregations forgive and restore those who repent, but formally exclude those who disregard discipline.
Gifts for mlalstry
Through the Holy Spirit God gives gifts to each member for the well-beIng of the whole body. These gifts are to be exercised In God's service to build up the church and to minister In the world.
God calls people to equip the church for ministry. Leaders are to model CIuIst In their personal, family, and church life. 1118 church Is to discern leaders prayerfully, and to aftInn, support and correct them In a spirit of love. •
Matthew 16:13-20; Matthew 18:15-20; John 13:1-20; John 17:1-26; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-4 and 7-47; Acts 11:1·18; Acts 15:1·35; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 5:1·8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Galatians 3:26-28; Galatians 6:1-5; Ephesians Ephesians 2:11·22; Ephesians 4:4-6 and 11-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:7-9; 1 Peter 2:9-12; 1 Peter 5:1-4.
among those who understand and practice covenantal relatedness with each other. This will not only speak to Tim's deepest need for acceptance and security, but it will also make believable to him our witness that the gospel is God's truth.
The church: God's family and ours
The church as a type of family has a number of important features:
• We do not choose family-we are born into one. Just so, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are born into his family.
• Just as family is for a lifetime, in sickness and
health, in good times and bad, in youth and old age, so it is with our relationships in the church.
• Families are for one another. Families do not calculate in advance how much caring they will do, under what circumstances and for whom. Rather, our caring is without condition and without a termination date. So, too, itmust be in the church. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are to be cared for by each of us, especially in times of stress and sorrow.
• Family requires accountability. As we live our lives, we do so in the presence of our family. We are expected to behave honorably, to be faithful and to fulfill our obligations to one another. Although at
Thinking about
THERE ARE VAST dIfferences of Interpretation today about what the church really Is. Which Is more Importantthe church universal or the local church? In many of our churches, It Is this question which lurks behind the "membership" Issue. People ask, "If I am a member of the g1obal church, having entered It at conversion, why does this denomination require that I take up membership In a local congregation?"
Article 6 addresses this question by referring to both the local and the universal aspects of the church. The article begins by defining the church as "the people called by God" (the church universal), but then expands on this by saying, "People are united with the local c0ngregation by baptism." It might be better If we called membership "belonging to a local congregation" rather than "church membership." On the other hand, as we contln-
We do not choose familyweare born into one.
"church" some more.
first this may appear intrusive and restrictive, in fact it is highly freeing, for it allows us to become better persons, with deeper and more satisfying relationships, than we could ever have achieved outside the family structure .
• In a family, conflict must not be allowed to destroy relationships. Since there is literally no exit from a covenant, we have no choice but to work it out. This explains why we in the Anabaptist tradition emphasize Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18 and why peacemaking and ministries of reconciliation are so central.
• Finally, healthy families do not rest until all ' their members are reunited. Our hearts go out to those who are separated from the family by accident or by enemies. So it is with 'the church. We hurt. that not all of God's children have found their way
there, we will not have a ministry In the universal church either. Why? Because accountability and testing naturally take place In the local congregation. Our understanding of church recognizes both the local and universal 88pects of the church. However, the question of emphasis remains: Do we have a part In the local church because we are part of the global church, or does our part In the local church give rise to ministry opportunities In the larger church? It Is my sense that the latter has a more "biblical feel," and this Is also bIe. Consider the everexpanding circle of Influence In Acts 1:8.
Perhaps the greatest area of challenge 88 a local church grows larger Is Its sense of Interdependence with the wider faith community. Why should a local church consult with the larger church when It has suffl.. clent resources available on Its own? And why consult
the denomination when there are resources from agencies such 88 Willow Creek and 5addleback, with on-line connections? It may well be time to re-ask the question, "What does It mean to belong to a denomInation?" and "If we belong, why not live like we do?"
Agreement on our Confession of Faith serves 88 a wonderful "glue to hold us together." Accountability Is 88 Important for a congregation within a denomination 88 It Is for a member within a congregation.
The article goes on to deal with the Issues of worship, fellowship and accountability, and ministry gifts. Regarding worship, we appear to think of It 88 something that happens In a "church service," when the believing community Is gathered together. Worship 88 lifestyle or obedience may be behind the language, but Is not stated directly. The article does recognize that one 88pect of worship Is proclamation, specifically
home. We make it our business to find them and to invite them in. As we enter this millennium, Tim and his contemporaries are wondering, "Where is the faith that's right for me?" We are bold enough to declare that just as our faith has proved "right for us," so we believe it promises to "be right for Tim" -not because we have chosen God, but because he has chosen us. We invite Tim to join us as together we commit ourselves to a covenant of lifelong love and loyalty to Jesus Christ and to one another. •
Roger C. Sider is a psychiatrist with Philhaven, a Mennonite-sponsored behavioral healtb system in Pennsylvania. This article is reprinted with permission, from the MaYOune 1999 issue of The Evangelical Visitor, a Brethren in Christ periodical.
through the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord's SUpper, but proclamation of the good news of plvatlon Is broader than that. TeachIng, making disciples, fellowship and evangelism are all Included, but It Is striking that we have not Included the word "preaching" In the text of our Confession, given that preaching has been so highly valued among us. This Is probably a simple oversight. In any case, we will not stop preaching simply because one word has not found Its way Into our C0nfession.
As a denomination, we have placed a strong em sis on fellowship and accountability. A "covenant communlty"-famlly of pe0ple joined together 88 a response to God's covenant the Ideal expression of the visible presence of God In the world. True community Is attractive. It fills a significant void In our society, which Is plagued by broken relationships.
The article concludes with a section on gifts and ministry. Highly visible In this section Is the use of the word "leaders." What Is also obvious Is the accountability connected to the leadership task. This balance between leadership and accountabilIty Is one of the strengths of Mennonite Brethren theol..gy. The church needs leaders, but not runaway leaders. When these two are kept In balance, the effec. tlveness of the church Increases••
Reuben Pauls is pastor of River of Life Church in Sorrento, B.C., and former executive minister of the Canadian MB Conference. This article appeared as part of a series in the MB Herald, a pUblication of the Canadian conference, looking at the new MB Confession of Faith approved in 1999.
s ro
Mark White and their daughter Sarah.
The Whites live next to Jane and Walter and do not attend Riverside Community Church like the rest of the group. As a matter of fact, while each member of the group is a professing Christian, Beth and Mark are not yet Christians but are openly seeking spiritual truth. They got to know the Olivers through invitations to back yard barbeques and the willingness of Jane and Walter to baby-sit their daughter Sarah free of charge. As their relationship developed, the Whites found themselves opening up and sharing just about anything with their neighbors they had come to trust and love.
The food each couple brought is in the kitchen. Sam adjusts the music on the CD player and mingles with the group. The children come in and before long everyone is sitting around eating and talking. After awhile the children go to another room with one of the older children. Meanwhile, the adults start a discussion, which eventually ends up with them praying for each other and sharing hugs. On this night they talk about the resurrection of Jesus and the implications. While Beth and Mark are moved by the discussion and persuaded of the reality of Jesus, they are not quite ready to make a decision. That is okay. They are moving closer, and with·
Challenges facing small groups
BY DAVID THIESSEN
ONE OF MY BEST days as a pastor was the d8)' a member of my church ended up In the hospital.
Now, don't me wrong I had nothing t this Indlvtdu8l. It was a good day bec8u8e that person's small group responded to the crisis. Some members he8ded right over to the hospital, others planned meals for the family and, thankfully, someone remembered to call the church offtce.
I was excited beea the body of ChrIst W88 actually being the body.
So, why dd It happen? Why did a part of the church actually act like a family?
Bee8U88 a ......1group W88 experiencing genuine Chrl8tl8n community.
It's all about community small groups are all about community. Small groups can accomplish all kinde of other goal8 like Bible teachIng, spiritual growth and accountability. But communI-
ty .. the context--the atm0sphere that makes all of these other possible.
CoINnunIty that Ing, of famlly and belonging that jumps off the pages of the New T tament. In Acta we read:
"And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their poseesslona and shared the praoeede with those In need. They worshiped together at the T..... ple each day, met In their homes for the Lord's Supper, and ehared their meals with great Joy and generosity, all the while praising God and enjoying the IOOdwIII of all the people. And each day the Lord 8dded to their group those who were being 88Ved" (Acta 2:4447).
Who Isn't drawn to this with a deep longing? Who wouldn't went a description of their church to read like th ?
So, If It worked In Acts, why don't more email groups oreate that kind of communI-
ty today? Let's admit It: many small groups don't work all that well. Sure, they h8ve faclltated a good amount of effective ministry In many chun:hes, but for every SUCC881 story there Is a small group ministry that fizzled.
Most people don't need to be convinced that small groups are Important for spirItual growth and the development of authentic ChrI8tI8n community, which h88 long been a strong emphaela among the Men.'1OfiIte Brethren. And most know .....11 group mlnletry the rtght thing to do."
The problem Is that many people have never experienced what a small group ahouId be and 80 small group ministries often fall.
What's holding back?
Chwch email group minI8trIes fall short of the pie In Acts for a lot of sons •
• Fear of getting dose. Many people don't
actually want to get to know other people deeply. They It8ve remained behind rea. tIonal walls all of their lives, and the simple act of Joining a group won't change that. I've been In groups where faithfully attending member8 didn't speak a single word for montII8 at a time. It wan't that they had no Interest In the dl8cusllon. They Just didn't want to open up.
In GlOWIng True Dlfu:lpIee, 680,.. Barna states that the vast majority of Chr18t1an8 that his organization recently surveyed indicated that they 1Iy do want to h8ve a deep commitment to the ChrIstIan faith. The problem that most of them weren't making 811)' kind of lntentional effort to grow spiritually. In prectIcal terms, this that many Chr18t18n8 wi. give Up eervtce to Ideas like "spiritual growth" and "community" but 88k them to join a 1group where this actually happens, and they pull away. In BIblical
in a couple of weeks this group may enjoy the privilege of seeing that take place.
The above is fictional, but scenes like this are occurring across America. While many have yet to experience what is called a "small group," "cell group" or "cottage group," the concept is spreading like wildfire within the Christian community. • • •
Small from the beginning
The concept of Christians gathering in each other's homes isn't new. In the early church, due in
part to the lack of buildings and places to gather, Christians met in individual homes. The house church or small group was a vital part of the church, and we can read about them throughout Scripture (Acts 5:42,11:14,16:15,31,34, 18:8,20:20; 1 Cor. 1:16; Phil. 2:1; Titus 1:16).
It could be said that Jesus himself was the originator of the concept; after all, he did choose 12 individuals with whom he would spend most of his time. Those 12 developed a close love for one another. They taught each other, grew spiritually and developed a small community.
That, in its simplicity, is what small groups are-
Foundations fo, Sma/l-Group Ministry, Gareth W. Icenogle puts It this way: small groups are trapped In the "paradox of hunger for Intimacy and fear of Intimacy."
• Already a part of a community. Another reason that small groups fall Is that some people already have an authentic Christian community. They don't need another small group.
Some churches have long time members who have built Ilfe.Iong relationships with other Christians In formal and Informal ways. These relationships may be less Intentional In their spiritual focus than a church-sponsored small group, but they provide care, community, accountability and other aspects of Christian community. As a result, small groups don't seem particularly necessary•
• Wrong definition of community. Many Christians have a skewed understanding of community. They think of community In exclusive terms: a place where everyone has known everyone else for years and everyone Is at the same "mature" level spiritually. The group's Insider language and behav-
lor becomes Its source of Identity. These kinds of groups generally lack a purpose outside of themselves and they usually end up collapsing.
• Leaving community out of group. Churches often start small group ministries without understanding
that the cultivation of community Is fundamental to the ministry. They don't focus their small group leader trainIng on how to cultivate c0mmunity. They want spiritual growth but they don't realize that a small group leader equipped with excellent dl&clpleshlp materials but no
concept of how to build community Is heading for failure.
Meeting the challenges
So, how can we build successful small groups with authentic Christian communIty?
First, people must come to a realization of their need
small, intentional communities where people make friendships and develop a close fellowship in which struggles and joys can be shared.
Louise Dumont, a noted Christian writer living in New Jersey, says of small groups, "H you have fellowship with other believers they become your friends. When difficulties hit, who do you go to? Your friends of course." Louise also commented on the benefits of the groups being small. "Those a bit timid might be more apt to ask questions without the more intimidating numbers."
This plays out in real life. Oregon resident Geni White tells me, "When our oldest son died suddenly,
for others before they will be vulnerable In a small group setting.
In one group lied, It seemed like none of the indIviduals In It wanted to haYe an authentic Christian c0mmunity. I believe that they truly wantecllt, but on the surface they Just wanted a place to hanC out with fItends. They would sit with a comatose expression on their faces while I attempted to generate conversation. I felt like a dentist performing a wisdom tooth extraction. It wasn't until someone shared about a painful situation at home that the group started to realize Its value and potential as a praying, encouraging and helping community. After that the whole dynamic of the group changed and began movInC towards community. The hunger for Intimacy over· came the fear of Intimacy.
Also, our small group 1eaders need to be equipped.
Gifts of hospitality and shepherding are at l888t as Important as teaching &Ifts on the resume of a small group leader. Most of the dynamic, growing small groups I've observed haYe been led by people who .1
ply love those that attend. These leaders make the .mall group members feel like part of the family. They take an Interest In each member'. life. They organize meals If someone In the group has a baby. They pull some money together If someone has a need. They help people move and show up at the hospital to pray for people If they're sick. Often, It Is difficult to get people to engage In true community or change their erroneous definitions of c0mmunity. But don't give up. Find those people In your church who have no Christian family relationships and recognize their need for community. Join these people with a leader who knows what community Is and how to help It grow. That group will probably experience real community and the people In that group will be hooked. Let this be the foundation of your small group ministry, and 888 what God does. •
David Thiessel'l is a pastor at Mountain View Community Church In Clovis, Calif. He has also taught about small groups at MB Biblical seminary In Fresno, Calif.
12 years ago, that group was our support and lifeline. Members arrived within hours at our home, listened for hours to our talk and tears, hugged, prayed-just 'were there' for us-and continued that loving concern for months."
MBs and small groups
Small groups aren't new to the Mennonite Brethren Church, either. The concept has been around for centuries. Among Anabaptists, small groups were held already in the 17th century under the leadership of Eduard Hugo Otto Wuest. The home church was critical to the early stages of the
Keys and myths for prayer in small groups
K.,.
far effective
"UP
prayer
• Use conversational or "normal" langUage.
• Be brief.
• Umlt the time for prayer requests.
• Agree with each other In prayer.
• Allow for silence.
• Lay hands on each other.
• Keep track of God'. answers and celebrate them.
5 .............. prayer tI.........
• Prayers have to be In King James EnglIsh.
• Prayers have to be long.
• All prayer requests must be shared prior to the start of actual prayer.
• Prayer must proceed In a clockwise direction.
• Everyone must participate In every prayer time.
• Others must be totally .Ilent while people pray.
• Only one person can pray for each request. -DT
RESOURCES FOR DEVELOPING AND FOSTERING SMALL GROUPS:
GROUP STUDY CURRICULUM
• The Word Wise. a series for small group studies published by Kindred Productions (the North American MB publishing house): (BOO) 545-7322 or www.klndredproductions.com
• Willow Creek resources: (BOO) 876-7335; P.O. Box 3188. Barrington. 111.60011-3188; www.willowcreek.org or www.wlllowcreek.com
• Dove Christian Fellowship International: 1924 West Main Street. Ephrata. Pa. 17522; (717) 738-3751; www.ddi.org
• www.smallgroups.com: a listing of approximately 100 web sites that deal with small group materials
-compiled by Mike Furches and David Thiessen
Anabaptist movement. Just like the early church in Acts, individuals met in homes and shared meals, fellowship and communion with each other. In 1860, in an effort to revive spiritual passion and righteous and godly living, a group of "brethren" withdrew from the church structure of the time and met in homes to share together, pray, sing and study Scripture. Those "small group" meetings led to the birth of the Mennonite Brethren denomination.
The importance of reaching out to nonbelievers in Christ is also an important characteristic of MBs, and the small group process is recognized as one of the ways to do that. MBs acknowiedge the value of small groups in our Confession of Faith. In Confession of Faith: Commentary and Pastoral Application, it says:
"The dectstve factor in congregational health is passionate spirituality. When Christians /tve their faith enthusiastically and with growing commitment, the church grows in health. Inspiring worship is characterized by active participation by the people, whether the forms are more liturgical or free, more contemporary or traditional. Growing congregations use small groups to provide a secure environment, personal relationships and the opportunity to share spiritual experiences.
'Ibese small groups enable brothers and sisters in the faith to grow as disciples. Evangelism that uses as its starting point the needs of the people who are to be reached is relational evangelism.
'Ibis does not negate the tbeocentricity of evangelism, calltng people to submit to God's sovereignty, but understands that the gospel addresses all aspects of life. In growing churches the relationships ofpeople to one another are characterized by a high degree of love and caring for those inside and outside the church. "
Witnessing through small groups
The impact of small groups on church growth and evangelism should not be ignored. The 10 largest churches in the world and the largest church in North America have all attributed their growth to small groups.
Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, is the largest church in the world. The church has approximately 25,000 small groups that bring in approxi-
ABOUT SMALL GROUPS OR TRAINING LEADERS TO BUILD COMMUNITY:
• Biblical Foundations for Small-Group Study. by Gareth W.lcenogle (1994)
• Leading Life-Changing Small Groups. by Bill Donahue (1996)
• Building a Church of Small Groups. by Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson (2001)
mately 153,000 worshipers each week, and pastor
David Yonggi Cho credits the growth of his church specifically to the small group component.
In America, the largest church is Willow Creek in Barrington, Ill. Part of Willow Creek's membership requirements is the involvement of its members in small groups. Approximately 80 percent of all members at Willow Creek are new to church, and virtually all members are reached as a result of outreach ministry through small groups. Willow Creek actually spends no money on adVertisement for recruitment purposes, yet they have approximately 27,000 participantseach week, of which approximately 18,000 participate in weekly small groups.
Finding the family of God
Very few things affinn a family relationship like a home. Meetings that take place in those homes have the potential to allow people within congregations to develop relationship like nowhere else in the church. It is hard to escape the discipling and love that can take place in small groups.
Jean Libby of Canton, Pa., says, "The key word is personal. In our small group, there's no hiding place. We know each other's strengths, each other's weaknesses, and we learn to share, like family It's easy to become isolated and stagnant in our Christian walk. Small groups stimulate growth and participation."
Many churches are seeking new ways to reach a contemporary world. It is rather ironic that the old approach of using small groups is being recognized as one of the most effective ways to do that. The benefits are numerous, not just for the life of the church but also for the life of the individuals that make up the church. The fulfillment of family is being rediscovered and individuals are using small groups to build the family of God. •
Mike Furches is senior pastor at United at the Cross Community Church in Wichita, Kan. For more Information about Furches and his ministry, visit www.furches.org. Furches has been actively involved in small groups at Westport MB Church in Colltnsville, Okla., and started seeker small groups specifically designed for unchurched individuals seeking spiritual truth.
It is hard to escape the discipling and love that can take place in small groups.
We
have forced the Sunday school to be
what it was never designed to be-the primary agency for biblical instrudion.
E ELIMINATE •
ena up on a time,
in a country not so far away. concemecl people decldod to develop an organization through which they could teach values and truth to their young. They called this organization a ·school," and it met for one hour on Sunday momings In a place they called church.
Church leaders believed that this schoolcould do what was needed. Many parents relaxed their obligation to be the primary communicators of Bible knowledge and biblical values to their young. Many church leaders assigned the church's teaching ministry and much of its outreach to the Sunday school.
For many years, volunteers served this organization with great excitement and dedication. They persevered in spite of minimal training. For many years, parents looked back on their years In Sunday school, remembered the love and friendliness of their teachers, the contests, the picnics and decided that their children would have the same experience. Few carefully evaluated the extent to which Sunday school contributed to competence In biblical understanding and the practice of the Christian faith.
The years passed. As long as the values of society more or less paralleled the values of the church, Sunday schools were reasonably effective. However, todays society seldom looks to the church as its source for standards and values. Consequentiy, the Sunday school Is even less effective as an agency for Bible teaching and Christian nurture.
It is becoming apparent that many (if not most) young people and adults in our churches have limited knowledge and inadequate understanding of Scripture. It is not unusual for first-year students in our Bible coUeges to score poorly on simple tests of Bible knowledge. We have forced the Sunday school to be what it was never designed to be--the primary agency for bibUcal instruction. Because of this we encourage bibUcal illiteracy to the point where those we ask to teach have Uttle real knowledge of the Scriptures themselves.
It is not appropriate to lay the blame for the development of bibUcal dUteracy at the feet of the Sunday school teacher.
Rather, consider the many factors that bave contributed to an impending crisis in the church's teaching ministry:
• Parents and church leaders generally consider Sunday school to be the church's primary agency for teaching the Bible. However, even if people had a Cull hour of"teaehlog" on Sunday morning, they would only receive 52 hours of instruction in a year. It Is reasonable to estimate that half the hour is given to "open session," taking attendance and offering, "getting worthwhile activities. 1b.IB, however, leaves us with approximately 26 hours of Bible instruction. Special days, rehearsals and absenteeism can reduce the number of hours to 20. Given the fact that
I)OIN(; CHl'HCH
BY LINDA CANNELL
many who teach are unskilled and limited in Bible knowledge themselves, let us lower the figure to 15 hours of Bible instruction in a year. It is conceivable that those attending Sunday school are receiving approximately 10 to 15 hours of effective Bible instruction in a year. Even 52 hours a year would be inadequate in the light of the thousands of hours of other stimuli affecting our people.
• The fact that many publishers target their materials to an average teacher who is inexperienced and often spends no more than 30 minutes per week preparing a lesson for Sunday limits the effectiveness of curriculum for deepening biblical understanding and practice of the Christian faith. The lesson writer must design questions, teaching methodology and phrase the content in such a way that this average teacher will not be frustrated or confused. Often the themes selected reflect middle-American values, which can be problematic for churches in other situations. Before we jump on the publishers, however, let us realize that we in the church have created this average teacher by ineffective training, inadequate attention to the variety that can be part of the teaching environment and enlistment that often comes out of desperation to fill a program slot.
• In spite of the fact that the preschool and adult age groups comprise the largest areas in most Sunday schools, many churches still consider children through junior high to be the primary focus of Sunday school ministry. This pattern is severely limiting the effectiveness of the church's teaching ministry. Important foundations can be laid through preschool ministries on Sunday and through the week. The large number of options available for adult education and development in and through the church have not been tapped by local churches. Churches can develop adult ministries that will attract and challenge their adults. Ministry to children and youth would be strengthened considerably if churches took the time to plan for effective preschool and adult ministries.
• Family and/or intergenerational groupings tend to get lost in the departmentalization of our Sunday schools. The concept of family night was one attempt to rectify this omission, but the family night did not, on the whole, provide opportunities for families to meet together for conversation, study or worship. Some churches have discovered intergenerational curriculum. In many settings this elective experience has proven an exciting alternative-if leaders are well-trained. Some churches are releasing their Sunday evenings for family experiences at the church or in neighborhood homes. Some churches have incorporated the family cluster model where three to five families covenant together and share many experi-
ences of conversation and learning together. Families need help if they are to provide effective faith experiences for their young. Many parents have lost the art of conversation with their children and feel uncomfortable talking with them about Scripture and faith. Resources are available to churches seeking to develop family alternatives in the teaching ministry.
• Church leaders seldom think creatively or widely about the church's teaching ministry. This is not necessarily the fault of the church leader. However, the tendency is to believe that the published curriculum is adequate for the development of ever increasing maturity in biblical understanding. It is not. The Sunday school publishers do not intend the curricula to be the final answer for the church's teaching ministry. Church leaders, because of their lack of understanding of what curriculum is-and what it is not-have forced the curriculum to do what it was never designed to do.
Should we not include the entire program of the church when we think about Bible teaching? Consider a typical week in the life of a church-just from the standpoint of Bible instruction. On Sunday morning the people get a fragment in Sunday school. They attend the morning service and hear a sermon from another portion of Scripture. If the church meets on Sunday evening, they will hear from another portion of the Bible. If they attend a weeknight study or prayer meeting, they will be exposed to another section of Scripture.
Most of the regular attenders of the various church programs have no way to link the many fragments of Scripture into larger concepts, truths or principles that they can use to guide their lives and thoughts. It is possible to integrate the various opportunities the church provides for biblical instruction and Christian growth, but church leaders will have to give time to thinking and planning.
Do we eliminate Sunday school?
In the years to come, the school on Sunday may indeed change to a school on Monday evenings or Tuesday mornings or Sunday evenings. Some churches are experimenting with that even now. Many, however, still find the Sunday school a valid experience. For it to remain a valid experience, churches must recapture what has made the Sunday school movement effective-its ability to change. What is good can become even better.•
Linda Cannell bas taugbt Cbristian education at Winnipeg Bible College in Manitoba and Ontario Theological Seminary. This article was originally publisbed in the MennOnite, tbe publication of Mennonite Cburcb USA.
Should we not include the entire program of the church when we think about Bible teaching?
When we as achurch catch the Spirit, it's impossible not to pass it on .
ious ristiani
I'VE NEVER ACTUALL Y WATCHED Field of Dreams in one sitting, but that doesn't keep me from knowing what people are talking about when they quote the cliche, "Uyou build it, they will come." The phrase itself has become a modern-day mantra for church expansion, and well-meaning congregations all over have believed in faith that, if they build a quality facility, new members will flow in off the streets like rats off a sinking boat.
It's an interesting concept, but let's be honest-it really doesn't have anything to do with what the Bible tells us about bringing new people into God's fellowship. That's not to say that a church's facility is irrelevant; certainly the building is capable of enabling and preventing certain types of ministry. That said, it is the holiness of believers that inherently attracts unbelievers.
I have not been a pastor long. When I started, I looked forward to evangelism projects and outreach programs, but as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, nothing seemed to feel quite right. After about six months, I decided the best place to start was not evangelism traIning for me and my congregation; rather, it started with me-the pastor-figuring out what the Scriptures had to say about outreach.
My college and seminary education had taught me about cultural sensitivity, contextualization and theological nuance. These are important topics, but they acen't particularly effective at bringing new people into the family of believers. What is then?
Signs from Scripture
Today, as I page through the Scriptures, it's so obvious I wonder how I ever missed it. Jesus and his earliest followers didn't rely on market research and glossy church pamphlets; they lived out their faith, and almost before they knew what was happening, nonbelievers from all walks of life were attracted to what they saw.
In Acts 2, all the believers (probably about 120) were gathered together. And the Holy Spirit came upon them. Outsiders were amazed at what was going on, and after Peter gave an incredibly short sermon, 3,000 people came to the Lord. The first megachurch was born.
With the fellowship numbering around 3,200 believers, we're told that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. God blessed their devotion and the apostles performed "many wonders and signs." Daily, they continued to meet together, and daily "the
Lord added to their number those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).
Believers lived out their faith, and nonbelievers were attracted.
Of course, there were the apostolic missionary journeys as well, but even then the apostles didn't rely on well-rehearsed salvation outlines, beautiful facilities or market-driven campaigns to attract people. They lived out their faith; they were always ready to explain what they believed, and many came to know the Lord.
Although we live in a vastly different time and place from the earliest believers, I don't think the basics have changed. True Christianity is attractive.
An .ttradive faith
It's a novel idea, isn't it, Christianity being attractive? When I'm honest with myself, I find things in the church that can be very unattractive. Instead of God's powerful presence, churches often exhibit human pettiness.Rather than the agape love described so beautifully throughout the New Testament and the unity Jesus prayed for at the end of John's Gospel, our congregations become ingrown and rent apart over unimportant issues. Don't get me wrong; I love the church. I grew up in it. But is it any wonder nonbelievers often look at it and refuse to take part?
I'm not an evangelism guru, a New Testament scholar or an expert in the intricacies of early Christianity. I am a pastor, and I believe that the gospel, when truly believed, elicits dramatic changes within us. And those changes attract nonbelievers who want in themselves what they see in us.
"Uve it, and they will come." It isn't natural, it isn't easy, and it certainly isn't as catchy as the phrase in Field of Dreams. It is biblical, however, and as I see it that's the real test.
Don't be fooled; this is a dangerous and intense approach to faith. It requires a round-the-clock commitment to holiness, it demands an always-ready willingness to share what we believe, and it expects God's presence to be powerfully present in all that we do as believers. The more I think about that, the more I want to look at my life and see where my tendency to be "mildly interested in" might be better replaced with "devoted to." •
Tim Ten Clay is a pastor ofDunningvllie Refonned Church in Allegan, Mich. 7bis article first appeared in The Church Herald, a publication of the Refonned Church in America, and is reprinted by permission.
Don't be fooled; this is a dangerous and intense approach to faith.
Disturbed by letter
After reading the March 2002 issue of Christian Leader, I was rather disturbed by the letter by Jing Zhao in "What Readers Say."
He says when he was baptized in Japan a decade ago, he was "proud of being a Christian publicly because Christians in Japan do not have political or economical advantages as in the West." He also states he selected a life of a political refugee in the U.S.
"However," he continues, "after living six years in the U.S. I am confused and begin to feel shameful to think of myself
The Christian Leader welcomes brief letters on topics relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church. All letters must be signed and will be edited for clarity and length. Send letters to Christian Leader, 101 N. Capitol Parkway, Montgomery, Alabama 36107 (e-mail: editor@usmb.org).
a Christian." He goes on to say the Sept. 11 incident has "deepened my suspicion of American Christianity."
He says, "The Sept. 11 attack is an extreme military action beyond human expectation, but their demands from the the U.S. are all understandable: to stop arming Israel to oppress the Palestinian people, to remove the sanctions against Iraq, to withdraw its 5,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and so on."
In some other parts of his letter, he says, "If America really wants peace, it can obtain peace immediately by stopping wars against other countries, withdrawing all its troops back to the homeland, destroying all nuclear weapons (Russia and China will follow) and eventually dissolving the Pentagon and CIA."
I'm afraid that Mr. Jing Zhao does not understand the complex issue with the Israeli·Palestinian conflict. It is also believed that if we destroyed our stock-
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Experience three evenings that tell our story and inspire' hope for the future; held in conjunction with the Canadian and U.S. Conventions held in day-time sessions.
Central Heights Church, Abbotsford, British Columbia Registration not required. Childcare for children to age 5. For more information contact: Marvin Hein at 559-452-1713 or mhein1@fresno.edu
U.S. MB Conference website: www.usmb.org Canadian Conference website: www.mbconf.ca General Conference website: www.mbconf.org
pile of nuclear weapons (which is not a bad idea) that Russia and China would not certainly follow.
I believe his visa in the United States should not be taken for granted-he is entitled to his opinion. That's one of the things that makes this country great. But maybe if he spent another six years in Communist China, he would reverse some of his unfounded ideas.
Some of us fought in the great war of World War II to keep the God-given freedom that this great country has always provided, even for those who would criticize the way things are run here. But we must be doing something right, because every alien from other countries would give his eye teeth to be enjoying the freedom we all have here in the good old USA.
Max Pearce Bakersfield, Calif.
Nightmares and promises
BY MYRA HOLMES
I REMEMBER WAKING AS A CHILD, fearful and wild-eyed, in the night. I would stumble to my parents' room and shake Mom and whisper, "I'm afraid." She would hold me close and smooth my hair and whisper back, "Everything's gonna be all right." I could sleep then, with no bad dreams, because Mom had promised-it will be all right.
Now, again, I lie awake in the deepest part of the night, trembling. I try to wrap my mind around the fear. I He still and quiet, hoping my heartbeat will calm on its own.
As a child, the monsters that kept me awake were mostly imagined: a shadow on the wall, a tree branch in the wind. Now, the monsters that keep me awake are all too real. Two premature babies fight for breath (uncertainty). A car strikes a young father and a six year-old dies of a brain tumor (meaninglessness). Headlines teU of hundreds killed in a bombing in another state, of 13 killed in a high school down the street and of thousands killed in New York (chaos).
I long for the simplicity of childhood, when Mom's promises were gold, and the earth felt solid under my feet. I long for those promises that "everything's gonna be all right."
I slip quietly down to the living room, flick on a lamp and open my Bible. I am, after all, a Christian. Surely God can promise it will be "all right."
But in the Old Testament, I find godly men like Job, who suffered to the point where surely death would've been preferable. Even God's chosen people were scattered and misused. In the New Testament, Jesus promises his disciples, "In this world, you will have trouble " Oohn 16:33).
No promises that order and fairness will prevail in my lifetime. I know, of
Forum is a column of opinion and comment on contemporary issues facing the Mennonite Brethren Church. Manuscripts expressing an opinion for Forum should aim for a length of 800 words. Authors must sign articles and identify their church home and vocations.
course, that it all makes sense in the "Big Picture." But somehow, that knowledge doesn't help me tonight.
I keep searching. Then I find a richer promise-not that it wiil be okay, but that "I am here,"
Job didn't get the answers for which he asked. Instead, he got a taste of God's presence. When God's people faced a desperate and chaotic time, he didn't whisk them away from their troubles. Instead, he told them, through Isaiah, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you" (Isa. 43:2).
To the frightened disciples, Jesus went on to say, "Take heart! I have overcome the world" Oohn 16:33), and he promised, "Surely I am with you always" (Matt. 28:20).
God doesn't promise a picket-fence liCe, much as I wish it. Sometimes it works out that way. Sometimes the
order comes later, or the justice is outside the scope of my narrow vision. But always-always-God promises himself. He is justice and peace. He is righteousness. He is goodness and truth. God promises himself. That is better, after all, than "everything's gonna be all right," I feel my wild heart slow, my shoulders relax. When dawn finally breaks, I face the day with new courage-not because the world is safe or because "everything's gonna be all right," but because, as the Psalmist says, "As for me, it is good to be near God" (Ps. 73:28) .•
Myra Holmes Is a member ofBelleview Community Church, an MB church in Uttleton, Colo. She Is a stay-at-home mom who, "like any other parent, struggles to explain this confusing world to my two daughters. " She Is also a local school volunteer and freelance writer. MAY 2002. 19
BY PHILIP WIEBE
Interesting, but strange • • •
Dressin? for the Acadenly Awards and
I UKE TO COllECT STRANGE AND interesting information bits. From various news sources, I jot down notes and queries about items that strike my fancy. Here are a few in both categories I've gathered over the past months.
• Interesting: On the radio I heard a statistic claiming the divorce rate in general society is one in 2.5 marriages, while the divorce rate for Christian couples who regularly read their Bibles and pray is one in over 1,000. Now, I'm not sure how these numbers were formulated. Statistics are strange things, often conjured from mysterious sources to prove dubious points. However, I suspect these divorce stats are at least in the ballpark of being accurate.
Other surveys have said that divorce rates among churchgoers are barely distinguishable from those in culture, so why the huge difference in these numbers reported on the radio? Obviously it's the Bible reading and praying. Practicing Christians tend to have stronger marriages. And nonpracticing Christians (or should I say churchgoing seculars) are more apt to follow the popular relationship-killing trend of "me first" rather than the biblical values of submission and service.
• Strange: Last summer I read a news item concerning an expecting young couple who offered to let a corporate sponsor name their baby in exchange for monetary incentives. I don't know what finally happened with that, but I imagine the couple is at least relieved the child didn't turn out to be named nEnron."
In these post September 11 doldrums, the couple's attempted corporate cash-in seems rather crass. However, there are already signs that America may be returning to its old materialistic self. I suppose when prospective parents again start offering baby naming rights to rich corporations, we'll know the economy has fully recovered.
• Interesting: A local school official recendy got fired for some disturbing extra-curricular activities, including drunken driving and assault. Given our times, the official's behavior didn't seem that surprising. I was amazed, though, at the many protests of his firing from colleagues, along with pleas for forgiveness.
Well, forgiveness is a great thing. Of course forgiveness should be extended. But forgiveness shouldn't be misunderstood to mean that consequences for bad choices should always be removed. If you're going to choose violent, irresponsible, addictive modes of behavior, no matter how sony you might be later, you will disqualify yourself from serving in certain positions of leadership-such as those involving school children.
• Strange: Before the recent Academy Awards extravaganza, or should I sayexcess-aganza, I read a litde piece that asked the question, "How many people does it take to put together an Oscar outfit?" No, it wasn't a joke-at least intentionally. For an Alist actress, the answer given was six: the actress, the actress' manager, publicist and stylist, the dress designer and the designer's publicist. Whew.
Before the big event, one harried designer actually said: "This is a serious business. It is not frivolous." Perhaps if he'd said, "This is a seriously frivolous business," I wouldn't have snorted quite so loud.
• Interesting: Speaking of the Academy Awards, after the big show I noticed an interesting juxtaposition at my local coffee house. Side by side on the newspaper rack there sat the New York Times and the Portland Oregonian. The Oregonian's front page was splashed with colorful post-Dscar photos and information, while the Times ran its usual assortment of stoic headlines about war, politics and corporate
corruption. No doubt the Times had Oscar coverage too, but probably a few sections back.
I'm not knocking the Oregonian, which I feel offers balanced, insightful news coverage. I just find it discouraging that most newspapers (and other news sources) feel compelled nowadays to lead with infotainment, rather than real news, in order to get people to read or watch. I'm not sure if that means the general public is too superficial, or that news providers are too wimpy to focus on "hard news" and risk losing sales. Maybe both. What I do know is that we could use more of the Times' restraint and soberness in today's breathless, sensationalist news environment.
• Strange: Before Easter I read an article tided, "Move over, Santa: The Bunny's gaining ground." Apparendy Easter is starting to generate Christmas-like buzz, with kids now expecting to get toys as well as candy in their Easter baskets. Predictably, church leaders complain about the blatant commercialization of yet another Christian holiday.
I don't blame them, but personally I can't work up much energy for such an argument. After all, Christianity created Easter and Christmas essentially by commandeering existing pagan celebrations. So when we talk about getting back to the "original meaning" of these holidays, what are we really saying?
Well, let's not think about that too hard, lest we get a headache. I completely concur, however, with the complaint that in our culture everything, everything eventually ends up being exploited and commercialized. Even our own faith, which has become a bastion of books and CDs and ministry styles for sale. Makes me wonder if Jesus is thinking of coming back to church again with an attitude, to throw over the merchandise tables and throw out the profit mongers .•
BY MARVIN HEIN
Questions about faith and life
Baptism and me1nbership and the Anlerican flag in the sanctuary
QWhat Is the scriptural and/or historical basis for connecting baptism and church membership? I was brought up that way, but there are some people who think that there should be no relationship between the two. (Minnesota)
AProbably no Mennonite Brethren church polity issue is in the minds of more people and congregations today than the relationship between baptism and membership. There are no prooftexts. However, there is a tradition, based on biblical truth in my opinion, that argues forcefully for connecting the two.
On the other hand, numerous pastors and congregations are challenging that view and actually practicing the separation ofbaptlsm and membership bybaptizing, but not having the recipients enter into membership. In my opinion, this is very consistent with the independent spirit In society and In the church. Each person can do hislher own thing.
The practice of combInIng baptism and membership arises out of the Anabaptist persuasion that the church is a community of believers that is willing to become a covenant community where each is subject to the other and all are priests to one another. This view, with which I personally concur, teaches that followlng]esus means you cannot be a "loner" Christian. When you become a believer and are baptized, you become a part of Christ's body (the church universal) but that body can only be personified in a body of local believers who covenant to live responsibly with each other. The proponents of separating the two rites are content to be members of the universal church.
"Incorporation Into the body of Christ, which occurs at conversion," says a friend
of mine, "is just that. It is identifying with Christ. But membership In the local church is a concrete reality, not something ethereal. It is an identification with fellow human beings."
The Canadian Board of Faith and llie reported recently at their annual convene tion that "the Mennonite Brethren understanding of covenant community means that Mennonite Brethren have tied baptism and church membership togetherpeople are expected to become members of the local church at the same time as they are baptized" (MB Herald, March 8, 2(02). They are equally aware, however, that some congregations are now baptizIng people without making them members. Consequently, they are calling for a study conference on this issue on May 2223, 2003, in Manitoba. Perhaps that occasion will shed more light on the question.
QThe Confession of Faith states: "The primary allegiance of all Christians Is to Christ's kingdom, not the state or society." Why then do we as MBa have the American flag hang. Ing In our sanctuaries? Doesn't this contradict our belief? (Minnesota)
AIn a following paragraph the inquirer asks how this practice came to be. That question is not so difficult to answer. The custom of displaying the flag originated during World War II when German-speaking and Germanethnic Mennonites were sometimes suspected of holding allegiance to Hitler and Germany. In a few cases In the U.s. and in many instances in South America among Mennonites, the suspicion was legitimate. But for the majority of churches In the U.S., the suspicion was unfounded. So, like some American Muslims after Sept. 11 boldly displayed American flags to show they were not sympathetic to the
Have a question about a Bible passage, doctrine, conference poltcy, or other spiritual issue? E·rnat! Marvin at mbetn1 @fresno. edu or send your question to "Inquiring Minds, H c/o Marvin Hein, 4812 E. Butler, Fresno, CA 93727.
terrorists, Mennonites in World War II days brought flags Into their churches to ward off suspicions that we were proHitler. We never got over itl
Were we citizens of some other countries, we might more easily see the light. I was an escort to seven Russian MennonitelBaptist Christian guests in 1978 when they were about to enter a worship service in Buhier, Kan. Upon seeing an American flag at the entrance (this event occurred in a school, not a church), they refused to enter. Coming from the land of the "hammer and sickIe," they told us in no uncertain terms that their Christianity superceded any national ties and they would not worship there until the flags were removed. The flag is a symbol of allegiance. Flag etiquette calls for the U.S. flag to be on the preferred right hand side or to be placed higher than other flags. There are two primary calls for allegiance in our world-the nation and God. The biblical mandate makes it clear that when those two loyalties conflict, believers are to choose God rather than man. This does not mean we disrespect the flag. Nor does our first loyalty to Christ suggest that we are disloyal or unsympathetic with our government. But]esus made it clear that when these two loyalties call for our marching orders, we ought to choose his.
Most churches that display flags also have a Christian flag. I've looked long, hard and often, however, to find one Christian Bag in the preferred "right" side of the stage or in a position "higher" than the national flag. I've never found either. So In essence we are saying that allegiance to country is more important than loyalty to God. Most of us, no doubt, may not be aware of what we are saying nor would we plead guilty, but if symbolism has any meaning at all, this is precisely what we speak in the display of our flags. Is the Bible serious when it asks, "Choose this day whom you will serve"? •
BY ROSE BUSCHMAN
An African covenant
Are there some lessons which we Americans can learn?
ON A RECENT MISSION TRIP TO Nigeria, I saw many signs with some very interesting names for Christian churches in the cities and towns along the roads I traveled. Although the purpose of my visit to the country was to provide a program for missionary children while their parents held their annual renewal and reflection conference, the signs I saw peaked my interest in what Is happening in the Christian churches of Nigeria. When I discussed this with my host she gave me her copy of the Nigeria Covenant to look at. Soon I was immersed in it and couldn't put the booklet down until I had read all 23 pages.
The Nigeria Covenant was produced under the direction of the Congress of Christian Ethics in Nigeria (COCEN). In the introduction to the booklet, COCEN Is desaibed as "a movement of concerned Nigerian ChrIstians unitedly taking action to halt the flood of corruption inundating Nigerian society .a grassroots movement, establIshed on the foundation of prayer, nurtured on the conviction that Christian ethics must permeate every sphere of Nigerian society and driven by the confidence that even small mtnorlties can change entire nations if they are property galvanized" [italics mine J. That Is one huge agendal
The history and strategy of this movement are filsdnating. Six Nigerian church leaders met in 1994 to dIscuss their concerns about the moral decline in their country. They met for prayer and planning and laId the foundation for COCEN. They appointed a national executive committee of 25 persons from various geographic, ethnic and church backgrounds. One of the first things this group did was to organize national prayer conferences in 1995, which were held in 29 state capitals and the national capital, Ahuja. Then in 1997 2000 delegates, representing a wide area of geographical and denominational backgrounds, were asked to convene
in a national convention at Ahuja to produce the actual Nigeria Covenant. Delegates were divided into 12 workshops and each group was given the task of examining a specific area to determine relevant ethical problems and the biblical principles that speak to them. The following topics were identified: the lordship of Christ, fmilly, property and possessions, leadership and responsibility, truth and education, justice, public and church property, governments, church and the pledge.
Each section of the covenant has a statement of what COCEN believes about the given topic. This Is followed by an outline of the scriptural basis for their beliefs and practical examples of how these beliefs are transiated into action. The document Is too long to reproduce here so I will list just a few examples:
• Number 1 of the covenant: "We, the Christians of Nigeria, believe that God in Christ Is the master of our lives and that he has revealed his will in the Holy Bible. Therefore, we pledge to submit to the lordship of Christ, leadership of the Holy Spirit and authority of God's Word in every part of life."
• Number 3 of the covenant: "We believe the legitimate ownership of property Is recognized and commended in the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, we pledge to acquire property only in legitimate ways and refrain from stealing or defrauding." The commentary includes: "There are two legitimate ways to acquire property or possessions in the Bible. First, one can receive property as a gift, either through inheritance (prov. 13:22, Luke 15: 12) or through a direct personal gift (Gen. 37:3, Ruth 3:15, Phil. 4:16,18). Second, one can purchase property (Gen. 49:32, 2Sam. 24:21-24, Jer. 32:9).
"There are many improper ways of gaining possessions To defraud means to use deceitful or forceful means to acquire the possessions of
others.These include overpricing, kickbacks, seUing below-standard products, falsifying receipts, over-invoicing and providing fraudulent services."
• Number 9 of the covenant: "We believe the church Is the united body of Christ and that it has a sacred duty to provide the moral foundation and be the conscience of the nation. Therefore, we reject sectarianism, commercialIsm, extravagant lifestyles, neglect of the needy and all other evils that weaken the testimony and purpose of the church."
• The document ends with a Covenant Pledge: "We solemnly pledge to fulfill these commitments, no matter the price, and to support aU others who join us in our stand for ChrIstian ethics. In the name of Jesus ChrIst. Amen."
Now that the covenant Is in print, COCEN leaders encourage churches to publIsh and distribute it throughout the country so that it becomes "one of the best known Christian documents in Nigeria." They encourage religious leaders and lalty to take the pledge and sign it. Furthermore, the group also strongly suggests that Christians not support groups and and/or leaders who do not sign the pledge.
What impressed me most about this document is that here Is a group of Christians who are sincerely disturbed with the moral decline of their country and they are trying to do something to change it. However, instead of looking at the faults of others and accusing others of the "safe sins" they themselves don't commit, they are looking inwardly and saying, "The change has to begin with me and with us." They firmly believe that when Christians get their own lives in order this will spill out into the rest of their society and change for the better will occur.
As I studied this covenant I couldn't help but wonder if there aren't some powerful lessons here from which we Christians in the U.S. can learn .•
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SLAVIC EVANG£UCA • Brochure hlgJdlghb the new fllcllIty
church and their school.
Today the converted warehouse, located at 2014 S. 15th Street, has become a landmark in Tacoma's Hilltop district thanks to its distinctive rootIine. The church building is topped with a nearly 6O·foot·tall green cupola or dome, a symbol of a Russian church, and a lo-foot tall gold cross that can be seen from miles away.
The renovation project was completed in two phases and in both stageS the original structure was made into a two-story building by raising the roof for a total of about 40,000 square feet. The first phase involved renovating a portion of the buildIng into church 0.fBces and a fellow· ship hall that the congregation used for weekly worship services while waiting fur the sanctuary to be completed Members of the congregation provided the man· power to complete this phase.
For the second phase, the congregation hired a contractor but continued to provide volunteer labor. This stage included a 24,000 wquare foot sanctu· ary seating 1,360 and 11,000 square feet of classrooms.
answered prayer
Two Pacific District Slavic congregations build
and dedicate new facilities
BY CONNIE FABER
It is common among Slavic Christians to refer to one's church building as "a house of prayer." When it comes to Slavic Christian MB Center of Tacoma, Wash., however, it maybe more accurate to say their new church building is a house of answered prayer.
The SCMBC congregation dedicated their new facility valued at around 55 million Jan. 20 in a three-and·one·halfhour service attended by close to 2,000 people. Slavic Christian MB Center is the first MB congregation to dedicate a
new facility in the 2002 calendar year.
In 1995, the Slavic congregation located a telephone service center and warehouse for sale with an asking price of '980,000. At the time, the congrega· tion W3S sharing a facility with another church and held multiple worship ser· vices to accommodate their membership of 800. The congregation asked God to give them the warehouse for '300,000. Their prayers were answered when they bought the facility for '290,000 and began working to renovate the buildIng to accommodate the needs of both their
The congregation was assisted financially in the final phase by MB Foundation, the stewardship ministry of the U.S. Conference.
"Working with the leadership at Slav· ic Christian Center has been extremely enjoyable," says MBF President Jon Wiebe. "The project was focused, well· managed and the craftsmanship exquisite. Getting to know Pastor Peter Sayenko and Pastor Andrey lvanstov was an added pleasure. These men have a heart for the Lord and a passion for the youth of their church," says Wiebe.
The congregation, accepted into the Pacific District Conference in 2000, has a membership of over 1,000 and about 900 kids, says Pastor lvanstov. He estimates that 75 percent of the congregation, including children, is under the age of 40. Weddings occur regular at SCMBC as do prayers of dedication for infants. One Sunday in early April, the congregation prayed for 12 newborns. Meeting the needs of young adults and families with young children is a priority at Slavic Center, says Ivanstov.
"We want to do everything possible
for young people," he says. "This is our future. We try to keep them in church and do everything that helps them (develop) high morals, a good life."
For this reason, the congregation is planning to open a private Christian school this fall using the classrooms in their new facility. Details for the first year are not yet finalized, but eventually the school will enroll students kindergarten through eighth grade.
The church has also purchased 57 acres on which they plan to build a Christian camp with programs for children and youth. ''We want to do enough to keep them busy and in Bible teaching," says lvanstov of the eventual camping program.
Two months prior to the Washington congregation's dedication, another MB congregation in the Pacific Northwest dedicated its new facility. Slavic Evangelical Church of Fairview, Ore., dedicated its facility Nov. 25, 2001, and was also aided in its project by MB Foundation.
The Slavic Evangelical Church building project began in 1997 when the congregation purchased eight acres in the Portland suburb of Fairview with the help of MBF. A year later, the congregation had repaid the land loan and was eager to begin construction on their church building that would be a three-story structure encompassing 37,000 square feet.
"Over the next three years, the church worked tirelessly to complete the construction of the sanctuary and classrooms," says Wiebe ofMBF. "Many hundreds of hours were volunteered by the congregation. Most any day I visited there would be five to 20 men, young and old, working on the project in addition to the paid laborers. They are very skilled craftsmen and the work is beautiful."
The completed building, valued at about $5 mllUon, includes a main sanctuary that seats approximately 1,200
scc: Facility has over37,OOO square feet and seats 1,200.
people and a balcony that accommodates another BOO. The choir loft seats 250 and is completely full when the adult, youth and children's choirs sing together.
Paul Penner of Wichita, Kan., was the MBF project manager for the Fairview project and made biweekly visits to the construction site for about nine months. Penner says that even though communicating with most members of the congregation was difficult-anyone over the age of 20 spoke only broken English-he enjoyed working with the Fairview congregation and appreciated the many fine meals served to him and the other volunteers.
The Fairview project benefited from the professionalexpertise of its members, says Penner. Many are craftsmen working in the Portland area as plasterers, carpenters, drywallers, etc., and are alert to the newest construction methods.
"They are good craftsmen," says Penner. "It's a very functional project. It's not overbuilt at all. They have used the space very efficiently.... I was impressed by the scope of what they had in mind to do. They were well aware of what it was going to take. They have a parking lot that parks 500 cars. They are on a fairly hilly site with a one-way slope but they had worked that in very well. The whole area was landscaped beautifully."
While Penner's experience in the construction business was helpful to the congregation as they completed a project of such significant size, Penner says he learned some things in tum.
"They were using the newest kind of construction methods that are available," says Penner. "The building is all
concrete walls-dear to the roof. They were built using styrofoam forms. The whole outside is stucco. On the inside they furred it out with wood furring and drywalled the inside. They've used [this method] longer in Europe but it hasn't been in that much use in the U.S.," says Penner.
"These two projects (Fairview and Tacoma), while clearly massive in scale, are representative of the many smaller projects proliferating among our Slavic brothers and sisters," says Wiebe. "Their intense desire to have a 'house of prayer' which they can call their own, coupled with their passion to reach their community with the gospel, makes it a real joy to partner with them in their ministry."
Wiebe says, ''They are a devoted people: to each other and to the Lord. We have much to learn from them. I praise God that Mennonite Brethren Foundation is able to be a conduit to make capital available to these quickly growing ministries," says Wiebe, crediting the over 600 investors who make the funding possible.
One other congregation assisted in their building project by MBF dedicated a new church facility in 2001. Four-yearold Rolling Hills Church of PapilUon, Neb., dedicated its new 9,000 square foot facility July 22. The congregation is a Central District Conference church plant in the greater Omaha area.
Since 1997, MB Foundation has approved loans for eight new church facilities. Half of these loans have assisted Slavic congregations in their building projects with two of the congregations receiving the highest amounts loaned.•
New contacts after 9-11
Missionaries use technology to minister to Arab people in the wake of Sept. 11
The terrorist acts of September 11 and the resulting higher profile of Arabic speaking people have given North American Christians a renewed interest in their Arabic speaking neighbors, says Samir Youssef, an MBMS International missionary who with his wife Lewiza minister to Arabic speaking people.
The Youssefs also travel to Mennonite Brethren churches across Canada and the U.S., teaching people how to understand and be a witness to their Arabic-speaking neighbors.
"September 11 has been a wake-up call for Christians to share their faith with their neighbors," Samir says. "Christians are realizing that there is a mission field around us. Even though the terrorist attacks have had many negative effects in our world, it has given International Arabic Ministries new opportunities to share the gospel. There are 10 times more requests coming to our office than before that fateful date."
The Youssefs were born in Egypt, where Samir served as an evangelist and pastor. After moving to Canada in 1991,
they began International Arabic Ministries in 1992 as a way to reach Arabic speaking people.
The Youssefs use a variety of technologies to reach people in parts of the world where traditional missionaries are not welcome. They produce a half-
hour Arabic television program that is broadcast twice a week, and a 15minute Arabic radio program that broadcasts to the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North America.
lAM's web site, www.inarabic.org, provides surfers an opportunity to listen to Bible passages, hear gospel music and learn about Jesus. Through the site, people can order 1'he]esus Film, a Bible, lAM's "Good News" magazine and a CD that tells the story of Jesus. All of these are available in the Arabic language. Site visitors can also request prayer, ask questions or partidpate in a basic course about Christianity.
The past year has seen a remarkable increase in the number of requests for information and resources from people who have seen, heard or read about Christ through one of lAM's ministries. During 2001, the Youssefs sent 1400 different pieces of literature out in response to requests through their broadcasts and web Site, an increase from 1000 the year before. In addition, over 600 Bibles have been sent out during the past year, 50 per-
Ramallah resident makes about-face
lATHE TANKS OF DEATH are ruling through my yard, It exclaimed an accountant to other chat room listeners on the day israeli tank8 entered the West Bank city of Ramailah. WIth his otfIce closed for the day, he logged onto 811 IntematIonaI chat room on his home computer. 11Iere he heerel All Emm8nuel of Family ute Network In Winnipeg, Man., explaining In Arabic how his personal faith eeeroh had led him to a belief In the Christian Jesus. Intrigued, he entered a private chat room to uk more qUe&-
tlons. The accountant found that his own faith saarch resonated with that of All Emmanuel and after extended audio conversation, the two men ended by praying together.
Three days later, the accountant emalled, "I tell you, All, In this situation I • could not see any way out, but I found a complete peace In my Saviour Jesus the Messiah even though the tanks of death are roiling through my yard. I never imagined I could have this Incredible peace. Now I'm ready to love and forgive all thosa who hurt me, even If that person Is an Israeli soldier.
"In fact, I thank them for closing the road to my work so that I might find my road to Jesus Christ. It All Emmanuel Ekhartff
Abdalah, a SUdanese Mel former MusRm, works In the Arabic deparbnent of Family ute Network, the MB Int.... national radIo/TY agency. -FLN news release
cent more than the 400 sent out the year before.
lAM receives approximately 500 email messages each month. These requests are followed up with prayer, return e-mails, chat room contaets-making what Samir calls a "virtual church" for those who live in regions where no church is present. Youssef reports that many testimonies of professions of faith have been received. Wherever possible, people are referred to church contacts around the world.
Sharing the Christian message with Arabic speaking people is difficult, Youssef says illustrating his point with a story.
"Once, when I was in Jordan, I asked a 65-year-old man how to best reach Arabic speaking people. He replied, 'The Arabicspeaking world is not like Russia where one day the wall breaks down. You have to find cracks in the wall and send water into the cracks until one day a flood happens on the other side.' Every day I search for cracks," Youssef says.
Samir and Lewiza say that finding cracks to pour out the "living water" isn't easy.
"When I share about our ministry, I get the feeling people want to hear that thousands of Arabic speaking people are becoming Christians. I can't say that," Samir explains. "Our job as missionaries is to give good news to people around the world. God's job is to change people. Praise God we do see fruit. Sometimes it takes 10 years."
Since 1995, Lewiza and Samir have directed seven Youth Mission International teams to different areas in the Middle East, Europe and North America. These short-term mission trips take seven to 10 university students who want to share their faith through a cross-cultural experience. This year one team will go to Detroit and another to London, England.
Since 1998, lAM has been in partnership between MBMS International and Family Ufe Network, a media-based mission agency in Winnipeg, Man. FLN facili· ties and staff are used to record and edit the television and radio programs. FLN recently provided a grant to hire cameraman Grant Hoeppner, who travels with Samir to interview people for the television program. FLN has also hired Ali Emmanuel El-shariff Abdallah to help with follow-up ministries. lAM has also grown to include volunteer Elvin Klassen, who helps with follow-up and editing print materials. -MBMSI news release
Keys to sharing the Gospel with Arabic speaking people
IM8MB1 MISSIONARIES
LeMza SlId StImk Youssef oller Notth AmeIICBII MBa .....".",. to how best to .".,. tIte 80tIpeI willi AIIIbIc apeak",.,.",.
• use the Word of God. ArabIc speaking pe0ple NSpeel tile sacred books: tile L8w of Moses, PuIm8, Go8peIa and or Let the Word of God epeak for Itself. The Gospels tile be8t portiona to start with, partIcuI8ItJ Matthew and MaIk.
• Be constantly In .....yer.1t Ie the Holy Spirit wIlo wins people to ChrIst.
• Seek God's guidance and power as you present the Word. You must have a God given conC*'ft"
• Be a genuine friend. SayIng "hello" Isn't enough. If you really care, MOW It by Inviting your neighbors to your home, sharing your time, meals and helping In a practical W8I'/ with their PfObIemIl. Always relate to them 88 people, and not merely Pf'OlIIMlCIB for convereIon.
• Ask thought-pro- voklng questions. AskInC questions tIIet show you a genuine Interest In tile Important things of life can be the most effeo. t1ve. These may be: Do you expect to to to heaven? Do you .... the 8I8UI'8IIC8 tIIet God will accept you? May I &how you what the BIble about for. gIveness?
• Usten attentively. WIlen YGU 88k a question, c:ourteIy tIaIt you IIten to tile no matter how long It takes. You'll be lIIII'PI'IMd lit how much
you'll Ie8m. Be neturaI: 88k about your neighbor's family, country of--, 0ccupation, 1ntereIIt8, etc.
• Present yow beliefs openly. state what you believe, cIe8Ity aut apology, lIhoMtI
ture passag that support those teachings. By doing that, you place tile NSpone!bUlty for doctrine where It belong&-on the Word of God. Don't be In a hurry to invite your neighbors to your church's Sunday morning WOI'8h1p service. BegIn by inviting them to some apecIaIlntere8t program.
• Reason. don't argue. AqpImenta may win 8 point but Io8e • he8rIng. There 81'8 some points on wtdch you can argue forever without achieving a thing, except cIo8Ing a mind you. When YGU do talk about reIICIon. u.ten. If your neIJhbor 8IIka about your f8ItII, simply cfe8IIy, but don't be
• Never denigrate Muhammad or the OUran. lbls 88 offenalve to ArabIc .peaklng
people 88 speaking dJare. apectfully about ChIt8t or the Bible Ie to 118. Have some knowIectge of the person's faith and customs.
• Respect their customs and sensitivities. Don't offend by putting
your BIble (holy book) on the floor, or appearIq too free with the oppoelte &eX, refusing hospitality or makIng jokes alJout eaored top. Ics such 88 fasting, prayer or God. If you 81'8 invited Into your neighbor'. hoIne, leave a email gift of candy or cookIea, unpretentIou&Iy.
• Persevere. AnIIIIc speaIdIC people have • lot of reIhlnIdng to do wtIen they 81'8 confNIlted willi the Gospel. Rest 8UUftld thlIt the Word of God wID do "work, In God'. good time. PnlbIema 1blIt Ie to be expected, but them honeatIy 88 they come. Learn more about your nefghIIor'. belief&, many pitfalls wII be 8VOIded. Try to answer all of your neI&hbor's questions openly and aIncereIy, but avaId gettint Into a contest belw8en I'8IlIIOU8 beliefs••
Afghans can't go home
Refugees have nothing to go back to and security ,. concerns are still an issue in many parts of country
Two blue, derelict Russian trucks with a cable strung between them mark the Afghan border
crossing in the desert east of the Iranian city of zabol.
Friendly, anned guards lower the
cable and wave an Iranian Red Crescent vehicle through. There seems to be no need for passports or other documentation at this post four kilometers (two and one-half miles) inside Afghanistan. The driver shouts a word of thanks, waves and drives on.
A minute later he stops again at another checkpoint within Sight of Mile 46, a refuge for Afghans who have also fled their homes because of drought and war. A guard dressed in a Nike T-shirt, baggy sweat pants, sneakers and a black turban strides out of a makeshift build· ing and gives the vehicle and occupants a quick once-over. His shirt is too small and his bare belly sags over his waistband. But the AK-47 hanging on his back is a grim reminder that this is serious business. He allows the vehicles to pass.
A sea of tents, erected in neat rows, stretches out on the dusty plain ahead. Mile 46 was established by the Iranian Red Crescent Society in October 2001 to cope with the growing number of displaced Afghans arriving at the Iranian border. It is located in what had been a NorthemAlliance pocket in Afghanistan's NimnJz province. MakaJd Camp nearby was in Tallban-controIled territory. As MakaJd Camp filled up, refugees were referred to Mile 46, exposing them to the additional danger of crossing the demarcation line between the Tallban and Northern Alliance.
There are currently 5,400 people living in Mile 46 and 5,250 in MakaJd
Optimism breaks out as fighting stops, rain falls
NOBODY IN THE bustling city of Herat In northwestem Afghanistan 888ms to miss the Tallban, driven out by the Northern Alliance In November 2001.
"All the people [are] happy," says an elderly shopkeeper In English as he attends his customers. He recalls the six years his wife and daughters were forced to stay Indoors except when he was available to escort them. It Just about drove them crazy, he says, and one of his daughters eventually grated to Holland.
Now women can be seen walking everywhere unescorted, shopping In the markets and strolling along the streets In their hlja'" (head scarves) and flow-
Ing robes. Some continue to wear the more conservative head-to-toe burfd188 which, In the West, became a symbol of Tal repression.
Relatively undamaged by the years of lighting In AfghanIstan, Herat Is quickly reclaiming Its historic role as an lmportant trading center In the region. The pent-ilP demand for foreign products created by the austere Tallban Is suppled by a flood of goods delivered by the streem of trucks arriving dally from Iran. It Isn't an easy trip. Although the Iranian border Is only 76 miles away, the road Is wrecked by years of neglect and takes live hotn or more to travel.
ute Is also retumlng to the Mowafaq Hotel In downtown Herat
where $20 gets you a modest room with cold, runnIng water. If you're lucky, It may also have hot water. ElectrIcity Is saved for the evenIngs and simple kerosene stoves generate heat. It'. short on II88thetIcs but long on hope.
Recent good rains and snowfall In the mountains also fuel the optimism In the region. "It's stili not normal, but It Is enough to create hope," says Bnmo L8geenI of the International CommIttee of the Red Cross, stationed In Herat.
Many of the Internally displaced pe0ple living In camps around the city are talldng about going back to their homes but most have nothing to ratum to. "Three years of drought exhausted their
Camp. When the u.s. bombing began, predictions were that up to 500,000 people would flee toward Iran. These huge numbers failed to materialize because of the swift collapse of the Taliban.
With the support of donors, Mennonite Central Committee was able to contribute $200,000 to the IRCS to buy tents and ground cloths for Mile 46 and ship blankets to keep people warm over the winter. Bags of lentils supplied by Canadian Foodgrains Bank with the support of MCC and other Canadian agencies are distributed periodically as a valuable protein supplement.
Abdul Abi, 55, and his wife and three children hitched rides and walked six days to get to Mile 46 to escape the drought and war in the Kandahar area. The youngest, five years old, often rode on Abdul Abi's shoulders. It's been more than three months since they arrived at the camp, and they would like to go back home if there is food and work to return to.
Bibi Kwar lost her husband in a u.s. bombing raid in the Badghis region north of Herat. Their house was destroyed as well, and she and her children have nothing. They traveled 10 days to Mile 46 where members of their extended fumily are also living. She said she would like to go home if there is a place for them and "if God is kind enough to take care of us."
With the fall of the Taliban and the approaching spring, many people in
coping mechanisms," Legeard 88YS.
MasIakh, on the outskirts of Herst, 18 the largest camp for the Intemally dI8pIaced and has grown to become a city In Its own right, with an estimated population between 100,000 and 150,000. EstablIshed about nine years ago to help victims of civil war, the camp soon grew out of control and wII likely become a permanent settlement.
In many ways the people In the camps are better off. They receive food medical care from relief organizations. othera living In the more remote parts of Afghanistan aren't getting enough food; there have been reports of people eating grass to SIR'VIve.
The Red CfCl88 and other organizations are flying food to remote areas, but people from the outlying areas stili need to get to the distribution points. 1bat Isn't always possible because the
the camp want to go home. "They are worried about the heat [as spring and summer approach] and the health of their children," says Bruce Huntwork, an MCC medical worker currep.tly living in Iran with his wife, Ann. The Huntworks lived in Iran for 10 years in the 1960s and 70s and are fluent in Farsi, the local language.
As the weather turns warmer, living in the tents will become unbearable because of the heat and the increased threat of infectious disease.
"We can close the camp when it gets hot but that would be sending people to their death," says Ali Karimi, general manager of the provincial IRCS branch responsible for the camp. Most of the refugees have nothing to go back to and security concerns are still an issue in many parts of the country.
"It would take a coalition of organizations to move the people. The cost would be very high," says Karimi.
People in the camp are reasonably well taken care of. Each family gets a daily ration of lentils, rice, bread, oil and high protein biscuits. They also receive blankets, kitchen utensils and jerry cans for water.
Meanwhile, more could be done for the refugees in the camps, but the challenge is striking a balance between caring for the basic needs of the refugees and encouraging them to move on when it is safe and reasonable to do so, says Karimi. -Rick Fast for MCC
roads trails are Impassable.
Afghan oIIIcIaIs are wgIng relief 0rganizations like MennonIte Central C0mmittee to COIlC8llbate on getting food out to the communities 80 that people stay home In8t8ad of mcMng to c.npe. MCC's partner, the iranian Red Crescent SocIety, has begun food dlstribution In remote areas and to do more with MCC'. aseIetance.
Aid worke are convinced that the sltllltlon--ln the northwest part of Afghanistan et leaet-18 Improving. security Is better, rain and snow have helped alleYlate some drought and the Intematlonal community has pledged Iong-tenn support.
"People want to buId thl8 countIy but don't have the J880UJC88," says one aid worker with the IntemetIonaI Red Crescent SocIety. "TheBe people have 8Uft'ered a lot." -RIck Fast for MCC
How MCC is helping in Afghanistan
reIIeI. MMnonIte c.. tNl CommIttee Is contrIbutInI $20,000 for NIIef euppIIes and cIe8n water In NahrJn DIstItat, northern AfghanIatan. On March 2& quak toppled thousands of homes In NlIhrtn, aff8ctIng 8011I8 2.00,000 people, according to U.N. reports. MCC's contJI. butJon will help to purchase relief sUp' piles dl8trlbuted by Help the Afghan ChIdren Inc., a U.s.-b88ecI humanitarian agency, which wll also provide well chlilng or water purltlcatlon equipment.
• 0rI/l0IIW"'" fa Mat '." MCC committed more than $4.13 mlllon for aid to AfChanIstan since 5eptembar 2001. MCC's contributions to AfIhanI&tan will Involve both emercencY and rehabilitation work and will be UlIed over the next several years.
• All 40,000 MCC Jwta and comfortenI shipped to Iran In OCtober and December have antved. Most have been dlatrlbutecJ to dI8pIaced faInl In AIghanIstan by the Iranian Red CIeIcarIt SocIety, which purchased addltional blankets, ground sheeb and tents with MOO funds.
• "",.,...., proJect. MCC Is c0ntributing $78,2&0 par year for three ,... toward the InstaIl8tIon of smaJkcaJe hydro power plants for villages In eastern AfIlhanl8tan. International A88J&. tance MI88Ion, which Is orpnIzJnIJ the proJect, helped bulel 1.4 hydro power plants In Afghan vUJagee In past ,..s. CommunItIes the plants to lUll tIon pumps, flour mIls, eJectrIc and more.
• Food,.,..,..., MCC shipped 200 metric tons of lentils via the C8nac1Jan FoodIraIII8 Bank for a widows feedInC program of CARE internati0nai, which Is aJso purchasing wheat and cook· 01. MCC and the C8nadIan food. Bank together contrIIlutIng $&00,000 for widows In Kabul.
MCC constituents have donated more then $1.7 million to MCC's Afghan Crisis account. MCC Is a Christian world relief and development organization supported by Mennonite and Brethren In Christ churches.•
Canadians slash budget
The Canadian MB Conference reduces national ,. budget by 25 percent, restructures ministries
At the Canadian MB Conference Council of Boards meetings Jan. 23-26, boards dealt with many of the issues addressed in March by their U.S. neighbors: budget reductions, the structure of conference and divestiture. When the meetings were over, the boards had cut the conference budget by $300,000 and undertaken a major restructuring of conference ministries. The Council of Boards consists of all Canadian Conference board members and has the power to act as "the Conference in interim."
Canadian Conference moderator Jascha Boge, who had vowed to reduce by 25 percent the amount of money requested from churches for conference causes, proposed the drastic cuts because "fiscal responsibility above all else provides a base from which we can grow." The cuts, he said, have forced the boards to review their programs and to concentrate on those aspects which fit most closely with the three ministry areas on which the conference has decided to focus: growing and reaching out, healthy churches and leadership development.
Faced with the dramatic cuts, the Board of Christian Education Ministries and Board of Communications decided to merge their ministries under a new Board of Discipleship that would also include the former binational Board of Resource Ministries and Kindred Productions and the work of the Board of Evangelism associate director who worked in church resourcing. This new board will focus on building healthy churches by providing training for local church staff and lay leaders, by providing resources such as curriculum and by directly teaching constituents through the four conference periodicals.
The council also reviewed the ongoing discussions regarding divestiture of MB Biblical Seminary and Board of Church Ministries and Kindred Productions. Individual board reports were given. In its update, the Board of Management reported that the conference is expecting a $200,000 deficit in 2001-
2002 and that the accumulated surpluses from other years have been used to cover a similar deficit in the last fiscal year.
An annual budget that totaled $1.7 million was presented, down from the current $2,036,000 budget. According to Boge, the conference would significantly reduce the per-member norm, which is currently $92 Canadian. However, the reduction is not as great as it would seem since most churches do not pay the full norm. Current church contributions are about $1.8 million. -from an article that appeared in the Canadian MB Herald.
Itinerary
CPE, under the sponsorship of MBMS International, invites born-again Christians to serve as volunteers for its evangelism outreach to:
NOTE: Dates may be subject to some changes, pending further confirmation of some campaigns.
Team up with national Christians and witness for Christ door-to-door.
- Some knowledge of the language of the country is helpful.
- Between 800 and 2800 persons have prayed to acceptChrist as their personal Saviour and Lord during a two-week CPE campaign. Come and be part of an enriching spiritual experience---cliscover what God can do through you.
For further Information, contact:
Church Partnership Evangelism office: telephonelfax: 604-864-3941
Peter Loewen (residence) fax: 604-853-6482
Church Partnership Evangelism is a ·church-to-church" effort that involves all bornagain Christians in personal evangelism worldwide. Your application to participate will be forwarded to the CPE Executive Committee for processing.
GLOBAL GATHERING OF MENNONITES STILL ST FOR AFRICA
MWC resolve to go to Zimbabwe still firm
MENNONITE WORLD Conference leaders and the Brethren in Christ churches of Zimbabwe have affirmed their commitment to hold the next global assembly in Zimbabwe in August 2003. Presidential elections in March left the country deeply divided over the process and the outcome, although at last report the country was calm.
"The situation has deteriorated in the country since we made the decision two years ago to hold Assembly Gathered there," says Larry Miller, MWC executive secretary. "But all word that we are now receiving from Zimbabwe, including from foreign embassy folk, is 'sit tight, wait and see' what develops in the next couple of months. We are continuing to monitor the situation carefully."
MWC reports that economic con-
cerns will also have an impact on planning for Africa 2003. The worst drought in years and fields left unplanted due to land issues mean that maize, the main crop, will be well below normal this year, resulting in food shortages. There is no way of predicting what the situation will be next year. Inflation and the exchange rate remain in flux.
MWC president Mesach Krisetya has called on the global Mennonite and BIC family to exercise their commitment to peace, citing a post-election statement by the World Council of Churches that concluded with these words. "We call upon churches and all peace-loving persons around the world to pray for the people of Zimbabwe and not forsake them, but support them in these difficult times." -MWC
MB UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE HAND OUT DEGREES
Graduation ceremonies held
THIS MONTH the two u.s. MB post-secondary institutions will graduate a total of 585 students. In its 57th commencement ceremonies May 4, Fresno (Calif.) Pacific University graduated a record 454 seniors. Graduation for the traditional undergraduate college involved 201 students. Another six graduates of the adult transition pro-
gram, for students with special needs, will also be recognized. The Fresno Pacific Graduate School and Center for Degree Completion (CDC) commencement honored 155 graduate school and 98 CDC graduates. Walter Buster, former superintendent of three California school districts, was the commencement speaker.
Tabor College, located in Hillsboro, Kan., will host commencement ceremonies May 25. College officials anticipate a graduating class of 80 students from the Hillsboro campus and 51 students from the Center for Adult Studies based in Wichita, Kan.Jim Holm, former MB pastor and currently the dean of students and director of constituency relations at MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif., will speak at the 10:00 a.m. ceremony. -FPUandTC
COMMUNITY CORP FORMED
Reaching out together
FRESNO PACIRC Unlvef8lty, MB Biblical Seminary, MBMS International and Butler MB Church have formed the S0utheast Fresno Community Development Corporation.
The goal of the non-proftt group Is to reach out to the area surrounding the campus that Is shared by the three Institutions. Its first project was the expansion of small World Preschool at Butler Church to Include more local children.
FPU Is an MB university In Central California, and MBMSIIs the global mission agency of MB churches In Canada and the U.S. -FPU
FLOOD CLEAN-UP I KENTUCKY: A pile of rubble Is all that remains of a trailer home following flash floods that swept Harlan County, Ky., and the southeastem U.s. In late March. Harlan County, home of Mennonite Central Committee's Sharing WIth Appalachian People program, was hit hard by the storm. MCC Is wot1dng with local partner organIzations In Immediate response to the flooding and will work under the direction of Mennonite Disaster Service to determine longer-term response. -MCC
MORE NEWS
Taking precautions
- MeMonite central Committee workers serving In the MIddle East are safe but are taking precautionary measures In the wake of Increased violence, reported Janet Janzen, co-cIIrector of MCC MIddle East programs In early AprU. MCC Is In regular contact wtth Its workers In the West Bank, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. FIve MCC workers live In Palestine, an area of escalating violence. The organ_ tIon has 47 volunteers and local staff In the MIddle East region. -MCC
Architecture honored
Rudy P. Frlasen of WinnIpeg, Man., was the featured speaker April 19 at the Center for MB Studies aMusl spring meeting held In Hillsboro, Kan. FrI888n's llluatrated presentation focused on Mennonite architecture In Ruaela and the UkraIne from 1789 to the present. The stories Frlasen was enchanted by as a child of both the IcIyIllc and tragic lives of Mennonit from Ruaela as captured by the physIcal structuree whIch formerly stood and stili stand In the Ukraine formed the basis of his talk. -eMBS
ABC show available
-A documentary whIch aIred on ABC TV, on how forgiveness has helped persons cope with tragic death and 1088, Is now available for sale on video. The Mennonite Church In cooperation wtth other major relIgious denomInations produced the hourlong program, which aired December 2001 to January 2002. Journey Towsrd Fotglv. "... tails stories of people at various stages on theIr Joumey through grief after experiencing mUrder, terrorism, tannlnallllness and racially or ethnically Instigated violence. Orders for the video can be made by callIng (800) 999-3634. -MM
MBMSI MISSIONARIES lOIN LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP
Congolese evangelist joins team
SUBUME MABIALA,
8 young missionary from the Democratic Republic of Congo, wlllOOI1 join PhIl and Carol Bergen, missionaries with MBMS International, and the other member8 of the AfrIca InterMennonIte Mission team In BurkIna F8IO, West Africa.
For the past 17 years, mission work among the Nanertge people of BurkIna F8IO has been done through AfIIca Inter-Mennonite Mission. MBMSI, the overseas mission agency of North AmerIcan MB churches, has been 8 part of that effort. I.-t year the Bergens, who have served In BurkIna Faso for 11 years, 1881-
IZ'8d that an AfrIcan might learn the compleX Nanertge 1IIOf8 quickly than a North American and adapt 1110I8 quickly to N8II8I'Ice culture. 11Iey were amazed at how quickly God brought MabIaIa to them. MabIaIa, who has experience working Croe&CUIturaIIy, wli use mateIIaI& translated by the Bergens and other Workers with the goal of PIantInI a chINCh. "1bIe Is the nIng of what we hope Is 8 Iong.tenn partnership between the MB C0nference of DR Congo Mel
Reaching out
EFFORTS TO BETTER cultivate the varied population of its region are beginning to bear fruit at Fresno (Calif.) Pacific University.
FPU is virtually tied fur first with one other institution among Council fur Christian Colleges and Universities in the number of Hispanic undergraduate students, according to the latest annual enrollment report furnished to the U.S. Department of Education.
The university is also in the process of becoming the first CCCU school nationally to join the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. That organization could help FPU reach its goal of 25 percent undergraduate Hispanic enrollment. H this happens, FPU could apply fur federal grants of up to $500,000 per year fur five years, earmarked fur further encouraging Hispanic students.
The HACU represents more than 280 colleges and universities in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Spain. -FPU
MBMS Intematlonal," says Harold Ens, MBMSI generat director. "There Is 8 growing vision In the DR Congo to train and send out mIssIonaf. Ies to regions where there Is not yet a chuJch.plantlng ment. " -MBMSI
TABOR CO·SPONSORS CO
Speaking out
ST
MENNONITE CENTRAL Committee, Tabor College's humanities division and PAX, a newly funned, on-campus peace club, sponsored the C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest last month on the TC campus.
Tabor students who participated gave six- to 10-minute speeches focused at addressing the general topic of applying the Christian peace posi· tion to contemporary issues, such as capital punishment, media yiolence, abortion, gun control, race relations, environmental issues, etc.
The first-place winner received $200 and will be eligible to compete for additional cash awards in intercollegiate competition. A prize was also awarded for honorable mention.
Tabor College is a four-year, Christian liberal arts institution founded in 1908, located in Hillsboro, Kan., and owned and operated by MB churches. -TC
FPU JOINS HISPANIC ASSOCIATION
CHURCH
NBaptism/membership
Dinuba, calif.-lane Bese, Kellen Isaac, Elizabeth Franks, Becky Friesen, Joshua Isaak, Stephen Sawatzky and Chris Klassen were baptized March 31. Bryan, Lori, Matt, Kristen and Kellie Goossen, Heidi Ekk, Jason Ekk, Hugh and Yvette Froese and Derrick Miller were welcomed as new members by testimony.
Ulysses, Kan.--Grant Keller was baptized and received into membership along with his wife Dawn March 31.
Fairview, Okla.-Madison Ewald, Lindsey Lord, Jessica Wichert, Jared Penner, Ally Doane, Kodi Fast, Katy Edingfield, Logan Neufeld, Brittney Karber, Polly Kliewer and Krista Nightengale were baptized and received into membership March 24.
Littleton, Colo. (Belleview Com· munity}-Dan Barrett, Sharon Connelly, Dave and Jaimie Cartwright, Todd Cotton, Tina Quintanilla, Jolie Riehm and Angel Strickland were welcomed as new members March 17.
Reedley, Calif.- Larisa Carter, Brian and Carrie Galle, Leslie Hurtado, Daleene Janzen, Donna Kliewer, Scott Loewen, Donna Peters, Lauren Peters, Marcus Peters, Miranda Peters and Rebecca Wiens were baptized and received into membership March 31. Todd Croissant, Paul and Frieda Friesen and Ed and Irene Ramirez were welcomed as new members.
Mountain Lake, Minn. (Communi· ty}-Elsle Eastlund was welcomed as a new member March 10.
Celebrations
Cordell, Okla. (Bible MB)-The congregation has scheduled March 13,2005, for their 100th anniversary celebration. In preparation for the event the church, originally known as Bessie MB Church, is researching their history including that of former members and plans to publish a book complete with photographs.
Fellowship
Wichita, Kan. (First MB}-Larry Nikkel, president of Tabor College, spoke at the Men's Steak Dinner
April 19.
Fresno, calif. (Bethany}-The congregation held a mother/son night April 19th for mothers and their sons kindergarten through 6th grade. Along with other activities, the evening consisted of a dessert and a speaker.
Ulysses. Kan.-An all-ehurch retreat April 6-7 included recreation times as well as sessions in which participants discussed the church's new vision statement. Those who did not attend the retreat were invited to worship Sunday morning with the Family Worship Center congregation with which the MB congregation had been sharing facilities following the loss of the FWC facility due to a fire. This was the last Sunday the two congregations shared the facility.
Ministry
Henderson, Neb.-Ryan and Erica Wilson were commissioned March 10. This summer they will be attending MB Biblical Seminary.
Indiahoma, Okla. (Post Oak}-A team of 24 teens and seven adults from First MB Church of Wichita spent March 16-21 in Indiahoma on a service trip. The youth group hit the ground running as they helped Post Oak with their spring cleanup, says POMBC pastor Charles Rempel. Work projects included painting classrooms and furniture, remodeling the kitchen and levelIng gravestones in the cemetery. The young people from both congregations enjoyed a Saturday evening mystery dinner followed by a concert. An Indian Taco Feed Thursday evening concluded the service trip.
Fresno, calif. (North}-The congregation hosted a children's Easter fair March 29. Games, crafts, a puppet show, an egg hunt and snacks were included in the morning event.
Hesston, Kan.-A team of youth and their sponsors plan to travel to Denver, Colo., May 26-31 to work with DOOR, an inner-eity ministry.
Proclamation
Hendenon, Neb.-Jim Holm, dean of students and director of
NEWS FROM OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
constituency relations for MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif., was the speaker for a spring Bible conference April 7-9.
Garden City, Kan. (Garden Val· ley}-Phil Bergen, a missionary to Burkina Faso, West Africa, with MBMS International, was the speaker for the spring missions festival March 3.
Bellingham, Wash. (Community Blble}-As part of a sermon series based on the Sermon on the Mount, individuals in the congregation have been invited to memorize a section of the sermon. These individuals will recite the entire sermon at the conclusion of the series in July. Care groups were provided with study guides for the series that began in April.
Teaching/Nurture
Bakersfield, calif. (Laurelglen Blble}-Jill Ludlow led worship for the women's retreat held April 1921 at Hartland Christian Camp. The theme was "Be still and know that I am God, " with a focus on learning to rest in the Lord as well as how to pray effectively. Video lessons on prayer presented by Jill Briscoe were featured.
Garden City, Kan. (Garden Val· ley}-A new small group for parents began March 10. The series included topics such as discipline, temperaments, nurture, problemsolving techniques and anger.
Worship
Reedley, Calif.-" Christian Education Sunday" was held April 28. There was one morning worship service that featured a children's bell choir, music and a message by Pastor Michael Trostrud, followed by an all-ehurch picnic with recreation.
Yale, S.D. (Bethel}-Communion was celebrated on Maundy Thursday in the context of a fellowship meal much like the early church. The full meal and service emphasized the joy and hope of Christ's resurrection.
san Jose, Calif. (Lincoln Glen)Holy Week events March 24-31 included the musical "It Is Finished" presented March 24, a
Maundy Thursday service and a Good Friday community service hosted by LGC. Volunteers spent Saturday morning decorating the sanctuary for Easter Sunday morning. Prior to the morning worship service March 31, a breakfast buffet was served, a floral cross was decorated while a string praise ensemble provided special music and Kim Bartel and Drew Froese shared a live painting exhibition presenting the message of Easter.
Weatherford, Okla.(Pine Acres}-The congregation presented their annual outreach Easter pageant March 28-31. The script was created by eight members of the congregation and focused on the love of Jesus Christ for the world.
Wichita, Kan. (First MB}-The congregation held a Maundy Thursday family service March 28. The worship time was created for families with elementary age children. April 14, the congregation hosted "Acts of Renewal, " the professional acting duo of Jim Shores and Carol Anderson-Shores who present biblical stories and also address life issues such as family communication through theatre.
Freeman, S.D. (Salem}-The Tabor College concert choir directed by Bradley Vogel participated in the Resurrection Sunday service March 31. March 10 was youth Sunday and the morning worship service was planned and presented by members of the youth group.
Deaths
BARTEL, MARIE ESTHER, Enid, Okla., a member of Enid MB Church, was born Jan. 2, 1911, to P.H. and Anna Vogt Bartel, and died March 23, 2002, at the age of 91. She is survived by many nieces and nephews.
CORN ELSEN, SOPHIE FRANCES WARKENTINE, Fairview, Okla., a member of Fairview MB Church, was born Nov. 18, 1919, to Frank and Agnes Thiessen Warkentine at Homestead, Okla., and died March 27, 2002, at the age of 82. On Aug. 24, 1941, she was married to Elferd Cornelsen, who predeceased her. She is survived by two sons, Sherman and wife Mary Lou of
Kiowa, Kan., and Michael and wife Tamara of Fairview; one daughter. Sharon and husband John Hett of Palmer, Alaska; four brothers, Harry of Fairview, Albert of Joes. Colo .• Ben of Bronx, N.Y.• and Edward of Fresno. Calif.; one sister, Viola Sholtess of Fairview, 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
ENN5, PETER. member of Birch Bay Bible Community Church of Blaine, Wash., was born June 19, 1917, to Henry and Katie (Balzer) Enns at Hooker, Okla., and died March 18, 2002, at the age of 84. On December 19, 1948, he was married to Liesbeth Reimer, who survives. He is survived by two daughters, Mareen and Terry Galloway of Woodinville. Wash., and Nadine and Paul A'Alessandro of Dallas, Tex.; three brothers, two sisters and four grandchildren.
GERBRANDT. MARVIN, Santa Clara, Calif.• of EI Camino Bible Church of Clara. was born Nov. 28, 1927. to John and Marie Wiens Gerbrandt at Reedley, Calif., and died Feb. 16, 2002, at the age of 74. He was married to Lorna Koop. who survives. He is also survived by two daughters, Kathy and husband Doug Franz of Fair Oaks, Calif.• and Teresa and husband Greg Bull of Antelope. Calif.; one brother. John, of San Jose, Calif.• and seven grandchildren.
HEIZELMAN. KAlIE UNRUH Minot, N.D., a member of Bible Fellowship Church of Minot, was born Nov. 11, 1904, to Bernhard and Maria Unruh in Turner County, S.D., and died March 13,2002. at the age of 97. On March 1, 1925, she was married to Jacob Heizelman. who predeceased her in 1960. She is survived by two sons, Marvin and wife Jennell of Minot, and Elmer and wife Vema of Velva, N.D.; four sisters, Marie Furhman of Mandan, N.D., Ida Griffith of Largo. Fla., Blondina Porter of Concord, Calif., and Leona Renfree
$.. Pontius' Puddle
of Sacramento. Calif.• five grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.
JONES. MORRIS MARION, Reedley. Calif., of Reedley MB Church, was born Jan. 7, 1921, to Mr. and Mrs. M.O. Jones at Lincoln, Neb., and died March 19,2002, at the age of 81. He was married to Esther Rempel, who survives. He is also survived by two daughters. Marilyn Elrod and Sally Stanglin, and three grandchildren.
KlASSEN, GEORGE c.. Reedley, Calif.• a member of Reedley MB Church. was born June 21. 1911. to Cornelius Abraham and Margaret Funk Klassen at Wassiljewka, South Russia. and died April 1, 2002. at the age of 90. On Sept. 30. 1934, he was married to Leah Leppke, who predeceased him in 1999. He is survived by four sons, Robert and wife Beverly of Arlington, Va .• Vietor of San Jose. Calif.• Lloyd and wife Kathy of Pomona. Calif.• and Roy and wife Paula of Clovis. Calif.; one sister. Nellie Larson of Turlock, Calif.; one stepbrother. Nick Friesen of Reedley. 11 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.
MARTENS. BRYCE UN, Fairview. Okla., a member of Fairview MB Church, was born Aug. 21, 1995, to Erland W. and Susie FairweatherMartens at Oklahoma City, Okla .• and died March 30, 2002, as the result of an extended illness, at the age of six. He is survived by his parents; one brother. Mark, of the home; one sister, Maggie, of the home; maternal grandparents, E.D. and Leva Fairweather of Hominy. Okla.; and paternal grandmother. Adina Martens of Fairview.
SCHMIDT. BARNEY 8.. Reedley, Calif., a member Reedley MB Church. was born July 27. 1903, to Abraham and Agatha SChmidt in Caddo County. Okla., and died April 8. 2002, at the age of 98. In 1924 he was married to Adina Reimer, who predeceased him in 1986.
In 19B7 he was married to Helen, who survives. He is also survived by five sons. Marvin and wife Faye. Wes and wife Frances. Eldon and wife Maxine, Don and wife Marge. and Bob and wife Judy; two daughters. Janice and husband Ken Kliewer. and Carol and husband Leon Isaac; two step daughters. Pat and husband Walt Willems and Virginia and husband Roger Johnson. 25 grandchildren and 39 great grandchildren, and many step grandchildren and step great grandchildren.
THIESSEN. IRMA J. THOMP· SON, Inman. Kan .• of loar MB Church of Inman, was born Sept. 16, 1926, at Peoria. III •• was adopted by Frank and Anna Klassen, and died March 11,2002, at the age of 75. On Nov. 7, 1947, she was married to Menno Thiessen, who survives. She is also survived by four sons. James and wife Gloria of Inman, Loren of Inman. Donovan and wife Cheryl of Wellston. Ohio. and Kevin and wife Nina of Shippensburg, Pa.; one daughter. Laurel and husband Randy of Newport, Wash.; two brothers. David Klassen and Melvin Oryer; one half brother. Clifford Stanley; one half sister. Alice Alton. 11 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
WARKENTIN, EDNA TOEWS, McPherson, Kan .• a member of loar MB Church of Inman. Kan., was born Nov. 16. 1915, to George W. and Lena Friesen Toews at Inman, and died March 26, 2002, at the age of 86. On Nov. 5, 1939. she was married to John K. Warkentin, who predeceased her in 1979. She is survived by four daughters, Janice and husband Vernon Winter of McPherson. Janet and husband Bill Hein of Hillsboro, Jean and husband Don Hein of McPherson. and Joan and husband Gary Kaplin of Wichita, Kan.; one sister. Malinda Toews of Inman. 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.•
Clearinghouse
Have a position to fill? Looking for a new employment or ministry opportunity? Have a gathering or celebration to promote? Reach U.S. Mennonite Brethren through a Clearinghouse classified ad. The charge is 53 cents per word, with a $15 minimum. Withhold payment until an invoice is received. MB institutions advertising vacancies or position announcements may be eligible for a no-cost ad. Contact the editor for more information.
EMPLOYMENT--CHURCH
Associate Pastor
Hesston MB Church (Kansas) is seeking a person to provide vision, leadership and training for youth ministry. Primary responsibility and time commitment is with senior high youth. Oversight of junior high ministries is also included. Hesston is located 30 miles north of Wichita. Send resume to: Hesston MB Church, 610 W. Randall, Hesston, KS 67062; or e-mail Steve Toews at pastor@hesstonmb.org. See complete job description at our web site at www.hesstonmb.org
Youth Pastor
Bethany Church, a caring and friendly church of 3BO+, is seeking a full-time youth pastor to provide vision and direction to our youth. We are located in a rapidly growing residential area of Fresno, California. Candidate must have strong organizational, relational and communication skills and have an undergraduate degree or previous youth ministry experience. If interested, call David Schwartz, (559) 441-1310.
MINISTRY SUPPORT-oPPORTUNITIE5
Investors Needed
The River, a new church in the MB NC District, is in need of funds. This self-supporting new church is reaching broken people with the gospel in Western North Carolina. Your financial investment will reap eternal dividends! Please make your generous check out to: The River and send to P.O. Box 1217, Brevard, NC 28712. Your investments are tax deductiblel If you need more information call Pastor Peter Thomas at (828) 650-0324 or email at pastorpeter@charter.net.
Pontius' Puddle
Canadian Mennonite University
President of Canadian Mennonite University
Canadian Mennonite University invites applications for the position of President. As a new Christian University formed by three Mennonite colleges, CMU has decided to unite its leadership under one President. The university seeks a dynamic leader to guide its development during the formative years. The board. faculty and staff of CMU are committed to providing post secondary education that prepares students for a life of Christian faith and service in the church and in society.
CMU's values are based on the confessions of faith of the Mennonite Brethren churches and Mennonite Church Canada. As chief executive officer, the President identifies with CMU's mission and core values. and facilitates their articulation and implementation.
In seeking to develop a common vision. the President oversees all organizational aspects of CMU, including strategic planning. external relationships. and internal administrative activities.
Qualifications include demonstrated organizational management and leadership ability. appropriate academic training. commitment to a Christian world view within an academic environment. and an affinity with CMU's supporting church constituencies.
Processing of applications begins May 31, 2002
The appointment becomes effective on a mutually agreed upon date In 2003.
Inquiries and applications should be addressed in confidence to:
Chair
Presidential Search Committee
Canadian Mennonite University 500 Shaftesbury Blvd
Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA) has opportunities for highly motivated individuals interested in a full-time career in insurance and financial services. Candidates will need to become licensed to sell life and health insurance as well as securities. A training allowance, plus bonuses, is available to qualified applicants. Opportunities exist in many areas of the U.S.
MMA is a church-related organization that helps Anabaptists practice biblical stewardship. MMA offers expertise in pursuing stewardship solutions through insurance and financial services as well as charitable-giving programs and fraternal benefits.
Send resume to: Joy Liechty P.O. Box 483 Goshen, IN 46527 (SOO) 348-7468 Ext. 202 joy.liechty@rnma-online.org www.rnma-online.org
Changing definitions
LAST MONTH, MY HUSBAND AND I took our very first "family" vacation with our three-year old daughter, Lizzie. For the two of us, this was a big deal.
You see, our idea of a vacation is lying on a beach and reading books. We sleep in, take naps and eat whenever we feel like it. No stress, no worries.
We knew this vacation would be different. After all, if you can't sleep in, take naps and read a book for longer than 15 minutes with a three-year-old at home, there's not much hope you can do those things on a vacation either.
So, we figured our definition of vacation would have to change.
And it did.
It was still loads of fun. We frolicked in the waves like kids. We rediscovered the art of making sandcastles and burying someone in the sand. And we went for walks on the docks and chased pelicans.
But it was also a lot of work. We had to pack-and keep track of-many more things (like dolls and books for the car and hotel, a supply of children's snacks and a bucket and shovel for the beach). Going to the beach meant lugging bags filled with sunscreen, beach toys, sippee cups and diapers (just in case). And an over-tired child who doesn't want to leave the sand and sea is no picnic either.
While we did manage to read here and there, it was mostly done off the beach and in a hotel room after Lizzie fell asleep. Naps? Well, my husband got a few, but I was out of luck.
But overall it was a great vacation and I'd do it again-after a few months to recover.
During our vacation, I read an article in Christian Parenting Today about the endless demands of parenting which helped me accept this new form our vacations are taking.
"The hard truth of mothering," writes Elisa Morgan (president of Mothers of Preschoolers, a popular Christian organization), "is that we're never done." How well I identify with that. Our vacation definitely wasn't a vacation from parenting. I went from one demand to another, from making sure Lizzie didn't go too far out into the water to dealing with bathroom "accidents" on the beach. (Those diapers did come in handy, by the way.)
But Morgan doesn't stop there. She adds that "the beautiful truth is that the joys of raising children are never ending as well." And I resonate with that, too. Most of the enjoyable times during the vacation happened because Lizzie was there. She led us by our hands to jump and play in the waves. She lay on the beach, blissful and content, as we covered her with sand. And she was the one who noticed the pelicans and led the chase.
The truth is that parenting is a lot of work-and it doesn't stop when I take a vacation. That's the nature of my relationship with Lizzie. I am and will always be her mother. Ironically, as I began to accept that a vacation didn't change that, I
began to enjoy it-and Lizzie-more and more.
Morgan's insights on parenting also apply to my faith. I forget that my faith is a relationship. By its very nature, it is neverending work-and never-ending joy.
In other words, praise God, there are no vacations from my walk with God either.
For me, the day-in-and-day-out struggle to find time to spend in God's presence is the hardest work of all. Relationships change with the amount of time you put into them, and my relationship with God is no exception. I fight to set aside time just to do the basics-read his Word, study his Word and spend time in prayer. A simple phone call or doorbell easily pushes out those early moments of the day. I frequently catch myself thinking that there must be some easier, less time-consuming way to walk with God. But there isn't.
I find that the discipline to spend even a small amount of time in God's presence rarely comes without accountability to others. Recently, I was asked to lead a Bible study for a couple of women at my church. Now we keep each other accountable on our quiet times with God. And for me, it makes all the difference.
And what a difference it is. I am reminded daily that it is God who works the changes in me, and I tum more and more to him. My vision shifts from me to others, and I become less selfish. I find I am eager to share God's truth with people around me, and God brings the opportunities to do just that. I see his hand in me or in the life of another. I watch myselfand those around-be transformed.
And I taste the joy. I taste the peace. I taste the purpose.
Recently, I read a description of Jesus by A.E. Whiteham: "Here in this man is adequate purpose inward rest, that gives an air of leisure to his crowded life."
That inward rest and air of leisure can be ours. But it does not come without spending time in God's presence. We must abide in him. We must be intentional, like we are with our children or our careers. We must acknowledge our purposeto follow Jesus-and our dependence on God.
We can't be half-hearted. Jesus doesn't call us to be parttime followers. He calls us to follow him to the death. That's radical. That's passionate. That's all-consuming.
Like parenting, we don't get a vacation from our walk with God. We need to stay disciplined. We need to put in the work to be in his presence each day.
As a mother, I needed to be reminded about the nature of that relationship. Occasionally, we need to be reminded that our faith is also a relationship. We need to be reminded that relationships, by their nature, require work. The wonderful thing about a relationship with God is that he does most of the work. If we walk in his presence, he will transform us. And we will taste the purest of joy. -CA
