Violence escalates in Congo

Aug 7, 2017 by , and

​Mennonite Church of Congo leaders head the graduation procession at Kalonda Bible Institute in 2012: Joly Birakara, vice president; Adolphe Komuesa, president; and Marcelin Mbalo, Komuesa’s wife. Classes had to be suspended this year due to violence. — James Krabill/MMN

KIKWIT, Democratic Republic of Congo — Violence continues to leave suffering and destruction in its wake in Congo’s three Kasaï provinces where most of the Mennonite churches are located. The situation...

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Kreider lit Anabaptist fire in U.K.

May 12, 2017 by , , and

Alan Kreider, AMBS professor emeritus of church history and mission, greets AMBS President Sara Wenger Shenk while bidding farewell to his church family at Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., in late April. — J. Nelson Kraybill

Alan F. Kreider, a mission worker, scholar and speaker who ignited contemporary Anabaptism in the United Kingdom and beyond, died May 8 at his home in Goshen, Ind. He was 75 and had been diagnosed with...

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Workers seek to improve interfaith engagement

Mar 27, 2017 by and

Anabaptist interfaith workers met to improve interfaith engagement approaches in their agencies and beyond. Back, from left: Trina Trotter Nussbaum, John Kampen, Jonathan Bornman, David Shenk, Alain Epp Weaver. Front: Jason Boone, Rebekah Simmerman, James Krabill. Not pictured: Jonathan Brenneman. — Jonathan Brenneman/MC USA

AKRON, Pa. — As religious hostility, Islamophobia and anti-Semitic acts surge, a group of interfaith, peacemaking and mission workers from six Anabaptist agencies met to explore ways to improve interfaith...

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Opinion: Evangelism — faithful or offensive?

Feb 13, 2017 by

Anne and Daniel Garber Kompaoré: “Most missionaries and evangelists these days are the Africans themselves, who are much more vocal about their faith than most North Americans.” — Mennonite Mission Network

When Anne and Daniel Garber Kompaoré talk of their work in North America, they are often met with questions. Anne works as a Bible translation consultant with Mennonite Mission Network and has lived in...

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Service unit leader, 26, dies in car accident

Jan 20, 2017 by and

mmn service adventure-001

Hannah Hochstetler, co-leader of the Mennonite Mission Network Service Adventure unit in Jackson, Miss., died Jan. 19 in a car accident near Roanoke, Va. She was 26. She and her husband, Caleb, 25, were...

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Bearing good fruit

Sep 12, 2016 by

Thank you for “Gay and Welcome” by JB Miller (At the Table, Aug. 29). I affirm that the gospel soil at Covenant Mennonite Fellowship in Sarasota, Fla., is producing good fruit. That is the criteria that...

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Mennonite Mission Network donation supports racial justice education work

Aug 29, 2016 by and

Donna and Leroy​​​​ Barber cofounded The Voices Project,​ which trains black leaders. — Peter Graber/MMN

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Joining other Christian denominations that support the anti­racism goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, Mennonite Mission Network will give $10,000 to partner with The Voices Project...

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Organizations respond to Ecuador earthquake

May 9, 2016 by

People from the Mennonite church of Guayaquil, Ecuador, load relief materials on a truck to take to Manta for those affected by recent earthquakes. — Mennonite Mission Network

Local Mennonites and mission agencies responded after a powerful earthquake struck the Pacific coast of Ecuador April 16, followed by a second quake four days later. At least 570 people were killed, and more...

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Hmong in Thailand make an Anabaptist relationship official

Apr 25, 2016 by and

Church of Christ Thailand executive secretary Surapong Mitrakul and chair Thawesak Mahachavaroj present a set of teacups and saucers to Mennonite Mission Network executive director Stanley W. Green and Asia and Middle East director John Lapp. Green and Lapp in return offered two copies of the book Fully Engaged: Missional Church in an Anabaptist Voice. This exchange of gifts commemorated the signing of a ministry and support agreement for the Hmong ethnic group in Thailand. — Mennonite Mission Network

The Mennonite family can now add Hmong to the growing number of ethnic groups embracing Anabaptism in Asia. A group of Hmong churches in Thailand and Mennonite Church USA have agreed to make official a...

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Following Jesus leads to finding refuge in Spain

Jan 18, 2016 by and

Maryam, Connie Byler and Koroush enjoy tea at the Byler home. Once living comfortable lives in Iran, Maryam and her son, Koroush, now are following Jesus with a Mennonite community in Spain. — Dennis Byler/MMN

Koroush and his mother, Maryam — refugees from Iran now living in Spain — lost everything but believe they have what they need with Jesus. “I saw the Jesus miracles with my own eyes,” Koroush said. (To...

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Book review: ‘Mennonites Encounter Hinduism’

Dec 7, 2015 by

Mennonites Encounter Hinduism

Fifty years ago there was little public discussion of interfaith or inter-religious dialogue in Mennonite circles or in the Christian community generally. Some academic specialists and missiologists were...

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Mennonites in France pray for Muslims

Nov 20, 2015 by and

Warning sign found on the door of Lamorlaye Mennonite Church. — Linda Oyer/MMN

None of Mennonite Mission Network’s five international personnel in or near Paris was hurt in the Nov. 13 terrorist bombings, although each has been affected by them. “It took a little while to confirm...

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Pastors in Northern Ireland cut church to the core

Aug 31, 2015 by and

Gordon McDade and Karen Sethuraman

Pastoral colleagues Karen Sethuraman and Gordon McDade thought they were doing everything right. Their traditional church in Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland, had lots of people, programs and a strong community...

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The great (de)commission

Aug 12, 2015 by

Those impacted by the Evansville MVS unit during its run from 1988-2015 gathered Aug. 1 for a decommissioning service.

Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and...

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North Americans, Africans weigh partnerships’ strengths, weaknesses

Aug 10, 2015 by , and

Adolphe Komuesa Kalunga, national president of Communauté Mennonite au Congo (Mennonite Community in Congo) speaks as Steve Wiebe-Johnson translates. — Charles Buller/AIMM

GOSHEN, Ind. — Mission partnerships got a report card July 13, and the grade wasn’t always an “A.” Nearly 40 mission practitioners gathered at Silverwood Mennonite Church to discuss best practices for...

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Youth speakers share stories of pain on life’s road

Jul 20, 2015 by and

Kim Litwiller, associate conference minister for Illinois Mennonite Conference, and Ted Swartz of Ted Company TheaterWorks sit next to Michele Hershberger as she talks to them about their personal stories of pain at youth worship on July 1. — Lowell Brown for MWR

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Most of the six youth worship speakers addressed the week’s theme, “On the Way,” and scripture, Luke 24, by describing pain they had experienced and encounters they had with Jesus...

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Burkina Faso church loses land but stands firm

Jul 6, 2015 by and

A woman in Burkina Faso prepares food. If crops are not planted at the beginning of the rainy season in May and June, families will go hungry. The Mennonites of Sidi have renounced the traditional offerings to the spirits of the land that are required to obtain farming plots. — Deborah Froese/MMN

SIDI, Burkina Faso — Mennonites here persist in worshiping God even though village leaders have taken back the land on which they built their church. The leaders accuse members of the local congregation of...

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Youth hear of seeking Jesus in tragedy

Jul 2, 2015 by and

Youth worship services each include a skit led by the Bible character Luke. Here, Luke stands between two contestants on the reality show “Bible Food Network Cookoff.” Jesus, right, won by turning water into wine. — Lowell Brown for MWR

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Michele Hershberger channeled Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon during her Wednesday evening address to 2,300 youth attending Mennonite Church USA’s convention. First, the Hesston College...

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African-American pastors, leaders make connections

May 11, 2015 by and

Al Motley and his son, Alvin Motley II, receive communion from John Powell at the African American Mennonite Pastors Gathering. The father and son are bishop and youth pastor, respectively, at The Way Thru Christ Community Fellowship in Townsend, Del. — Mennonite Mission Network

ELKHART, Ind. — About 30 African-American Mennonite pastors and lay leaders expressed optimism, hope and surprise during a gathering April 24-25 at Mennonite Mission Network and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical...

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In a reversal of Babel, languages no barrier to building church in Congo

May 11, 2015 by and

Tom Nickel, Joe Shetler, Majunda Mabongo (seated), Médard Mafuta, Johann Zimmermann and Jules Lubula consult with the Kanzala church building’s architect, Liévin Kuzamba, who is seated between Zimmermann and Lubula. — Merrill Gingerich/MMN

A global village came together in February to raise the rafters of a new building that will house Kanzala Mennonite Church in Tshikapa, Congo. Three years ago, high wind and torrential rain destroyed the...

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Women overflow praise seminar

Mar 30, 2015 by , and

An overflow crowd gathers for the Mennonite women’s seminar on “The Importance of Praise and Adoration” Feb. 2-6 at the Orodara Mennonite Bible School in Burkina Faso. — Mennonite Mission Network

ORODARA, Burkina Faso — No room was big enough to hold the more than 225 women from the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso who gathered for a seminar Feb. 2-6 at Orodara Mennonite Bible School. By...

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Network spreads ‘healthy infection’ in Venezuela

Mar 16, 2015 by , and

Erwin Mirabal speaks to a group in Venezuela, as Romano Troncone listens on. Mirabal has been instrumental in organizing the biblical education in Venezuela. — Linda Shelly/MMN

An ecumenical group of church leaders in Venezuela — led by a Mennonite, Erwin Mirabal — describes its educational mission with a metaphor of the gospel of Jesus as a healthy infection. They say they are...

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Farming volunteer program joins Quakers, Mennonites

Mar 13, 2015 by , , and

Krista Showalter Ehst harvests vegetables at Valley Run CSA in Bally, Pa., where a new voluntary service program, Peace Farm, will start its first season in May. — Peace Farm

Peace Farm, a new voluntary service program born out of a collaborative effort between Quakers and Mennonites in Bally, Pa., is preparing for its inaugural season, beginning in May. The venture brings together...

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Translation project completes Scripture for Qom

Mar 2, 2015 by and

Church members in Fortín Lavalle, Argentina, celebrate the arrival of Bibles in the Qom language Dec. 13. — Argentine Bible Society

In Fortín Lavalle, Argentina, 200 people celebrated the arrival of the first complete Bibles in the Qom language Dec. 13. Qom is the original name of the Chaco’s Toba indigenous people — a name they are...

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Race, power and diversity

Feb 16, 2015 by , , and

Michelle Armster, interim executive director of Mennonite Central Committee Central States, prays over Sue Park-Hur, who preached the closing sermon at “Hope for the Future.” — Andrew Bodden/MMN

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Understanding how power works in Mennonite institutions was the theme of “Hope for the Future IV” Jan. 23-24 at Iglesia Menonita Arca de Salvación. The event gathers people of color...

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