Editor’s Note: Nations & Generations Gatherings are a component of our annual Assembly gathering. These gatherings, are held for the leaders of the Global Majority (the leaders of color) in Mosaic Conference. Three gatherings, November 15 (English), November 18 (Indonesian), and November 20 (Spanish), were held via zoom this year.
I was grateful to lead the Nations and Generations group in Spanish on November 20. It felt like a gathering of family. In the same way that not enough people know the history of Black Mennonites, not enough people know the history of Latino Mennonites connected to our Conference.
One of the things I love about these types of gatherings is that it’s a chance to share our stories and see how we are connected by faith and faithful people. We are a people shaped by story, the biblical faith story, but also the story of our culture and people. I was fascinated to learn about new connections and people.
We spent time most of our time reflecting on the scripture and theme from Assembly, Romans 12:1-8 and mutual transformation. We noted ways that we all need each other and are all being transformed into the image of Christ.
We concluded our time with sharing our hopes and dreams for Mosaic Conference. There were some great practical things that we as Mosaic can be working on, but two dreams stood out to me.
First was the desire to have more Latinas on Mosaic staff. There is a large group of Latinas in South Philly and the growing mission in Tijuana, Mexico. They desire support, resources, and representation in leadership. The situation was compared to the story in Acts 6 and the words, “Pay attention to the unattended” were declared.
The second dream was that these gatherings would one day no longer be needed. We dream of the day that Mosaic Conference would be so united as the body of Christ that we would only see “we” and “us.”
We dream of the day that Mosaic Conference would be so united as the body of Christ that we would only see “we” and “us.”
As all of Mosaic Conference works to be mutually transformed, may it be so.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.
This post is also available in: Indonesia (Indonesian)
This post is also available in: Indonesia (Indonesian)