CLC Gathering Reflection
by Emmanuel Mwaipopo
Editor’s Note:
The Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) of Mennonite Church USA’s annual gathering took place on March 21-23, 2024, in Goshen, Indiana. Mosaic sends three representatives. Emmanuel Mwaipopo, Intercultural Committee Chair of Mosaic’s Conference Board, was invited to offer a reflection.
At the CLC meeting, leaders from each area conference and MCUSA’s recognized constituency groups pray together, share ideas and resources, process concerns, and discern direction on issues of faith and life, and talk with MCUSA’s Executive Board.
My name is Emmanuel Mwaipopo, and I serve on the Intercultural Team of Mosaic Conference. I was raised in Tanzania in the Christian faith by a Catholic father and a Mennonite mother, and my extended family covers many faiths like Jehovah’s witness, Seventh Day Adventists, Islam, and others.
I appreciated that we were able to live together in harmony given the differences in our faiths, yet I wondered why our one family had so many different views of faith, and whether my faith made sense to me.
As by our customs, my siblings and I were brought up in the Roman Catholic church and loved every aspect of it. Yet, when I was at an age where I could no longer claim the cover of my parents’ decision making, and was expected to forge my own path, I ultimately had to ask myself some questions: “Why do I hold this faith? Why am I a Catholic? Why am I a Christian? Do I understand my purpose, and am I pursuing it?”
Through prayers and many discussions with my family, I eventually chose to follow the Anabaptist Mennonite faith that allows me to live my purpose and follow where God was calling me.
Through church I’ve learned to love others, serve those in need, and show compassion. I’ve learned to live together with diverse cultures and traditions with a common purpose of answering God’s call. The church provides my family and me a community that supports us through life challenges, encourages us when facing doubts, and celebrates God’s gifts and provisions with us.
My wife and I are raising five kids: two teenagers and three children under the age of five. Being a mixed family, foster family, and an immigrant family has complex challenges that we could not endure without the support from the church. I find joy through worship, prayer, and fellowship.
From disruptions brought by technological advancements to news of famine back home, it’s challenging to stay focused on God’s promises. Sometimes it is tempting to resign and ask, “what’s the point?”
Yet as far as the church is concerned, that’s the point. The joy given to me through faith transcends the hopelessness brought by life’s circumstances. And the body of believers bears a testimony of what could be when we pray together, worship together, and fellowship with one another.
Emmanuel Mwaipopo
Emmanuel Mwaipopo was born in Tanzania. Although his mother was a Mennonite, he was raised in his father’s Roman Catholic tradition. He moved to the US in his 20s to study at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Later he moved to Norristown, PA and now serves as an elder at Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Mennonite Church. Emmanuel is a software engineer and works for Comcast. He and his wife care for five children.
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.