Ambler Mennonite (PA) is focusing on people who met Jesus on his journey to the cross while exploring the question, “What are we bringing to the cross?” Each Saturday, congregants gather to build the scenes creatively with Legos. Here we see Mary anointing Jesus’ feet, while Judas condemns this “waste” of resources (John 12:1-8). Photo Credit: Jacob Curtis
Bethany Mennonite (Vermont) has created a simple potter’s studio at the front of the church to portray the theme, “We are the clay; you are the potter,” from Isaiah 64:8. Each week a potter shares specific concepts that fit the theme, such as centering, clay memory, and made from the earth. Photo Credit: Gwen Groff
During Lent, Doylestown (PA) congregation has been reflecting on “The Fruit of Suffering.” Congregants write their struggles or losses on slips of purple paper and then tuck them into dead grape vines wrapped around the large cross. Photo Credit: KrisAnne Swartley
The work of Marie Riegle, an artist from Lancaster County, PA, is on display at Methacton Mennonite Church (PA) during Lent. Made from animal bones, Can These Dry Bones Live? is based on Ezekiel 37:2-3 and features a green plant emerging from the bones. Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman wrote a litany that the congregation read each week during Lent. Photo Credit: Eileen Kinch
With a theme of “Shaped by Jesus,” Souderton Mennonite’s (PA) altar display features a desert landscape that gradually transforms with more signs of life each week. Here we see flowing water, green plants, and birds in their nests on week five during Lent. Photo Credit: Berdine Leinbach
Zion Mennonite Church (PA) has a special altar display featuring a cross, a crown, and candles for Lent. Photo credit: Beth Rauschenberger
Junior High students Greta and Anju from Plains Mennonite (PA) created interactive Lenten response art along with their leader, Rachel. Congregants were invited to add ideas for Fasting, Praying, and Giving in the margins. Photo Credit: Heather Gingrich
Dark clouds and rain hang over the sanctuary of Plains Mennonite (PA) during Lent to represent the storms of life. Junior High students Heather and Greta created the display as a reminder to look for glimpses of light, hope, peace, and comfort amid life’s storms. Photo Credit: Heather Gingrich
Articles
The Kiss of Betrayal
By Noel Santiago
Mark 14:43-45: And immediately, even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders. The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. Then you can take him away under guard.” As soon as they arrived, Judas walked up to Jesus. “Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss (NLT).
Can you recall any hurtful moments in your life? Have any of those moments included a betrayal? Jesus can identify with you.
In this text we see a close friend, disciple, and follower of Jesus betraying him. Earlier that day they shared a meal together and Jesus broke bread with Judas. Now Judas goes out and implements the plan he had already put in place and would receive payment for, prior to breaking bread with Jesus. This was no accident!
This plan for betrayal called for a special signal to be used to identify the one who is to be arrested. What is the signal? A kiss. Judas had earlier informed the soldiers and temple police, “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. Then you can take him away under guard.”
The kiss was not just a greeting of friendship, but a symbol of deep love, affection, obligation, covenant, and relationship. Giving this kind of kiss was a powerful symbol to everyone who saw it. Strangers would never greet each other with a kiss, for it was a greeting reserved only for the most special of relationships.
It was this kiss, however, that was used as a signal to let the troops know they needed to move quickly to make their arrest. It would be the kiss that initiated the process leading to Jesus’ death.
Betrayal is not first about what happens to us, it’s first about what’s in us! Betrayal causes hurt, pain, and anger. Our first response tends to be centered around these feelings. This is not necessarily bad – it’s human.
One reason for this is that we have expectations of ourselves and others. We somehow see these expectations as a sort of “contract” that has been made with life and others. When those expectations are not met or are even opposed, we suffer. What’s even more difficult is the realization that our imagination of God’s protection rarely includes the notion of suffering, pain, or anguish, let alone betrayal. It’s our response to these expectations that is the greater matter.
The more love and hope we have invested in others, the deeper the pain of betrayal is. If it happens at a personal level, we wonder if we will ever trust again. Our heart does “break.” It is at those crossroad moments when the breaking can forever close us down, or—sometimes just the opposite—it can open us up to an enlargement of heart and soul.
Jesus chose this second path through which he overcame death and the grave and brought forth a renewed invitation to all humanity to be reconciled with God and others. It’s a daring journey that invites us to be healed and to help heal; to be renewed and to renew what is broken in our beautiful world. It’s in the very act of a deep betrayal by a loved one that God in Christ transforms what was meant for death into new life!
What can be “good” about Good Friday? It’s when God’s life-giving purposes in Christ were set into motion. What good can come from the pain and hurt we experience from others? If we open ourselves to forgive and allow God to transform our pain and hurt into greater Christlikeness, then we too may experience the renewing life-giving resurrection power of Jesus in our lives.
Noel Santiago
Noel Santiago is the Leadership Minister for Missional Transformation for Mosaic Conference.
Holy Saturday Reflection: Dandelion
by Eileen Kinch
You jagged leafed weed growing free
in the sidewalk cracks, the first growth after winter
You green plant we harvest during Easter week,
vinegar salad, like the gall Jesus tasted
You hide in broad daylight, so common we don’t notice,
white milk crushed stem trodden underfoot
You stubborn one wilting near the grave
the one the gardener tries to uproot
You beauty, you bitter herb
standing guard by that sealed tomb
Eileen Kinch
Eileen Kinch is a writer and editor for the Mosaic communication team. She holds a Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis in the Ministry of Writing, from Earlham School of Religion. She and her husband, Joel Nofziger, who serves as director of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, live near Tylersport, PA. They attend Methacton Mennonite Church. Eileen is also a member of Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting in Lancaster County.
Reframing the To-Do List
by Mary Nitzsche
I am a list maker. Having a weekly plan for how to use my time brings order and structure to my life. I maintain two lists: one for household and one for work-related tasks. Since semi-retiring a year ago, my work list has shortened while my household list has increased to include items for which I did not have or take time while working more hours. To remain sane, I learned the practice of dividing household tasks and errands among weekdays, rather than relegating everything to the weekend. Crossing off an item on my list brings me great satisfaction. What happens if I don’t get everything on my list done because I lack energy, motivation, or time? What if an unexpected and higher priority situation emerges? Do I beat up on myself? I have learned the importance of offering myself grace to save unfinished tasks for another day without belittling or judging my self-worth or value.
I recently listened to a podcast that reframed the “to-do list” differently. Rather than focusing on what could be accomplished to feel good about oneself, the focus was on one’s values. When making a list for the day, the question becomes: “What do I need to do today that reflects my values?”
I share some of my values and ways they might create my “to-do list”:
- Living in the present moment prompts me to ask: What are one or two things that might bring me joy and delight today?
- Connecting with others prompts me to ask: How do I want to connect with family, friends, neighbors, church family, or people I meet today?
- Caring for myself prompts me to ask: What will promote my well-being today?
- Respecting creation by how I live and act prompts me to ask: How might my living today honor and sustain creation?
- Expressing gratitude prompts me to ask: What am I thankful for, and how will I express gratitude today?
- Taking time to reflect on my life prompts me to ask: What can I learn and change in the experiences I had today or this week? How will I enact what I learn from my mistakes?
- Living simply prompts me to ask: What is my fair share today and how will my actions and decisions reflect this balance?
- Serving others prompts me to ask: Lord, who are you nudging me to serve today and how can I serve them for their well-being?
While I admit my list seems lofty and rather ideal, it frames list-making in a way that prioritizes my values. The laundry, meal preparation, cleaning, and grocery shopping needs to be done each week, but my values will guide how I carry out these actions.
Jesus told Martha, who had a long to-do list, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing” (Luke 10:41-42a, NRSV). Jesus seemed to be encouraging Martha to focus on what she valued. I believe Jesus also invites us to give priority each day to what we value rather than on accomplishing all we can.
What would your “to-do list” look like if it was created with your primary values in mind?
Mary Nitzsche
Mary Nitzsche is a Leadership Minister for Mosaic Conference. She and her husband, Wayne, are Midwest natives. They have two adult daughters, Alison and Megan, son-in-laws, Michael and David, and one delightful grandson, William.
Pastor Marcos Acosta’s Curiosity Keeps Him on the Move
by Adriana Celis
Curiosity is one of Marcos Acosta’s defining characteristics. It has driven him to have an open mind, to ask questions, and to investigate new areas of study and new cultures. This innate inclination to discover the unknown has led him to explore and study different fields of knowledge, from telecommunications engineering to theology. Perhaps in the mind of a rational academic these studies have no relation to each other, but in the restless and always proactive mind of Marcos, looking for other explanations to the questions that life brings is above the general rule. For this reason, Marcos has taken the opportunity to go to many places in the world to understand new cultures, to show respect for other forms of thought and professions, and to establish new friendships with people of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, genders, and diverse beliefs.
Life and works
Perhaps because he does not think like most people, today Marcos lives outside of his home country, Argentina. He is currently based in the United States and is married to Alexia, who is from the U.S. Marcos serves as the full-time pastor of Homestead Mennonite Church, a Mosaic Conference congregation located half an hour south of Miami, Florida; he is also an editor and writer in Spanish for Anabaptist World.
With an enthusiastic, committed, and very competitive spirit, Marcos completed the five-year academic training program as a telecommunications engineer at the Aeronautical University Institute, located in Córdoba, Argentina. However, over the years, his desire to explore other careers grew. In 2018, he applied for the Master of Divinity program at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS).
Marcos received his master’s degree from AMBS in 2021. Under the tutelage of Professor Daniel Schipani, he was drawn to pastoring and teaching, particularly in the areas of wisdom and pastoral ministry. “Being wise means being someone who can reflect on the experience, and also, it means being someone who can observe the world, the biblical story, and allows learning to continue reflecting,” says Marcos.
Teaching at SeBAH
While pastoring, writing, and editing keep Marcos plenty busy, he will soon add yet another role to his plate. The Hispanic Anabaptist Bible Seminary, known as SeBAH (Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispano), has invited Marcos to a professorship. His education, pastoral experience, and passion for theology have prepared him well to teach his first course, Pastoral Theology. Marcos is honored to be able to share his knowledge and experience with the Hispanic community and with ministers from many parts of the world.
Thanks to his varied personal, pastoral, and academic experiences, and his continuous movement in life, Marcos is well-suited to make a wide variety of contributions wherever he serves. As the Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler says in his song Movimiento: “We are alive because we are on the move. We are never still. I’m not from here, but neither are you. Nowhere at all. Everywhere a little bit.”
In the same sense, says Marcos, “I think that many pastors and leaders who study in SeBAH have more experience than I do in pastoral ministry. That is very good because I believe that together we can reflect on those experiences and incorporate other resources and ideas to come out a little wiser and be able to serve better in this ministry to which we have been called by God.”
A version of this article originally appeared on MennoniteEducation.org on 2/21/2023.
Crazy for Jesus: Virgo Handojo’s Call Story
by Virgo Handojo
My childhood was filled with the traditions and rites of Chinese culture, which are still deeply rooted in my heart. Unfortunately, those beautiful memories did not last long. Changes in political policy in Indonesia at that time prohibited the development of Chinese traditions. Even so, Chinese teachings and traditions still leave an imprint on my mind.
Junior high is the second place where I learned of God. I was educated in a Catholic school. Here I learned that attending mass at church is more important than knowing God or learning from the Bible. When I was in junior high school, I attended catechism for one year to be baptized as a Catholic.
Monday afternoon, March 5, 1979, was an extraordinary day in my life. God touched my life. Tiong Gie, my hometown friend and childhood friend, invited me to a prayer meeting where I experienced a new birth. It is difficult to describe in words, but I have felt the touch of the Divine hand. Since then, I have started to learn to hear and obey God’s voice and live with Him.
Meanwhile God began to expand my ministry and relationships with other Christians. Through the Sangkakala family led by Mr. Adi Sutanto with a prayer meeting in Semarang, God began to train my life, together with young people my age. We took turns preaching, becoming traveling evangelists to other villages and cities. Through a network of families, jobs, schools, and the services of the Sangakakala foundation, this spiritual movement and its prayer groups have spread to other cities.
Through these services I grew both spiritually and in ministry experience. At that time, we also started to plant churches, both in villages and cities, at home and abroad. Through this youth movement, many mission foundations, synods, and new churches have sprung up, both at home and abroad.
I was involved in the pioneering of the Indonesian Christian Congregation Synod (JKI Synod), which is theologically affiliated with the Charismatic Anabaptist movement. In 1986 I was ordained and served at the Maranatha Indonesian Christian Congregation church, Ungaran. Together with the JKI synod, we started the Maranatha Bible School, which became the seed of Sangkakala High School, Salatiga.
In 1987, with just $65, I landed in Los Angeles to study at Fuller Theological Seminary. By God’s grace, I managed to complete three master’s degrees in the fields of Intercultural Studies, Theology, and Leadership, and in 2000 a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Studies from the School of Psychology. In 1989 God brought me and my wife to Mrs. Dina Boon from the city of Sierra Madre, CA. We were asked to clean Mrs. Dina Boon’s house from dark powers.
Through this ministry, the International House Fellowship was born in Dina Boon’s house. At the end of 1990 this family association grew to 30-50 people from 10-13 different nationalities. Through this partnership, the Anugerah Indonesian Christian Congregation (JKIA) was born on September 19, 1992, at the Free Methodist Church, Pasadena. The first services began on Sunday, September 20, 1992. A few months later the church moved to Sierra Madre Congregational Church in Sierra Madre, CA.
At the San Jose Mennonite General Assembly (July 4, 2007), JKIA, along with two Indonesian Mennonite churches in Los Angeles and the Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC), established the Indonesian Mennonite Association (IMA). Today IMA is a member of the Racial Ethnic Council of the Mennonite Church USA. Truly, God exists, is miraculous, and really loves us all. Amen.
The Kingdom Work of Committees
By Marta Castillo
We’ve all heard the phrase, “The church is not a building; it is the people.” In a similar fashion, Mosaic Mennonite Conference is not simply the executive minister, the board, or the staff, but rather the people of the conference working together to further the Kingdom of God. One way this is manifest is in the working committees, which are composed of faithful, discerning, creative, and collaborative volunteers from all parts of the conference. We are grateful for those who have said yes to serving on the following four committees. They are always hard at work, meeting together to process information, write reports, and make decisions under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and existing guidelines and policies.
The Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee is where it all begins, since they vet and discern new members for the Conference Board and other committees, based on nominations from others within the conference. Nominations are made via an online form or at assembly with written forms.
The Nominating Committee seeks to ensure that the board and various committees reflect the diversity that is Mosaic. Members should be balanced in terms of the gender, racial, cultural, geographic, and historic diversity of the Conference, reflect the diverse gifts represented in the Conference, are persons of good standing in their congregations, and exhibit a high level of intercultural capacity.
This year we welcome Roy Williams (North Tampa, FL) as the chair of the Nominating Committee in his role as Moderator Elect. We also welcome Wendy Kwong (Souderton) to the Nominating Committee.
The Credentials Committee
The Credentials Committee interviews and recommends individuals for credentialing. This committee has the privilege of hearing the stories, beliefs, and callings of the pastors coming into the Conference with requests for licensing and transfers, in addition to those who are being ordained. They write reports and recommendations from interviews and other paperwork that are sent to the Ministerial Committee for approval.
This year we welcome Lisa Quinones (Garden Chapel), Sonya Stauffer Kurtz (Zion), Drane Reynolds (Homestead), and Kathy Tuttle (Lakeview) to the Credentials Committee.
The Ministerial Committee
The Ministerial Committee makes decisions on ministry credentials and policies that promote the support, health, and training of credentialed leaders and promote safe church practices for congregations.
This year we welcome Mike Spinelli (Perkiomenville), Tomas Ramirez (Luz y Vida) and Rose Bender Cook (Whitehall) to the Ministerial Committee.
The Finance Committee
The Finance Committee provides leadership on fiscal matters and develops the budget based on the vision of the Conference.
This year we welcome Ryan Ferguson (Philadelphia Praise Center) and Jessica Clopton-Robinson (College Hill) to the Finance Committee.
*No photo on file for Jessica Clopton-Robinson
We are thankful for these and other Mosaic committees and all the faithful, hard-working volunteers who serve. To see a full list of committees and members, visit the Boards and Committees page.
Please pray for wisdom, grace, and strength for the members of these committees as they faithfully serve where God has called and equipped them to be.
Marta Castillo
Marta Castillo is the Associate Executive Minister for Mosaic Conference. Marta lives in Norristown, PA, with her husband, Julio, and has three sons, Christian, Andres and Daniel and one granddaughter, Isabel.
Nations Worship Center Responds to Immigrant Needs in South Philadelphia
Indonesian immigrants in south Philadelphia receive a warm welcome from Nations Worship Center. As recent immigrants settle in, the church distributes much-needed bags of food essentials. Each bag contains basic necessities, such as rice, noodles, eggs, spam, and sausage. Community members in need come to the church to pick up the bags, explained Pastor Beny Krisbianto, although sometimes the congregation will make deliveries. Nations Worship Center distributes about 50 to 70 bags each month.
Many immigrants find temporary employment in factories and restaurants, but when the economy slows down, they are often the first to lose their jobs. This happened previously in 2008-2009 and again during the pandemic in 2020. At the height of the pandemic, Nations Worship Center’s regular monthly distribution reached 200 to 300 bags.
Nations Worship Center supports the local economy by purchasing groceries from local, church-connected store owners; volunteers then pack the bags. During the pandemic, Mosaic Conference’s Shalom Fund helped to cover the cost. If churches or individuals would like to donate food or help with this ministry, contact Pastor Beny Krisbianto or Associate Executive Minister Marta Castillo. Donations can also be brought to 1506 West Ritner St., Philadelphia, PA 19145.
Watch the video below!