Mosaic Mennonites

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Openness to Change

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by Justin Burkholder, summer intern with South Philly’s Indonesian congregations

Justin (middle row, 2nd from left) with his new friends in South Philly

In the blink of an eye, camp has reached its endpoint.

Philadelphia Praise Center ran its annual summer Peace Camp during the month of June. I was responsible for part of its leadership by organizing the kids from the community and congregation, planning trips for the group, and managing the volunteers who dedicated their summer to the children. Our team served up to sixty energetic kids over the duration of four weeks. We had a blast doing so, but it did not come without expected difficulties.

Peace Camp activities

This was a stretching month for me.  I have been learning to be more flexible with the way I approach ideas and time. Through leading camp, there were days when weather, sickness, traffic, loud children, or other forces resulted in a shift of plans. I have always been the type of person to set a routine, attempt to execute it, and then repeat. I’ve learned this month that life can’t always be lived like this because God moves in ways we can’t predict; we can’t always control or change things with our own hands.

Processing everything that happened this summer has been difficult because of the speed at which everything has been moving.  When it seems like I am not hearing from God, I attempt to slow down and retreat to the avenues where I have experienced His presence in the past. Recently this has come in the form of worship music, quiet time, new relationships with believers in Philadelphia, and other hobbies I enjoy.  I’m looking forward to fellowship at the Mennonite Church USA Convention this week in Kansas City.

My time in Philadelphia is flying by, but the experiences are valuable and have pointed me to Christ. I don’t love learning to be more flexible, yet it is a characteristic that has shaped how I journey with God. For that I am grateful.

God Saw Potential in Me

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(leer en español)

By Adriana Celis – originally published in Spanish by The Mennonite (LINK)

“Yippee, yippee… We go on the train, we go on the train, to the heavenly homeland… Come inside little children, it is a very special train… It is the gospel train… Come on kids, we invite you to get on our train…” – Children´s song by Miguel Bonilla that marked the life of Pastor Leticia Cortes. (Leticia is originally from the Federal District, Mexico.) 

From a young age, Leticia had to endure moments of many difficulties, of many challenges at family and economic levels. Those were hard times, very difficult in her household, because of the constant abuse of domestic violence. Her father had an erroneous concept of what it meant to be a man and a father of a family; he would subject her mother and siblings to constant beatings – they were victims of domestic violence.    

Time followed its course and as the days became months and the months years, she became a pretty young girl with many dreams and desires to fulfill – even if these dreams looked a little distant. She was victim of sexual abuse at 14 years of age, and everything seemed to vanish: her life, her goals, and her ideals. She considered herself a young flower that was beginning to live – it was quite difficult to endure this tough situation. She asked herself:  Does God have a purpose? Could God intervene?

Everything already seemed lost by the time she was 18 years old. Being a mother of three little children and having no one, she could not see a different path than the one marked by sadness, loneliness and romantic breakups. One night, she attended a Pentecostal church where they shared the love of a Savior who had the power to forgive, clean and restore her – the Savior called Jesus, the Son of God.

Days after her personal encounter with Jesus Christ, near to her house, a group of missionaries arrived who were under the leadership of Thomas Hanger, a kind and loving missionary of the Mennonite church who saw in her the potential to serve, and how sharing her life testimony could be of great help to other families, especially women going through the same situation of domestic violence that she had gone through. In this way, Leticia found herself immediately going to biblical foundation and missionary training.

At present, God has given her a husband who loves and respects her. Although they have gone through difficult processes, they have also seen how the faithful hand of the Lord has strengthened and helped them.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 … “But God chose the foolish things of the world…, God chose the lowly things of this world …, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” Her heavenly Father had a big plan for her life and the life of her husband and children. God is a good father who is tender, slow to anger and of great mercy who knows our condition as humans, as dust that will return to dust, who sees in our lives potential even though others find it hard to see.  

Currently Pastor Leticia Cortes works hand in hand with her husband Fernando Loyola Centro de Alabanza in Philadelphia, leading and pastoring the church, and taking biblical and theological courses at the Hispanic Anabaptist Biblical Seminary (SeBAH). Pastor Leticia also offers advice to people like her, who have gone through situations of domestic violence helping them to move on, showing them that it is possible to get out of those situations and giving words of encouragement to love and value themselves; and above all, telling them to get on, as the children´s song says, to the gospel train that gives new life.

Building God’s Community Together

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by Steve Kriss, executive minister

I’m writing on my last night in Mexico City after celebrating the 60th anniversary of Mennonite churches here.  Over the last months, we’ve been reacquainting ourselves with one another between conferences and reconnecting the strong cords that have, for years, tied our communities together across language, culture, and country.

60th anniversary United Worship of the congregations of CIEAMM at Iglesia Christianas de Paz. (Photo by Kiron Mateti)

It was humbling to stand in front of hundreds of Mexican Mennonites who had come to follow in the way of Christ through the hopeful actions of mission workers—men and women who had left the familiarity of Mennonite congregations in Pennsylvania to build community in the emerging neighborhoods of Mexico City.   As we gathered at Iglesia de Christianas de Paz, I offered a greeting from 1 Corinthians, a reminder that different people have different roles but God brings forth fruit. Together we are building God’s community.

El Buen Pastor – the first Mennonite congregation in Mexico City. (Photo by Kiron Mateti)

But in the midst of that gathering, I was struck most by how going across the boundary to Mexico had changed our conference.   Early stories suggest that Franconia Conference leaders had been waiting for an opening to send international workers.  With a letter of invitation from a woman in Mexico, and after some discernment between various Mennonite mission organizations, Franconia Conference took the lead in Mexico.

Photo by Kiron Mateti

I believe these actions 60 years ago enlarged our hearts and understandings of the world and our connections within it.  Young leaders left familiar community for impactful service and leadership; they learned new foods, spoke Spanish, and tried to understand what essentials should be shared in a new cultural context.  Our understanding of what it meant to be Mennonite had to change.

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of El Buen Pastor congregation, the first Mennonite congregation in Mexico City. (Photo by Kiron Mateti)

And the church in Mexico grew – and is still growing.  The CIEAMM network represents our historic connection, but new connections — the Red de Iglesias Missioneras International led by Kirk Hanger; Iglesia de la Tierra Prometida, where long-term mission workers Bob and Bonnie Stevenson remain; and Centro de Alabanza de Philadelphia, pastored by Fernando Loyola and Leticia Cortes from Iglesia de Christianas de Paz — are ongoing parts of our shared witness.  Along with the Bible translation work of Claude Good that ensured the availability of the Holy Text in the Triqui language, we have made significant contributions to the family of Christ’s followers in Mexico.  The community that makes up these various networks is likely similarly sized to our current Franconia Conference membership.

The view from the top. (Photo by Steve Kriss)

As part of our visit, we visited the Torre LatinoAmericana in central Mexico City.  I stared out from atop the 44-story building, built in the same era that our earliest mission workers arrived. I looked toward the Cathedral of our Lady of Guadeloupe, where the story of a visit from the Virgin Mary to a farm worker in the field would change the trajectory of faith toward Roman Catholicism.

This global city sprawls in every direction around the tower: Mexico City is the size of New York, with 20 million people in the metro area.  There are Starbucks and Walmarts, as well as lots of traffic, and omnipresent cell phones.

Closing prayer at Luz y Verdad congregation, the 2nd congregation begun 60 years ago in Mexico City. (Photo by Kiron Mateti)

I prayerfully wondered what the next years will hold for us together, recognizing each other as sibling communities, and honoring together the Good News of Christ’s peace as we celebrate the possibilities of a faith that crosses boundaries.  This faith changes us in our giving and receiving and, ultimately, changes the world in ways that are both big and small.

Plains and Curious

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by Jim King, Plains congregation (Lansdale, PA)

Four-year-old Jaya Mateti was immediately aware that the music in the May 19th worship service was different.  It had a beat and it was LOUD!  As soon as she saw everyone standing for the music, she asked to be lifted up so she could see.  With her feet firmly planted on the back of the bench in front of her, she looked around at our guests from Evangelical Center for Revival and exclaimed, “There’s a lot of ‘Indians’ here today and they look like me!”

At the beginning of our worship service, our worship leader Rina Rampogu reminded us that our worship time could possibly have less structure and more spontaneity.  About halfway through the service, smells of Congolese food being heated in the kitchen downstairs wafted up.

How did we get to having a combined worship service with a Congolese congregation?  And what is the point of this interaction?

During the summer of 2017, when U.S. politics seemed to focus on borders, boundaries, and walls, a small group of people met during the Sunday School hour to discuss immigration issues.  We had heard from recent immigrants that Lansdale was an immigrant-friendly community, but we wanted to do more in making people feel welcome in our church.  We noticed that our playground had already become a welcoming place for children of various cultures to come and play together.

This immigration task force, led by Rachel and Kiron Mateti (conference board member), helped us focus on ways we could be more welcoming and culturally aware of our neighbors.  We decided that a July 4 celebration in our church park could help us develop friendships with those who have come to the U.S. more recently.  To ensure that this would truly be a cross-cultural event, we asked Evangelical Center for Revival to co-sponsor this event with us.

Penny Naugle shares a story with children from both congregations.

After this experience, some Plains members indicated that they were curious about how the Congolese congregation worships, so about twelve of us attended their worship service in Elkins Park.  As Pastor Maurice Baruti and I sat together at the fellowship meal, we observed how different groups from Plains ate with members from the Center congregation and we talked about the possibility of doing a joint worship service together at Plains.  At first he wasn’t so sure it would work; their worship service starts at 11:30, ours starts at 10:15.  We ended up with a compromise of 11:00.

Pastor Maurice Baruti (L) and his wife Berthe (R) with Jim King.

Prior to the service, Pastor Baruti asked how long he should speak.  When he was told that we expected about 20-25 minutes, he smiled and said he was comfortable with speaking for an hour.  During the worship he spoke in French and was translated to English by his wife Berthe.  Rampogu said that as she looked out over the audience, “there seemed to be an expression of anticipation and curiosity on the faces of the congregation.”  Several guests from the Center congregation shared that they had just come off working a night shift but that this was a service they didn’t want to miss.

As we at Plains look to fill an Associate Pastor position, this worship service reminded us that we could me be more flexible in how we do worship.  With friendship, food, and fellowship, we will work it out.  Our pastor, Mike Derstine says, “Anytime we worship with another congregation we are stretched by new patterns and ways of doing things, new songs and differences in worship style, and fresh testimonies during sharing time from people in different work and life situations.  Then there was the stretching experience of different foods and table fellowship after the worship service, all of which serves to remind us that our concept and understanding of God is always beyond us.”

We realize we need to continue to change to be more culturally welcoming.  The last verse of our 250th Anniversary song, written by Justin Yoder, says it well: “Teach us new songs, while we hold dear the strains of long ago.  When we sing, the Spirit is here: may it be ever so!”

Churches of Misfit Toys

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by Marta Castillo, Leadership Minister of Intercultural Formation

“At this church, we are like the island of misfit toys.”

Since I started attending at Wellspring Church of Skippack, I have heard this comment several times.  I smile when I hear it because a picture forms in my imagination of the rich yet strange collection of people, backgrounds, and personalities that we find at Wellspring—and at most churches, really.  I sigh because I also hear people acknowledging their brokenness and doubting their adequacy and suitability to be together as the body of Christ. 

I had to do a little research on this cultural reference to “misfit toys.”  What I found is that the story of the Island of the Misfit Toys is a tale of a young red-nosed reindeer (Rudolph) who is bullied for being different. He and an elf, Hermey (who wants to be a dentist), set out on an adventure to find a place that will accept them. They discover an island filled with misfit toys that have been tossed aside due to the slight ‘defects’ they possess, including Charlie, who was discarded because, instead of being a Jack-in-the-Box, he is Charlie-in-the-Box and Dolly Sue, a doll who wants to be loved.  In the end, Rudolph saves the day by finding a home for each misfit toy. 

Is there a parallel between the Island of Misfit Toys and churches?  Well, surely your church has people who have been tossed aside by the world because of the defects they possess.  Surely your church has people who have been made to feel inadequate or mislabeled.  Surely your church has people who are lost in this world and feel unsuccessful and unloved.   

In the time that Jesus spent here on earth, he took special interest in the misfits.  In Mark 2, his disciples are asked, “Why does he eat with the tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Abigail Van Buren once said, “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” 

In 1 Corinthians 12 we are reminded, “Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together … that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

In the story, Rudolph saves the day by finding homes for the misfit toys.  As churches, we become “home” for all sorts of misfits (ourselves included), treating those who are weaker as indispensable and those who have experienced little honor with special honor.  We cover those who are unpresentable with special modesty and our presentable parts with clarity and honesty.  We can save the day because all misfits fit in the body of Christ. 

In the body of Christ, together, we can experience belonging, healing, reconciliation, transformation, shalom, and love.  We may continue to be misfits in this world, but in Christ, we are home, accepted, and beloved.

Partnering in Redemptive Work

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by Justin Burkholder, summer intern with South Philly’s Indonesian congregations

Last week I began my summer ministry in South Philadelphia by getting settled into an action-packed Indonesian household with two exuberant children. I quickly received the warmest welcome a family could possibly give a young adult who they had never met before. The exchange consisted of hospitality and inner peace that rested in the joint vision of seeing lives changed in the community.

The new church building space of St. John Baptist where Indonesian Light Church will share with the Burmese and American congregations.

While growing familiar with the neighborhood and surrounding area, the diverse atmosphere paved way for an attitude of learning this summer. Learning took place as I was fortunate enough to meet the close-knit community of believers that attend Indonesian Light Church. One of the first experiences I had was a beautiful moment of restoring the once-thriving St. John’s Baptist Church to a space that now holds services for Baptist, Indonesian Mennonite, and Burmese congregations. The church now consists of believers of different tongues giving glory to God. It was fitting that my first Sunday here was Ascension Sunday. Among the early church of Acts, the gospel message was to be proclaimed to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Praise God for the witnesses who have called believers from the ends of the earth to worship in the same space in South Philadelphia and beyond.

I am excited to get begin serving with Philadelphia Praise Center’s Peace Camp which runs from June 5-28 on the theme of Serving in Christ. Up to fifty children will join the camp this year for teaching, games, lunch, and field trips.

My experience so far has been lively greetings and a faith community that is active in the community. This experience will grow challenging, tiring, and fulfilling as I discover my role in this community, but I am assured that the leaders and members have the peace of God, surpassing all understanding. God is working in South Philadelphia and it has been a pleasure to join alongside the work of reconciliation.

Beyond Our Comfort Zones

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by Andrés Castillo, communication intern

Finland congregation’s CrossGen conference at Spruce Lake Retreat, with speaker Sean McDowell. The conference focused on intergenerational unity, with panels representing different generations asking questions of each other.

Every year, Franconia Conference gives Missional Operational Grants to congregations to help them think and dream about mission.  Noel Santiago, Franconia’s leadership minister for missional transformation, described his initial vision for the 2018 MOGs as providing “resources to help congregations reach out and get out of their comfort zone.”

Both executive minister Steve Kriss and Santiago have emphasized that the grants are for starting new initiatives, not sustaining them forever. By overcoming the obstacle of money, churches can begin to experiment; leaders and congregations are encouraged to be more creative. The ultimate hope is that, after the grant period ends, the new conversations and ideas started by it will continue to live on and evolve.

Last year’s MOG recipients have done a good job at what Kriss calls “honoring the legacy of Franconia’s mission to spread Christ’s peace throughout the world.” Here’s a look into what some of them did in 2018:

Indonesian Light Church (ILC) in South Philadelphia has hosted a monthly “food bazaar” to reach out to their community. “We learned that every seed planted needs nurturing and time to grow until it can grow strong roots and bear fruit,” ILC’s report reads. “Without time, love, and commitment to sowing and nurturing, there will be no significant result.” ILC plans to continue experimenting with ways to connect with the Indonesian community in south Philadelphia.

Nations Worship Center (Philadelphia) conducted a Vacation Bible School (VBS) with students from Dock Mennonite Academy (9-12) that received positive feedback and results, including new families faithfully attending church after the VBS was over. They also received help from the city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Praise Center, and ACME. Nations Worship acknowledges that many of the children who attended their VBS come from struggling families and, “If we lose them, we lose our future.”

A Karen member of Whitehall congregation leads in prayer.

Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC) further developed the Taproot Gap Year program, an initiative for college students that involves sending them to live in Philadelphia and Indonesia. PPC maintains an office and staff in Indonesia for this purpose, which PPC pastor Aldo Siahaan says is not easy. “Thank God we have support from the conference,” he says. “Creating a program like this is not new to the conference, but it is for us.”

Whitehall (PA) congregation used their MOG for increasing leadership development among its Karen (Burmese) members. Pastors Rose Bender and Danilo Sanchez have been creatively finding new ways to integrate the various ethnicities within the church. “It isn’t as much about ‘let’s help these poor people’ as it used to be,” Bender says.  As this long process unfolds, the congregation “understands more and more how much everyone needs each other.”

Vietnamese Gospel (Allentown, PA) invited people in its surrounding community to have a large fellowship gathering, with speakers giving testimonies. The event was meant to empower their members and share the word of God with people outside of their church. Vietnamese Gospel hopes to make this an annual event to build relationships with its community.

Pastor Bruce Eglinton-Woods of Salem congregation has been working closely with the Quakertown (PA) Community Center (The Drop), an after-school and weekend program for at-risk children and teens created in response to the opioid crisis. The ministry helps attendees figure out the next steps of their lives in a judgment-free zone. Eglinton-Woods has learned how hard it is hard to gain the trust of teenagers and children and hopes to eventually grow the program to five days a week.

Ripple congregation (Allentown, PA) was able to provide training for two of their pastors, Charlene Smalls and Marilyn Bender, at the International Institute for Restorative Practices. The Ripple pastors have been using restorative practices to better meet their congregation and community’s needs.

Salem congregation has been partnering with Quakertown’s “The Drop” community center for at-risk children and youth.

Other congregations who received MOGs were Plains congregation (Hatfield, PA) for an unconventional July 4th picnic, Souderton (PA) and Doylestown (PA) congregations for the Vocation as Mission Summer Internship Program, International Worship Center (San Gabriel, CA) for technological equipment, Finland congregation (Pennsburg, PA) for their CrossGen conference, and Perkiomenville congregation for its GraceNow conference.

Every congregation has a unique, beautiful story that honors God’s mission to unite the world as one under Him. What is God doing in your congregation and community?  Share your stories by emailing communication@mosaicmennonites.org or check in with your congregation’s leadership minister about ways that your congregation might use an MOG to develop your missional imagination and neighborhood connections.

Male and Female, in the Image of God

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by Doris Diener, Franconia congregation & Danilo Sanchez, Ripple congregation

On May 8 & 9, credentialed leaders from Franconia conference gathered for a Faith & Life Gathering to talk about women in leadership, with input from Carolyn Custis James.  In response, Danilo Sanchez and Doris Diener reflect on what they heard.

Danilo:
As a family, we often take walks around our Allentown neighborhood. My two daughters love playing “follow the leader.” We each take turns being at the front of the group, calling out commands like “march,” “act like a dinosaur,” and “neigh like a horse.” Everyone must follow what the leader says, and my girls get so much joy out of making mommy and daddy be silly in public. This may seem like a simple game, but I want my daughters to know from a young age that they are leaders. I don’t know if enough young women hear that message of leadership from their fathers or male leaders at home. Unfortunately, the likelihood that they’ll hear the invitation to be a pastor or leader is even less in the church.

Doris:
The impetus for Carolyn Custis James to seek God’s intention for gendered humans emerged when marriage did not appear on the horizon throughout her twenties.  She wondered what God’s purpose was for young females prior to marriage, or those who were single and widowed.  She sought a scriptural answer that is globally relevant for all women everywhere and always.

Carolyn Custis James

Carolyn focused on Genesis 1 and 2 for God’s blueprint for his image-bearers.  She discovered the meaning of ezer (Genesis 2:18) as it is used in twenty-one “warrior” contexts in the Old Testament: an ezer is an active intervening warrior that partners in a battle for God’s people.  The powerful message is the imperative significance of male and female working together for God’s kingdom. 

The incredible ingenuity of the tempter in Genesis 3 destroyed God’s original intentions for this earth: It ruined human potential to be his image-bearers as well as it shattered the “blessed alliance” between male and female.  “This was a spiritual equivalent of a nuclear weapon to destroy what was intended to be God’s kingdom strategy for the life-giving maintenance of the earth,” Custis James said.  Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and His empowering gift of the Holy Spirit provide opportunity for his people to live into his original design.

Danilo:
This makes sense to me. The women and female pastors that I know are warriors. God created male and female in God’s own image (Gen. 1:27). Men and women both carry the image of God and can be God-bearers in the world. This means both men and women have equal worth in the kingdom, equal honor to share the gospel, and equal right to leadership and authority.

From the beginning of creation, we see God reversing cultural norms. But we male pastors and leaders have not carried on a similar empowerment. We have allowed sexism and patriarchy to thrive in the church. I cannot escape culpability because there have been times that I have not spoken up on behalf of women in an all-male room or provided ministry and leadership opportunities for my sisters in Christ. But I am learning and I want to do better because I believe God created male and female in God’s own image. And I believe that God wants to use both men and women for the work of his kingdom.

Our next Faith and Life Gathering will be August 7-8. We will be considering the dynamics of Intercultural Leadership.