Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Conference News

Mennonite Mission Network Collaborates with Franconia Conference in first Youth Venture Experience in Israel

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naz1s.jpgFranconia Mennonite Conference (FMC) and Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) plan to collaborate in first Youth Venture experience to Nazareth Village, Israel.

Since 1985, more than 700 persons have participated in Youth Venture, a program that provides opportunities for youth and young adults to join together for service and learning experiences, seeking to capture the imagination and passion of youth and young adults to invest their lives in bring healing and hope to the world. Youth Venture offers the offers the opportunity to join with other young Anabaptists for one to four weeks of service in July or August in various North American and international mission projects.

In July and August of 2007, Franconia Mennonite Conference will partner with Mennonite Mission Network to offer a collaborative experience for youth and young adults at the Nazareth Village in Israel. This is the first time for such a collaboration, and both parties hope that by working together, a more effective and networked program can be developed for participants. David Landis, Associate for Communication and Leadership Cultivation for Franconia Mennonite Conference, will serve as team leader.

Five years ago Mennonite Mission Network began a vision of collaborating with Mennonite Church USA conferences and other affinity groups, seeking out ways to live into what networking really means. Del Hershberger, MMN Director of Christian Service, states “We believe that networking with other folks who have a passion for ministry creates new, exciting possibilities that we never could have thought of or done by ourselves. I see this as a first step in FMC and MMN each bringing our ideas, passions and resources together to enhance the faith formation and leadership development of young adults.”

Participants in the Youth Venture trip to Nazareth Village will discover the land where Jesus walked while serving at a recreated village of first century Nazareth, working on maintenance projects, at a hospital or a children’s camp. Living with local Arab Christian families will provide opportunities to understand God’s continuing work in the Middle East. Many assumptions about the way the world functions are challenged as participants discover and exercise their gifts. The experience aims to explore real ways for participants to see God’s love and concern for the connected world far beyond anything they’ve imagined.naz3s.jpg

Stephen Kriss, FMC Director of Communication and Leadership cultivation says, “I’d hope this represents a new way to embody the network paradigm that both Franconia Conference and MMN are living into in these days of rapid change and global connectivity. In working together, we’ll share our resources to create opportunities to engage the world and to find new possibilities to incarnate the Good News that speaks to a new generation, our congregations and the world.

For more information on Youth Venture, go to http://www.mennonitemission.net/Work/Service/YV/. The Nazareth Village experience will be held from July 23 to August 10, 2007, flying in and out of Philadelphia.

Bluffton University Men's Baseball Team Involved in Accident in Atlanta

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The Bluffton University men’s baseball team was involved in a bus accident in Atlanta, Ga., early March 2. The bus was on its way to Florida for the team’s spring break game with Eastern Mennonite University. “This is a sad tragedy for the students, families, friends and Bluffton University campus community. We are asking for prayers of support during this time,” said Bluffton University President James M. Harder.

 

Read the story at:
bluffton.edu | cnn.com | mennoweekly.org | emu.edu

Seminar on Pastors and Congregations Addressing Pornography Together

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March 29 – 30, 2007
Sessions held at Souderton Mennonite Church

Register for the event by March 23, 2007 through email, phone, or at http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/index.php?P=120

bmh694.jpgEDC and FMC ministry teams have invited Brenda Martin Hurst, a professor of practical theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, to lead us in addressing the issue of pornography. Brenda led a workshop at the Mennonite Church USA Assembly in 2005 and wrote an article for The Mennonite addressing pornogrpahy. Since then she has spoken with other groups of leaders on this theme and has agreed to be with us March 29 and 30, 2007, for teaching and to raise personal and pastoral awareness.

The seminar will be divided into two parts. Both sessions will be held in the Fellowship Hall at Souderton Mennonite Church. We invite, [EDC encourages], and [FMC expects] credentialed leaders to attend both events. There will be .5 of Continuing Education credit available through these seminars.

Schedule:

March 29, 2007 ~ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Lay leaders are particularly invited to attend. This session will provide an overview of the topic and raise consciousness on the challenges pornography presents within congregational life.

  • Worship led by Julie Prey-Harbaugh, FMC associate and James Lapp, FMC Senior Ministry Consultant
  • Presentation by Brenda Martin Hurst
  • A personal story of struggle with pornography
  • Response from pastors: Scott Benner, Zion Mennonite – Sandy Drescher-Lehman, Souderton Mennonite

March 30, 2007 ~ 9:00 a.m. – Noon
This session is designed for pastors, youth ministers, and chaplains.

  • Worship led by Julie Prey-Harbaugh and James Lapp
  • Presentation by Brenda Martin Hurst
    • Gender specific group interaction led by Brenda and Carl Yusavitz, Penn Foundation
    • Response and reflection on the next steps in growth and accountability led by: Warren Tyson, EDC Conference Minister and Ertell Whigham, FMC Director of Congregational Resourcing and Equipping

Register online | View the brochure PDF

Franconia Mennonite Church celebrates 15 year partnership with Iglesia Maranatha

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04.jpgArnold & Marlene Derstine, Franconia Mennonite Church

It’s hard to believe that 15 years have passed since our congregation first began to relate to our sister church in Puebla, Mexico. Little did we know that what began as an initiative of Franconia Mennonite Conference and the Conference of Mennonite Churches in Mexico would eventually become a thriving relationship between our two congregations.

Last week a group of 6 persons from our congregation (Pastor John Ehst, Bill Gotwals, Alex and McAllister Tellado, David Landis, Arnold and Marlene Derstine) attended the anniversary weekend of our sister church. This annual celebration of God’s faithfulness in the life of the church seemed an appropriate setting to also recognize and celebrate 15 years of walking beside each other as congregations. It was a time to both reminisce about the past as well as dream about the future.

Initial conversations with the Maranatha congregation began in 1992. In the spring of 1993, the first of many exchange visits took place. A team of four persons from Franconia went to work along side our Mexican brothers and sisters who had recently purchased a new property for the church. Over the years many from our congregation have been encouraged and blessed as the chorus, young adults, youth teams and mixed groups have had the privilege of visiting with Maranatha and participating in the life and ministry of their congregation. Throughout the years we have also been blessed to receive groups from Maranatha through which many significant relationships have been established.

02.jpgOur weekend together was a significant reminder of the many meaningful relationships that have developed and grown over the last 15 years. It was also a reminder that our relationship together actually began long before the sister relationship emerged.

Perhaps the most meaningful part of the Sunday morning celebration was giving thanks for and recognizing the dedication and service of faithful leaders both past and present. It was a blessing to have David and Shirley Yoder there with us. David and Shirley are the original church planters of Maranatha. The congregation was moved as David expressed the overwhelming joy he and Shirley experienced in coming back to the church for the first time in 35 years and witnessing God’s faithfulness in bringing forth fruit from the seeds that were sown.

Maranatha is indeed a congregation that has come a long way since the early 1960’s when David and Shirley used the living room of their home as a chapel for Sunday morning services and weekly bible studies. On this Sunday the auditorium was full of people and praise as we celebrated God’s faithfulness together through inspiring worship, prayer and hearing God’s word.

It was encouraging to reflect on how God has brought us together – two congregations with distinct cultures but the same vision and desire to be salt and light here on earth. Throughout the weekend we took time to think, dream and pray about our future together as partners in the Gospel. We look forward to how God will continue to use this relationship to further His kingdom.

posted from Franconia Sampler, A weekly newsletter of the Franconia Mennonite Church
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The Ripple Effect: How a Path Encounter is Leading to Better Health for 50,000 Children

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Elizabeth Stover and her husband (Preston) of Dock Woods Community were out walking on the path in the beautiful woods connected to the Community. Coming toward them was a young man with his small playful child. He was hanging on to his legs so it was a “conversational moment.” The young man (Insoo Lee) said that he was Korean and the youth pastor of a local Korean church in Landsale. Elizabeth invited them to their home for a dinner. Since she was a leader of a prayer group at Dock Community she also invited Insoo to come and speak to the prayer group.

At that meeting Insoo found out about the Worm Project and invited Claude Good and his wife (Alicia) to present the project to the young people of his church. They were met with overwhelming enthusiasm by the Korean young people in addition to the wonderful Korean food served by the group. Some of them wanted to take the contribution containers to their school classrooms to encourage their classmates to contribute as well.

That small group of enthusiastic young people was able to pull together $1,000.00 in a few months! The Worm Project is able to buy a de-worming pill for just $0.02 each when bought by the million. It is a mint-flavored, chewable pill that only has to be administered once every six months. That one pill can save enough food from the worms to help a child have, on average, an extra 10 lb.of food during those six months. So at $0.02 each, $1,000.00 will buy enough pills to treat 50,000 children! But it will be even more than that – Insoo says that the youth want to keep the contribution containers to continue raising funds for the very poor “wormy” children of the world!

Additional information: The Korean church, as of January 1, has moved to the Hatfield Church of the Brethren and has become one church in Christ as Grace/Hatfield Church of the Brethren. Now they have an English service at 10am and a Korean service at 11:30am.They are planning to provide bilingual service soon.

dscn4307.jpgPresentation of $1,000.00 from the Korean Youth Group to the Worm Project
First row from left to right:Yoon Kim, Julia Min, Esther Choi, Anna Kim.
Middle row: Insoo Lee, (Youth Pastor), Preston Stover, Grace Min (president of Grace Christian Church Youth Group), Claude Good, (Coordinator of the Worm Project), Alicia Good
Back row: Noel Santiago (Executive Minister), Elizabeth Stover, Michelle Kang.

Church seeks supplies to put together health kits

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mcc_kit.jpgby Christine Charnosky, The Reporter

01/22/2007

Plains Mennonite Church is always looking for ways to help others. Currently, the church is collecting items for health kits, which will go to women and children in refugee camps, according to Associate Pastor Dawn Ranck.

The church gives the kits to the Mennonite Central Committee and the agency forwards them to people in need, she said. The description of the health kits can be found at the agency’s Web site, www.mcc.org, which states the kits go to people in such countries as Bosnia, Haiti, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.

The church is collecting the following items: one toothbrush, adult-size, left in wrapper; one squeeze-tube toothpaste, minimum six ounces, left in box; one bar of soap, four to five ounces left in wrapper; one fingernail clipper; and one dark-colored hand towel. Ranck said the items can be dropped off at the church in a plastic bag. The church then places the items into a cloth bag, which one of their congregant makes.

plainspole.jpgRanck said she heard a story about a person who came to the United States and years before had received a health kit. “The person still had the bag because it had become a symbol of hope for them,” she said. She and some church members toured the MCC warehouse in Ephrata, Lancaster County, last month.

“We helped check the kits,” she said. “Each kit has to have the same and right stuff.”
The Central Committee has the best track record of things that go to other countries because their overhead is low, she said.

The church has a different community service project every few months, Ranck said, including helping Manna on Main Street. The church has collected 20 to 30 kits so far and it’s not unusual for them to collect 100.

Items for the kits can be dropped off through the month of February at Plains Mennonite Church, located at 50 W. Orvilla Road in Hatfield Township. The church office is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or items can be brought to the Sunday service, which begins at 10:15 a.m. The church can be reached at (215) 362-7640.

Conference natives part of first Goshen College SST to Cambodia

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GOSHEN, Ind. – Three Franconia Conference natives are participating
in the first Goshen (Ind.) College Study-Service Term (SST) unit to
Cambodia this spring. The group includes 24 students.

Krista Ehst, daughter of Tim and Sheryl Ehst of Bally, is majoring in
Bible and religion. She is a 2004 graduate of Christopher Dock
Mennonite High School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

Sheldon Good, son of Don and Diane Good of Telford, is majoring in
communication and business. He is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock
Mennonite High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

Greg Yoder, son of Jerold and Beth Yoder of Perkasie, is majoring in
music. He is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High
School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

The students left for Cambodia on Jan. 10 and will return to the
United States on April 10. They will spend the first six weeks in the
capital, Phnom Penh, studying the national language of Khmer and the
country’s culture at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Students
will then be placed in service assignments around the country. The
capital is a mix of developed and developing areas, and though the
country has a dollar economy, it is one of the poorest countries in
the region, according to Tom Meyers, director of international
education at Goshen College. Students will live with host families
during the first and second half of the semester, many of whom will
be Buddhist, since 95 percent of the population follows that
religion. Groups from Goshen College will go to Cambodia every three
years.

Keith and Ann Graber Miller, with their children, Niles, Mia and
Simon, are leading the unit to Cambodia. Keith is professor of Bible,
religion and philosophy at Goshen College. They have previously led
SST units in the Dominican Republic, China, Cuba and Costa Rica.

Web updates and photos from the group are available from Goshen
College’s SST Web site at: www.goshen.edu/sst/cambodia07. Letters can
be directed to: Mennonite Central Committee, PO Box 481, #20 Street
475, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Since the first SST units went to Costa Rica, Jamaica and Guadeloupe
in 1968 and began one of the country’s pioneer international
education programs, more than 6,500 students and 230 faculty leaders
have traveled to 20 countries; the college currently organizes SST
units to study and serve in China, Dominican Republic, Germany,
Cambodia, Ethiopia, Senegal, Perú and Jamaica. The program’s uncommon
combination of cultural education and service-learning remains a core
part of the general education program, and has earned citations for
excellence from U.S.News & World Report, Peterson’s Study Abroad and
Smart Parents Guide to College, the John Templeton Foundation and
American Council on Education.

FMC authors in DreamSeeker Magazine

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DreamSeeker Magazine, published by Cascadia Publishing House, was founded to link readers interested in attending to “voices from the soul” with Anabaptist-related writers committed to exploring from the heart, with passion, depth, and flair, their own visions and issues of the day.

The Winter 2007 issue includes a variety of Franconia Mennonite Conference authors:

  • Christie Benner – (Un)happy, in love
  • Renee Gehman – What if I knew when I was little and didn’t know anything
  • Deborah Good – Some thoughts on helping
  • Michael King – At the end of ethnic Mennonite life
  • Steve Kriss – Just another day in Paradise—or Philadelphia?
  • David Landis – Cultural agoraphobia: Why young postmodern Mennonites struggle to follow or lead