Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

global

Congregations encouraged to participate in MCC’s Abundant Life Campaign

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by Christina Warner

At West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship (WPMF), worshippers considered how personal choices such as shopping, career paths, debt and education affect God’s global community during an October service.

Earlier in the year, the congregation focused a worship service on health care and then took action on the issue. Now, WPMF is preparing to address the issue of housing.

WPMF is one of several dozen Mennonite congregations that have dedicated a Sunday worship service to learning and acting on issues of poverty and economic justice.

These congregations are participating in Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office’s Abundant Life: Economic Justice for All campaign, meant to raise awareness and encourage action on U.S. public policy. They used a variety of easily accessible resources from the Washington Office to help in planning for worship, discussion and action.

The campaign centers around four U.S. policy issues that have the potential to create greater economic justice across the globe: health care, international debt relief, housing and trade. Dates of specific Sundays are suggested as days to concentrate on each topic.

Two more Sundays for prayer and action are coming up, focused on housing (Jan. 31) and trade (April 25). Congregations are invited and encouraged to participate.

At WPMF, 70 to 80 people participated in the worship service with the health care theme on July 19. The service led to a response time during which congregants shared their own stories as health care professionals struggling with the current health care system. Afterward, the congregation sent 40 letters to government representatives, expressing their concerns and desires for future policy.

At College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind., the July health care service drew more than 100 participants for a discussion with Anne Krabill Hershberger, retired associate professor of nursing at Goshen College, and Don Yost, of Maple City Health Care Center in Goshen.

“The Abundant Life campaign provides an opportunity for congregations to learn about current economic justice issues and then to respond by making their perspective known to policymakers,” said Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach, director of the Washington Office.

For more information on the campaign and to sign up for resources, visit the Washington Office website at washington.mcc.org/life.

In addition, the “Washington Memo,” published quarterly by the Washington Office, includes articles and analysis about U.S. policies from an Anabaptist perspective.

Campaign resources in the Washington Memo include worship resources, reflections and prayer, as well as a sample letter to representatives. Featured articles are from both Washington Office staff and other MCC workers who see the direct effect public policies have on MCC partners and their work.

Christina Warner is the legislative assistant for Domestic Affairs at the MCC U.S. Washington Office.

Opening communication with Haitian partners, fund established for relief and restoration

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Steve Kriss, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

Franconia Conference has established a fund to assist the Grace Assembly Network congregations in the rebuilding and reconstruction sure to follow the Haiti earthquake. While communication with key Grace Assembly Network leader, Pastor Lesly Bertrand, has been limited, phone calls and a visit form Mennonite Central Committee staff assure us of his and his family’s well-being. They are sleeping out doors at a church compound just outside of the city and have a generator that provides water from a well on the church grounds. Pastors from the Hopewell Network of Churches are setting out for Port-au-Prince today to learn more.

Initially, the Conference is sending a satellite phone, to be delivered this week to Pastor Bertrand to help establish more regular contact. Mennonite Central Committee has also opened conversation with Grace Assembly about the possibilities of working together to bring healing and hope to Haiti. The phone is intended to empower Pastor Lesly in his work and ministry by opening doors for conversation that will allow movement of goods and lifting of spirits as the recovery continues in Port-au-Prince.

In the meantime, the work team from Souderton Mennonite Church has returned to Pennsylvania safely on January 18, after an only a few days extension of what was intended to be a week-long project of service near Haiti’s southern coast.

Franconia Conference is actively soliciting contributions toward the ministry of Grace Assembly Network in this critical time for our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

To read the initial release from Mennonite Central Committee visit
mcc.org/stories/news/mcc-respond-haiti-earthquake-donations-welcome

MCC asks for relief kits, comforters, sheets for Haiti

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by Linda Espenshade

In addition to donations of money, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is asking the public to supply 20,000 relief kits, 10,000 heavy comforters and 10,000 sheets to be sent to Haitian earthquake survivors.

The supplies will help relieve the discomfort and suffering of Haitians who are sleeping on streets and open areas because their homes are destroyed or because they don’t trust the safety of the buildings that remain.

MCC’s staff in Haiti and the initial support response team that arrived there Saturday are requesting these supplies as one way MCC can respond to the needs they see around them.

Relief kits include personal hygiene supplies, laundry soap, towels and bandages. People who donate kits are asked to provide complete kits with only the specific items on the list of relief kit supplies that can be found at mcc.org/kits.

The relief kits can be packed in a box or bag and delivered to any of the drop-off locations in Canada or the United States listed at mcc.org/kits/dropofflocations by Feb. 28. MCC will then repackage the kits in new, five-gallon buckets.

Heavy comforters and sheets also are being accepted at any drop-off location until Feb. 28.

MCC asks that the comforters be new and filled with quilt batting or a blanket for extra warmth. Twin-size comforters are preferred, but double/full-size comforters are accepted. Specific requirements are online at mcc.org/kits.

Flat sheets, which also will be used as mosquito netting, can be double-, queen- or king- size. Sheets, with at least a 300-thread count, should be new, cotton and light-colored, which is not as attractive to mosquitoes.

MCC is grateful for the generous financial gifts that people have given to MCC for the people of Haiti, starting just hours after the 7.0 earthquake devastated the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Some of those funds are already at work in Haiti, being used to purchase food and supplies that are available there. MCC is airlifting 70,000 pounds or 31,750 kg of canned meat and 1,000 water filters into Haiti as soon as possible. Another shipment of at least the same amount of meat, probably more, will be sent by sea. MCC is also purchasing thousands of tents and tarps.

MCC is planning a multi-million dollar response over a number of years, focusing on rebuilding homes and livelihoods.

Donations to MCC’s response in Haiti are welcome. They should be designated Haiti Earthquake. Donations can be made online at www.mcc.org or by telephone, toll free, 1-888-563-4676 (U.S.). By mail, donations may be sent to MCC and MCC U.S., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501.

Shared statements a major step as MCC reshapes its future

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by Gladys Terichow

It was a historic moment when the delegate body at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada’s annual meeting held here in November endorsed seven foundational statements to guide the work of MCC, the final of the 12 MCC entities to do so.

Arli Klassen, executive director of MCC binational (Canada and the U.S.), said the statements represent the first time these 12 entities have expressed a shared vision. “It is a sense of coming together in unity and affirmation of what God calls us to do. The statements bring new clarity that will inspire MCC’s work in the name of Christ. That is powerful, very powerful,” said Klassen.

The statements, also referred to as the “new wine,” were developed through a re-visioning and restructuring process called New Wine/New Wineskins: Reshaping MCC for the 21st Century. They articulate MCC’s identity, purpose, vision, priorities, approaches, values and convictions. The recommendations for the “new wineskins” – a new structure for MCC – are still in the development stages.

New Wine/New Wineskins was a listening and consultation process that involved more than 2,000 people from 50 countries participating in 60 meetings.

One of the core statements is MCC’s purpose – “MCC endeavors to share God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice.”

“This is the statement that people should memorize,” said Klassen. “This is what we believe God has called MCC to do in its history and in the future. Now we have found shared words to express it.”

Klassen points to two key elements of the purpose statement – that the motivation for MCC’s mission is to share God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ, and that MCC intentionally works both to meet basic needs and for peace and justice. She notes that for the first time the words “in the name of Christ,” which have expressed MCC’s Christian witness for decades, are incorporated in its foundational statements.

MCC priorities identified through the New Wine/New Wineskins process are justice and peace-building, disaster relief and sustainable community development. The new statements, explained Klassen, both reflect MCC’s historic commitment to relief, development and peace and clearly state that peace cannot be built without addressing injustice.

MCC does its work in partnership with churches and other partner agencies and builds bridges to connect people and ideas across cultural, political and economic divides. “We don’t do our work just by giving out financial grants – we work at building relationships,” Klassen said.

MCC’s identity as a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches is strengthened through including in the statements the “Shared Convictions” of global Anabaptists as adopted by the Mennonite World Conference General Council in March 2006.

This is the first time MCC has had a statement of faith, Klassen said, noting that it has always drawn theology from the churches to which it is accountable. Many churches, she said, expressed strong affirmation for MCC including these shared Christian faith convictions in its foundational statements.

The MCC statements were developed by an Inquiry Task Force of 34 people that was given the task of engaging, listening to and representing the various MCC constituencies through summits and regional meetings. The group synthesized what it heard and offered recommendations. The recommendations were endorsed by a group of 95 people, representing the 12 MCCs and the church denominations they are accountable to in June 2009. The next step in the process was endorsement by the 12 MCC boards, MCC Canada’s annual meeting being the last scheduled.

Klassen said the MCC system-wide endorsement of the “new wine” foundational statements is encouragement for the next step in the process – consensus on a revised structure. The “new wineskins” recommendations are expected to be endorsed in 2011 and fully implemented in 2012.

“There were points of despair or frustration in this re-visioning process, but there also was always a sense of commitment to listen to God through the voices of the faith community. I believe the Holy Spirit has been at work, leading MCC,” Klassen said.

The full MCC foundational statements are at newwineskins.mcc.org.

MCC appeals for donations for victims of Asia disasters

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by Linda Espenshade

Mennonite Central Committee is appealing for an initial $100,000 to assist people in Asia whose homes and lives were devastated by recent earthquakes and flooding.

Two earthquakes struck the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, the first on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and the second on Thursday, Oct. 1. The earthquakes caused buildings to collapse and trapped thousands under rubble. On Friday, the United Nations reported that 1,100 people had died.

Earlier in the week, Typhoon Ketsana wreaked havoc elsewhere in Southeast Asia as heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding and mudslides. Hundred of people have died and at least 500,000 were displaced.

Ketsana prompted the worst flooding in the northern Philippines in 40 years when it struck Saturday, Sept. 26, and then continued its deadly path across Southeast Asia. It battered central Vietnam with powerful winds and heavy rain and then weakened as it moved into Cambodia and Laos.

The $100,000 (USD) will be used to provide immediate shelter, food and other emergency supplies to people in Indonesia and the Philippines and to meet longer-term recovery needs in Vietnam. These are countries where MCC has workers or connections with Mennonite congregations.

  • In Indonesia, the Mennonite Diakonial Service has sent an assessment team to the earthquake area. MCC anticipates requests for funding to provide emergency shelter and food. Mennonite Diakonial Service is the service arm of the three Mennonite synods in Indonesia.
  • In the Philippines, MCC has started communication with the Integrated Mennonite Churches (IMC) to assess the needs. Next week, MCC will send Bruce Glick of Millersburg, Ohio, to the Philippines. Glick will work in cooperation with IMC and other organizations to develop an emergency response plan. MCC has not had a country program in the Philippines since 2005. However, Glick, who worked with MCC for 19 years, will return to the country where he served in 2004-2005.
  • In Vietnam, MCC workers are assessing the need as they communicate with the Social Work Committee of the Vietnam Mennonite Church. MCC anticipates the need for recovery funds to help affected communities rebuild once the initial crisis passes.

MCC is aware that needs may increase as Typhoon Parma is expected to hit the Philippines again, north of Manila, on Saturday. MCC is also monitoring the ongoing needs of people in Cambodia and Laos, who suffered damage from Ketsana, too.

Financial contributions may be made to any MCC office, online at mcc.org/donate or by telephoning toll free at 1-888-563-4676.

Gifts should be designated for MCC’s “Asia Disasters.”

More poverty, hunger in developing world as recession takes hold

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Although the worldwide recession appears to be letting up in Canada and the U.S., in many developing countries it has barely begun and the impact will be devastating, says an MCC spokesperson.

“Many families in Africa, Asia and Latin America spend between 50 to 70 percent of their household income on basic food staples,” says Bruce Guenther, MCC’s coordinator of humanitarian assistance. “Food prices have come down from the extreme levels they were at last year, but they are still up to triple what they were.”

Families are spending so much on food that they have little money for other essentials such as education and medicine. The stress and shock is enough to throw many families that were able to get by into poverty.

“On top of this, people are now beginning to lose their jobs because of this recession,” said Guenther. “The effects of mass hunger will continue to make it harder for people to survive.”

Guenther recently saw the impact of hunger firsthand in Kenya, where severe drought conditions have increased the need for humanitarian assistance. MCC is responding by providing emergency food for 3,000 Maasai families and nutritious meals to 43 primary schools.

As well, MCC has organized food for work programs where participants can collect maize, beans and cooking oil in return for community work in sustainable agriculture.

MCC food aid reached record levels this past year as the organization responded to hunger caused by natural disasters, skyrocketing food prices and climate change. The next year is shaping up to be worse.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations recently reported that the number of hungry people in the world is on track to reach more than 1 billion in 2009 – the highest number ever.

In March, 2009, the World Bank said the recession was expected to trap 53 million more people in poverty this year, defined as subsistence living on less than $1.25 U.S a day. Poor people in developing countries have little buffer to protect them against the effects of the crisis.

“The high cost of fertilizer and fuel, in combination with extreme weather conditions, are affecting access to food and the amount of food grown,” says Willie Reimer, director of Food, Disaster and Material Resources for MCC.

“And while there is still a surplus of food being produced, it is not as large as in previous years.”

That there is even a surplus of food being produced in the world is of great importance for Reimer.

“This is really more than a food crisis. It is a hunger crisis. There is still more than enough food produced in the world to feed everyone.”

Often the problem is access to food caused by factors such as unequal access to land and conflict.

“In war-torn areas like southern Sudan, 22 years of conflict has resulted in fading knowledge about food-growing techniques. Hidden landmines in the soil complicate people’s abilities to go out and till the land, says Reimer.

MCC is responding by increasing the amounts of emergency food assistance, continuing to help farmers increase the food they can grow, and advocating for food systems that are fair and just.

However, the needs are still great. Here is what you can do:

Pray

    • for the people who are hungry that they may have enough to eat, soon. Pray for the people struggling to provide comfort and food to the hungry.

Live simply so that your lifestyle in this interconnected world is not a burden on the poor.

Speak out on behalf of the poor and hungry so that they are not forgotten by governments.

Donate to MCC (gifts can be designated to “Food”). In the U.S., gifts can also be made to MCC’s account at the Foods Resource Bank.

New MCC U.S. resources on cluster bombs available

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by Cathryn Clinton

A new documentary, From Harm to Hope: Standing with Cluster Bomb Survivors, and an accompanying study guide are the latest tools in the advocacy work of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. in banning the production and use of cluster bombs.

The large-scale use of cluster bombs began in 1964, and their impact continues long after wars end because the weapons often fail to explode on impact as designed. These small bombs, or “bombies” as they are sometimes called, continue to detonate around the world in fields and other places, shattering the lives of people who accidentally trigger them. MCC’s work with villagers in Laos in the 1970s helped bring this tragedy to the world’s attention.

The documentary tells the story of the movement to ban cluster bombs through the experiences of survivors such as Raed Mokaled of Lebanon and Phounsy Phasavaeng of Laos, as well as through the voices of activists and MCC partners and staff members who help cluster bomb survivors.

The study guide includes Bible studies and exercises to look at the spiritual and ethical issues related to cluster bomb use. Although there is a lesson for adults, several lessons were designed specifically for youth groups.

Emily Wise, 15, of Denver, Pa., who went to the Mennonite Church USA youth convention in July, attended a workshop about cluster bombs. She said, “I was surprised by how many bombs, millions even, were dropped and not detonated.”

Wise said she was deeply affected by the DVD, and has been thinking about what it could mean to work in peace-building and development. She will tell others to see it because, “so many innocent civilians are being hurt even 35 years later. The long-term effects of war are not very fair.”

This DVD and study guide, available in English and Spanish, are part of the MCC U.S. advocacy campaign that includes learning, writing and donating. MCC U.S. distributes copies of the DVD, From Harm to Hope, as well as another DVD called Bombies, photo exhibits and bulletin inserts to help people learn about the issue.

Donations will fund services to cluster bomb survivors in Laos and Lebanon and support advocacy efforts in the U.S. Donate online at mcc.org or mail your contribution to MCC, designated “cluster bomb advocacy.”

In addition, MCC U.S. has a cluster bomb postcard campaign and sample letters for writing to government officials, encouraging them to support U.S. legislation (S 416/HR 981) restricting cluster bomb use, and the international ban on cluster bomb production and use which has now been signed by 98 countries. The U.S. is not one of the signers.

Cathryn Clinton is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee