by Jennifer Svetlik
The fires in the Los Angeles, CA area have caused widespread destruction and loss of life since they began over a week ago, including damage to some Anabaptist congregations and members’ properties.
There are five southern California Mosaic Conference member congregations and around a dozen credentialed pastors in the region. Families from Jemaat Kristen Indonesian Anugerah (JKIA) (Sierra Madre, CA) and International Worship Center (San Gabriel, CA) have both been affected by the evacuations related to the Eaton fire that has devastated parts of Altadena and Pasadena, east of LA.
At this time, only one pastor remains evacuated, and one family from within a member congregation has reported that their home has been destroyed.
“In the face of loss, displacement, and struggle, please pray for comfort, resilience, and strength for those affected by Eaton Fire, and support our LA communities through donations, volunteering, and simply being present for us,” encouraged Virgo Handojo, Pastor of JKIA.
In response to the fire, JKIA has launched three initiatives: Providing resource information on evacuation centers, access to clean water, shelters, FEMA registration, and insurance claim workshops; Raising donations within the congregation and the public to support those affected by the fire; and recruiting and organizing community volunteers to offer hands-on assistance and support.
Mennonite Disaster Service and Mennonite Church USA have both been in contact with Mosaic Conference leadership to assess needs. Those who wish to contribute financially to disaster response can do so through Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS).
“Mosaic Conference staff have been in regular contact with our pastors in the LA area to assess needs and responses,” said Stephen Kriss, Executive Minister of Mosaic Conference. “We will work through our member communities, sibling Anabaptist communities, and MDS to facilitate any further responses. We are grateful for the concern for our members in the face of these horrendous fires and the expressions of solidarity that have come from within Mosaic, and from MDS and Mennonite Church USA.”
Mosaic Conference Leadership has also had contact with Pacific Southwest Conference Minister Stanley Greene to offer support. A few households within Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference have lost their homes.
About ten percent of Mosaic member congregations are in California.
“My heart has been shattered by the sights and stories of windstorm and wildfire in the megacity that God has led me to love deeply and to call home for most of my adult life,” shared Jeff Wright, Mosaic Conference Leadership Minister for several California congregations, who is also currently serving as pastor of Blooming Glen (PA) Mennonite but has lived in California for nearly 40 years and maintains a home in the area.
“I’m also aware that Mennonites, who have worshipped and witnessed in Southern California for over 120 years have, in every generation, faced environmental catastrophes and social crises.”
He continued, “In previous times of disaster, God united the local Mennonite community, diverse in ethnic identity, economic status, and theological priorities, to act together in love for one another and their neighbors. This latest ecological and public calamity will require a similar commitment to work together across conference, denominational, and agency lines. Calamity does not last, serving in crisis does.”
Jennifer Svetlik
Jennifer is Editor & Development Coordinator for Mosaic. She grew up near Houston, TX and spent a decade living in intentional community in Washington DC, before moving to Lansdale, PA. She serves as Children’s Faith Formation Director at Salford Mennonite (Harleysville, PA).
There was food afterward the worship services. After over a decade of walking alongside Indonesian congregations, I recognize the gracious island hospitality and celebration that remains intact here in the States as well. At IWC, I had a bowl of spaghetti brought from the kitchen, when the servers realized that I didn’t eat seafood, which was the main dish provided for lunch. At ICCF, there was an anniversary celebration which included traditional Indonesian satay, rice and soup, along with karaoke that was a mix of pop, praise songs and traditional hymns.
There is still a sense of surprise for me that we are here in this time and place. This trip meant beginning to think and care for California in a way that I haven’t before – as a pastor. What is the Spirit provoking through this holy experiment? In what ways can we live and move into this time and space, where God’s capacity is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or imagine through the power at work within us (Ephesians 3.20)?
The Assembly was centered on Psalm 133:1,3b, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” The theme was Life Together, as the focus of the Assembly was that while these two conference may have split 170 years ago, they continue to do life together. A large part of the Assembly business this year was to look at whether these conferences would take the next step in their relationship, to look even more intentionally at reconciliation and what it would look like if they were to merge into one conference.
The weekend began with Friday night worship led by Tami Good of Swamp Mennonite Church, which included a worship team of folks whose first languages were Indonesian, Spanish and English and who came from congregations in South Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Upper Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The opening prayer was given in Indonesian, Spanish, English and even Pennsylvania Dutch. Videos were shown that highlighted Souderton Mennonite Church’s 
The congregations in the Los Angeles area consist of Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Anugerah (JKIA) pastored by Virgo Handoyo, Indonesian Community Christian Fellowship pastored by Makmur Halim, and International Worship Church pastored by Buddy Hannarto. All three have had relationships with Franconia Conference for over a decade. The four congregations’ members are largely from Indonesia and joined with Franconia Conference pastors Aldo Siahaan of Philadelphia Praise Center and Beny Krisbianto of Nations Worship Center to share in a song. To learn more about these congregations check out their 
The joint Franconia and Eastern District Conference Saturday worship was a time of song, 
The core recommendation from the team is that Eastern District and Franconia Conference “enter a formal engagement process for the purposes of healing and reconciliation and with the intention of becoming a single, unified conference by November 2019.” In order to do this, the team recommended the forming of two teams: one to work intentionally at addressing the “spiritual and emotional components of reconciliation,” known as the “Healing and Reconciliation Team”, and the other being the “Identity Development and Structural Implementation Team,” tasked with managing “the process of forming a single unified conference, with particular attention to the structure, staffing, financial, and cultural realities of creating a single conference from the two existing conferences.”
After a short break, the conferences gathered in separate rooms where their delegates recorded on flip chart paper their largest affirmations and concerns regarding moving forward with the recommendations. Present were David Brubaker and Roxy Allen Kioko, consultants from Eastern Mennonite University who had been hired in 2016 and were working with the Exploring Reconciliation Reference Team. Following this and some open microphone time for questions and answers, the delegates voted. With a 90% affirmation from Franconia Conference and a 99% affirmation from Eastern District Conference, both agreed to move forward with working at reconciliation and exploring more formally what a merged conference will look like.