Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Marco Guete

The Spirit of Habit, the Habit of Spirit 

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by Marco Güete

I have a friend who I admire for his routines and habits; I confess that I would like to imitate him. Every day he gets up and goes to bed at the same time. He says he sleeps eight hours without taking medications to help him sleep, he goes to the gym the same days each week, he eats his meals every day at the same times. Those are my friend’s good habits.  

The truth is that as human beings we have a lot of good and bad habits. This conversation with my friend prompted me to research habits by reading books and listening to lectures on the subject. Now I understand more clearly Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” 

We have the privilege of living in a volatile era, where everything is fleeting and transitory. Those of us who make up the church are not spared from the feelings of sudden and radical changes. What was is no longer, and what is, will not be. In our digital world, full of devices, new things emerge constantly and so quickly that it is difficult to adjust to the changes.  

These challenges make it complex to improve our habits and routines. I say complex, but not impossible. How long does it take to form a new habit that makes us happy? James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits (p. 75) answers, “Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition. The more you repeat an activity, the more the structure of your brain changes to become efficient at that activity…Repeating a habit leads to clear physical changes in the brain.”  

“For everything there is a season…” The writer of Ecclesiastes anticipated what awaited us in this century without knowing it. When we attempt to do many things at the same time, we make mistakes and become stressed, and in turn that stress causes us innumerable physical and mental problems.  

I invite you to acquire the good habit that this text advises you: Do one thing at a time, well, with passion and dedication. Let us remember that “There is an appointed time for everything.” Work which cannot be done on the day for mission or ministry must wait its turn, because we are simply humans who love God and ourselves. 

Marco Güete

Marco Güete is the Leadership Minister for Florida for Mosaic Conference.

Hybrid Church Plant Blooms in Pembroke Pines, FL 

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by Andrés Castillo

Many of us remember when the COVID-19 pandemic forced churches online. While most have returned to in-person worship, some congregations have found online church to be the new way to worship. Such is the case for a new church in Pembroke Pines, FL, Resplandece Mennonite Church, which will have an entirely virtual pastor. 

Josué Gonzalez of Encuentro de Renovación in Miami, FL dreamt of planting a church in Pembroke Pines, so much so that he offered up his house to host the new church. However, it wasn’t possible to find an Anabaptist pastor in Pembroke Pines, so Leadership Minister Marco Güete suggested starting a virtual and in-person church, using Gonzalez’s house as the base.  

The pastoral candidate they identified was Manuel García, a resident of Barranquilla, Colombia and a former student in the Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispana (SeBAH) who was then studying at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS). García had been forming a church body online prior to meeting Güete through AMBS. As new migration policies in Florida were causing people to leave their homes, and it occurred to García to invite them to form a church. “It was a natural process. We just started talking, accompanying people,” García says. “These people formed the church that became Resplandece, but now there is more intentionality.” 

Pastor Manuel García of Resplandece Mennonite Church, his sons Adrian and Esteban, and his wife, Vivi. Photo by Manuel Garcia.

Through Güete, García met Gonzalez, who had the space and desire to plant a new church in Pembroke Pines. “Josué [Gonzalez] video-called me and was very excited. He was showing me the house and where everything would happen,” García remembers. “So in that way, God united many intentions.” 

A team was created to represent Mosaic and support the newly-born Resplandece, including Marco Güete, Noel Santiago, Josué Gonzalez, and Naún Cerrato. This board has been meeting with García monthly, and will eventually be replaced by a church leadership board. For now, García works on Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook Live, and other social media platforms. His first official day as their pastor was December 1, 2023. 

“This is a way that God is using to create new models of church,” Güete says. “The pandemic forced the change quickly and people resisted it. Now we are realizing there is another way to do church.”  

Noel Santiago, Mosaic’s Leadership Minister for Missional Transformation, says that the online aspect helps Mosaic in its global ministry. “These are ongoing steps that come from a long history of face-to-face relationships.” 

García describes his experience with Mosaic as a big house of refuge. “There is a sincerity and tenderness when people from Mosaic talk to you,” he says. “I already felt like a part of Mosaic.” García is currently studying with Mosaic Institute. 

The tech setup for Resplandece’s hybrid services at Josué Gonzales’ house. Photo by Josué Gonzales.

The first service for Resplandece took place on December 24, 2023. Their weekly activities include a Tuesday morning prayer time and Thursday family devotional time. They invite prayer for those leading the new church as well as those who will know Jesus through its ministry. 

Pastor Manuel García loves spending his free time with his sons Esteban (8) and Adrian (6), and his wife Viviana. He also enjoys fishing with his father.

Andrés Castillo

Andrés Castillo is the Intercultural Communication Associate for the Conference. Andrés lives in Philadelphia, PA, and currently attends Methacton Mennonite Church. He loves trying new food, learning languages, playing music, and exploring new places.

Creating a Fruitful Ministry at Every Stage of Life 

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We have the capacity to enhance our passion in Christian ministry, in our lives, and in our families each day. When I think about how to do this, I think back to my mother. 

Though my mother’s life was short (she died before she was 50), she made a big impact on her family and in the community.  She had six children; I am the third in order of birth. We were a big family and my paternal grandmother lived with us.  

My mother started a clothing store of the best brands of that time. The store grew rapidly, and so did her work and responsibility with the family. She really liked what she did–it showed in her face, in the way she dressed, and in her energy. Surely at the end of the day she was very tired, but we didn’t notice it. I think she was physically tired, but not mentally.  

I admire her as someone who planned well. She would think ahead about the next day and always make birthdays, Christmas, and New Years special occasions. I remember my mother, too, in our church services. My mother is an example of how to appreciate each God-given day and how life, family, and Christian ministry can be joyful.   

The psychologist Rafael Santandreu writes in his book, The Glasses of Happiness, “The first rule to make life very interesting is to set a high goal that excites us. A good life is to strive, to go to bed tired every night, but having enjoyed the day.” I agree with Santandreu, and I feel this way too about ministry and service to the church.  

Studies show that Monday is the most depressing day for pastors. “More and more leaders are experiencing burnout, even those who enjoy regular sabbaticals and vacation periods. Their exhaustion has become more severe, and the discouragement and tiredness reach ‘to the bone,'” according to “The Pastors Aren’t All Right: 38% Consider Leaving Ministry,” in Christianity Today, from November 16, 2021 (online).    

This causes me to ask: How do we find a solution to this depressed state of pastors on Monday and other days of the week? 

The same Christianity Today article reflects on how the many challenges faced by pastors forces “pastors to find their identity in Christ and not in the perfection of their ministry.” 

Photo by Mohamed hamdi

Pastor Nic Burleson “had to face his own fears related to lack of growth, and he had to remind himself that God’s call in Matthew 25:21 is centered on faithfulness, not success.” These struggles are causing some pastors to lean into their relationship with Jesus and discover new resilience. This too can be part of the fruitfulness and happiness that we create in our ministries. 

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21, NIV). 

 

Reborn and Learning to Dance in the Rain

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Translated into English by Andrés Castillo

Editor’s Note: This is the conclusion to Pastor Dania Hernández’s Call to Ministry story (Part one and Part two are available). Hernández is Pastor of Peña de Horeb, a Mosaic congregation in Philadelphia, PA.  

In the book, The Artisan Soul, Erwin McManus wrote, “Beyond despair, there must always be hope, beyond betrayal, there must always be a story of forgiveness; beyond failure there must always be a story of resistance. If the story of Jesus ended on the cross it could be a story worth telling, but that story could never give life. Only the resurrection can generate life again.”

Forgiveness from any perspective is beneficial. Forgiveness made it possible for Pastor Dania Hernández to be reborn. Dania did not want to spend her life upset and depressed. She longed to meet herself again. To live. To dream. To be restored. Not to be afraid to love and be loved.

Her story appeared to be a failure, a social disqualification. Contrary to what she perhaps thought, this story became the material from which God worked. There was no tear that God did not wipe away, no prayer that God did not hear, no fear from which God did not deliver her. Only when Dania learned to dance in the rain, only when she understood that the one who decides to forgive is the one who makes the greatest act of self-respect, the chains that had tied her no longer controlled her, and she was finally free.

She found rest that goes beyond all human reasoning, offered by the Holy Spirit who, with a tender and gentle whisper, sang in her ear, “Do not be afraid, I am here with you, do not lose heart. No situation, however hard it may be, will last forever. You can count on me, my love for you is forever.”

I Fell in Love and Got Married Again

Pastor Dania concludes her story with these words:

“I never thought I could be restored, much less love again. I thought that my life ended in the long and painful process of divorce. I was left with nothing, in financial ruin. I longed to love again, wished to study in a Bible seminary, but saw no opportunity.

When everything seemed lost, I envisioned hope in Jesus. His love allowed me to dance in the rain. I understood so many things. God restored me. I recovered financially. I fell in love again and got married again. I approached the heart of God like never before and started studying at the Anabaptist Bible Institute (IBA) where I thank Marco Güete and Violeta Ajquejay Suastegui for all the support they gave me.”

New York City, a Laundromat, and Jesus

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In May of 2021, my wife, Sandra, and I visited New York City to celebrate our 51st wedding anniversary. We were returning to the city that received us in the 1970s. We lived in New York City for eleven years and two of our children were born there.

New York City is “a planetary city,” as described by Colombian author Diana Uribe, because it has residents, communities, restaurants, and languages ​​from almost every corner of the world. When we first arrived in New York in the 1970s, we resided in Astoria, Queens, an area of mostly Greek and Italian communities. It was common to see ads in Greek and Italian and to hear these two languages ​​mixed with English. It was rare to find people who spoke Spanish.

Marco Güete and his wife, Sandra, celebrated their 51st anniversary in New York City. Photo by Marco Güete.

Our plan, as part of our anniversary celebration, was to visit some of the places where we lived. We wanted to walk the streets again, travel by train/subway, remember the stations, and identify where the shops, restaurants, and laundromats were. We wanted to go back to the past and live it again for a moment.

Everything had changed, or our minds played tricks on us trying to remember. We went down the stairs of a train station in Astoria, a station that we used several hundred times. We walked a block and to our left we discovered the place where the supermarket was located and where we bought groceries. We arrived at the corner and there in front of us, imposing and dazzling, was the apartment building that we welcomed our children, Zandra and Javier, as newborns, a year apart. What a surprise! To the right of the apartment building was our laundromat.

The laundromat near Marco and Sandra’s former home in Queens. 
Photo by Marco Güete.

Many years ago, on one bright, sunny, spring afternoon, my wife arrived at the laundromat. She was pregnant with our second baby. She rolled her laundry cart and our one-month-old daughter in her baby carriage. Until today, I never asked myself the question, how did she manage both?

In the laundromat Sandra met a neighbor and her baby. They two began a conversation, and our neighbor told Sandra that she would like to introduce us to the pastor of the church where she attends. A few days later, our neighbor arrived at our apartment with the pastor, introduced him, and left immediately to take care of her baby, whom had left her alone for a few moments.

That day, with great wisdom, love, and knowledge of the scriptures, the pastor told us about Jesus and invited us to receive him in our hearts and become followers of him. That day my wife and I began the pilgrimage of discovering and knowing how to become followers of Jesus. This has been a wonderful learning process for over 46 years, where our trust and faith in God grows daily.

My Cry of Terror

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My friend, Jorge, and I had been climbing the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia for more than six hours. The rolls of bread we bought in the early morning were now battered and hard as a stone; we decided to throw them away. We hoped to soon find a place to buy food and water.

The road up the mountain was lonely, and we couldn’t find any place to stock up on water and food. Soon it was dark, and we couldn’t see the road. We found an abandoned house, desolate, without doors or windows.  We spent the night on the floor of that house. We were hungry and thirsty. We regretted having thrown away the stale bread that would have turned into a feast. As the saying goes, “With hunger, there is no stale bread.”

In the early morning darkness, I was awakened to giant eyes staring at me, embedded in a horrible, horned face only half a meter away.  I stuck my head through the window. I let out a cry of terror that woke up my friend Jorge and echoed through the mountain. The face with the giant eyes that were watching me opened its mouth and emitted a low, “Mooo,” as hideous as my scream. The cow and I were terrified of each other. All three of us experienced a tremendous terror.

After the terror of the encounter with the cow, the first rays of the sun were beginning to appear. In the distance, far down the mountain, we saw smoke rising from what looked like a house. We went down to find peasants who offered us two large cups of coffee, sweetened with sugar cane molasses. This sweet coffee gave us enough energy to continue on our way.

I was 17 years old when this story happened. Throughout my life, I have thought of this story as I reflected on the Lord’s prayer, especially “Lord, give us today our daily bread.”

I recently learned that a high percentage of US households throw away approximately $100 worth of food in good condition, each month. This food, bought in excess and then thrown away while still viable, is worth approximately $1,200/year.  As a result, my wife and I made the decision to not buy food in excess. We prefer to visit the supermarket more frequently and consume the food we buy, so that little goes to waste.

When We Take Risks, We Do It Together

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Originally written by Jenny Castro, adapted by Marco Güete

Photo provided by Marco Güete.

In 1970, after a mutual friend introduced us in Cartagena, Colombia, we knew pretty quickly that we wanted to be married. Sandra was 19, and I, Marco, was 18 at the time. 

I grew up moving around a lot, attending a variety of Catholic schools in Colombia and rarely living with my parents. Through these experiences I developed confidence in my own abilities and a sense of independence.

Soon after we married, I traveled to the United States to find work and establish myself, while Sandra stayed in Colombia. After reuniting eight months later in the US, we enrolled in evening technical and language schools. Sandra learned English and I studied IBM computers. 

I was agnostic; we didn’t go to church.  I didn’t believe in anything that had to do with church or God. But one day a neighbor invited her pastor over to talk with us. We were confronted with the gospel. That same day, Sandra and I made a decision to be followers of Jesus Christ. Eventually we were invited to a small Mennonite church.

After a year of deliberation and discernment, we took a leap of faith, sold our business in New York, and moved our family to Goshen, IN, for me to attend Goshen College. After I graduated from college, we moved to Illinois, and I enrolled at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard to finish my master’s degree in theological studies. We were young and had energy.

For a number of years, we worked as church planters in Chicago. I was also the new director for the Hispanic Ministries Department of the General Conference Mennonite Church. It was through this work that an idea popped in my mind. The idea would become the Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (IBA, or Anabaptist Biblical Institute).

In 1988, I drafted a proposal, outlining the first lessons of an instructional manual.  At IBA’s 25th anniversary celebration, more than 1,000 people had finished the program and many were serving the church.

Sandra and I do almost everything together. Our projects have always been joint projects: ministry, business, travel, and many ventures. When we take risks, we do it together.

For 51 years, we have been taking risks together. In the ’90s, we returned to Colombia, where I served as director of the Latin-American Anabaptist Center (CLARA) and the Colombia Mennonite Bible Seminary.  My name was on the blacklist of the Colombian military, because of the conscientious objector position of the church.  

I have also served as Associate Conference Minister for Western District Conference and South Central Conference, Conference Minister for Southeast Mennonite Conference, and today I serve as a Leadership Minister for Mosaic Conference. 

A life of ministry hasn’t been easy. There have been times when work required that I travel substantially, leaving Sandra at home with our children. “The hardest period was the teenage years,” Sandra says and laughs. “My kids were good, but teenagers are teenagers. And everything always happened when Marco was away.”

We enjoy our lives in Sarasota, FL — the work, the community of faith, and one another. The other day, when we were walking at the mall, I whispered in Sandra’s ear, causing her to laugh. “A woman came up to us and said, ‘Watching you two makes me believe in love,’ shared Sandra. She was surprised to find out that we’ve been married over 48 years!

We never finish learning. As we change and grow over the years, we fix some things and realize there are other areas we need to work on.

When Seeking Opportunity Leads to Chaos and Desolation

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At all times in human history, people have moved to countries where there is work and economic security. Today, many Africans are going to Italy and Spain. Arabs are moving to France and Germany. South Americans and Arabs are fleeing to the United States.

Isaiah 25:1-9  25:8 Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. Photo by Marco Güete.

More than three thousand years ago Elimelech, driven by famine, went with his wife, Naomi, to live in Moab for more than ten years. In Moab, Elimelech and his three sons died, leaving three widowed women full of anguish, doubt, and death. The survivors’ lives were full of desolation and chaos.

Now, in the United States, millions of people are living the same experiences of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. Many are living the same experiences of Jews in Germany and almost all of Europe under Nazi persecution in the 1940s. Some are living the same experiences of the persecution of blacks by white supremacy in the United States in the sixties.

Migration is a universal right. The freedom to migrate appears as a right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This international document was adopted in 1948. It contains descriptions of fundamental individual rights and the most basic freedoms that correspond to all human beings, including the request for asylum in other countries. The right to seek asylum is also an integral part of US law.

Every human being persecuted and threatened in their country has the right to migrate, yet the majority prefer to stay at home. For those who do leave, they are abandoning their roots, family, culture, and their food. They are being expelled and separated from what they love.

Crying Giant, 2002, Tom Otterness,  The Hague, Netherlands photo provided by Marco Güete.

History repeats itself and the powerful persecute the disadvantaged. The invisible, or those who do not have legal documents to stay in this great country, are constantly under threat of major raids by the government, detaining fathers and mothers, separating them from their children and deporting them. Children are terrified of going to school. Parents are terrified to go to work. It is a life of panic, chaos, and desolation. 

Thousands, if not millions, of the invisible ones are members of churches and many are from our Mennonite Church. In the story of Elimelech, Naomi, and Ruth, there was redemption through Boaz, whom God used as God’s instrument. The church today is the instrument of God, and the church is all those who participate in it.