Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Mosaic News en Español

Fernando Pérez and his Wife Rebeca Torres Building a Mennonite Community in the State of Morelos, Mexico

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In the State of Morelos, Mexico, is the eternal springtime. Throughout the year the sun falls on the heads of all its inhabitants but crossing the meadows and coming down from the mountains comes a breeze that makes living in Morelos a much more bearable activity.

In this place live our friends Fernando Pérez and Rebeca Torres, pastors of many years and who served not long ago in Denver, Colorado, together with the Mennonite Church helping immigrants.

Today they have a mission there and the Mosaic Conference is strengthening ties with them while looking at ways to help and cooperate with this ministry.

For Fernando and Rebeca, it is very important to introduce themselves to the community first as neighbors and create bonds of friendship and trust before going “door to door, street to street” preaching. They say that the most important thing is to be a community, long before CREATING an Anabaptist community. That is why they have also connected with different spheres of neighborhood help.

But in parallel, two meetings for prayer and biblical reflection have also begun, one virtual and the other face-to-face. The virtual community that started in 2020 already brings together 11 people, it is called LOS ANABAPTISTAS DEL CAMINO, and it brings together, above all, brothers, and sisters with a professional profile.

The other community, the face-to-face, is with the residents of the community of Morelos. They meet on Thursdays to pray and read the Bible. It still does not have any official Anabaptist character because for Fernando and Rebeca the most important thing is the exercise of theology more than the discourse… that story is explained in due time.

But the mission does not end there, our brothers are also connected with a center to help Central American migrants in the town of Cuautla and with a group of families who are looking for those who have disappeared due to violence.

“We would like the Mosaic Conference to have in the future an accompaniment represented by volunteers who come to learn about the mission and to help, also from a cultural exchange perspective. It is also important to promote the projects, with the help of some financial resources. What we do with immigrants, for example, is often very limited by the limited capacity for action that we have” explains Fernando Pérez.

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.”

What One Day Was, But is No Longer

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Translated into English by Andrés Castillo

Editor’s note: This is part two of Dania Hernández’s call story. Part one is available here. Hernández is Pastor of Peña de Horeb, a Mosaic congregation in Philadelphia, PA.

Life for Hernández in the US began in a less conventional way. Confident that this was what she wanted, she did not look back for a single moment and moved forward. Her relationship with her boyfriend strengthened and soon she became his wife and the mother of his three children. They put down roots and decided to fight for life in the country of opportunity.

That’s how the first twenty years passed, years in which Hernández experienced great joys, along with deep sorrows. Among the moments she counts as blessings is having been reunited with God and overcoming the many challenges she encountered along the way.

Hernández felt a deep desire to serve God and was called to be a pastor. Doors opened for an opportunity in a Mennonite faith community called Peña de Horeb in Philadelphia, PA. Everything seemed perfect. She had what she had always dreamed of: a cozy home and economic stability.

What happens when all this begins to fall apart? How do you deal with fear? How do you face the moments of darkness that enclose your life? How do you coexist between what once was, but is no longer?

Divorce and a Dead End

Love is defined in many ways: a feeling of affection towards another human being or one thing; the free decision to feel affinity for others or others; the greatest force that moves the human being. Love never comes without wounds.

Life had begun to become difficult for the married couple. The constant psychological abuse and humiliation that Pastor Dania experienced from her husband made her lose herself in a dead-end. Her self-love waned to such an extent that this was reflected in her gaze, her body, her skin, and the constant anxiety she experienced. Pastor Dania was followed by pain generated by the separation from her husband.

“A part of one always knows that it can all end,” Hernández said sadly. “She perceives it, discerns it, but doesn’t understand it. The signs or red flags that appear on the road are as obvious as the coldness of a conversation, the loneliness in each other’s company, the silence generated by the distance, the uncomfortable looks. One becomes blind out of fear of letting go, when in reality letting go is the most beautiful act of freedom.”

Pastor Dania would have loved for the story with her ex-husband to have been different. Unfortunately, her story, her wounds, and her scars cannot be erased. They remain there to remind her that if she had not traveled this path, she might not have become the woman she is today: a tolerant, compassionate woman, full of love and courage, who, in the midst of the deepest dark waters, was able to come to the surface and raise her head high.

Pastor Dania’s call story will conclude next week with part III.

Goodbye, Beloved Nicaragua

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Translated into English by Andrés Castillo

Editor’s Note: Dania Hernández is Pastor of Peña de Horeb, a Mosaic congregation in Philadelphia, PA. This is part one of Pastor Dania’s call to ministry story.

Dania Hernández finds her story in the many places she has traveled. At 20 years old, still living with her family in Nicaragua, she decided to embark on a journey of no return to the United States, accompanied by her boyfriend. Every place she traveled, every meal she tasted, every scent she smelled, every person she met, every decision she made, led her to the experiences that make up her existence.

From her resilient and moving story, she shares with us the difficult and dangerous passage across the border between Mexico and the United States. Was she aware of the danger to which she was exposed? What happened after she arrived in the United States? How would she overcome the harshest circumstances? Can forgiveness make rebirth possible?

Leaving Nicaragua, the Gallo Pinto, and Half of Her Life

Hernández left Nicaragua, and with it, half of her life. The comforting Gallo Pinto dish on Sundays, the parties with friends, the warm Christmases, the naps after lunch, the refuge of her home. The road to the US is long and strange, but at the same time exciting and wonderful; it is a mixture of sweet and sour sensations “that stir inside you,” said Hernández.

“I felt like I was in a movie,” said Pastor Dania. “For me, it was more of an adventure of youth. I was not aware of the dangers I faced, and without realizing it, I was the protagonist of the film of my life, where God took care of every step I took.”

No matter how difficult and dangerous it was to move forward on the road that would lead to her American dream, she did not hesitate for a second. In a firm and safe step together with her boyfriend at the time, she crossed the long and dangerous road along the border—a path full of thick and dense vegetation. They slept and ate in makeshift places. That didn’t matter, because she was getting closer and closer to reaching the goal they had visualized.

Sometimes during the day, she and the other group of people she was traveling with in a cargo truck were transported, while at night they were dropped off somewhere else where they had to travel long distances to get near the desert. On other occasions it was the opposite, where they walked during the day in high temperatures, fearing heat stroke. They had not yet reached the border, but Dania felt so alive, so full of faith and hope for the new life she would start.

She was finally able to reach the border. Her passage was not traumatic, but along the way she had to say goodbye to other people who could not reach that goal because death met them.

“Against all odds,” said Hernández, “we were able to reach Philadelphia, where a church brother became our support.”

Part two of Pastor Dania’s story continues next week.

Love Experiments and Give Us Our Daily Bread

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English translation by Andres Castillo

In this article we review some publications that were made on the Mosaic news page in the same spirit that has inspired our Spanish section, which is to build bridges between church members in the Mosaic Conference. 

LOVE EXPERIMENTS

Eloise Meneses wrote a review of the book recently published by Emily Ralph Servant entitled Experiments in Love. It’s a wonderfully evocative book, according to this review. Emily is an Anabaptist writer for the Anabaptist church in the second decade of the 21st century. She is a prophet of self-examination and transformation based on the need to “to reshape (perhaps remodel, or deconstruct) the theological stories told by church leaders, towards an emphasis on God’s own vulnerability and willingness to risk for us”.

In her book she makes a call to reevaluate the role of the church with the “outside world” and with people different from us; that role is also a relationship. The book is mostly aimed at traditional Anabaptist communities, but Hispanic communities may also process Emily’s words in their own ways. The book is written in English, and so the translation of this review is a source of theological and spiritual growth for our Hispanic communities

GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD

I will write it as I originally thought: “if a life of faith is not also an aesthetic-artistic experience, then it is poorly focused.” That’s why Brooke Martin’s account on May 27 is deeply inspiring and rich. He has not so much written a metaphor as she has testified to how she immerses herself in Jesus when she kneads and bakes bread for her family.

She has turned to the prayer that Jesus taught us when he said, “Give us our daily bread.” It is a very sensitive and spiritual reference for Brooke when she bakes bread for her children. She does not bake daily, but reflects on and acknowledges the fact that we need the bread of Jesus daily, just as in the time of Jesus when baking bread was a daily necessity.

Welcoming the Frustrations

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This article was originally written in Spanish, translated into English by Andres Castillo.

When you hear stories like these, there is nothing to do but start to thank God for our moments of personal dissatisfaction. Those same moments where one feels incomplete in a mission upon returning home, despite fulfilling plans and even receiving recognition from external voices. Each minute forms a whirlpool of frustration of its own, but it also becomes a moment of creativity, designed by God Himself to make way for something new.

Marco Güete returned to Kansas from Canada feeling similarly after attending a camp organized by the Mennonite church of Canada for Spanish and English speakers alike. Marco was on a mission to give workshops in Spanish on Anabaptist history and radical reform. Marco arrived at the site, laid out his material, and dictated his class. But in the course of it all, he felt that the class had not equally reached all the students. It was dictated in an academic language that was out of reach of many of the Hispanic students who didn’t have the theoretical basis to understand him.

From this dissatisfaction and a long flight, an idea was born: a biblical institute designed for people of any academic level. It would simultaneously serve those who could barely read or write and people who already had a couple of diplomas.

Marco arrived at his home determined to turn his fantasy into reality. A little while later he invited a group of pastors to a lecture hall in Kansas City. There, in the summer of 1986, after kneading and turning the idea over the fire a few times, the IBA (Anabaptist Bible Institute) was born.

At first the IBA had to borrow material from other institutions, but after a while they began to write their own books. Marco recalls especially the first two books that were written, the first on the History of the Radical Reformation and the second, two volumes, called Walking Through the Old Testament. The books were written by experts in the field, historians and theologians, but they still had the tendency to use technical language that was not easily understandable by all students. Marco set to work and tried to turn the texts into easy-to-understand teaching materials. In the end, he succeeded.

Marco Güete was director of the IBA for the first 14 years of its existence. When he stepped down, it had 12 centers, more than 80 students, 12 tutors, and almost all original material. The IBA became a biblical institute that visited churches, opening centers in the same communities where students graduated. Because of this, some conferences adopted the IBA as their pastoral accreditation program. The IBA helped churches in preparing its leaders, in preserving an Anabaptist missionary and theological identity, and in helping to strengthen the church in general. Five years ago Marco returned to leadership of the IBA and now invests his efforts in giving continuity and growth to the institute. The church in general thanks God for the blessing that is the IBA.

Mourning with our Brothers and Sisters

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This post was originally written in Spanish by Javier Márquez and is translated into English by Andres Castillo.

“I feel sad. I feel angry, because I’m from Indonesia. I feel really angry, that’s how I feel about this whole situation.” Aldo Siahaan. 

“I’m sad and angry, but also open to learn about how I can rise up with my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.” Marta Castillo

“I am sad about this situation especially because I am living in the United States, a country that defends Human Rights.” Stephen Zacheus.

“I feel helpless. Asians are only 5% of the population in the United States. We are a real minority, and we do not know what to do. We do not know how to respond.” Benny Krisbianto.

We the Hispanic Church are not unaware of the attacks of hatred, discrimination, xenophobia and rejection suffered by immigrants in the United States, so we must feel closer than ever to our Asian brothers and sisters, in these days when they have become the focus of a wave of violence biased by hatred and ignorance.

“This Webinar is a space of encouragement for Asian-American leaders. Spirit of the living God, make this a safe and mutually transforming space for all.” With these words, the space for reflection and dialogue held by the Mosaic Conference called Seeking Peace and Justice in a time marked by Violence towards Asian-Americans opened on March 25.

As a church we seek to respond to this serious problem, and that is why we must feel in our hearts the same pain upon seeing the violence suffered by our Asian brothers and sisters as if it happened with a Hispanic person.

In our congregations, it is worth asking ourselves the same questions that were asked in the first minutes of the Webinar:

How do you feel about this?
How are you?
What are you experiencing?

We must remember that one of the fundamental calls of the Church on the part of the Spirit of God is that of unity, care among us, and a hunger and thirst for justice. May this short article serve us to address the subject also to the Hispanic churches, because this is something that also concerns us, encourages us to pray publicly in our congregations, to speak up as if it were our own people because in reality Asians are also our own people. We accept this and value the moment we understand the call of the gospel of Jesus in our lives together with his love.

Peña De Horeb: Shepherds of Souls in Need of Prayer

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This article was originally published in Spanish: La Peña De Horeb y Los Ex Presidiarios written by Javier Márquez, and was translated into English by Andres Castillo.

A few days ago, pastor Dania M. Hernández entered the building where her church meets on 11th and Washington in South Philadelphia and found the following note:

“I need your prayer. I am a God-loving soul, in the streets without a shepherd, and I need prayer. –Medeste.”

Dania’s ministry began in her native Nicaragua, inherited also by a family that received and helped missionaries. At a very young age, God gave her the desire to serve. She was able to travel across her country, and learn to live what she calls “true life”: addressing the levels of need and poverty in the world.

Pastor Dania not only receives notes at her church, but also people from the streets, people who have had a very difficult life, and who have uncertain futures. In one case, Pastor Dania was even told: “I’m going to take my own life. You’ll be the last person I’ll talk to.”

These continuous occurrences characterize the ministry of the church Peña de Horeb. Since its birth almost three years ago, it has been a ministry that gives living water to souls who thirst for just a taste of grace and love.

Peña de Horeb, like many rock bands, was born in a garage—Dania’s. Pastor Dania took advantage of her transportation business to share the Word and started a small group that originally planned to meet only for Bible study. At that time, she was part of Centro de Alabanza, where she had learned the Mennonite vision of reaching out to others and of community service.

Shortly after starting the Bible study, Dania reached out to someone who had invited a group of ex-convicts to attend the service at her home. She was frightened, she told them. In response, the person told her not to worry, that they were going to show up anyway—and they did. Fifteen ex-convicts arrived in a van and went straight down to her basement.

“That day, the Lord led our service,” explains Pastor Dania.

That day, the pastor had the support of Pastor Aldo of Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC). His church has also found great, timely support from different people of Mosaic Conference, such as Steve Kriss, Marta Castillo, and Noel Santiago. Pastor Dania and her community are a church that has received the revelation of God to effectively share Christ with the neediest around them, just as God promised that He would give drink to His people in the desert.