Mosaic News en Español

Publicado en: PROTESTANTE DIGITAL – Kairós y Cronos – El Reino de Dios, política y ciudadanía. Entrevista con César García (II)

Translated to English by Andres Castillo.

We continue the conversation with César García, General Secretary of Mennonite World Conference, about his book What Is God’s Kingdom and What Does Citizenship Look Like? (Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 2021). MWC is not only formed by Mennonite churches, but also includes other Anabaptist communities.

Q: César, based on what you said in the first part of our conversation, would you say that the Gospel has economic dimensions?

A: The word “Mammon” comes from Aramaic, transliterated to Greek in the New Testament and only used four times by Jesus to mean wealth, money, or riches. By analyzing what Jesus says about Mammon in Matthew 6, we can come to understand how the economy of Mammon is different and even contrary to the Kingdom of God. “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Let’s start with a look at how Jesus talked about money. By creating this character, he warns us of the possibility that God competes with another master in our lives: material possessions. Possessions can enslave us, creating confusion about our purpose, source of happiness, and safety.

Q: What you’ve told me reminds me of anabaptist theologian Ronald Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity. How do the teachings of Jesus about not giving in to Mammon come together for Mennonites and Anabaptists?

A: From an Anabaptist perspective, the uncontrollable desire to possess things drives us to sin, but the Spirit of God frees us to practice helping mutually. What I’ve described here as the economy of God requires a significant change in our paradigms. Getting to the point where we limit ourselves for the common good is a miracle, but that’s exactly what our world needs. Nations search desperately for alternatives to consumerism due to the harm it’s causing to our planet. Economists today propose strategies of political control if we want to survive as human beings. There is more consciousness of the need to restrict our insatiable way of life to recuperate the health of the planet. Curiously, Anabaptists have been teaching this for centuries, what we simply call “a way of life” due to spiritual discipline. That spiritual discipline teaches us, among other things, to: 

• Choose things based on their function rather than the social status they might reward us with. 
• Reject anything that causes addiction.
• Enjoy things without owning them.
• Avoid using credit as much as possible. 
• Refuse things that are the product of the oppression of others. 
• Appreciate and take care of God’s creation.
• Practice generosity.

Q: Changing the subject a bit, what can Christians do to influence society?

A: As Christians know, the church is called to carry the message of reconciliation with God and among human beings. However, the way the message is told has not always been consistent with the results we are looking for. When we analyze the history of the church, we can identify various ways in which the church has responded to this responsibility, various forms in which the church has played a role understood as a people of reconciliation facing society.

The first focus can be called conversionist. It has to do with the belief that the only thing we have to do in order to transform society is put a few Christians in positions of power.

The second option, which can be called transformationalist, seeks to transform society by changing power structures with the implementation of Christian values. 

A third option, the separatist impulse, has to do with distancing oneself from society while rejecting any possibility of fundamental societal transformation.

I’d like to suggest here that, from an Anabaptist perspective, there is another possibility. This possibility seeks to encourage societal transformation through the promotion of healthy understandings of religious freedom from the margins of society.

Q: Would you please explain this other possibility?

A: In the Anabaptist tradition, the nature itself of the church requires the separation of church and state. Given that faith cannot be forced, religious freedom is necessary to guarantee the possibility that the faith springs up. The voluntary decision to follow Christ is evident through baptism, the point of entry to the church. That implies that the church is formed by believers that have decided to voluntarily form a new community—that of the Kingdom of God. This way of understanding the Christian faith and the church demands liberty to choose our own beliefs, values, and ethics. It also implies that there will be people who will choose to not follow Christ. The possibility of saying no to the faith and to Christian values must exist in order to assure that there is an alternative community to that of this world. 

Q: Religious freedom, therefore, is not a synonym of using the power of the state to “christianize” society. What is it?

A: Religious freedom avoids the temptation to depend on human governments to promote the faith, values, or ways of life of Christians. Seeking ways to obtain legal privileges for our own religious group that are higher than those of others is fundamentally incompatible with this perspective. Religious freedom implies the possibility to choose between different beliefs or none, between Christian ethics and others. The policies and values of the Kingdom of God must only be accepted voluntarily by a society through a process of genuine interaction that includes people of other religions as well as those without faith. Christian ethics must present themselves convincingly, with arguments so persuasive that communities of people of different beliefs implement them as a response to their own beliefs, not by force. Laws that reflect Christian values must be determined through dialogue, negotiation, and consensus among people who don’t share the same faith. 

From this comes the conclusion that one of the first ways in which the Christian community influences the society that surrounds it has to do with letting all voices be heard, even those that oppose it. Followers of Christ must stand up for the inclusion of people of other religions and people without faith in the establishment of rules for society. Governments govern for all, not only for Christians. God isn’t interested in coercing people into behaving in ways that aren’t the results of beliefs. Christian ethics—a life that reflects the transforming gift of the grace of God in a Christian disciple—is not for Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, or those without faith; but rather, for the followers of Christ. 

Q: Today in Latin America, there is a growing temptation to be imposing, to believe that it is necessary to make laws that punish those who don’t follow the rules they consider to be Christian. What do you think of this?

A: Influencing within our society in ways that don’t respect religious freedom, that don’t allow people to choose their own lifestyle, will side us with those who throw stones. It will make us oppressors instead of oppressed. It will make us act in a way that will paralyze others with fear.

“Take it easy” was the last thing I heard Adamino Ortiz say to me over the telephone. Whether he meant to calm me or wish me luck in his own Puerto Rican style, I was left with doubt. There was a certain irony about it. Learning more about this man, who always seems more active and hardworking than ever, more of a protagonist than ever, a man who never truly retires; makes it hard to believe that he really means those words—“take it easy.”

The Passing of Two Wives

Whether or not it was irony that came from his mouth, it is certain that he has had to take it easy in many difficult, crucial moments. The passing of two wives, being let go from the architecture company where he finally found footing in the United States, and a lack of initial accommodation in a Christian church are some. Apart from these isolated occurrences of “taking it easy,” his journey as a whole tells a different story.

Adamino Ortiz is one of the latinos who has made a name for himself in Pennsylvania through his work. He has shared a table with governors, been recognized by human rights organizations, and by the state itself. It seems that he has always helped develop new programs or lines of action that help diminish the needs of latino immigrants who need the most help in his area—all as a result of long years of work, collaboration with teams, and an anointed, laborious vocation.

Puerto Rican of the Purest Strain

He is a Puerto Rican of the purest strain from a methodist background, able draftsman of engineering and architecture, and conscientious objector in his youth. At age 29, he moved to the United States as an answer to a letter from his older brother, who, already living in the States, invited him to come as well. Adamino accepted, and in a short time traveled to the northeast of the country.

In The Mennonite, readers will find a detailed article from March 2011 about Adamino’s life with the title “Organizer Extraordinaire for God.” It is a summary of his professional life and his journey as a christian, which he has been on for the last few decades with the Mennonite church, giving us years of service and brotherhood.

God has Brought you with a Purpose

The Mennonite’s article tells that a retired North American missionary who served in Costa Rica, John Lenko, told Adamino once: “God has brought you with a purpose.”

When Adamino was let go after seven years of work as a result of staff cuts in the architecture company he worked for, he stopped his job search participating in the start of an ambitious project that would help immigrants in Pottstown, PA called ACLAMO (Latin-American Communal Action of Montgomery County).

For Adamino, this job became his ministry. “I served the Lord by helping the community,” he states. While it only dealt with cultural programs at the beginning, he helped to implement areas oriented toward social services. To meet this objective he started at the ground level, taking a census of hispanic people in the county—around 10,000 people.

The organization dedicated itself to offering social services, among those the connection of immigrants with job opportunities, teaching English, healthcare connections, basic education for children, and help for the elderly with social security. Adamino’s vision was even bigger. He understood that immigrants also had spiritual needs, and for that reason he tried to link his services with ministry. 

Today, ACLAMO continues its work years after Adamino stepped down as its director. The organization continues helping latino immigrants and has even increased its services and area of action, with offices now in Norristown as well as Pottstown.

This article is translated to English by Andrés Castillo. Original article appears in Mosaic News En Español: Crónica de Dos Huracanes en un Viaje a Honduras por Javier Marquez

$500 from Mosaic 

The original plan was for Juan José Rivera to go back to Sarasota on November 20th, after three arduous, jam-packed weeks of work in Honduras. He’d been there for a few days, visiting Mennonite congregations, preaching and collaborating with the churches located around the city of San Pedro Sula. He carried a sum of money for basic necessities—$500—that the Mosaic Missions Committee had given him. But all plans would fall to the ground, or—more graphically described—destroyed, flooded, and erased by the hurricanes.

Tons of Water, Overflowing Currents

Pastor Juan José was visiting his native land accompanied by his wife, Elena. He had been living in the city of San Pedro Sula, in the house of members of one of the congregations he had plans to visit. Then, hurricane Iota came directly upon the city as an inferno measuring to the tons in water, with overflowing currents that made the roads disappear, creating lakes where there used to be soccer fields, and waterfalls where the hills of the city once were.

The rain wasn’t much more than a heavy downpour, but the real terror came from the wind, whose power uprooted trees and de-roofed houses. People were lost, and the turmoil was national, not only city-wide. Juan José and Elena had to seek refuge in a hotel when their host house flooded with water. They helped as much as they could, even trying to remove water from the house to rescue what was lost. At the end, they had to give up. On the way to refuge, in the street, they saw the way the people struggled unceasingly, their eyes defending themselves from the trauma of the present while trying to save their properties. Many yelled for people who wouldn’t be found, while others looked through the puddles for food, clothes, and even money. For Juan José it was frustrating to not be able to help, to watch, with his own eyes, people drowning in the currents of water that ran through the city.

An Out-of-Commission Airport

Many things were canceled, the plan was totally interrupted, but Juan José and Elena were daring more than ever to collaborate with the imminent torrent of necessity growing around them. Their mission there was to serve, although with a plan of activities defined, in that moment, after the untimely ruining of their timeline, they looked for a way to help the most they could. Also, the news that the airport was out of commission, making it impossible to return to the U.S., made it clear that there was more time for them to serve than was planned.

They traveled to the south of Honduras to the Choluteca region. There they collaborated in what they could, handing out meals, tending to the wounded—however much was needed. Many were left with nothing, and the pastor and his wife helped whoever they could. Pastor Juan José wrote a report afterwards with the specific names of those who were supposed to receive economic help from him. The original sum had doubled, leaving him to cover it with his own money at the time.

Children Rummaging through Trash, Asking for Money

One of his projects is the appropriation of a piece of arable land that he’s lent to rural dwellers in the region to work and live off of. All of this was lost, destroyed completely by the passing of the hurricanes. They now need double the help—help to restore the land, and help to work it. It was at one of these sites where pastor Juan José saw—in an event that surely duplicates itself in the entire country—children rummaging through the trash, asking for money, pulling adults by the arm, all with the same question on their lips:

– “Do you need any help with anything? Do you have any work for me?”

Finally, the pastor and his wife returned to their home in Sarasota on December 16th. The memory has remained in their hearts, just as it happened, since they left Honduras.

This article is translated to English by Andrés Castillo. Original article appears in Mosaic News En Español: Sopa Comunitaria en Iglesias Anabautistas-Menonitas en América Latina, Venezuela en la Crisis una Oportunidad por Javier Marquez

COVID-19 is perhaps the most specific way to describe our present situation. All of us have witnessed our lives reshaped in order to face the global epidemiological crisis. The world finds out about issues as quickly as they happen, and people, whether they like it or not, are intimately involved in the development of all of this.

In spite of this global panorama, anabaptists churches around the world continue finding  incentives to face the crisis in the Bible, remembering two fundamental values we understand from scripture and from our callings as the church: persisting in the community and helping one another.

This is a report about the cases of a few anabaptist churches in Latin America, with the purpose of finding out how and what our brothers and sisters are doing in this part of the continent, as well as accompanying the global community in prayer.

In Mexico, as we will see in each country, many churches have opted to continue meeting virtually. In the case of Iglesia Fraternidad Cristiana Vida Nueva (Christian New Life Brotherhood Church) in Mexico City, since the first Sunday of quarantine, members have been attempting to connect and share the service via Facebook and ZOOM. This change, according to pastor Marisol Arriaga, was due so that the congregation could continue to participate.

In every country where we ask, the same is reported: Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Honduras, and Guatemala. In Asunción, Paraguay, Karina Bogarín, youth of Maranata de los Hermanos Menonitas (Maranatha of the Mennonite Brothers), emphasizes how the elders of the church have had to migrate to contemporary technology and that they are, in a great sense, those who are bringing the most to prayer and communication among members.

Within the crisis, churches have found opportunities to explore and discover different methods to share. In Colombia, for example, Iglesia Menonita de Teusaquillo (Teusaquillo Mennonite Church) in Bogota have celebrated the Last Supper in a virtual service where everyone, from their homes, prepared the utensils necessary to share this symbol of unity in the body of Christ and the memory of what Jesus did on the cross.

One interesting story is of a young man, Santiago Manrique, conscientious objector and part of the community of Iglesia Menonita Ciudad Berna (Berna City Mennonite Church) in Bogota, who, during the time when regional measures began to be taken, found himself in Panama and, due to the closing of airports in his homeland, has had to stay there. Contact with his church family through WhatsApp and ZOOM has been fundamental for him to be able to live so far from home during this time. 

In Cuba, where the situation is particularly different to that of other Latin American countries due to the difficulties connecting to the internet, it has been much more of a luxury to bring meetings online. However, there has been a WhatsApp network in use where members are informing us of the situations families are going through, at least in Havana, according to what one Cuban anabaptist church youth leader, Moises Santana, tells us.

The virtual congregation is not only a living example of community spirit in our sister churches of Latin America. It is also a case of social responsibility, of understanding that the church finds itself in a social knot—it can be just as much of an actor in the betterment of society as in the harming of it, according to the correctness of its decisions.

Virtual meetings don’t have the sole objective of continuing ecclesiastic Sunday activities. They have been, above all, a method of mutual care and safety. COVID-19 is causing harm that goes beyond social health. Global attention to the crisis, with measures of preventative isolation and stagnation, are generating grave economic and psychological problems.

Pastors are insisting on the difficult task of maintaining social isolation. Although this can produce loneliness and stress in many church members, the value that they place on the virtual continuation and the exploration of methods that allow for more participation and contact among the congregation is something to highlight.

Churches in every country are trying to face the economic problem that quarantining generates with coordinated assistance to the people who need it most in their congregations. In Colombia, Iglesia Menonita de Teusaquillo is trying to give out groceries to families in need, among these Venezuelan immigrants. In Mexico, through Ministerio Sendas de Justicia (Paths of Justice Ministry), which came about two years ago when the caravan of immigrants traveled from Central America, groceries are being donated to those in need.

Another country with a peculiar situation due to its politics is Venezuela, where there are also anabaptist missions and churches. In Isla Margarita, pastors Euclides and Darnelis help the Bolivar Bay community by baking bread and distributing bags of coffee, as well as serving soup to the community. In Caracas, the congregation of pastor Erwin Mirábal is cooking beans and arepas to share with the people living in the streets.

In different Central American countries, the Caribbean, the Andean region, and the southern cone, it has been possible to observe the work of churches trying to help the neediest with what they can. They are collecting donations to give to the neediest; it is evident that the churches that previously had active social roles have found it easier to contact food banks or assistance entities. Pastor David Morales in Guatemala has explained how his community has been able to deliver key hygienic supplements such as disinfectant and masks thanks to a pharmacy owned by a member of the congregation.

For the moment, there are very few cases of contagion being reported from members of the Latin American congregations. However, we are conscious of the lamentable case of a family member of pastor José Manuel Guamán, who died due to the virus in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. This news has created a chain of prayer in different countries in the region.