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Confession and forgiveness part of loving your neighbour

Young Anabaptist Kevin Ressler asked how the Anabaptist church can regain its confidence and become boldly prophetic again. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Shantikumar S. Kunjam, a member of the Mennonite World Conference Deacons Commission, reminded the gathered assembly that we need each other’s loving service and a willingness to share with one another. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Members of the music ensemble play music by Bach in the Friday morning mass session of Mennonite World Conference Assembly. Each day the ensemble led music from a specific continent. Friday’s focus was Europe. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman) 

“We are here today, celebrating our common Anabaptist faith and our position in the Lord Jesus Christ,” was the greeting from Shantkumar S. Kunjam of India, who took the platform Friday morning representing the MWC Deacon Commission.

Mukawa calls for reconciliation with God, others

Nzuzi Mukawa, a Congolese Mennonite Brethren pastor and educator, preached on walking with conflict and reconciliation. He highlighted the biblical character Abigail as an example of faithful peacemaking. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Only five singers represented Eastleigh Fellowship Choir from Kenya; the other 25 were denied visas. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

The music ensemble led attendees in spirited singing, with a focus on songs from Africa. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Nzuzi Mukawa, a Congolese Mennonite Brethren pastor and educator and the MB Mission team leader for Sub Sahara Africa, challenged his audience Thursday evening to leave Mennonite World Conference Assembly as men and women who are reconciled with God and with others.

Anabaptist World Cup starts Thursday

Players have fun in the first ever Anabaptist World Cup during the Mennonite World Conference Assembly held in Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Anabaptist World Cup started on July 23, 2015, in at Logan Park in Dillsburg, Pa. This is the first soccer tournament for Mennonite World Conference in Harrisburg, Pa. 

Players range from ages 6 to 72.

The teams were intentionally diversified by country, gender and age, said Andrew Good, organizer.

Praising in painful times

In the Wednesday evening worship Pastor Yukari Kaga reminds those gathered at Mennonite World Conference that, “Jesus’ death has swallowed death in victory,” she said. “This is the work of God’s great power.” (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

In keeping with the evening’s musical focus on Asia, the Conrad Grebel University College Gamelan Ensemble, from Canada, played prelude music for the Wednesday evening service. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

 

Yukari Kaga, a pastor from Japan, admitted Peter’s praise in his letter to the early church seems “a little strange to me.” 

Peter wrote this letter (1 Peter) in such a cruel situation, Kaga said during evening worship July 22, 2015, at Mennonite World Conference Assembly in Harrisburg, Va.

“I have a question, she said. “How can we praise the Lord in such a painful situation?”

First thoughts of a first-time Mennonite World Conference participant

Many people have gathered here in Harrisburg, Pa. Many more, I think, than I have been a part of in worship. Being a part of many people gathering, of many people singing can be a moving experience. We place many bodies in rhythm and so can gain a momentum impossible as individuals. As a description this momentum of course is neither positive nor negative.

Speakers share doubts from their settings, journeys

During Wednesday morning worship time, Deborah, from Indonesia, leads the international music ensemble in the singing of "Nyanyikanlah" (Sing to God a New Song), with gestures typical of worship in her country. The crowd in the big arena joined in with the singing and the movements. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Tigist Tesfaye Gelagle (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

Three speakers—one each from Kenya, Canada and Ethiopia—shared stories of doubt in their local contexts at Mennonite World Conference’s (MWC) morning worship on July 22, 2015.

Mennonites & Brethren in Christ to lament drone warfare

A drone (Courtesy of 1040 for Peace)

Participants in Mennonite World Conference Assembly, a global gathering of Mennonites and other related Anabaptist groups in Harrisburg, Pa., will be invited to assemble for prayer, lament and witness focusing on the terror inflicted by weaponized drones on the people of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Palestine, and Lebanon.

MWC PA 2015 opens with celebration, call for walking together

Picking up on the assembly theme, MWC general secretary César García called listeners to join with others and—together—walk with God. (Photo by Dale Gehman)

At the beginning of the service, a group of Native Americans from Pennsylvania marched in drumming and singing. They recounted some of the history of Native people in Pennsylvania losing their land to whites. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

The 16th Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assembly opened July 21, 2015, in Harrisburg, Pa., with a parade of Mennonites from across the globe, with confession of past treatment of Native Americans in Pennsylvania, with music and with calls for walking with God together.

First ever Anabaptist World Cup set for PA 2015

Brook Musselman (left), logistics coordinator of the Global Youth Summit, and Howard Good, national coordinator of PA 2015, prepare for the Anabaptist World Cup at Logan Field, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Merle Good)

The first ever Anabaptist World Cup will be played on the afternoons of July 22, 23, 24, and 25, 2015, as an optional recreational event during PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly.

The matches will take place at Logan Field, a community soccer field near Dillsburg, Pa., about a 25-minute drive from the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, where PA 2015 will be held.

International music ensemble to lead music at PA 2015

Marcy Hostetler of Lancaster, Pennsylvania is leading the international ensemble of singers and instrumentalists at PA 2015, the international gathering of Mennonite World Conference. (Photo courtesy of Mennonite World Conference)

A 19-member international ensemble of singers and instrumentalists will lead the morning and evening worship each day at PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly to be held in Harrisburg at the Farm Show complex July 21-26, 2015.

Trauma healing in Nigeria

A trauma healing workshop in Nigeria is held under the shade of trees. (Photo courtesy of MCC/Dave Klassen)

A participant weeps as he shares his story in a trauma healing workshop. (Photo courtesy of MCC/Dave Klassen)

A trauma healing team (Photo courtesy of MCC / Dave Klassen)

Musa* grew up in a close-knit family that did not change even as they became adults. The siblings looked out for each other and their parents. When Boko Haram insurgent activity increased in 2014, the family became concerned for the welfare of their parents and tried to get them to move to a safer place.

Classic restorative justice book re-issued

Howard Zehr, author, known as “grandfather of restorative justice,” and author of the influential book Changing Lenses. (MennoMedia photo)

The book offers a framework for understanding crime, injury, accountability, and healing from a restorative perspective. 

Changing Lenses: Restorative Justice for Our Times, by Howard Zehr, remains the go-to text in the restorative justice field, even twenty-five years after it was first published. Herald Press launched an updated edition in June 2015.

Lassana Kanneh is healing

Lassana Kanneh, a former child soldier in Liberia's civil wars, interacts with classmates at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, Va. (Photo by Michael Sheeler)

Celebrating with Summer Peacebuilding Institute classmates, Lassana Kanneh shares an irrepressible spirit for helping his fellow humans heal from great harm and trauma. (Photo by Michael Sheeler)

In 1999, along with more than 20,000 Liberian children, 11-year-old Lassana became a soldier. He was kidnapped and forced to use drugs and alcohol, destroy property, and kill in the Second Liberian Civil War from 1999 to 2003.

Bike to GROW tops $100K entering Ontario

Mary Fehr and Sarah French are cycling across Canada to raise money for women farmers in Ghana. (MEDA photo)

As they biked across the Manitoba border into northern Ontario, Mary Fehr and Sarah French had extra power pushing their pedals.

Past MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) interns Fehr and French are on a four-month bike ride across Canada, called Bike to GROW, to raise $150,000 for MEDA’s GROW (Greater Rural Opportunities for Women) project in Ghana.

Commitment to faith puts farmers at risk

Mennonite Christians in the village of Sidi, Burkina Faso, at a meeting in May 2015. These farmers risk losing access to their land and to their place within the village community because of their faith. They refuse to provide chiefs with items designated for sacrifice to the spirits of the land. (Photo by Siaka Traoré)

In the village of Sidi, Burkina Faso, a group of Mennonite Christians risk losing access to the land they farm and to their place within the village community, because of their faith. They refuse to provide chiefs with items designated for sacrifice to the spirits of the land.

Engaging women’s voices

Kim Penner (left) and Allison Murray planned and facilitated a symposium, “Engaging Women’s Voices on Church, Theology and Mission,” sponsored by Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, with support from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. 

After a full morning of “food for thought,” the diverse group of participants enjoy a fine feast of Indian foods and stimulating conversation about the ways in which their concept of the church’s mission had been expanded. (Photo by Michele Rizoli)

John Rempel, retiring director of Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre enjoys food and conversation with Ajeng Chrissaningrum who presented a paper, “Hard pressed but not crushed,” which was about her research with Javanese Christian women from Indonesia. (Photo by Kim Penner)

Abigail Lofte presents a paper on “Rethinking Humanity’s Relationship with the Earth and its Implications for the Church’s Mission in Light of the Resurrection” as respondent, Henry Paetkau, area church minister for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and symposium moderator Kim Penner listen. (Photo taken by Susan K. Harrison)

Several women in post-graduate theological studies at Toronto School of Theology (TST) challenged the 20 women and men who gathered on a Saturday in early May with new ways of thinking about church, theology and mission. The symposium was sponsored by Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre and supported by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC).

Nepali churches respond to quake victims

Because transportation is a huge issue after the earthquakes in Nepal, residents from the affected villages come to central distribution centers and carry supplies back to their homes. (Eastern Mennonite Missions photo) 

A group of Nepali Anabaptist fellowships is reaching out to communities affected by the April and May 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, with a goal of assisting 2,000 families. The group is known as Binay Church Council.

Saskatchewan Valley Auction celebrates 35 years

Four generations supporting the Foodgrains Bank through the June 20 Osler, Sask. Auction. (L-R) Grandchildren Marcy Ziolkowski, Kianna Regush, grandmother Edna Hays, great-grandmother Bertha Fehr, and mother Rebecca Ziolkowski. (Photo by John Longhurst)

It was raining hard, but nobody was unhappy as they pulled into Walter and Peggy Wiebe’s farmyard near Osler, Sask. on June 20, 2015, for the 35th annual Saskatchewan Valley Auction for Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

“It’s a million dollar rain,” said Bill Wiebe, one of the Auction’s organizers as he watched the rain fall from the shelter of the auction tent.

Cross-cultural experiences lead to growth in faith and skills

Yoweri Murungi, from a town in the Kibaale District in Uganda, is a participant in the Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) program. He is serving in Lusaka, Zambia, as the assistant coordinator of MCC-supported Peace Clubs. (MCC photo by Silas Crews)

Opportunities to fill leadership responsibilities in a local church enrich Yoweri Murungi’s year-long cross-cultural service assignment in Lusaka, Zambia. His many new experiences include leading praise and worship services, Bible study classes and youth ministries at the Chilenje Brethren in Christ church in Lusaka.

Europeans support peace ministry in the Philippines

The city of Dresden, including the Dresden Frauenkirche, was destroyed in WWII. (Photo by Gise Löwe 1958, used by permission of Creative Commons License 3.0)

Mennonite Church Canada workers Daniel and Joji Pantoja (far left front row and 3rd from the right second row, respectively) and PBCI ministry plan to develop Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) teams in each of 81 provinces in the Philippines. 

The Dresden Frauenkirche was destroyed in 1945. Reconstruction began in 1994 and was completed by 2005. It hosted a 70th anniversary commemoration of Dresden’s destruction. (Photo by Kolossos, used by permission of Creative Commons License 3.0)

A heartfelt desire for peace and reconciliation inspired church-goers in Europe to make a gift to PeaceBuilders Community Inc. (PBCI), a ministry in the Philippines. The gift came from donations made at a commemoration event in Dresden, Germany.

Kidnapped in Ukraine

Vlad Makhovskiy, a volunteer with MCC partner Zaporizhzhia Baptist Union, has helped more than 150 people escape from eastern Ukraine. He helps deliver food and blankets to people living in the conflict areas. (MCC photo)

When war broke out in eastern Ukraine, Vlad Makhovskiy decided he could not just sit at home and watch what was happening. He would help. What he did not know was that this choice would eventually lead to his kidnapping.

Exploring how the church welcomes autistic persons

Geralde Reesor-Grooters and her son Kenrik Reesor are exploring ideas for how the church can be more supportive of autistic individuals and their families. (Photo courtesy of Geralde Reesor-Grooters)

How can the church be more autism-friendly? This is the question that has kept me thinking for some time. In my 19-year “career” as the mother of an autistic son, I have seen the many challenges autistic people face, in society at large but also in specific settings such as school and church.

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