By Myra Holmes

Eric Olinger, Tony Denesha and Ron Froehlich were “normal Joes”—regular guys going about their lives during the week and warming the pews on the weekends at The Bridge Bible Church, Bakersfield, Calif. Unless, of course, a ball game was on or the weather was nice enough for a round of golf.

“If football was on, that was my priority,” says Olinger.

All now claim the title “Man of God” and say their lives have been dramatically changed through men’s ministry at The Bridge.

And they’re not the only ones.

“We’ve seen men come to Jesus in flocks,” says Les Pearsey, men’s ministry director.

As men turn their hearts to Christ, their families, the congregation and the community are being transformed.
Pearsey calls the ministry “the M-stuff,” because as it has developed, each facet has been named with an M: M6, M24, M42 and M72.

It began some five or six years ago when church leaders began to ask what more could be done for men. They decided to ask men—not the typical leaders that might come to mind first—but the “normal Joes” like Olinger, Denesha and Froehlich. So each Bridge leader invited several men to a 24-hour retreat at a local ranch, and every invited man came—a total of 42.

Pearsey, charged with planning the event, asked a friend, Pete McKenzie, to speak. McKenzie, then on staff at an Evangelical Free church in Fullerton, Calif., and now head of Influencers, a ministry to men, simply challenged the retreat attendees to be men of God: “Are you willing to be the man God wants you to be?”

Without exception, 42 men stepped forward to answer, “Absolutely.”

Each then invited a few friends to a second 24-hour retreat. Again, each man present stepped up to declare his commitment to living for Christ. Over the course of seven or eight weeks, 112 men made a decision to live differently.

The retreat, now known as M24 (men for 24 hours), has become an annual tradition, with increasing attendance each year. The 2013 M24, held April 26-27, had just fewer than 800 men in attendance.

Each time the message is the same. And each time men respond.

“We serve a big God,” Pearsey says. “God shows up the same way every time.”

M6 and M42 were developed to provide regular discipleship for these men. M6 is a monthly Monday gathering at 6:00 p.m. Some 200-300 men enjoy a meal in the backyard of a home and then hear one man’s testimony.

“It’s amazing to see guys show up and bring new guys to experience the love of Jesus,” says Froehlich.
M42 is a weekly gathering named after those original 42 men. Men gather every Friday at 6:00 a.m. for 42 minutes for small group discipleship. “Journey Groups” use materials offered by Influencers, called “The Journey to the Inner Chamber.” Pearsey says there is usually a line to get in.

While the scope of the M-stuff is impressive, the real story is in the lives changed.

Denesha says his wake-up call came when he found out he was going to be a father.

“I felt this overwhelming feeling that I needed to make some changes in my life so that my son can grow up and be proud of his father as a man of God,” he says.

Through M24 and M42, Denesha says, “I finally gave my life to Christ and decided to fully commit to joining his team.”

He was baptized Dec. 23, 2012—the same day his son was dedicated.

Froehlich and his wife began attending The Bridge in 2010, although not regularly.

“I was pretty good at not getting involved,” he says. “But through the grace of God, that changed.”
Froehlich is now involved in every aspect of M-stuff and says that the relationships he’s made through M42 in particular have “truly saved my life.”

He says, “I have rededicated my life to live for Jesus and to learn what it takes to be the man he wants me to be. And I definitely do need my Journey brothers to keep me on track and growing in the Word.”

Olinger says an M24 retreat three years ago was where his life turned around.

“Jesus grabbed me there, and he entered my life,” he says.

Olinger describes a sunrise gathering at a cross, during which men were invited to leave their “junk” at the cross. He says he kneeled and surrendered his sinful and selfish ways to Christ.

“And he took it. Man, did he take it,” Olinger says. “I walked off that mountain 24 hours later, and I was changed forever.”

When the men experience such change, families are impacted as well. Olinger says his marriage had been rocky at best before that transformational M24, but when he came down that mountain, the change in his life was so evident that other women began to ask his wife about the change. He says his relationships with both his wife and children have been restored.

“Now my entire family has been completely and radically transformed,” he says.

Froehlich also says his marriage is being restored.

“Once I realized that it’s not about me, but about God, I have had a much better perspective of how I am supposed to be as a husband and the spiritual leader of our home.”

The Bridge as a congregation has been transformed as men step up to lead.

“It’s a men-driven church,” Pearsey says.

Before that first M24 retreat, The Bridge had one paid pastor and 500-600 attendees; now the church has half a dozen paid pastoral staff and some 3,000 attendees. And, notes Pearsey, the growth has come not from church transplants but from changed lives.

The impact ripples out to the local community and even across the border as these men reach out. Once a quarter, Journey Groups cooperate to serve the area’s homeless population in partnership with The Mission at Kern County.

In addition to this local service, Bridge men are serving through M72—yearly 72-hour mission trips, often to Mexico, often to build something.

“M72 mission trips to Mexico are unbelievable,” Froehlich says. “We go down to Mexico thinking we are going to bless our Mexican brothers and sisters, but each time we are the ones being blessed. They know what true faith looks like.”

The key to the success of M-stuff is ridiculously simple, says Pearsey:

“Get excited about Jesus and tell someone.”

For more on men’s ministry at The Bridge, visit http://www.thebridgebiblechurch.com/ministries/men.

by Myra Holmes

When Rick Eshbaugh was growing up in Ulysses, Kan., his father ran an auto body shop where he was introduced to the process of smoothing dings, taking out dents and bringing beauty out of brokenness.

One car in particular stands out: a beaten up 1961 Austin Healey Sprite that was received as payment. The car sat untouched for years, until Eshbaugh took on the project and restored the car to its former beauty so that he could give his aging father a ride in it. Then he sold it. For Eshbaugh, the joy was in the restoration, not in the car.

Now Eshbaugh brings that passion for restoration to his role as district minister for the Central District Conference (CDC). He began Jan. 1, shouldering up to 70 percent of the district minister role while also pastoring the Harvey (ND) MB Church. Former district minister Roger Engbrecht serves part-time as minister to the district’s ethnic congregations.

Eshbaugh has experienced his fair share of personal dents, dings and renovation, and he has a deep desire to see churches restored to full effectiveness, whether that means polishing out minor scratches or overhauling major brokenness.

“What draws me is restoration,” he says. “That’s what drew me to the church and to Christ in the first place—restoration, helping heal those things that are broken. For me, that’s what’s most important.”

Eshbaugh came to Christ during a time of personal crisis in high school, influenced by a teacher who happened to be a Mennonite Brethren. As he grew in his faith, he pursued a call to youth ministry with an education at Sterling (Kan.) College, where he met his wife, Esther (couple pictured above).

Their first ministry assignment was with a Presbyterian congregation in Illinois.

“I went there to eat pizza and play with the kids and do ministry,” Eshbaugh says, “but I kind of walked into a buzz saw.”

The church was deeply troubled, and after only a year, the Eshbaughs fled back to Ulysses. The collision had been significant; Eshbaugh was broken.

“I was very disillusioned,” he says.

Remembering that his influential high school teacher, Max Hiebert, attended Ulysses MB Church, Eshbaughs gave the church a try. There, they found restoration. Pastor Jules Glanzer and his wife, Peg, were especially instrumental, Eshbaugh says. Glanzer now serves as president of Tabor College, the MB-owned school in Hillsboro, Kan.

With the full financial and spiritual support of Ulysses MB, Eshbaugh went to seminary at the MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif., and dared to re-enter ministry.

Over a couple of decades of ministry, Eshbaugh has served congregations in the Southern, Pacific and Central districts, including: Enid (Okla.) MB Church; Fairview MB Church, Topeka, Kan., (now Cornerstone Community Church); Birch Bay Bible Community Church, Blaine, Wash.; North Park Community Church, Eugene, Ore.; and now Harvey (ND) MB Church.

A growing interest in church health led him to work alongside then-SDC district minister Roland Reimer in resourcing pastors and revitalizing congregations using Church Resource Ministries, then to join the CRM staff. A specific interest in helping churches through transition and conflict then led to training in intentional interim ministry.

“I think I’ve seen ministry from about every angle,” Eshbaugh says.

He’s seen churches renewed, and he’s seen churches close. He has worked with a variety of church settings and situations. He has walked with congregations through building projects, relocations and pastoral transitions.

And he has worked to mend conflicts rather than just painting over the cracks.

“It seems like I’ve worked with lots of broken churches over the years,” he says—especially through his work with CRM.

But that’s OK with him. “I like things that are broken,” he says, referring again to that Austin Healey, pictured left. “I’d rather restore something than buy something new.”

Eshbaugh describes the district minister as “pastor to the pastors,” a liaison and a resource for district congregations and a CDC representative at the national level. The role necessarily includes a great deal of travel as he visits pastors and connects with some 26 congregations throughout Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

Since Eshbaugh is also pastoring the Harvey church, he tries to limit Sunday absences. While the dual role will be a balancing act, Eshbaugh says the Harvey congregation “viewed this as a way to serve the district.” The church is looking for an associate pastor both to help shoulder the load and to be trained in a hands-on environment.

Eshbaugh says that, in general, the CDC churches have a passion for the lost and a “tenacious” commitment to expanding the kingdom of God through evangelism, church planting and missions. They have a strong heritage and a firm foundation and understand good stewardship.

And yet, many CDC congregations have taken hits. As demographics and economics shift, especially in rural areas, many are facing change or even fighting for survival.

Eshbaugh dreams that all CDC churches will roar to new life rather than limp down the road. Local congregations, he says, are on the front lines of ministry and have the opportunity to do great things for the kingdom. He dreams of every church emboldened with new vision and empowered to transform their community.

“I have a passion for existing churches,” he says. “How can we help them?”

Restoration could look different for each congregation, he points out. Some may need only a polish; some will need to overhaul how they think about ministry. But when congregations learn how to reach out in unique ways that fit their communities, those communities will know renewal as well.

“I would love to see Christ’s church expanded,” he says.

By Connie Faber

It was obvious when talking with James Gilliland, of Memorial Road MB Church, Edmond, Okla., and Shelly Schroeder, of Buhler (Kan.) MB Church, that these two had come to the USMB Board of Faith and Life study conference with some history.

Clearly the duo had thought carefully and for some time about the two articles—Society and State (Article 12) and Love and Nonresistance (Article 13)—under discussion during the study conference held Jan. 24-26 in Phoenix, Ariz.

It was less apparent that Gilliland and Schroeder spent so much of the study conference together because they are siblings who are good friends even though they haven’t always agreed on the use of violence, military service and pacifism.

The study conference, “Kingdom Citizens in a World of Conflict,” provided the Gilliland siblings the opportunity to continue discussions and debates they’ve had since high school.

“The night before the conference we stayed up late talking, and we spent most of the conference together,” says Gilliland. “We spent a lot of time asking, ‘What about this…?’ Or, ‘I read....’ or ‘Does that mean…?’”

Gilliland and Schroeder were among the 174 study conference participants who came to Phoenix to discuss two articles in the Confession of Faith about which there are significant disagreements.

“We are here…because we are not in agreement. So we’re going to have a family talk,” said Ed Boschman, USMB executive director, in his opening remarks. “We are not here to make a decision. We are not here to exercise verbal combat, but we do want an open discussion.”

And that’s what happened over the next three days. The plenary speakers were well prepared and courteous. Participants dealt graciously with one another during table group conversations, open floor discussions and informal break times.

It was also true that no decisions were made. In fact, attendees engaged in only limited discussion about the two articles themselves and gave limited attention to broader confessional issues that emerged during the conference.

Attendees did affirm peacemaking as a key descriptor of U.S. Mennonite Brethren, although there were significant differences in how participants believe that should play out in practice and conviction.

Participants were asked to offer feedback and counsel to BFL using a seven-question survey distributed at the closing session. The board reviewed these suggestions when it met March 13-14 and have issued a letter outlining their next steps.

The format of the study conference, “Kingdom Citizens in a World of Conflict,” was simple. Two papers were presented on each of the two articles. A fifth paper challenged U.S. Mennonite Brethren to be radical peacemakers while living with diverse perspectives on what exactly that means. Papers were followed by a prepared response in which the responder reviewed key points, clarified issues raised and, in some cases, noted questions not addressed.

Valerie Rempel, Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary (FPBS) associate professor of history and theology, coordinated the table conversations that followed each paper and response. (Photo left: Participants Mary Blough and James Bergen listen during their table discussion.) After the small group discussions, Rempel moderated floor discussions during which attendees were invited to make personal comments or share about their table talk.

The good mix of participants in terms of age, profession and geography enhanced discussions. While each of the five USMB district conferences were represented, attendees noted with regret the lack of representation from Hispanic and Slavic congregations.

Although attendees were most interested in discussing Article 13, the study conference began with the preceding article on society and state. Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, spoke about the relationship between early Christians and the Roman Empire. Dina Gonzalez-Pina, Fresno Pacific University (FPU) assistant dean of multicultural ministries, gave the response.

Terry Brensinger, FPBS professor of pastoral ministry, offered contemporary applications of Article 12. Laura Schmidt Roberts, FPU associate professor of biblical and religious studies, was the responder.

While each of these speakers emphasized allegiance to God above loyalty to an earthly government, it was the claim by both Brensinger and Roberts that Christians are to have a singular allegiance to God that prompted spirited table discussions and numerous floor comments.

“The question left in my mind is how this (devotion to one God) is manifested,” said Vernon Janzen of Reedley, Calif. “I am totally devoted to God but also to my wife, Tabor College and my athletic team. Is there devotion and love that is expressed in many ways?”

Friday the attention shifted to Article 13: Peace and Nonresistance. Roger Poppen, who served Laurelglen Bible Church, a USMB congregation in Bakersfield, Calif., for 20 years as senior pastor, presented a case for protective violence. Del Gray, assistant professor of biblical and religious studies at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kan., advocated for nonviolence by sharing his own theological journey.

Poppen began by suggesting that Article 13 “could benefit from further thought, development and clarification”—specifically language suggesting that all forms of violence are evil and inhumane.

Poppen cited Jesus’ statement that we love God and we love people by obeying the commands found in both the Old and New Testaments to argue that sometimes God’s power and force were used for good purposes.
“I admittedly struggle with some of the Old Testament violence commanded and ordained by God,” said Poppen, “but for our purpose today I’m attempting to communicate that if every command of God to his people is an expression of his love and is designed to protect those whom he loves from immorality and idolatry, how can we conclude that all violence is ‘evil and inhumane,’ especially if it is exercised or commanded by God for the loving protection of his people?”

Using the story of his own “conversion” to pacifism as a framework for exploring the merits of nonviolence, Gray (pictured left) argued that violence, even when we think we are using it redemptively, is not “God’s intended way for us to live.”

Studying Paul’s teachings while in college led Gray to acknowledge that the cross is the “ultimate revelation of who God is and how he wants his people to live.” His seminary course in the gospels guided Gray to conclude that, “the kingdom of God is the center of Jesus’ life and teaching. This one insight ... ultimately led me into pacifism.”

Gray emphasized that Jesus commands his followers to act with integrity while pursuing peace and that killing is “a line that we cannot cross in our efforts to bring about peace.”

Elmer Martens, FPBS president emeritus and professor emeritus of Old Testament, responded to Poppen, and Paul Robie, (pictured above right) USMB pastor from Salt Lake City, Utah, responded to Gray.

While open floor discussions on Friday regarding Article 13 were livelier than those Thursday pertaining to Article 12, people spoke briefly, calmly and were not confrontational.

Several people suggested that the title and content of Article 13 be changed to reflect active peacemaking.
“Nonresistance implies non-activity,” said Tim Neufeld of Fresno, Calif. “How can we be peacemakers who are also aggressive and assertive?”

More than one participant suggested that clarifying the role of the Confession of Faith would be helpful.
Tim Geddert, a BFL member and FPBS professor of New Testament, gave the final paper. “My goal this afternoon is to call us to radical peacemaking, even while we continue to debate the issues on which we disagree.”

Geddert challenged U.S. Mennonite Brethren to remember that Jesus is Lord over all competing authorities and priorities, to continue talking with one another and to remember that both “sides” aren’t as far apart as they may think.

“If we can get past the caricatures of the ‘other side,’ if we can see clearly what can be terribly un-Christian on ‘our side,’ then we can learn together to be a peace church, even while we disagree on some ways this should be expressed,” said Geddert.

In his response, Brent Warkentin, pastor of First MB Church in Wichita, Kan., encouraged attendees to remember that for some people “nonresistance” is an “essential” that is clearly taught in Scripture while to others it is less important or less well-defined or both.

Friday’s focus on Article 13 concluded with an evening forum moderated by BFL Chair Nikkel (pictured left). Nikkel asked participants to record their answers to five questions related to how USMB churches are practicing peacemaking, and then Nikkel facilitated a discussion about the topics covered. The first question, for example, asked whether a church board, team or other structure was in place to deal with conflict. Another asked for information about the programs dealing with violence, reconciliation and recovery in which congregations participate. Response sheets were collected so that the BFL can review the information.

The study conference concluded Saturday morning with brief reports from the various Mennonite Brethren ministry leaders and inter-Mennonite agency representatives who attended the study conference. A communion service led by USMB executive director Ed Boschman followed the official close of the study conference.
In their report, members of the Listening Committee, comprised of BFL members, affimed the study conference attendees for their commitment to the USMB church, said Tim Geddert.

“We believe in our church family—not just the topic,” Geddert said. “You were here not only because of Articles 12 and 13 but because of the U.S. family, and that encourages me.”

That sense of connectedness is something Shelly Schroeder took home with her following the BFL study conference. “Something that surprised me was my rediscovery of the MB church conference,” says Schroeder in an email following the study conference.

“Our church is not alone,” she says. “We have brothers and sisters around the U.S. and around the world. Talking about the good our churches are accomplishing should encourage us to keep working. The job isn’t done yet.”

Among the things James Gilliland gained from the study conference was an appreciation for active peacemaking. “People might hold different positions about violence and war, but both desire to build peace in their community. If enough communities build peace, maybe the violence and war become a non-issue,” says Gilliland.

Study conference attendance an encouraging sign

Organizers were hoping that at least 100 people would register for the 2013 Board of Faith and Life (BFL) study conference. That a total of 174 people attended indicates that U.S. Mennonite Brethren “care deeply about these topics,” said BLF chair Larry Nikkel.

The five district USMB conferences were each represented. According to a pre-conference registration list, 57 registrants came from the Pacific District Conference; 54 from the Southern District Conference; 12 from the Central District Conference; two from the North Carolina District Conference and one from the Latin America MB Conference. Additionally, 21 people from the Canadian Conference of MB Churches leadership team attended the conference, as did 15 representatives from various USMB and inter-Mennonite agencies.

“Your presence here spoke volumes,” said Gary Wall, Pacific District Conference minister who as a BFL member served on the Listening Committee. Wall noted that some people attended at their own expense and that lead pastors of larger churches attended as did representatives of denominational schools and agencies.
—Connie Faber

by Kathy Heinrichs Wiest

Bill Mast, of Memorial Road MB Church of Edmond, Okla., has volunteered with Mennonite Disaster Service for more than 20 years and has served disaster victims in nine U.S. states.

In 1947, nine-year-old Bill Mast bumped along the road in the back of a truck with other men and boys from his family’s Amish community in Western Oklahoma. They were headed for the town of Woodward, Okla., where Mast would get his first taste of disaster relief work.

Woodward had been hit with a massive tornado and Mast, along with his father and brother, joined in the cleanup effort.

“As a nine-year-old I was able to do some work, though probably not as much as I thought I did,” Mast says with a chuckle.

Two years later his own family was on the receiving end of disaster aid as the community pulled together to rebuild their own barn destroyed by a tornado.

After more than 20 years of active involvement with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), Mast, a member of Memorial Road MB Church, Edmond, Okla., calls the 1947 tornado cleanup his first MDS experience before MDS was even in existence.

“Being the recipients of that spirit of cooperation and volunteerism shaped my thinking a lot,” he says.

A love for service has taken this little Amish boy far beyond his insular Western Oklahoma community, extending a hand to disaster victims and people with housing needs in nine U.S. states, from California to Alabama. Mast has left the conservative dress and austere lifestyle of the Amish behind and has been part of Mennonite and MB congregations during his adult life. But he has retained the lifestyle of service nurtured by his Amish upbringing.

Mast and his wife, Betty, met during a voluntary service assignment in Colorado. They married and eventually settled in Oklahoma City where Mast learned cabinetry and worked in the building trades. After a number of years in construction in Oklahoma City they returned to voluntary service for three years at a housing repair program in Brownsville, Texas.

“When we came back from Brownsville, I said I want to continue to do something and not just totally leave the volunteer sector. MDS seemed to be a natural because of my skill and background,” he says.

“I’m a strong believer that we give witness in word and deed,” says Mast. “I’m better at deed than word. But the thing is, when you do it, you’re going to get asked, and that gives you the opportunity to tell your story.”

Fellow church member and MDS volunteer Jay Blough confirms that Mast excels in witnessing through his deeds.

“He is a get-‘er-done kind of guy,” says Blough, “and at 75-years-old can outwork any 50-year-old and probably some 30- and 40-year-olds.”

Mast says that his MDS experience has taught him also to value those who can’t do the demanding work he can. One summer youth team he supervised included a girl with some health problems. Though she was very limited in the kinds of physical work she could do, she had a unique gift for reaching out to people.

“She made the most significant contribution of anyone in the group,” says Mast, recalling her praying with a client who had cancer and taking time to talk and pray with neighborhood children. “She and others like her can make up for some of us who aren’t so good at sharing our faith.”

Much of Mast’s MDS work has been with young people. He delights in seeing work accomplished by youth and other inexperienced volunteers. “If you give me someone who is willing to work, I can give them instructions and we can get something done,” says Mast.

On the other hand, Mast is also energized by leading the Amish teams who work like well-oiled machines. He served as foreman for a group of young men who traveled to Newton, Texas, to rebuild after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In just six weeks the 22 men built two complete houses and re-roofed 14 others.

“It was just awesome what they got done,” he marveled.

The only new skill Mast had to teach his team was electrical wiring since Amish don’t install wiring in their own homes.

“That was new to them,” he says, “but I taught two fellows to do the wiring on one house and they did the second one on their own.”

Mast’s fluency in German and Pennsylvania Dutch makes him an effective link between the Amish communities and the disaster work.

“I just enjoy working with Amish people. They are one of the most dependable labor sources,” he says, noting that the Amish community has a ready pool of young adults who are home and available for service during a time in life when non-Amish are off to college.

Retirement has freed up additional time for Mast’s MDS work, but even during the years he worked as a building contractor, he found ways to volunteer. As MDS’s Oklahoma Unit chairperson in 1999, Mast was called on to investigate after several severe tornados struck the Oklahoma City area. When the call came, he was in the middle of a room addition project for a client. Assessing the project, he was satisfied that it was under roof, and it wouldn’t disrupt the homeowner’s life to put the project on hold.

“I told the lady I have to go and I don’t know when I’ll be back,” says Mast.

The investigation involved selecting the area where MDS would work and setting up facilities to house and feed volunteers. A month passed before Mast could return to his business. He recruited his brother to help him catch up, but while he and his brother worked on the business backlog, Mast continued to commute the 30 miles back to the MDS site two or three days a week to keep the project on track.

Over the years, Mast has continued incorporating service into his life. Whether it was taking off a day here and there to help on an MDS site or suspending his business for weeks at a time, he has somehow found a way to make room to volunteer and doesn’t regret missed opportunities for greater financial success.

“People ask me, ‘How do you make it?’” Mast says, “and I really don’t know. It’s God’s blessing. I always tried to keep a little money on hand to operate with. Somehow, my bank account would stay about the same.”

Others from his church have caught the vision for service, and he has seen a spirit of volunteerism flourish there. The dozen or so men who do projects for fellow church members have lost count of how many roofs they have replaced. Even Mast himself was a recipient: “One man saw the materials I had gotten to re-roof my house and the next night he brought a bunch of guys to help me.”

When Memorial Road church decided to undertake a building project, they tapped into Mast and the ready volunteer workforce he had developed. Mast was appointed project manager and oversaw the volunteers as they built a gymnasium and classrooms—13,000 square feet of added space.

After three years on that project, Mast was eager to be freed up for more MDS work. “The church construction wasn’t touching people’s lives directly. It’s still God’s mission, but it’s different.”

Mast is confident that his investment in service has more than paid off.

“People think that when you volunteer you really sacrifice, but that’s not exactly how it is,” he says, noting the blessings that have come to him. “Where else can you take a vacation and travel that cheap and see new places? I’ve gotten to meet and make friends with people from all over the U.S. and Canada. I feel blessed beyond whatever I have given.”

by Myra Holmes

Just a couple of years ago, North Park Community Church (NPCC), Eugene, Ore., was invisible in the community.

Although the church sits across the street from an elementary school, Aaron Box says that when his family moved to the area and he introduced himself as pastor of North Park, neighbors and school staff responded with, “Where’s that?”

And, really, what difference could a tiny band of 27 people make in a community that leans liberal, ranks among the most unchurched in the nation and has a distinct hostility toward organized religion?
Quite a bit of difference, actually.

“Amazing things can happen—especially in a small church,” says Box.

The key is not to do it alone.

When NPCC began in the early 50s, the desire of the congregation was to engage their community. But as often happens, over time the congregation lost its influence and found itself in survival mode. Then in 2008 an anonymous donation of gold coins, accompanied by a charge to feed the hungry, reminded NPCC of their original heart for their neighbors. They began to look for ways to reach out.

A natural place to start was the school across the street. Volunteers from the church began reaching out to the school in various ways, including encouraging the school staff of about 60 regularly through small gifts, thank-you cards, flowers and snacks. Terri Kargel, chair of North Park’s outreach ministry team and a former teacher herself, says staff members are always appreciative of the tokens, no matter how small. (Pictured left are NPCC pastor Aaron Box and Holt principal Kevin Boling.)

“Our hope is that both staff and parents will become curious as to why we do what we do,” she says. “We’d love to tell them that it is because of Jesus’ love for us that we want to show love to them.”

Turns out the school is also a great place to feed the hungry, as that anonymous donor instructed. Bertha Holt Elementary School serves about 500 students, with an unusual dichotomy of both affluent and very poor students. Over half the students at Holt qualify for free or reduced lunch under the national program, with the vast majority qualifying for free lunch.

And food insecurity is a glaring need beyond the school: One in three children in Eugene doesn’t know where the next meal is coming from. Schools help through the lunch program, but too often children are left hungry on weekends and breaks.

Rather than trying to meet such a great need alone, North Park enlisted the help of their community.

“We have really shifted how we see outreach,” Box says. “Outreach isn’t just what we do for people; it’s something we do with people.”

The church now sees itself as a catalyst, leading the way and inviting the neighbors to join in.

One way the church has done that is through Harlow Serves, a North Park-initiated partnership between Holt school, the school’s parent group, the Harlow neighborhood association, several local businesses and three other area churches.

Under the umbrella of Harlow Serves and through a network of local church leaders, North Park participates in Project Hope, a city-wide, cooperative effort to serve schools at the end of the summer with a Saturday work day on school campuses followed by a city-wide Sunday giveaway of school supplies, backpacks and more.

North Park, of course, focuses on serving Holt Elementary. For their first Project Hope workday in August 2011, they invited community members, through Harlow Serves, to help. About 90 volunteers came together to clear a thistle infestation, spread fresh playground chips, pull weeds and tend to the fitness track.

In order to begin to make a dent in child hunger, North Park—again under Harlow Serves—initiated Feed Hope in 2011. Feed Hope works to serve those children who may go hungry during school breaks by inviting food donations, packaging those donations together with community volunteers, then distributing the food to families identified by the school.

The 2011 winter and spring break efforts included about 200 households and provided about 3,000 meals. For the winter 2012 event, held Dec. 19 at Holt Elementary (pictured right), 80 volunteers helped package 1,5000 meals.

Box says that, while they rejoice that children are fed, a second – but not secondary – outcome of these efforts is new and stronger relationships with those in the community. “Our goal isn’t just to feed a certain number of kids,” Box says. “Our goal is to engage people with the gospel, and that happens in relationships.”

Evidence of those growing relationships shows in increased Sunday attendance, which has nearly doubled to somewhere between 50 and 60. Box easily counts eight or 10 families from the immediate neighborhood in that number, most of whom have come as a result of relationships begun during service.

And North Park is no longer invisible. “We’ve gone from a church that was somewhat hidden to a church that is not only known, but known for loving our community,” Box says. “That’s a really significant shift.”

This month, North Park will increase their impact on child hunger and continue to build relationships through a partnership with Generosity Feeds, a nonprofit that equips churches to tackle hunger and reach out through one-day food packaging events.

North Park is inviting their neighbors to gather Feb. 23 at Holt Elementary to help assemble meals that will be given to children to ensure they eat over the weekend. Generosity Feeds supplies the raw materials and packaging supplies for a nutritious soup mix, provides training and coaching and helps with online registration and donations. North Park hopes to assemble at least 10,000 meals in about two hours.

Again, full bellies are only part of the goal. Generosity Feeds not only helps plan the event but also trains select church leaders to build relationships with those who come to serve. Ron Klabunde of Generosity Feeds says, “We recognize that by training missionally-minded people in how to ignite relationships, they’re igniting new relationships with people who already have a desire toward the heart of God.”

So, if you ask North Park, size doesn’t matter.

“Outreach can be us as a church taking the lead, inviting others and their resources to come alongside and championing the lost and the broken and the least,” Box says. “A tiny church can suddenly multiply their impact.”

Mountain View internships help build the future of local church ministry

by Kathy Heinrichs Wiest

Pastors Fred Leonard and Dave Thiessen of Mountain View Community Church (MVCC) in Fresno, Calif., say they just don’t get it. Book after book they read declares that the church is going down the drain. “We just don’t know what kind of church those writers are in,” says Executive Pastor Thiessen.

It’s surely not MVCC, a congregation of 1,000 where baptisms are happening every six weeks and the young people are excited about ministering in their local church, eager to serve and exercise their gifts in the congregation.

MVCC believes in the future of the church and is actively working to make that future happen. Training people for ministry has always been a core value for the church. From the start, Leonard and Thiessen included a ministry intern on their staff. In its 19-year history over 100 people have served as interns with the church. Interns from this past summer are pictured above.

Internships at MVCC take various forms, but all share basic elements: active participation in a ministry of the church, supervision and personal mentoring by a church staff member and involvement in one of the church’s study/discipleship groups.

Funding an internship program that provides stipends starting at $500 a month is beyond the budget of even a church the size of MVCC. Lead Pastor Leonard makes it a priority to find funding sources outside the budget to finance the internships.

A growing number of interns are young people from within the congregation. “That is always our dream of how it should be,” says Thiessen, “our own young people being called out to ministry. We need to not just replace the current generation of leaders, but to multiply leaders.” Of their current 12 interns, eight came out of MVCC’s own congregation.

Youth intern Jessica Rice (pictured right with fellow intern Brandon Johanson) became part of MVCC as a high school freshman. She didn’t come from a Christian family, but when a high school classmate invited her to church “everything clicked.” Now a young adult, she feels a call to youth ministry. She is enrolled in an online ministerial studies program while interning 15 to 20 hours a week. Her internship includes discipling high school girls and teaching in a Good News Club children’s outreach.

Because of the church’s proximity to Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, MVCC has also interned seminary students looking for hands-on experience in ministry.

Current Mountain View intern Kyle Buller is studying to be a family therapist through the seminary’s marriage and family counseling program. He leads a support group in the church’s Recovery Discipleship ministry, which serves people dealing with addictions, controlling behaviors or unresolved past hurts. He credits the internship with stretching him in exercising his gifts. “Pretty soon you see yourself doing things you thought you could never do before,” he says.

Last year Mountain View tried a new approach, setting up a program similar to the missions training offered by MB Mission’s TREK program. Called the Elijah Project, the internship is a nine- or ten-month discipleship experience for people interested in serving in the local church, rather than internationally. The focus is on discernment of participants’ gifts and calling. While MVCC’s regular interns are paid a small stipend by the church, each Elijah Project participant (group pictured right) raised the $7-$8,000 for their full support.

Julie Wiens, one of four participants in last year’s Elijah Project and pictured far right, stayed at MVCC as a full-time staff member when her internship ended. A graphic design major from Tabor College, Wiens wanted to explore how her training could be used in the church. “It was a dream of mine to combine graphic design with ministry,” she says.

Her main assignment involved redesigning the church logo and creating a new website. “Graphic design is important in communicating today. Visual stuff is what draws people,” she says. In her staff position now she is exploring more digital communications and thinking creatively how the church can use the growing medium of mobile communication devices.

Wiens says that her internship, which also involved youth ministry, missions and prayer ministry, changed her perspective on what it means to be called to ministry. “You always hear those call stories,” she says, “and I felt like God was leading but he wasn’t necessarily giving me a specific call. Rather he was interested in building my character. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I realized I didn’t need to.”

Interns have come to MVCC from other nations as well. In recent years, 10 graduates from German seminaries have come for church planting internships; two more are scheduled for 2013. (Pictured right is German intern Ina Reimer singing with a worship team.)

Most German interns come from small churches of under 100 people, says Thiessen, and are inspired by Mountain View’s growing congregation. “They come with a lot of doubt that people will come, but when they see people make decisions for Christ they start to realize that it can happen. We underestimate the power of actually seeing God at work to empower a vision for the future.”

Clemens Mudrich is one such intern. After a six-month church planting internship he returned to the church in his small town near Dresden, Germany, and started a Friday night service that is drawing 40 to 50 young people weekly. In a challenging and economically depressed area of former East Germany, he is using what he learned at MVCC and seeing people respond to the gospel.

Not all interns are success stories, Thiessen points out. “We’ve had interns who have gone out to plant a church and quit.” Mountain View’s response to the challenge of raising up people who will follow through in ministry is to emphasize character building and a strong biblical foundation.

“For so many the well is shallow,” says Thiessen. “They need theological depth and to connect with God at that deep level that can weather life and difficult ministry.”

In a document headed “Staff Bottomlines” the church outlines requirements designed to deepen interns’ spiritual maturity. Interns are expected to participate in prayer training and engage weekly in one of several church prayer meetings, practice fasting and daily personal prayer and Bible study, identify and actively pray for unsaved friends and lead a Bible study group. Each one also meets weekly with a staff member. “Those one-on-one times are what interns will identify as being the most meaningful thing from their internship,” Thiessen says.

Both Thiessen and Leonard received early training themselves through internships in their home church of Willingdon in Vancouver, BC. Mentoring the next generation of pastors, church planters and other ministry leaders is a challenge they take on with enthusiasm.

“Let’s get kids serving and having a great time in the local church,” says Thiessen. “Kids will say, ‘Church is great,’ and we will get to see Jesus change people’s lives. The desire to have that kind of experience inspires us to keep taking more (interns).”

Photos courtesy of Mountain View Community Church

By Kathy Heinrichs Wiest

JoJae Glanzer stands near the customer service counter in the Mitchell, SD, Kmart waiting to see who will show up this time. He has been there scores of times before, scanning the checkout lines for a pair of eyes that are seeking his own. The eyes will meet his glint with recognition and appreciation as they recognize his South Dakota State University blue and yellow baseball cap.

Sometimes it’s an elderly woman in the checkout line, a sweater and a pair of slippers in her shopping cart. Other times it’s a dad and mom with four kids, their basket piled high with coats and boots and thick winter socks to keep the children warm through this winter and probably the next.

The checkout clerks look forward to Glanzer’s regular visits. It’s sort of like Christmas, with Glanzer playing Santa. Although he doesn’t personally know the shoppers he meets up with, Glanzer is there with a checkbook to pay for these essentials for people who would otherwise have to go without.

The checkbook Glanzer carries draws on an account administered by Salem MB Church in Bridgewater, SD, with funding from the estate of John D. and Edna Hofer. The Hofer estate provided an $18 million endowment that, through seven beneficiaries, supplies food and clothing for thousands of South Dakota families. Salem MB dispenses the funds under the endowment’s clear and narrow guidelines—providing food and clothing for the “poor and needy.”

John Hofer died in 1991. Glanzer was church treasurer in 2002 when Edna passed away and the trust was put into effect. He and Arnold Hofer from Salem MB attended the meetings on the church’s behalf and, together with a small committee, took on the task of preparing the proposal that outlined the way the congregation would distribute the money within the estate guidelines.

Ten years later, Glanzer and his wife, Judy, are still administering the church’s grant and have assisted 238 adults and 273 children in the small rural communities within a 30-mile radius around the church.

Clients grateful for aid

Judy enjoys paging through the 10 years of notes from clients documenting the difference these grants have made in people’s lives. In neat handwriting one young mother expresses her appreciation: “Thank you for all the help you have given us. Knowing there is food on the table helps ease the burden quite a lot. It feels like early Christmas.”

Another woman says “I just want to thank you so much for the money for food. It’s been a long hard road without child support from my ex-husband. Thank you for your support.” This single mother just needed help “to get over a rough spot,” Judy recalls, and within a few months she was able to make it without the assistance.

It is no simple matter to distribute tens of thousands of dollars in food and clothing every year, but the Glanzers and Salem MB have developed a comprehensive program to do just that. Local small-town grocers are key partners, setting up credit accounts with the Hofer Trust clients. Each household is given a certain amount to spend at the grocer and may shop up to three times a month charging against the credit that the trust pays off monthly.

“When you’re from a particular town, that’s where your groceries come from,” says Judy, pointing out that sending their clients to the supermarkets in the larger cities would undermine the small town grocers. “We spend about $7,000 per month at these grocers.”

Grants typically provide $70 per month per household member. As the last quarter of the year approaches, the Glanzers often adjust the grants so that the fund ends the year with a zero balance. As with the manna in the wilderness, money cannot be held over for the next year, and future grants are affected by how well funds from the current year were spent.

“This fall we’ll send out a letter telling them that the amount will be reduced to $50 to make our money stretch a little,” says Glanzer.

“It’s better to decrease everybody than to run out of money right before Christmas,” Judy says.

Grants have increased as need grows

Each year the Glanzers submit a proposal for the next year’s program. “It’s kind of a shot in the dark,” says JoJae. “Last year we proposed a 30 percent increase, but we have almost doubled the number of families.”

The church’s first grant in 2002 was $20,416. The amount has grown nearly every year. For 2012 they applied for about $100,000, but only got $67,000, an amount that has to be stretched to serve the 35 families currently on their rolls.

“Since about May we have been sending out four or five applications every month,” Judy says. “That is unheard-of in the 10 years we’ve been doing this.”

Last year the fund had a surplus, and the Glanzers were able to double the grocery grants toward the end of the year. With tears in her eyes one woman told them how the extra had been a godsend. Her son, who was in the service, and his fiancé were planning to stay with her over the holidays. She had been wondering how she would feed them for the three-week visit. The extra grant money made it possible for this mom to feed her children, including a special Christmas dinner.

The application process and grocery voucher is all done by mail correspondence, so Glanzer’s meeting with clients at Kmart is usually the first chance for a personal contact. New participants in the program are allowed about $120 per person to buy clothing. “Jewelry, purses or diapers are not included, but anything else is—shoes, sandals and all articles of clothing from skin on out!!” explains the letter the Glanzers send to new clients.

The letter sets up a day and window of time when Glanzer will be at Kmart and explains that the client should come to the checkout with their basket of clothes and look for him in his blue and yellow cap. That meeting often becomes the place where they hear clients’ stories and receive hugs of appreciation.

An opportunity for creative ministry

Although none of the funding for food and clothing comes from Salem MB, the church has found other ways to minister to Hofer Trust clients. “This ministry gives us a chance to be creative as a church family as we try to come up with various ways to reach out to people in need with the love of Christ,” said church pastor Mike Petts.

An introductory letter for new clients gives the pastor’s name and phone number, inviting them to be in touch if they need assistance or have questions. At Christmas many families receive a personal visit along with a care gift from the church. Some families have sent their children to the church’s vacation Bible school. Each Sunday the congregation prays for one of the households, while keeping client names confidential.

At the bottom of each piece of correspondence from the Hofer Trust Ministry is a Scripture verse the Glanzers selected when the program was established. “It came to me that these people are upset. They can’t meet their bills. They need the Lord’s peace,” Judy says.

They chose the comforting words of Jesus from John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (NASB).

In working with the program, Judy has found her eyes opened to the needs of their rural communities. “I’ve sometimes thought that because we are in an agrarian rural area we are insulated from the problems of the world. We live a kind of sheltered life, but all around us we hear about the divorce and abuse and alcoholism.”

The grants they are able to give seem small in light of the needs they know are in the world. But Judy has seen her faith strengthened as they trust God to make the most of these gifts. “We are dropping these things in a bucket. And we may never know where the ripples go,” she says.

A couple of years ago they met up with a man who had received some of the Hofer Trust groceries. His wife had been chronically ill and eventually died. He was unemployed and left alone to care for a 10-year-old daughter. Now some years later the man told JoJae, “You don’t know what a difference you made. I’m back on my feet again and it is thanks to you.”

Those stories are what have kept the Glanzers going in these 10 years of administering the Hofer Trust funds.

JoJae sums it up: “The thank-you notes and hugs and tears are all I need because you know you’ve made a difference in someone’s life.”

The story of the Hofer Trust

John D. Hofer grew up at Salem MB Church in rural Bridgewater, SD, and became a dentist in nearby Parkston. He and his wife, Edna, were childless and left an $18 million trust fund “to purchase food and clothing for hungry, poor and needy who need such subsistence and care and reside in the state of South Dakota.”

Seven entities carry out the mission of the trust. Four social service agencies—The Salvation Army, The Union Gospel Mission of Sioux Falls, St. Vincent de Paul of Sioux Falls, and Goodwill Industries of Sioux Falls—administer the bulk of the approximately $700,000 distributed each year.

The Hofers also named three churches as beneficiaries: John’s home church of Salem MB, Edna’s home congregation of Bethany Mennonite in Freeman, SD, and United Church of Christ in Parkston where they were members as a married couple.

Each year the seven entities submit proposals which are evaluated by the Trustee, First National Bank South Dakota. The bank determines the distribution and reviews the documentation from each beneficiary to ensure that the funding is fulfilling the trust’s guidelines.

Pete Menjares grew up in rough neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif., struggled in junior high and high school and explored partying and drugs before he committed his life to Jesus. Christian higher education wasn’t exactly on his radar.

But those early experiences helped him understand the need for accessible education and Christian influence in a way that uniquely equips him to lead Fresno Pacific University, the Mennonite Brethren-owned university with a main campus in Fresno, Calif., and regional centers in Merced, Bakersfield, North Fresno and Visalia. Menjares was inaugurated Sept. 28 as the 11th president of FPU.

Menjares became the first in his family to graduate from college, earning not only a bachelor’s degree in religion but also master’s and doctoral degrees in education. He has served as a middle-school teacher for at-risk students, a pastor, a professor and an administrator. He comes to FPU from Biola University, where he served for 18 years in both teaching and administrative roles. He and his wife, Virginia, have one grown daughter and three grandchildren.

CL assistant editor Myra Holmes recently talked with Menjares about his values, passions and dreams for FPU. Here are excerpts from that conversation.

CL: What attracted you to FPU?

PM: One of the things I have been impressed with is FPU’s very strong Christian commitment. We are founded on Christ. That’s on our seal. That’s on everything that we are. I don’t ever want to take for granted the fact that that is a strength that I have received from those who have built this university.

The other thing that has resonated with me is FPU’s commitment to the community. Its core values of social justice and love and compassion ministries have given it a wonderful opportunity in a community with lots of needs to provide practical service in a way that has resonated with my own core values to be community-minded.

And then there’s the fact that FPU really reflects the Central Valley. It’s working directly with first-generation students and serving Hispanic students. It’s serving students who are returning to school after being gone for a number of years in its degree completion program. Those are just wonderful features of the mission of the university that have really attracted me to it.

CL: What about the role of president excites you?

PM: This year I will be personally leading the university through a strategic planning process, and that plan will represent what our community believes to be God’s will for us over the next five years. And of course we’ll submit that plan to the Lord. That is always one of the most rewarding aspects of leadership: to lead an institution—in this case FPU—into uncharted territory, to continue to build the community that is FPU, to work together to discern God’s will for us.

CL: Is there anything about this position that scares you?

PM: I can’t say that there’s anything that scares me. I know that the job of a university president is very demanding, so I have to be on guard against allowing myself to be pulled in so many directions that I can’t provide focused leadership or have the personal reserves and the energy that a growing, dynamic university needs.

CL: So when you need to recharge, what do you do?

PM: At least one day a month I get away and just have time and space to pray, reflect and read. That has been important because my leadership style is very relational, very collaborative, very pastoral. What that does is invite lots of people into my life, so like Jesus, I have to be careful to retreat and be alone with God so that I can have the kind of energy I need to serve the very people I am inviting into my life.

CL: What has God been teaching you lately in those times of retreat?

PM: I have been drawn into a very deep relationship with the Lord as a result of this assignment. It’s such an overwhelming (in a good way) and awesome responsibility to be called to serve as a university president that it’s made me more trusting of God. The Lord continues to teach me about the importance of prayer, the importance of daily worship and my need to have Scripture in my life and in my heart on a regular basis. On one level, it’s simply taking me back to the basics, but taking me back in a way that has had profound meaning to me and is resulting in a deeper personal transformation.

CL: What are you most passionate about?

PM: Being able to be part of intentional leadership development is something that I am very passionate about, because our world needs leaders that are grounded, that are people of integrity, that are people of commitment and service. One of the things I hope to do here at the university is implement intentional leadership development at the student, staff and faculty levels in order to see God raise up leaders for this generation.

Together with that, I have been passionate about the diversity that makes up the kingdom of God. We learn from the book of Revelation that God has purchased for himself people from every nation, tribe and tongue.

Yet we don’t often see that reflected on Sunday mornings in our churches, and it’s even rarer to see that kind of diversity reflected in our Christian colleges and universities. FPU has one of the highest—in fact the highest—populations of Hispanics studying, as well as great diversity across multiple ethnicities. To have an opportunity to see our university reflect God’s kingdom and to be marked and identified with love and joy and peace and reconciliation is something that really excites me.

CL: What kind of challenges does the university face?

PM: Affordability is a very high priority for us. We have to keep in mind that a great percentage of our students are first generation students and they need financial assistance. So we need to figure out ways to keep our costs down and keep our education affordable. That’s no doubt a challenge.

The other challenge is how to continue to navigate the changing environment of higher education, especially as students are looking for online education and opportunities to study in creative ways. How do we meet the changing times and expectations and demands on colleges and universities today, while staying true to our mission?

CL: Since you do not come from a Mennonite Brethren background, what, if anything, are you learning to appreciate about the Mennonite Brethren?

PM: As I have gotten to know some of the pastors from around the country, I feel that Virginia and I have been blessed with a national network of colleagues. I want them to know how much we appreciate them, how much we value who they are and what they do for the kingdom of God and for our denomination in their respective areas of service. We are a national movement. We are in partnership together for the gospel. That’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.

CL: Is it necessary in your opinion that the FPU president be involved in a Mennonite Brethren congregation?

PM: I do. I think that given my role as president of a Mennonite Brethren university, it would be wise for us to be part of an MB church. Virginia and I are going to take our time and visit as many churches as we possibly can and then trust the Lord to confirm in our hearts where we are to be attending on a regular basis.

I think it’s important not only to be part of an MB church but also to have opportunities to be in many MB churches as a speaker or to bring a word of greeting or simply participate in worship. That would be a good thing for the denomination and the university.

CL: What makes for a healthy partnership between a Christian university and the denomination that owns it?

PM: We need to listen to one another. We need to learn from one another. What are the relative strengths of each? What is the purpose of a university and how can that strengthen the work of the denomination? One way would be to continue to be intentional about leadership development. How can the university continue to provide leadership and to graduate leaders who will strengthen the work of the denomination?

I think that if we are in close relationship and communication with one another we can begin to think in terms of how our programs can specifically work to strengthen the church. Here we have the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, the Center for Anabaptist Studies and the brand-new Center for Community Transformation. How can we leverage these resources to provide specific service and help address specific needs? I can see our university begin to do that.

CL: How would you like the see the USMB family of churches serve the university?

PM: I would encourage our churches to continue supporting our university financially, providing matching scholarships for students who choose to study with us. And to continue to pray for our success and our blessing and the advancement of our mission.

CL: How do you hope students will be different because of their time at FPU?

PM: That’s an important question, because when it comes down to it, we are about students, and we are bold enough in our belief about the quality and value of our education to actually use the language of transformation. Our commitment is to a whole-person education. So we would hope and pray that our Christian students would be more in love with Jesus at the end of their education. But we also want them to be optimally prepared to succeed in their respective fields.

I’ve learned that we have over 20,000 graduates of FPU; what a wonderful testimony and witness. We hope that our students would characterize the values and mission of our university and also be very, very good at whatever God has called them to do.

CL: How do you hope FPU will grow or change in the coming years?

PM: I believe so strongly in the quality and the mission of our education that it would be my hope that prospective students in the Central Valley would see us as the university of choice. That would bring great joy to me and would result in a greater number of students enrolling in our programs.

At the same time, we want to manage growth in such a way that our excellence is never compromised. That would of course mean continuing to develop our faculty professionally, to see them published, to see them continue as outstanding classroom teachers and mentors.

As we grow the university numerically we must also build the infrastructure necessary to support that growth. It would be our heart’s desire to see some of the buildings on our master plan come to fruition, so that we would have opportunities to break ground and celebrate God’s goodness to our university.

And all of that with a view to our mission. I have a hope and dream that FPU will become a leading Christian university and that we would be looked to by others for how to serve students, how to be effective in leading and serving our community and how to provide an excellent and outstanding education resulting in outstanding graduates.

READ MORE: Christianity Today International writer Holly Vicente Robaina interviewed Pete Menjares about how Christians can influence public education.

in Read more about Pete Menjares’ teaching experience at: http://www.christianity.com/christian-life/education/redeeming-public-education-11622637.html?p=0

By Myra Holmes

Roger Engbrecht has seen changes big and small in the Central District Conference (CDC) in over three decades of ministry. But some things—like a personal and district passion for church planting—remain the same.

Engbrecht, pictured with his wife, Lucille,  has served in a variety of ministry roles in the CDC for a total of 33 years, the last 12 as district minister, making his the longest pastoral ministry in the CDC. He will retire from full-time ministry Dec. 31, although he will continue to work with the district’s eight ethnic churches. Rick Eshbaugh, pastor of Harvey (ND) MB Church, will take on the role of district minister.

As district minister since 2001, Engbrecht has poured time, energy and prayer into building relationships with pastors and churches in Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Montana, traveling thousands of miles per year. Sometimes he has worked with churches to resolve conflict. Other times he has walked with congregations through change. Always, he has championed church planting.

The conflicts, he says, have been the most painful part of his work. While challenges are inevitable whenever sinful people meet, Engbrecht urges love. “It’s time for the church to be what Christ said we should be: salt and light,” he says.

In many areas of the district, especially the rural areas, changing demographics have hit hard. “I have a great appreciation for our rural churches,” Engbrecht says, calling those congregations “the backbone of our district.”

But the reality is that people are moving away from those rural areas. Many rural churches have responded to the challenge by reaching out in new ways to those in their community. That kind of change, while good, isn’t necessarily easy.

“Change is always challenging,” Engbrecht says. “The message doesn’t change, but the method of how we reach people these days has to change.”

He’s seen churches close—sometimes because of conflict, sometimes the result of declining attendance. But he’s also seen God turn those endings into new beginnings. Take, for example, Millard Bible Church, Omaha, Neb., which closed in 2008. That facility is now home to Stony Brook Church, where hundreds of people are now hearing about Christ. Engbrecht says, “When we think something is done, God is just beginning.”

Through all the changes, Engbrecht and the district remain passionate about reaching people for Christ. Engbrecht says the greatest joys as district minister have come from seeing churches planted and lives transformed. He points out that more people come to Christ through new church plants than through any other method. That’s why he says, “We need to continue our efforts relentlessly in planting new churches.”

While financing a big church planting vision is a continuing challenge, Engbrecht is convinced that the resources are available if churches and individuals work together. “We’re capable of doing much more,” he says, as a district and as a national family of churches.

Engbrecht will undoubtedly continue to champion church planting, even in retirement. It’s just who he is. And, he hopes, it will continue to be integral in the CDC. “We’ve been highly focused on evangelism. I hope we’ll never lose that vision, that we’ll always be about the Father’s business of seeking to win the lost for Jesus.”

by Myra Holmes

The logic is simple: Good coaching leads to a winning team. So in an effort to build a winning team, USMB and Mission USA are offering a new resource for pastors and leaders.

“If we can truly help our pastors—help them to be healthier, help them to achieve their dreams and their goals and the vision God has given them—our churches are going to be healthier,” says Don Morris, director of Mission USA, the church health and church planting arm of USMB.

LEAD Coaching will offer personal, one-on-one coaching to equip leaders and help them achieve their goals. Jeff Nikkel, pastor of Trailhead Church, Centennial, Colo., will serve as “head coach.”

Mission USA’s church health program already includes a number of resources to enhance the ministry capacity of local churches, like LEAD ONE, daylong regional events for leadership education and development, and LEAD Labs, one- to two-hour church growth seminars for leadership teams.

“Hopefully, we’re putting together a package of leadership tools that can really make a difference for our pastors,” Morris says, adding that the personal element of coaching will add the most value of all.

Coaching isn’t a new concept. Businesses and ministries alike are increasingly turning to this one-on-one, goal-oriented model to equip leaders and achieve goals.

Both Nikkel and Morris tend to define coaching by what it is not. It is not counseling, which aims to root out and heal past brokenness. It is not mentoring, in which a leader takes a beginner under wing. Nor is it consulting, in which an expert gives advice or lists next steps to success.

While coaching can include aspects of all these, a good coach is first a listener, who asks the right questions—sometimes the tough questions—to help evaluate and refine goals, then provides accountability to help achieve those goals.

“Essentially, coaching is a kind of relational approach to ministry that is ideal for growth and life transformation,” Nikkel says.

In a typical coaching relationship, coach and client meet every other week to discuss progress and set new action steps. Mission USA has chosen Ministry Coaching International (MCI) as the model for LEAD Coaching. MCI was established in 2000 specifically to serve ministry leaders using a system that Morris calls “very proven, very effective.”

The MCI system focuses on “The Core Four”: personal life plan, ministry vision, ministry plan and priority management. “We believe sustainable progress toward life and leadership excellence can be had with focused and non-deviating commitment in these four areas,” says the MCI website.

LEAD Coaching will offer a fifth component: soul care. “Soul care is just caring for the heart and soul of the client,” Nikkel says, “reminding them who they are in Jesus, constantly pointing them back to Jesus.”

Accordingly, LEAD Coaching sessions will be extended from MCI’s 30-45 minutes to up to an hour to allow time to discuss heart issues. Morris says that, because of the weight of high visibility and high expectations, many pastors and church leaders simply don’t have someone they can talk to about those deeper concerns or dreams.

“That’s part of living in the fish bowl,” he says.

Both Nikkel and Morris have experienced coaching firsthand: Morris has been coached through MCI for about a year. Nikkel has experience both as a client and as a coach.

“I’ve found it really life-giving,” he says.

Chad Stoner, church planting pastor of Stony Brook Church, Millard, Neb., has been coached by Nikkel. In the Central District Conference, where Stony Brook is located, care for the church planter is a must; coaching is required at least during the first stages of planting. Through several recommendations, Stoner was matched with Nikkel, and they’ve been working together as coach and client for 1 ½ to two years.

“Jeff has been a great gift to me,” Stoner says. Coaching has helped Stoner understand his own heart, sometimes bringing to light a disconnect between what he says is priority and his actions. “That’s hard,” Stoner admits, but also necessary. “It’s from the heart that our whole ministry springs. If the heart is not well, the ministry will suffer,” he says.

Furthermore, Stoner says the Stony Brook congregation has benefited from his coaching. He has become calmer, more focused on what’s important and more able to “pour out” for his congregation.

“When I’m not consumed with the wrong stuff, I have love to give,” Stoner says.

Nikkel and Morris believe that, indeed, congregations will benefit as their leaders take advantage of this resource. Morris says, “Our churches are hopefully going to experience so much more as our pastors are healthier.” He hopes that the value will be so obvious that churches will invest in coaching on behalf of their pastor.

“Churches are the front lines of ministry,” Nikkel says. “We’ve got to equip the ones on the front lines. What better way than to care for the pastors?”

As head coach, Nikkel will shape and coordinate LEAD Coaching, oversee assessment and training of coaches and help match coaches with those who wish to be coached. He will also coach up to eight clients, more than will be expected of other trained coaches.

The Trailhead Church leadership is releasing Nikkel one day per week to invest in coaching. Nikkel says the agreement fits well with Trailhead’s desire to give away a greater percentage of offerings—which could be accomplished by a reduction in pastoral salary—and overlaps with an increasing interest at Trailhead in a one-on-one discipleship model similar to coaching.

In addition to Nikkel, six other USMB leaders have been trained through MCI as coaches: Ed Boschman, USMB executive director; Don Morris, Mission USA; Rick Eshbaugh, pastor at Harvey (ND) MB Church; Terry Hunt, district minister for North Carolina District Conference; Aaron Hernandez, pastor of La Grulla MB Church, Grulla, Texas; and Gary Wall, district minister for Pacific District Conference.

Coaching is offered to USMB pastors and leaders at a significantly reduced rate; limited scholarships are available. USMB and district staff will not receive remuneration for coaching; those fees will feed a fund for training and scholarships. Nikkel and non-staff coaches will receive remuneration.

Because it’s prudent for coaches to be the same gender as the client, USMB is working toward training female coaches so that female leaders may also benefit from this resource.

Those interested in being coached may contact Nikkel at jeff@trailheadchurch.org for more information. Morris notes that space will be limited until more coaches are trained, which may result in a waiting list, “but currently, we have some spots open.”

Chad Stoner says hesitant leaders shouldn’t let fear stand in the way. “I would encourage pastors and church planters to consider this opportunity to have someone step in and walk with them in this unique way,” he says. “There’s the possibility for healing and transformation of heart.”

Photo: USMB coaches (left to right): Don Morris, Jeff Nikkel, Ed Boschman, Terry Hunt, Gary Wall, Rick Eshbaugh and Aaron Hernandez.

by Myra Holmes

In the fall of 1936, a group of mostly-white Mennonite Brethren with German-sounding names from the Midwest agreed together to take the gospel to the Spanish-speaking, mostly-Catholic people of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

This was “the most heroic step of faith ever undertaken” by the Southern District Conference (SDC), a district which then consisted of only 17 churches, most of them small, writes Anna Hiebert Esau in What God Has Done: The Story of the Latin American Mennonite Brethren Conference.

By 1937, the work in South Texas had begun, and next month the Latin American Mennonite Brethren (LAMB) district will celebrate 75 years of ministry. The anniversary celebration is scheduled for Nov. 23 at an event center in Penitas, Texas. The speaker will be Josue Contreras, currently pastor at La Joya (Texas) MB Church.

Elizabeth Tagle, LAMB district board member and organizer of the 75th anniversary celebration, says, “We are grateful to the Southern District for embarking on that adventure wholeheartedly and to the missionaries who believed that—in spite of resistance and many hardships—all deserve the opportunity to hear the Word of God. But most of all, we are grateful to God!”

The story really goes back much further than 75 years. In her book, Esau points back to the prayers of two “sin-hardened” men in Los Ebanos, Texas, and a few other scattered believers in the area. “God heard those sighs and prayers,” she writes.

Meanwhile, a Mennonite Brethren preacher by the name of Peter E. Penner championed outreach to the Spanish-speaking people in South Texas, preparing a district to send workers, and God worked in the hearts of a young couple by the name of Harry and Sarah Neufeld (pictured right), giving them a burden for Latin American people.

These prayers and preparations converged in God’s timing and, as Sarah Neufeld says in Esau’s book, “before we hardly knew what was happening, we were designated to go find a field along the Mexican border in Texas and start working.”

Although the Neufelds were sent with enthusiasm, they met with some discouragement. In Eight Years Among Latin-Americans, Harry Neufeld writes about the Valley’s inhospitable heat and the language barrier. One Baptist pastor told them that, although the area was rich with opportunity, “You will appear to these people as foreign devils.”

Elizabeth Tagle says, “Harry Neufeld—alongside other missionaries whom we will always hold dearly in our hearts—struggled with many obstacles to plant the Word of God in an area of the country very resistant to ‘non-Catholics’ and very suspicious of ‘gringos.’”

The first MB mission was established in Los Ebanos, Texas, with the first services held in January 1938 in a rented structure (pictured left). From there, the mission work spread to Chihuahua, La Grulla, Premont, La Joya, Edinburg, Casita and Garciasville, Mission, Pharr and Donna. A school was opened in 1948-49 with 113 students in eight grades, and El Faro School was a major influence in the district for 21 years.

As the work in South Texas developed and matured, it outgrew dependence upon the Southern District Conference. In the early 1960s, the South Texas congregations organized as the Latin American Mennonite Brethren (LAMB), with Inocencio Garcia serving as the first chair for the district’s Administrative Committee.

As LAMB celebrated 50 years in the 1980s, “our churches took God’s mandate to go forth and preach God’s Word,” says Elizabeth Tagle. She notes significant mission and church planting activity: new congregations at Pharr and Palmview, several efforts that are now part of another church conference and four missions established in Mexico.

Today, LAMB consists of eight congregations in South Texas: Donna MB Church, Lull MB Church in Edinburg, Iglesia De Gracia in Garciasville, Grulla MB Church in La Grulla, La Joya MB Church, Mission MB Church, Templo Nueva Vida in Mission, and Casa de Oracion in Rio Grande City.

As LAMB looks to the future, they again take seriously that call to go forth. Moises Tagle, district chair, says, “I am looking forward to working in partnership with Mission USA and LAMB churches to open new church plants in the coming years.”

Two LAMB churches are currently working with Mission USA, the church planting and renewal arm of USMB, to start new works. “I am hopeful that more will begin,” Tagle says.

Grulla MB Church hopes to launch a multisite church plant in nearby McAllen early this month. According to Don Morris, Mission USA director, Grulla pastor Aaron Hernandez will preach live for afternoon services for the first few months, after which they will be using high-quality video to stream sermons live from the Grulla campus to the McAllen campus.

McAllen is the largest city in the Rio Grande Valley, with many young, professional Hispanics—the target demographic for this project. Services will use both English and Spanish, and worship will be “very contemporary,” Morris says. Ozzie and Diana de la Cruz and Albert and Jessica Reyna will serve as core leaders for this new effort.

Mission MB Church has initiated a Spanish-language church plant, Iglesia Biblica de la Gracia Hermanos Menonitas, along what is known as the Seven-Mile Road in north Mission. This church began as a small outpost under a tent on an open lot, attended by a small group of people living nearby. Williams Velez is the church planter.

Grace Bible Church, Gettysburg, SD, has partnered with Mission MB as this project has gotten started. So the Project Team will include a representative from Grace Bible in addition to the Velezes and potential representatives from Mission MB, Mission USA and LAMB.

“That mix of people is exciting,” says Morris. “It means there will be a high-level support network provided to this new work.”

Moises Tagle asks that the larger USMB family pray for LAMB as they move forward into the next 75 years: that unity will abound, that more leaders will rise up and that God will provide the resources to plant new churches.

Historic photos courtesy of Center for MB Studies at Tabor College.

• Early baptism photo Missionaries
  
• Harry & Sarah Neufeld
  
• Los Ebanos congregation on a Sunday morning
  

Current photo shows LAMB Conference high school students at the 2011 National MB Youth Conference which was held in San Antonio, Texas and hosted by the USMB churches in that district.

by Tim Huber for Mennonite World Review; reprinted with permission

One night in May of 2011, Lowell and Patty Stutzman and the youngest of their children were awakened by a knock at the door. Someone passing by saw the roof was on fire.

“We called the fire department, and they came rather quickly, in 10 or 12 minutes, but they ran out of water numerous times,” says Stutzman, a Mennonite Brethen pastor in Grants Pass, Ore.

That night, the family watched as the top floor of their house burned and as water and smoke damaged the remainder of the home beyond repair. While the family salvaged things from the main floor, the upstairs was lost, including Stutzman’s library.

Decades in the ministerial field had resulted in more than 2,000 books. Commentaries, Bibles and an assortment of other volumes—many underlined and notated into heirloom status—were gone by morning.

“I had five Bibles and since the early ’70s had been keeping extensive notes in them, and my thought was I’d pass those on to my kids at my passing, and all of those were destroyed,” says Stutzman, pastor of New Hope Bible Church. “The only book that was saved was my most favorite commentary, a Believers Church Commentary on the Book of Mark. So I preached out of Mark for a while.”

Stutzman, who grew up in the Mennonite Church, now faced the challenge of reassembling portions of a collection that spanned from George R. Brunk to John E. Toews. Since the Bible commentary series had been produced by a predecessor agency of MennoMedia, he gave them a call. Unfortunately, the books were out of print.

But just across Main Street from the Newton, Kan., MennoMedia office sits Book ReViews, a nonprofit used-book store with an extensive collection of Mennonite titles. MennoMedia suggested Stutzman give Book ReViews volunteer manager Vern Preheim a call.

“He was very helpful in helping us locate some of those unique pieces that have to do with our Anabaptist history and church history and our Mennonite Brethren history,” Stutzman says.

Preheim was on the hunt, and the pile of books headed for Oregon began to grow, when a providential donation from just up the road in Hesston arrived at the store.

“A retired Mennonite Brethren pastor by the name of David Block died,” Preheim says. Block had served congregations in Shafter, Calif., Balko, Okla., Newton, Kan., Grant, Neb., and Congerville, Ill.

“His wife had passed away earlier,” says Preheim, “and the children had brought a lot of books to the store—I would say 60.”

Stutzman purchased most of the donation. Almost precisely one year after the fire, Book ReViews shipped the seeds of a new library—nearly 100 books.

“God’s timing in so many of our experiences in the last year has just been amazing,” Stutzman said. “(Preheim) had a bunch of stuff ready to box up, and he just added it to the order.”

Coming from one pastor to another by way of a used-book store, the books aren’t exactly in mint condition.

Though Stutzman lost his notations and underlines, he has gained Block’s.

“It’s interesting to look at those notes and see his markings as well,” Stutzman said. “In a way it’s another kind of commentary, another way to see how God spoke into this man’s life. That’s what makes the Scriptures living; it finds us where we are.”

Scripture found him with that surviving commentary on Mark. It sparked a deeper reading of chapter seven, in whicha woman begs Jesus to drive spirits out of her daughter.

Unlike other moments, Jesus does not heal the girl immediately, saying instead that he serves the Israelites first. The woman replies, “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” For such a reply, her child was healed.

“For me, that has been a huge piece: This woman says, ‘Whatever you give, Lord, that will be sufficient,’ ” Stutzman says. “God has been sufficient in this entire challenge.

“From my experience with going through this and still recovering from some of the challenges that are there, I’ve found my shepherd to be sufficient, that whatever he gives will be adequate for the day.”

Photos courtesy of Patty Stutzman

by Connie Faber

Evening sessions at Conection 2012 were intended to be entertaining, and from all indications the selections of comedian Kenn Kington and actor Alex Kendrick accomplished that goal.

Conection 2012 evening sessions proved to be both inspirational and entertaining.

Friday evening comedian Kenn Kington had the audience laughing so frequently that tears flowed and sides hurt. Kington told humorous stories from his own life, including a show-and-tell incident that involved buying women’s knee-high hose in desperation when he was on his way to a show.

Kington’s signature “isms”—statements that aren’t quite right—were popular.

• “The fan is going to hit the roof!”

• “I am as loyal as a heart attack.”

• “I am sweating like a bullet.”

Kington’s stories and comedy routines were interspersed with encouragement to appreciate one’s family and to live faithfully as followers of God.

The Friday evening program opened with dinner music provided in Spanish and English by the worship team from Iglesia Agua Viva, a Hispanic congregation in Omaha (pictured left).

The Conection 2012 worship band, comprised of musicians from The Bridge Bible Church in Bakersfield, Calif., organized by John Szablowski, led a time of worship singing. Szablowski invited Ed Boschman, USMB executive director who had once been a worship leader, to lead the audience in one song (pictured right).

Dinner music Saturday was provided by Omaha pastor Chad Stoner on saxophone and his wife, Elaine, on piano. Local musicians joined Stoner, who is well known in the Omaha jazz community, for a concert following dinner (pictured below). The group’s unique smooth jazz with elements of gospel and rhythm and blues were well received.

“God uses music to bypass the head to go straight to the heart,” said Stoner. The musicians with Stoner that evening are Christians that use music to connect with people and to “love on” people in Omaha’s clubs.
“If any groove gets funky, know that every word glorifies God,” said Stoner.

The Chad Stoner Band took a break for a special performance given by children who had participated in the Red Sea Conference, a special children’s program organized by volunteers from Stony Brook Church, a USMB congregation in Millard, Neb.

The only standing ovation of Conection 2012 went to Saturday night’s speaker, Alex Kendrick, founder of Sherwood Pictures, a ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, Ga.

As he told the story of his congregation’s decision to begin making Christian movies, Kendrick was both humorous—“I was doing my own makeup, which is terrible for a man to do”—and encouraging.

Kendrick told of times when “God took my expectations and just blew them out of the water.” Sherwood Pictures’ first film was Flywheel, a 2003 film that Kendrick hoped would be shown in Albany’s theaters, which it was. But then Blockbuster made the movie available in its stores and the DVD sold 750,000.

Kendrick said his dream for their next film, Facing the Giants (2006), was that the movie would be shown across the state of Georgia. Kendrick learned the importance of waiting on God and eventually the movie was released nation-wide by Sony Pictures.

The company’s other movies are Fireproof (2008) and Courageous (2011). About two-dozen adults and children, many bringing their own late-night snacks, stayed after Kington’s show to watch the movie Courageous.

Kendrick interspersed his story with words of encouragement and lessons he’s learned.

• “’No, Lord’—these two words don’t go together.”

• “That was the only thing I did right: Pray all the time.”

• “There’s a difference between a good idea and a God idea.”

• “You can’t think big enough to out-think God.”

• “God wants you to go through a season of prayer. Through this movie business, I’ve learned that God loves to be sought.”

After sharing his personal story, Kendrick answered questions from the audience. When USMB executive director Ed Boschman closed the evening, he affirmed Kendrick for providing USMB congregations with an effective ministry tool and prayed for God’s favor on Kendrick and his work.

by Connie Faber

A recommendation that “norms” be replaced with a proportionate funding model tops the business agenda delegates to Conection 2012 will address. Other recommendations include nationalizing the North American MB Confession of Faith, approving bylaw changes, approve the 2012-13 USMB budget and affirming board and committee members.

Delegates attending the two morning business sessions this week at Conection 2012 will take action on five recommendations from the USMB Leadership Board, the group of nine individuals who serve as the USMB decision-making body between biennial delegate conventions.

Topping the list of recommendations to be discussed is one that revamps the current method of determining how much money each USMB congregation is expected to contribute to national USMB ministries.

“It is my prayer that our commitment to functioning as one family on a mission together will bring us to a place of seeing faithful financial partnership as a privilege,” says Ed Boschman, USMB executive director.

"Norms" no longer working

The current funding model bases congregational contributions to national ministries on church membership. If congregations followed this approach, church contributions to USMB would total at least $1,217,685, based on the suggested minimum of $35 per member; current USMB membership is 34,791. Currently, congregations contribute about $420,000 each year to the national ministry budget.

“For 30 years these ‘norms’ worked well for most of our churches,” says Boschman. “But current statistics indicate that only about one-third of our churches support our district and national ministries and less than that are doing so by utilizing the norms system.”

According to Boschman, 95 percent of USMB income comes from only 20 percent of the churches.

“Recommended church giving based on ‘membership’ no longer works well,” he says.

Proportionate funding is new model
Boschman and Jon Wiebe, president and CEO of MB Foundation, developed a proportionate funding model that is based on biblical stewardship concepts and that offers a calculation process that has integrity and a methodology that uses common terminology.

Under the new plan, each USMB congregation will be asked to forward 2.5 percent of their annual income, defined as tithes and offerings received by the congregation to support its general budget.

“We are inviting inactive churches to come on board and partner in our church renewal, church planting and leadership development,” says Boschman. “If the 2.5 percent request is too big a bite, we encourage congregations to start at a smaller percentage.”

Boschman and Wiebe outlined the new model at Conection 2010 and presented it to the 2011 Leadership Summit, a two-day meeting of senior staff members and board chairs of USMB ministry partners. They also explained the model to district leaders and convention delegates during the past year.

Proposal largely well received
While Boschman and Wiebe report that response to the proposed model has been largely positive, there has been some hesitancy.

“Change is hard and comes with a risk,” says Wiebe. “However, I believe implementing the new system, along with a renewed commitment among our churches, will lead to enhanced revenue at the national level.”

Wiebe says, “My hope is that a common terminology and rationale along with a biblical funding system will create greater understanding and participation by churches.”

The national USMB budget includes funding for

• Mission USA, the national church planting and renewal ministry;
• Christian Leader and other electronic and print communication efforts;
• the national Board of Faith and Life, charged with providing theological oversight;
• funding for a variety of national events including the quadrennial National Youth Convention and the National Pastor’s Orientation and Conection delegate conventions, both held every 2 years;
• and executive costs that include Leadership Board meetings, staff salaries and administrative costs for eight part- and full-time individuals.

The USMB proportionate funding model does not change the suggested “norm” requested from each congregation by USMB partner ministries. These partners include MB Mission, Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, Fresno Pacific University, Tabor College and each of the five district conferences.

Revising a long-standing funding model isn’t the only significant change Conection 2012 delegates will consider. They will also take action on a recommendation to nationalize the North American Confession of Faith.

Confession of Faith to be nationalized
Currently the Canadian Conference of MB Churches and USMB have agreed to jointly own, manage and protect the Confession of Faith. Both Canadian and U.S. leaders have agreed that it is time for the two national conferences to establish independent COF statements, in keeping with the pattern of other national MB conferences around the world.

U.S. BFL chair Larry Nikkel and Brian Cooper, Canadian BFL chair, are working together to finalize a memorandum of understanding on which delegates to the U.S. and Canadian conventions will take action this summer.

Bylaws, budgets and elections
The Leadership Board is asking delegates to approve changes to the USMB bylaws. The most significant changes relate to the description of a quorum and the process by which the Leadership Board affirms nominations to boards of USMB ministry partners and inter-Mennonite agencies. The third revision would grant the Leadership Board the authority to appoint two at-large members to its board.

Delegates will be asked to affirm a USMB budget of $1,018,524, which is $170,524 more than the current budget. The growth is due to the addition of two new part-time USMB staff members and increased program costs in development, social media and other electronic communication projects. Funds are also slated for a 2013 study conference sponsored by the Board of Faith and Life and church planting and church renewal programs.

Finally, delegates will elect new members to the Leadership Board, Board of Faith and Life, National Youth Committee, MB Mission and Historical Commission and affirm appointments to the MB Foundation board and boards of other partner ministries.

by Myra Holmes

SOAR Utah volunteers will learn about Mormon culture and theology and have on-site assignments with local USMB churches as part of the 10-day mission experience. USMB pastors in Utah say the way in which the LDS saturates the culture makes ministry “uniquely challenging” and creates a “huge” mission field.

Participants in this summer’s SOAR short-term mission trip will experience cross-cultural ministry to a “least-reached” people group alongside pioneering church planters—all a stone’s throw from home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

If “least-reached” is defined by evangelical church attendance, Utah qualifies among the least-reached places in the United States, with Christian church attendance estimates ranging from 1-3 percent. And, of course, church attendance doesn’t necessarily mean commitment to Christ.

“The mission field is huge,” says Cory Anderson, (pictured right in Salt Lake's Temple Square) pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, West Jordan, Utah.

SOAR is a program of MB Mission, the global mission agency of U.S. and Canadian Mennonite Brethren. While the program particularly appeals to youth groups, the 10- to 14-day trips are set in North America or Mexico to provide an easily accessible mission experience for intergenerational teams comprised of church groups, families or individuals.

This will be the first time MB Mission has sent SOAR teams to work alongside the USMB churches in Utah. (The agency did send teams to Salt Lake City for evangelism and outreach during the 2002 Winter Olympics.) In many ways, Salt Lake City provides a perfect fit for MB Mission’s vision: “holistic church planting that transforms communities among the least reached.”

The headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is in Salt Lake City, and 70 percent of the Utah population is active in the LDS church. LDS thinking extends beyond church walls to influence family life, politics, moral views, school teachings and more. This saturation of the culture makes ministry here “uniquely challenging,” Anderson says, and offers SOAR participants a cross-cultural setting.

Salt Lake City also offers unique opportunities for SOAR participants to work alongside missionary pioneers who are transforming their community. Paul Robie and his family moved to Salt Lake City in 1998 to plant a Mennonite Brethren church. With the support of the Pacific District Conference (PDC), Laurelglen Bible Church, Bakersfield, Calif., and Mission USA, the church planting arm of USMB, South Mountain Community Church (SMCC) grew and multiplied.

The Utah MB family of churches now includes SMCC, daughter church Shadow Mountain, and two satellite campuses, Daybreak in South Jordan and The Springs in St. George. SMCC recently celebrated the grand opening of a new 40,000-square-foot facility to accommodate some 3,000 worshippers in two services each week.

At the same time, as if to testify to the difficulty of ministry in this area, the newest church plant, New Hope in West Valley, closed its doors in March.

Anderson says that, even eight years in for Shadow Mountain, “We don’t have a sense that we’ve made it, we’ve arrived, but that we’re constantly engaged in the battle.”

SOAR Utah, scheduled for July 13-23, will begin with an orientation at Big Canyon Christian Adventures and Retreats in the nearby Wasatch Range. There, participants will be equipped spiritually through times of Bible study and prayer. They’ll spend time in worship and in team bonding.

Ed Boschman, USMB executive director, and Gary Wall, district minister for the PDC, which includes Utah, will share the church planting vision of the USMB and PDC. “It seems good and right to invite the SOAR participants to see mission as globalocal,” says Boschman.

Participants will also be equipped with a basic understanding of LDS doctrine and culture. Anderson says misunderstanding between Mormons and Christians is growing, with many thinking that Mormons are just a different kind of Christian. But, he says, a closer examination reveals incompatibility: “There are a number of official LDS doctrines that clearly make it a non-Christian church.”

Anderson says that just because someone attends a particular church—whether LDS or Mennonite Brethren—doesn’t necessarily mean they know, understand or buy into the church’s teaching. He recommends starting with dialogue with individual LDS.

Once in Salt Lake City, SOAR participants will continue their exposure through a tour of the temple area, through testimonies of those who have come out of the LDS church and by attending an LDS service.

Anderson says, “I hope that through the combination of reading about LDS beliefs and the lostness of LDS people and seeing the multitude of people here who are LDS, that they will be gripped with a greater sense of ‘we need to do something about this.’”

SOAR teams will partner with local MB churches for on-site assignments. While exact details are still being worked out, assignments are designed to provide added visibility in the community for the local churches.

With Shadow Mountain, for example, SOAR participants will help advertise and then provide workers for the church’s vacation Bible school and a community carnival. Both are the kind of family-oriented events that are well received in a kid-heavy, family-oriented culture.

Other SOAR participants will work with the Daybreak congregation in events such as vacation Bible school, a basketball clinic, an extreme skateboarding competition and an outdoor concert. Rod Jost, campus pastor at Daybreak, says these “entertainment” venues are aimed at gently increasing exposure in the community and “rubbing shoulders” with those who live in Daybreak’s unique, planned community.

“Through entertainment, we’ve been able to build relationships,” Jost says.

SOAR teams will return to Big Canyon for their debrief. Leaders will guide participants in processing the experience, communicating it with their church and continuing the mission at home. “We want them to know a life of mission,” says Mark Thompson, MB Mission’s short-term mission coordinator.

Thompson fully expects the SOAR Utah experience to be transformational for the participants. When God is allowed to work through such an experience, he says, participants often have a newfound passion for God, prayer and mission and a new compassion for the lost. Sometimes, they discover a calling to long-term service.

As for transformation in Salt Lake City, Thompson says that participants must go with an attitude of prayer and openness to how God will use them, whether for planting, tilling or harvesting.

“We just want to be a part of God’s plan that is leading toward a great harvest,” Thompson says. “The results are up to God.”

Ultimately, Anderson hopes some SOAR participants will come back to Utah for long-term mission. “We’re not done yet,” he says of the mission in Utah. Leaders are dreaming of and planning for more church plants in order to reach more people. “We’re going to need more people,” says Anderson.

Thompson asks for pray for the host churches as they finalize preparations, for good relationships between participants and the local churches and for wisdom for SOAR program staff.

“And I don’t think it’s bad to ask for transformation of souls while we’re there,” he adds.

For more information on SOAR Utah, see www.mbmission.org/soar/utah/overview/.—Myra Holmes

By Kathy Heinrichs Wiest

Some 30 students from two Central California USMB congregations spent a week cleaning up the Traver church grounds, doing small repairs and tidying up the cemetery. The teens from the two communities located just six miles apart built relationships that seem to be sticking.

How many churches were represented when youth from Kingsburg (Calif.) MB Church and Templo de Oracion, Traver, Calif., joined efforts for a week of service?

Just one, says Traver Pastor Juan Pacheco (pictured right): “The church of Christ.”

About 30 junior and senior high students from the two congregations descended on Traver April 1-5 to give the town a spring cleaning makeover. For that week, they were one in service.

The teens picked up trash, cleaned yards, trimmed palm trees, did minor repairs to the Traver church building and tidied up a cemetery maintained and used by Mennonite Brethren.

It was hard work, to be sure, but laced with fun and motivated by mission, so that the teens worked willingly. “The work was hard and dirty, and I never heard a complaint,” says Kingsburg volunteer Steve Wiest.

Youth stayed at the Traver church—girls sleeping inside and boys in tents on the church lawn. “Even those whose homes were just a few blocks away came with the understanding that they were missionaries for a week,” says Kingsburg volunteer Melanie Weber.

The Traver congregation cooked breakfasts and dinners; Kingsburg MB provided lunches. Volunteers from both churches supervised.

Spiritual input for the week came from a “Life Journal,” which provided Scriptures related to Holy Week and opportunities for the youth to reflect and pray. Some of the youth also worked together on a crucifixion drama that was presented at a community Good Friday service and during the Kingsburg MB Easter service.

By the end of the week, the group had 60 bags of trash and some tired muscles to measure their success. But the most important accomplishments were the relationships that formed. Pacheco says that churches even in the same community are often like family members who retreat to separate rooms in the same house, choosing not to interact or build relationships. “I hate that,” he says.

In contrast, these two congregations—from cities only six miles apart—built the kind of unity that pleases God. “God has started the togetherness and he wants to finish with togetherness,” Pacheco says. “He wants to reconcile people.”

Although the Traver congregation is Hispanic and the Kingsburg congregation is primarily Anglo, cultural differences among the youth were minimal, says Pacheco. All spoke English and had grown up in American culture. “We’re a little darker,” he says. “That’s about the only difference.”

As the youth worked, played games, worshiped and interacted in the evenings, they built relationships that already show evidence of sticking. Weber says, “I saw God working on the hearts of the youth as they got to know each other better in a different setting away from phones, Internet, TV and their own busy schedules.”

Pacheco is grateful that Kingsburg, the larger of the congregations, provided the funding for the mission week. He calls their input of funds, equipment and willing workers “a little push” for the smaller church’s ministry efforts. Traver is a town so small that it doesn’t show up on some maps and deliveries can’t find Pacheco’s address, but he says, “They found us here.”

PHOTOS by Steve Wiest

Photo 1: Pastor Juan Pacheco in foreground with youth ready to start yard work around the Traver Community Assistance Program facilities. Youth (l to r): Jose Coverruvias, Tanya Chabana (hidden), Chandler Gama (back to camera), Sara Pacheco, David Pacheco (tall one), German Ramirez. (all are Traver youth from Templo de Oracion)

Photo 3: Youth relax on the grass at Templo de Oracion after a day of yardwork at the Zion Cemetary. Clockwise from top center: Felip Lunas (Traver), Thannia Chavana (Traver), Sara Pacheco (Traver), Diandra Rivera (Kingsburg), William Harris (Kingsburg) and Caleb Weber (Kingsburg)

By Myra Holmes

A group of 180 men gather near Enid, Okla., at the end of March to blow stuff up, shoot things, eat and build relationships.

On the last Saturday of March, a group of men gathers on 300 acres near Enid, Okla., to eat red meat and deep-fried Twinkies, blow stuff up and shoot things—all to reclaim godly masculinity and further God’s kingdom.

“Man Day” is “a day where men can get together to do ‘man stuff’ without all the garbage that society tells us has to be there in order for us to have a great time, like beer and half-naked women,” says Brent Kroeker, member of Enid (Okla.) MB Church.

Over the last six years, the event has grown to include about 180 men not only from Enid MB and other area churches but also from surrounding states. Many are alumni of Tabor College, the Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kan.

Through both the activities and the support for a mission in Africa, the day “defines us as men more accurately, as our Creator intended,” says Kroeker.

Kroeker and other Man Day organizers—Kenyon Gerbrandt, Jason Klassen, Brian Banz, Mike Yutzy, Eric Flaming, Jeff Husted, Toby Kennedy and Brent Lang—take cues from John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart. “Aggression is part of the masculine design; we are hardwired for it,” writes Eldredge.

Accordingly, Man Day activities include a mechanical bull, an extensive paintball course, college basketball on the big screen and a shooting range that offers a “120-gun buffet.” An annual highlight is the Great Pond Race in which salvaged cars are raced around a five-acre pond “until they smoke and die,” then set on fire or blown up. Food served throughout the event includes grilled steak, deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos, a crawfish boil and an infamous “bacon bomb.”

For some, the day becomes a worship experience. “When men get together and refocus their lives to Scripture and what that means for them as husbands and fathers, that is worship to us,” Kroeker says.

While not explicitly evangelistic, Man Day provides low-key opportunities to share Christ and build relationships. Kroeker says, “We hear back every year from men who have no ties to a church family, but will come to Man Day.” Copies of Wild at Heart are distributed to underscore the purpose of the day.

This year, Man Day included an opportunity to give to Hosanna Institute of the Sahel (HIS). Missionary Yacouba Seydou works with church planting, pastoral training and meeting physical needs—including drilling water wells—in Niger, West Africa. Kroeker serves on the HIS board of directors.

Less than 10 percent of the population in this predominately-Muslim country has access to clean water, so wells are vital to health. As Yacouba talks with Muslim community leaders about a well, organizes the drilling and returns regularly to check on it, he shares Jesus, the Living Water. “Villages are changed in a matter of a year both physically and spiritually,” Kroeker says.

Donations for HIS from this year’s Man Day totaled over $10,000. Those funds will be added to about $17,000 given by Enid MB Church at Christmas as part of their Advent Conspiracy emphasis to drill new wells.
For more on Man Day, look for it on Facebook. For an example of the work of HIS, watch “Molly Water Well” on YouTube.

by Myra Holmes

Although Aleksander “Aleks” Borisov is on the pastoral staff of a U.S. Mennonite Brethren congregation, his initial knowledge of U.S. Mennonite Brethren was limited, to say the least.

“I knew two things,” he says: “first, the letter M and second the letter B.”

It was nothing more than extra letters at the end of the name of his church, Pilgrim Slavic Baptist MB Church, Spokane, Wash.

Unfortunately, Borisov’s experience is not unique. On any given Sunday, 34 of the 194 USMB congregations worship in Russian—30 on the West Coast in the Pacific District Conference (PDC) and four in the Central District Conference (CDC). But for many of these Slavic congregations, their USMB connection is “just a signature on paper and nothing else,” Borisov says.

As the USMB new Slavic Ministries Director, Borisov says, “I’m trying to change this situation now.”

In recent decades, waves of Slavic Christians have immigrated to the U.S. as the former Soviet Union loosened its grip on those it had long persecuted under Communist rule. As these Russian-speaking Christians sought to form church communities in the U.S., they found an advocate and financial partner in USMB—a church formed by immigrants from the Ukraine and South Russia in the late 1800s.

But too often the relationship stopped there.

“In subsequent years we were not effective in keeping the partnership alive and healthy,” says Boschman.

 Members of the same church family felt like strangers.

That didn’t sit well with Boschman, the Leadership Board or other USMB leaders. So a new, half-time USMB staff position was formed and funded through a partnership with USMB, PDC, CDC MB Foundation and MB Mission to build bridges between the Slavic MB churches and the rest of the USMB family.

“The goal was to develop a healthier partnership for the sake of stronger ministry and for mutual edification and growth,” Boschman says. “It seemed the best way to do that would be to have someone who could help us bridge that relationship.”

After an extensive search, Borisov began serving as Director of Slavic ministries for the USMB inSeptember  2011.

“God provided Aleks,” Boschman says.

Borisov is an immigrant himself, having come to the U.S. in 2005, and speaks both English and Russian. He is well-respected within the Slavic community, lives near many Slavic MB churches and is active in a Slavic MB church. He is positioned age-wise to connect with both younger Slavic Mennonite Brethren and the older, first-generation immigrants.

“He’s an enthusiast, a visionary, an idea guy,” Boschman says. “He’s on a 

mission to help us follow through and build this relationship.”

Plus, his part-time position as pastor of education at Pilgrim allows him the flexibility to take on this new role. In his pastoral role, he helps organize or lead a variety of discipleship opportunities for this congregation of over 800: seminars for couples intending to marry, mentors for newly-married couples, Bible studies, leadership training programs, short-term mission orientations, small groups and much more.

“Anything that has to do with education I’m involved in,” Borisov says. It’s a full plate, but he admits, “I feel myself sick if I have nothing to do.”

So how does Borisov hope to improve connections between Slavic MBs and the larger USMB family? He begins with prayer.

“What I want to accomplish I couldn’t do by ordinary work,” he says. “I need a miracle in every step.” 

In addition to personal prayer, he gathers a group of Slavic supporters every Friday before dawn to pray. They pray not only about Borisov’s ministry hopes and dreams, but also for awakening among the Slavic community and churches and for their own equipping as personal evangelists. 

“Our desire is to make this world different,” Borisov says.

Only after laying a foundation of prayer, Borisov works at connecting with Slavic MB churches through letters, phone calls and visits. When he visits a Slavic MB congregation, a good sermon is a must and earns him credibility and open doors. 

“I pray God will give me the right message for each church to reach the heart,” he says.

Often after the service, he meets with pastoral staff and leaders. 

“I have to be prepared to give answers for very many questions,” he says, not only about the Mennonite Brethren but also about “the whole area of life.” He’s grateful for broad experience in church ministry and missions, both here and in Russia, from which to draw.

In addition, Borisov wants to help equip these congregations with seminars on topics like evangelism and developing small groups. It’s important, he says, to not only be accepted, but to be needed. He wants to be “a good servant.”

It hasn’t been easy. While Borisov describes Slavic MBs as very loving, having open hearts and open doors, they also have a wariness and sense of independence that comes from surviving persecution and living as foreigners in a new land.

“We are aliens,” Borisov says. “We are alone and have to survive alone.”

He says he has seen similar attitudes among orphans who grow up with no family; they learn a certain self-reliance necessary to survive.

Given that, building trust will take time. Borisov refers to Mark 3:14 , noting that the disciples’ first assignment was simply to be with Jesus.

“I think this is a key to any relationship: to spend more time together.”

He dreams of Slavic, Anglo and Hispanic MBs visiting each other, praying for each other and working together toward common goals.

One such goal is church planting. The USMB has set a goal of planting 60 new churches in the next 10 years; Borisov says that simple proportions mean about 10 of those should be new Slavic MB churches. He and other USMB leaders are looking both at starting churches from scratch and at the possibility of adopting established, unaffiliated Slavic churches into the USMB family. These adopted churches could provide a much-needed model of a good relationship, he says.

As Slavic and other U.S. Mennonite Brethren grow in partnership, each can learn from the other. The USMB history as an immigrant church may provide guidance and assurance for Slavic MBs. Borisov points out that navigating a new culture, especially one with so much freedom, can be a fearful thing.

USMB have called the U.S. home for generations and would do well to learn from the deep, living faith of Slavic Christians—a faith born out of persecution. And when persecution grows in the U.S., Borisov says, U.S. Mennonite Brethren would do well to learn from the Slavic Christian experience.

If God blesses efforts to better connect, “MB” will be more than two letters at the end of a church name; it will signify a ministry partnership that both parties value.

PHOTOS: 

1. Aleks and Vera Borisov immigrated to from their home in Russia to the United States in 2005. This fall, Aleks began working as the USMB Slavic ministries coordinator.

2. Since Aleks Borisov depends heavily on prayer as a local church pastor and as a new USMB staff member, its appropriate that this fall the USMB Leadership Board members commissioned Borisov as the new USMB Slavic ministries coordinator with a time of prayer.   

Uganda, although slightly smaller than Oregon, is home to an estimated 2.7 million orphans, according to UNICEF. Given that God is described in Scripture as the Father of the fatherless and the defender of widows and orphans, he must look upon Uganda with a special ache. AIDS, malaria and violent conflict have nearly wiped out an entire generation of adults; about half the country’s population is under the age of 15. 

While their road to Uganda differs, two USMB congregations, Discovery Bible Fellowship (DBF), Collinsville, Okla., and New Life Fellowship (NLF), Grant, Neb., find themselves compelled to do what they can to care for these children. DBF’s journey began with a church mission trip while NLF’s involvement started with the pages of a book.

Uganda’s orphans are usually taken in by extended family, leaving already-impoverished families with an extra mouth to feed, literally. It’s not uncommon to find child-led households. Often, the orphans are treated as second-class family members, receiving food and clothing only if there’s enough to go around. Often, there isn’t.

Cami Flege, director of an orphanage in Lira, Uganda, pictured right, describes the life of an average Ugandan orphan:

“The typical child we reach is 3 to 6 years old. Her parents have died from HIV/AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis, were killed in a rebel war or have abandoned her.

“She sleeps on an animal hide or a cane mat at night with no mosquito net. Every day she goes to the fields to dig for food and fetches unclean drinking water from a mud hole. She gathers firewood to build a fire so she can cook what food she was able to find. That is her routine day after day.

“She can’t go to school because she’s busy with survival. Besides, school requires fees for uniforms and books. No school means she won’t learn English and will never be able to communicate outside her own tribe.

“Without a mosquito net, she is highly likely to contract malaria. Drinking contaminated water will cause diarrhea. No one will take her to a clinic for treatment.

“She has no one to protect her from physical or sexual abuse. If she survives to adulthood, she will dig in the field for food because she has no education to do anything else. And she will bear children, because her value as a woman in this culture is in her ability to reproduce.”

The same Bible that describes God as defender of the orphans tells his followers, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). And two USMB congregations are seeking to obey that directive by meeting physical and spiritual needs of orphans in Uganda. Their approaches are different, but members of both DBF and NLF are investing themselves and their resources in Uganda and its children.

Read about Discovery Bible Fellowship's orphan village. 

Read about New Life Fellowship's carepoint that serves orphans. 

By Myra Holmes

New Life Fellowship is one of two USMB congregations that have adopted orphans in two Ugandan communities. Uganda, a country slightly smaller than Oregon, is home to and estimated 2.7 million orphans due to AIDS, malaria and violence. Click here to also read about the work of Discovery Bible Fellowship, Collinsville, Okla., in Uganda.

“The Lord just led us to Uganda,” says Vince Carrig, pastor of New Life Fellowship (NLF), a USMB congregation in Grant, Neb., pictured with a group of Ugandan children. Now New Life is making a difference in the lives of orphans in a remote part of Uganda, and it’s changing them as well.

It began with a small thing: James Harms, who attends Grant (Neb.) Evangelical Free Church (GEFC), read a book on the plight of orphans in Africa. “We need to do something for orphans in Africa,” he thought.

That spark of conviction led to a 2008 meeting with leaders from NLF and GEFC and representatives from Children’s Hope Chest, a ministry that connects Christian communities in the U.S. and Canada with orphans throughout the world, especially Russia.

The church leaders were pleased with Children’s Hope Chest’s community-to-community sponsorship model and liked that Children’s Hope Chest expects personal visits and hands-on involvement. It wasn’t Africa, but it sounded good.

Then Children’s Hope Chest suggested something new: Would these two churches be at all interested in starting a pilot program with orphans in a remote village of Uganda?

What the Nebraskans learned only later was that a group of pastors in this village spent three days and nights fasting and praying for just such an intervention.

Together, the two Nebraska congregations have launched a Children’s Hope Chest “carepoint” in Kayango, Uganda—not a residential orphanage but a gathering point and resource center for orphans in the community.

Kayango is a village of about 9,000 people that’s more than a four-hour drive off the beaten path. About 7,000 of the village residents are children; AIDS and malaria has nearly whipped out the adult population. Those from New Life who’ve visited the village search in vain for words to describe the poverty they’ve seen.

“They have nothing on their nothing,” Carrig says.

The carepoint seeks to help the neediest of the orphans with both practical and spiritual essentials. Individual sponsorships of $34 per month provide orphans with basics like meals, school supplies and clothing. Once a week, “disciplers” from the nearby village, hired by Children’s Hope Chest, come to the carepoint to provide spiritual teaching.

In March 2009, the two churches held an official “launch” service, asking for sponsors for 100 orphans to be served at the Kayango carepoint. Children’s Hope Chest warned them that, typically, sponsoring that many children would require a church of 1,000 or more. The two Grant churches together are fewer than 250; 30 orphans would be more in line with Children’s Hope Chest’s recommendations.

“It would take the Lord to do 100,” Harms says. “So we opted for 100.” By the end of the launch day, all 100 orphans were sponsored.

It wasn’t just about sending sponsorship money. “Children’s Hope Chest expected that we would go,” Carrig says. He points out that while supporting overseas work with money and prayer is good and necessary, the churches wanted a hands-on role.

“When we come back from a visit, there’s no describing what we’ve seen,” says Carrig. “If people will get experiences like that, that is exciting.”

About half a dozen teams, comprised of folks from New Life, Grant E-Free and the community have gone to Kayango to visit since initiating the carepoint in 2009. They have met the orphans and local leaders, taught children’s programs, overseen the digging of a well (Troy Kemling stands by the well) and a pit latrine, built a kitchen and trained local pastors.

And built relationships. Harms, who has been to the village five times, says building relationships in this people-oriented culture is “more than important; it’s absolutely crucial.” It’s a culture that values relationships over tasks, and time invested conveys love.

Harms says a highlight of all his visits was a shopping trip with several high-school-aged girls in order to get the supplies necessary to enroll them in private school. Because he spent significant time with these girls, he was able to impart some fatherly advice and tell them they were precious. “These girls have never had a dad tell them that,” he says.

Troy Kemling, a teacher who attends New Life, was part of a July 2010 team that went to meet with government and local leaders and learn what the community needs. After talking with teachers and visiting schools, they determined their next efforts must focus on education.

Although education is supposed to be “free and equal,” the reality is discouraging. The team saw more than 90 students for one teacher, classrooms with only a handful of shared textbooks, teachers who are as hungry as the students, schools in desperate disrepair and students unable to attend public school because they can’t afford the required badges and exam fees.

The two churches envision a private boarding school where students can learn not only basic academics but also Christian discipleship and vocational skills. “We can’t fix it all,” Kemling says, “but our hope is that some of these kids will grow up with an education and a hope for the future, and then they will become leaders.”

It will take patience. That’s not easy for task-oriented Americans to swallow, but the Grant churches recognize that it’s important not to swoop in with help that’s not wanted. Although they receive some guidance from Children’s Hope Chest on offering culturally appropriate help, they are finding it’s sometimes easier said than done.

One of the early teams helped built a large room at the carepoint that they intended to be used as a kitchen. While the building is proving useful, it’s not being used that way. That frustration has helped the Grant churches understand that they have much to learn and that they must partner with and empower the Ugandans.

Harms points out that, although these children live in abject poverty, they are also happy. He says that while Americans tend to immediately think of “things” to fix problems, imposing materialism on these people won’t make their lives better.

“We don’t want them to become Americans,” Carrig says. “We desperately want their partnership.”

Even as they long for ways to make a difference more quickly, the Grant churches see that their presence in Kayango does matter. The whole community uses and appreciates the well. The sponsored kids who are receiving food and some clothing are visibly changed—so much so that Harms says he can pick them out of a crowd.

Kemling talks about giving these orphans the love that they may not receive from any other adults in their lives and introducing them to a Heavenly Father who desires to adopt them into this family.

“There are going to be eternal rewards,” Kemling says.

Their work in Uganda is certainly transforming lives in Nebraska. Those who’ve spent time in Kayango talk about learning contentment from those who have nothing. About lessons in hospitality and generosity from a shared orange. About joyous worship not typically found in most American churches. And about a sense of urgency to share the gospel, because that’s what will really make a difference.

Perhaps none have been more obviously changed than the Carrig family. For them, loving orphans in Uganda has meant adding a family member.

Carrig remembers Children’s Hope Chest leaders explaining in initial meetings that they do not assist in adoptions, lest Children’s Hope Chest gain a reputation for taking children out of the community. Carrig remembers thinking, “That’s fine, of course, because I have no plans to adopt anybody.”

But then he and his wife, Beth, met Monica, the child their family sponsors. Carrig says he immediately felt God nudging him: “You are her father.”

Carrig says, “That was a lot to take.”

But time and prayer confirmed for the family that they should explore the possibility of adopting. Obstacle after impossible obstacle fell: Did she return the love? Did she want to come to the U.S.? Would her aunt, with whom she lived, release her? Would the paperwork work out?

The Carrigs brought Monica home in December 2011. “She’s ours now, and we love her very much, and she loves us back,” Carrig says of his new daughter, pictured above with her new mom, Beth Carrig, and younger brother, James.

He describes how she’s growing in her faith, how she loved seeing snow for the first time, how she’s learning quickly at school.

“I think the Lord has a great plan for her,” he says.

Likewise, he hopes God has a great plan for Kayango: “I sure hope we’re just getting started,” he says.

“The need is immense,” Kemling admits. “It’s a God-sized project. It’s beyond what we can do on our own by far. It’s really humbling to think that the Lord wants us to partner with him in ministering to these people.”

by Kathy Heinrichs Wiest 

Discover Bible Fellowship is one of two USMB congregations that have adopted orphans in two Ugandan communities. Uganda, a country slightly smaller than Oregon, is home to and estimated 2.7 million orphans due to AIDS, malaria and violence. Click here to also read about the work of New Life Fellowship, Grant, Neb., in Uganda. 

Pastor Derk Madden (left) would need a much bigger wallet to carry the photos of all the children he claims as his own. But in his heart, all 50 Ugandan orphans living in Calo Me Lare village are his kids. Through Project Hope Worldwide (PHW), Madden and his congregation at Discovery Bible Fellowship, a USMB church in Collinsville, Okla., provide for these children in the small village they have built just outside the town of Lira, Uganda.

Moses is one of the orphans who has been given a home and family at Calo Me Lare. His mother, under pressure from her own father, had left the boy to die in a swamp. Someone found him gagged and covered with mud, but still alive. For a while, a woman in the community cared for him, but the small amount of food and care she and the community could provide could not bring him back to health. 

At three years of age, Moses came to Calo Me Lare (right) where he has become part of a new family led by a Ugandan Christian widow and filled with several “brothers” who are also orphans.

Madden points to Scripture’s clear call to care for orphans in James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”

You can't just go home

He recalls the 2008 church planting mission trip that prompted the PHW efforts: “As we went from hut to hut there was this throng of children that followed us, some of them like two years old. People told me those were orphans. When you see something that is so blatantly wrong or needy, you can’t just go home and not do anything about it.”

That 2008 mission trip was Kelley Compton’s first trip overseas and redirected her life. She was Discovery’s worship ministries leader and became part of a small team who returned from the mission trip determined to take some action.

“We started praying and seeking God’s will,” she recalls, “and God showed up in huge ways.”

Compton, now PHW’s vice president for finances and child sponsorship, has helped the mission find corporate contributors and connect with sponsors that allow the organization to do far more than the church could fund alone. By establishing the mission as a non-profit organization separate from the church, PHW is able to tap into many other funding sources. Last year the organization raised $500,000 from several Oklahoma corporations and foundations along with gifts from other churches.

On April 20 PHW will hold its third annual Kwero fundraising event that, according to Compton, is a festive way to get their message out. Table sponsors include law firms, pipeline and oil companies and construction and other businesses that bring their employees and clients. The event includes high quality entertainment, silent and live auctions and multi-media presentations demonstrating the need and showing progress on the development of the project. The fundraising goal for this year’s event is $150,000.

It takes a village

Large gifts in addition to the church’s support have enabled the PHW to move quickly in implementing their vision of creating a village for orphans. In July 2009, a second church planting group from Discovery went to Uganda. Along with the group’s assignment of hut-to-hut visitation, several members also began investigating the possibility of building their orphan village.

The site of this second mission was the city of Lira, home to 1.5 million people with no disciple-making church, according to Madden. The location seemed ideal for what they felt God calling them to do—alleviate the suffering of orphans and widows and plant an evangelical church—so they began the search for a site and partners to help.

An encounter with missionaries Andy (right) and Cami Flege was one of the ways “God showed up,” says Compton.

 The Fledges had experienced a call from God to leave their cabinet-making business in Oregon and serve him in a ministry to orphans in Uganda. Through a series of events they found themselves in Lira in search of a place to fulfill that calling.

The Discovery group’s research for their project brought them in contact with the Fleges.

“It was pretty obvious to everyone from the start that God brought us here to Project Hope,” says Andy Flege, “We just took the ball and ran with it, buying land and building the orphan homes.”

By March 2011, newly formed “families” consisting of a Christian widow and up to eight orphans began to fill the houses. In addition to eight orphan homes, the village soon had an administration building that serves as a gathering place for Sunday worship as well as a school during the week.

"Exactly what we came to do"

As on-site directors, the Fleges hired and trained local staff. They currently oversee around 20 people. “We are doing exactly what we came to Uganda to do,” says Cami Flege with satisfaction.

To provide local leadership and guide them through the Ugandan bureaucracy and cultural context, PHW hired Emiku Dennis from the nearby city of Soroti as administrator and pastor their new church. Emiku had just finished his college education and impressed the PHW leaders with both his professionalism and his heart.

“He blew the socks off of us!” says Compton.

Emiku (right) is a seminary-trained pastor and an orphan himself.

“I lived most of my life in church as a relief to my childhood stress and fatigue,” he recalls. “I consider [Project Hope] as God’s way to put me into ministry of serving the most hurting little ones in my country.”

While Ugandan staff led by Emiku and the Fleges, handle day-to-day operations, Madden and Discovery Bible Fellowship continue an active role in Cala Me Lare. Three teams have traveled to Uganda for short-term ministries. The church expects to continue that pattern, sending about 30 people to Uganda each year. Depending on the expertise of the group, short-term teams have done hut-to-hut evangelism, vacation Bible school, child development counseling and HIV/AIDS testing.

"I left a piece of my heart"

Those who have gone find the experience transformational. Participant Misty Maxwell originally thought of the trip as something to “mark off my bucket list.”

“Now it is like a path I hope I never get to the end of,” she says in a video testimonial. “I left a piece of my heart with the children of Calo Me Lare.” Along with many other participants, she plans to continue taking part in the short-term missions.

Hilary Nicholson, a pediatric nurse practitioner, returned from Uganda with a vision for reaching hurting people in her own community. She founded a volunteer-based free medical clinic in Collinsville. Like PHW, Arubah Community Clinic has established itself as a nonprofit independent of the church and draws volunteers and funding from within the Discovery congregation and from the larger medical community.

After participating in the short-term missions and becoming PHW financial sponsors, long-time Discovery Fellowship leaders Dennis and Margie Balzer have felt God’s call to a further commitment to the ministry. The call came during a sermon about Jesus’ temptation in the desert: Jesus didn’t take the easy way out, and neither should we, they heard Pastor Derk challenge them. When Madden followed that sermon with an announcement that a mature couple was needed to support the current staff in Calo Me Lare, the Balzers stepped forward.

A new retirement plan

Dennis and Margie decided to retire from their jobs and will spend the first year of their retirement in Uganda. Leaving behind six grandkids, they will move to Calo Me Lare in May.

“Leaving grandkids is probably the hardest thing about going,” admits Dennis, “but we’re committed for a year and will see how the Lord leads and how productive we feel we are.”

Giving and serving through missions are part of Discovery Bible Fellowship’s DNA, according to the Balzers who have been part of the congregation from childhood. Margie remembers enjoying the stories of missionaries who visited the church regularly, and Dennis’s dad took part in church projects with Mennonite Disaster Service.
“It’s always been a natural part of our church,” she says.

They are glad to see that emphasis continuing to grow in the congregation.

“Pastor Derk has brought more of the hands-on aspect, not just sending a check, but putting our hands on the job,” Dennis says.

Madden has seen Discovery’s involvement in this mission change his own perspective and the values and priorities of the church.

“Once you have been involved with this, everything in your life that you thought would bring you contentment seems stupid,” he says. “It has ignited a passion for giving ourselves away.”

As Discovery Bible Fellowship wallets and hearts pour out in love for orphans in Uganda, they don’t remain empty. A wallet full of orphans’ photos is a picture of what Madden means when he says: “The more we give ourselves away, the more God blesses and the more we have for ourselves.”

by Myra Holmes

Think “inner city” and the images that come to mind are probably not far from the daily realities of those in the neighborhood around Lighthouse Community Church, Wichita, Kan.

“We definitely deal with a lot of broken-hearted people,” says Pastor Jerry Willhite. “We try to give hope to people who are struggling.”

Hope comes first through Christ, so the church emphasizes discipleship, asking for a year-and-a-half commitment to training in the Word and in prayer. Lighthouse also works to meet physical needs through food and clothing pantries and a mobile medical clinic.

The ministry is growing in exciting ways. They’ve begun a promising Bible study in a similar neighborhood, and Willhite expects their small membership of 35 to roughly double this spring when a membership class concludes with baptisms and welcoming new members.

But ministry growth in an urban neighborhood doesn’t necessarily translate into financial growth. Sometimes it means taking on more need. So this fall when the building that Lighthouse had been renting for the past eight years came up for sale, the congregation faced a dilemma.

This fairly large church facility is perfectly situated in the heart of the community, where people who need Christ and need help can easily stop in. The congregation wanted to stay in the building but hadn’t even been making their modest rent. Willhite says, “If this was going to happen, God was going to have to bless us with it.”

Word of the need spread throughout the Southern District Conference (SDC), and the SDC churches responded.

 First MB Church (FMBC), also in Wichita, dedicated their entire Thanksgiving offering to Lighthouse—enough to cover about half the purchase price. FMBC also gives hands-on support as volunteers help Lighthouse with outreach events such as a neighborhood BBQ in summer and a turkey dinner give-away around Christmas.

Jana Hildebrandt, FMBC pastor of outreach and assimilation, says the larger, more suburban congregation is grateful for such opportunities to serve. “We want to be part of the Lighthouse story,” she says.

Funds from Lighthouse and the SDC churches will help meet the rest of the building cost.

“God’s called us to ministry here, and this is a difficult area,” Willhite says. “So we’re just very thankful that God is using these partners to enable us to do what God is calling us to do.”

by Myra Holmes

The Omaha Story: Timeline of 50 years of ministry

The five USMB congregations in Omaha, Neb., are preparing for a celebration—a gathering much bigger than Conection 2012, the USMB biennial convention to be held this summer in Nebraska’s largest city.

“We happen to know there’s a party coming,” says Lance Burch, pastor of Shadow Lake Community Church, “where the food never runs out, the music never gets turned down and no one ever leaves. We’re in it for that.”

With an eye toward that eternal celebration, each of the Omaha-area MB congregations goes into their unique highways and byways to invite their neighbors to accept God’s invitation to join his family.

It all started with Faith

Faith Bible Church has been at it the longest—since the late 1960s. Their near-downtown community now has a distinctly urban composition. About half of the folks in the area are Hispanic, and many are trying to make ends meet from week to week.

The urban feel of the community is reflected in the congregation, says church board member Stephen Stout. A visitor to Faith Bible would be welcomed among a mixed group of people that would likely include a few homeless individuals.

While it’s likely that preaching pastor Denny Hartford would speak, he is not the full-time pastor at Faith Bible. In fact, the congregation does not have a pastor, nor are they seeking one. Instead, a six-member church board leads the congregation. These volunteers, including Stout, manage the shepherding and administrative tasks that pastors usually do. “It’s working very well for us,” Stout says.

Since Faith Bible is centered in an area with ample physical needs, a primary way this congregation of about 60 people reaches out is by meeting physical needs. In 1996, Faith Bible established a separate nonprofit, Good Neighbor Ministries (GNM), to most effectively share God’s love in a tangible way. Stout is the director of GNM.

Being a good neighbor
GNM serves a 15-by 15-block area that is home to about 10,000 people. Through a pool of volunteers, GNM offers such services as yard care, snow shoveling, “Life Skills” classes, food assistance and Bible studies. But it’s much more than meeting physical needs, says Stout. GNM works to build relationships, to connect volunteers to those who need encouragement and to verbally share the gospel.

For example, on a recent afternoon GNM provided a dumpster so that area residents could clean out accumulated stuff without cost. As they spread word about the dumpster’s availability, Stout and volunteers talked with residents, offered information on the gospel message, GNM’s services and other area resources.

Stout says the Faith Bible community has recently drawn attention from other service groups and has even been targeted by the city as an area for restoration. Stout comments that God seems to be answering Faith Bible’s longstanding prayer for more workers for this neighborhood, although in unexpected ways. “There seems to be a growing interest—with real things happening—in our neighborhood,” he says.

Not satisfied with spreading the gospel in their own neighborhood, Faith Bible has “grandmothered” the rest of the Omaha MB churches by planting Iglesia Agua Viva and Millard Bible Church.

Church planting
Although no longer an active congregation, Millard Bible had an excellent ministry in the Omaha area for 20 years, particularly among families and youth. In 1997, Millard partnered with Mission USA, the USMB church planting arm, and the Central District Conference (CDC) to plant the congregation now known as Shadow Lake Community Church.

When Millard Bible closed its doors in 2008, they left a perfectly good facility under the ownership of the CDC. Meanwhile, Shadow Lake was quickly outgrowing their facility. So in partnership with the CDC, Shadow Lake launched a satellite service in the Millard facility. In time, it became apparent that this satellite had potential as a stand-alone church, and it became Stony Brook Church, the youngest of the Omaha churches. Campus pastor Chad Stoner became the lead pastor.

Shadow Lake and Stony Brook are both located in more suburban areas of Omaha, although even the 20 minutes that separates them means unique communities and outreach. Papillion, the small town on the outskirts of Omaha where Shadow Lake is located, ranked fifth in Money’s list of 100 best small towns. (See http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2011/snapshots/PL3138295.html ) 

It’s a solidly middle-class area, with lots of young families, including military families from nearby Offut Air Force Base. Pastor Lance Burch describes the feel of the community as “all-American,” complete with a baseball field, friendly neighbors and great fireworks.

Seniors and ethnic mix are scarce in the community, and the congregation reflects that. But that doesn’t mean there’s not diversity. Burch says the congregation includes a variety of spiritual maturity levels—“a lot of people who ask big questions about God and the church.”

Because the congregation is quickly closing in on 800, with an abundance of children, on a property with only 75 parking spaces, Shadow Lake offers three Sunday services. The church owns 20 acres of land on which they hope to build in the near future, which will alleviate some of the space issues.

Focused on God and others
Worship at Shadow Lake is designed to put the focus squarely on God. Sermons “provoke people to think about God and their place in the world,” says Burch. Beyond Sunday worship, the church encourages risking relationships through “life groups,” with an eye toward impacting their community.

Each of Shadow Lake’s life groups takes on an “impact project” each semester, like serving with a local feeding ministry. “We’re really serious about Papillion and Omaha knowing that we’re here and that we don’t exist for ourselves,” Burch says.

Shadow Lake’s daughter church, Stony Brook, is in what pastor Chad Stoner describes as “an old suburb,” with a broad mix of young and old, middle and lower-middle class—reflected, of course, in the congregation. “We have the whole gamut here,” Stoner says.

Belong, believe, become
Stony Brook invites people to “belong, believe, become.” First-time visitors, no matter their background or spiritual journey, are welcomed into an atmosphere of love and acceptance. Very quickly, they know they belong and recognize this as a safe place to work out their relationship with God, says Stoner.

Once someone belongs at Stony Brook, they are free to ask the questions that lead them to deeper belief in Christ, which then allows them to become who God intends. Life groups play a key role in all stages of this journey. Each group is an expression of the church, encouraging those involved to belong, believe and become. That includes a passion to multiply.

While Stony Brook is located in a high-traffic area, the facility is small with limited expansion possibilities. “Our trajectory is one of planting churches,” Stoner says. He dreams of Stony Brook becoming a “greenhouse” for growing young leaders and church planters for the national USMB family and of planting a new church in the next few years. “We are bent on that,” he says.

Churches planting churches
Stony Brook’s pastor of discipleship Stephen Humber adds that a big church planting vision will require support across the larger church family, especially in terms of finances. Stony Brook has already felt that kind of USMB support through Mission USA, the USMB church planting ministry; the CDC; partner congregations and individuals.

Humber says, “God is at work in the lives of people in Omaha, and we loving partnering with the USMB to help get that done.”

Meanwhile, as Millard, Shadow Lake and Stony Brook were spreading the gospel in Omaha’s suburbs, Faith Bible saw a growing Hispanic population in the city, noted a lack of evangelical churches serving this population and decided to do something about it. About 16 years ago, with help from the CDC and Hispanic church planter Walter Presa, they established what might have been the first Hispanic evangelical church in Omaha, Iglesia Agua Viva.

Ministering to Omaha's growing Hispanic community
Agua Viva meets in the heart of South Omaha—a perfect location for them, according to pastor Daniel Rodriguez. The church building is located just a block from the main center of Hispanic shopping and restaurants. It’s a location familiar to Hispanics in Omaha.

Services, naturally, are in Spanish, but Spanish and English-speaking visitors alike find a warm welcome. Rodriguez says they often work to accommodate English visitors by including English songs. That kind of extra effort to include all comers is intentional. “When people come, we want them to feel the unity, feel the love for each other that comes from Christ,” he says, “not just hear the words.”

Young people are active in the life of the congregation, leading worship, preaching from time to time, lending their musical talents and helping to communicate bilingually. Rodriguez says visitors are sometimes surprised by the way the congregation includes the youth.

A couple of times each year, Agua Viva closes the street in front of the church and holds their service outside. They go door-to-door inviting community members. But even if the neighbors don’t come, the outdoor services serve as a helpful connection to their community. Rodriguez says that because so many Hispanics come from a Catholic background and have a deep hesitation about a non-Catholic church, it’s important to break the ice and make them comfortable.

Agua Viva also serves Hispanics in Omaha through a weekly radio program on a Spanish, Christian station. The program includes music and a brief devotional by Rodriguez, followed by calls from listeners with prayer requests. Often, calls come from immigrants in prison, awaiting deportation and concerned about their families. The congregation visits the immigrants’ families and helps with physical needs as they’re able.

Rodriguez tells of a woman whose story is typical: She first contacted the church through the radio program to ask for prayer for her husband, jailed as an illegal immigrant. When he was deported and she was left raising three children alone, the church provided diapers, milk and friendship. She attended church, accepted Christ and is preparing for baptism. “It makes you really excited when you see that,” Rodriguez says.

"Showing them something different"
In the last couple of years, Agua Viva has multiplied their ministry to Hispanics in the area through Iglesia Manatial de Agua Viva, a church plant led by Jose Guerra. In a full-circle turn of events, Manatial de Agua Viva meets in the gym of Faith Bible Church, their grandmother church. It’s not only a good way for the two congregations to partner but also an ideal location for the Hispanic congregation, near apartment complexes filled with Hispanics.

The group is currently about 50 people, but Rodriguez says the church has tremendous potential to grow. They are currently knocking on doors to let neighbors know they’re near, and they have plans to hold an outdoor service in summer similar to those held by Agua Viva.

Rodriguez says that Mennonite Brethren offer something unique to Omaha’s Hispanic culture. Many come from Catholic or Pentecostal backgrounds and associate church with demands for money. But in the MB congregations “they feel safe.” They are not welcomed because of what they can give but so that they can know Jesus. “We’re showing them something different,” Rodriguez says.

And for each of these five MB congregations, showing their communities that knowing Jesus makes all the difference is what it’s all about. They want the Lord’s great banquet tables to be filled.

PHOTOS: 

First: Omaha's pastors invite you to visit their city for Conection 2012, the biennial USMB convention. Four of the congregations—Shadow Lake, Stony Brook, Iglesia Agua Viva and Manatial de Agua Viva—trace their beginning to Faith Bible Church, founded in the late 1960s. 

Second: Faith Bible Church serves their inner-city neighborhood in a variety of ways, including a summer carnival. 

Third: Stony Brook, in Millard, Neb., emphasizes "belong, believe, become"as they nurture people in their faith journey. 

Fourth: The Agua Viva congregation ministers to Omaha's Hispanic community in a variety of ways. 

The Omaha Story: Fifty Years of Ministry

• 1946: Cornelius F. Plett brings the idea of a city mission in Omaha to the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Conference.
• Feb. 5, 1950: Fontanelle Chapel starts in North Omaha as an outreach of the KMB.
• August 1964: CDC initiates a second church plant, Highland Community Church, led by Robert Friesen.   
• 1968: Fontanelle Chapel relocates and begins meeting as Faith Bible Church. The CDC refocuses their ministry at the old Fontanelle property to serve the immediate neighborhood.
• May 21, 1972: Faith Bible dedicates a new building.
• 1977: Highland Community Church closes.
• 1979: Fontanelle ministry closes.
• May 1983: Faith Bible pastor Leonard Reimer begins Bible studies in Millard, Neb.
• 1985: Millard Bible Church is officially organized.
• 1990: Faith Bible starts a Spanish language ministry, called Iglesia Agua Viva led by Amalia and Walter Presa (pictured right).
• 1995: Iglesia Agua Viva is officially founded.
• 1996: Faith Bible starts Good Neighbor Ministries.
• Sept. 13, 1997: Rolling Hills Church—a church plant of Millard Bible—is founded.
• Dec. 18, 2005: Rolling Hills relaunches as Shadow Lake Community Church.
• Oct. 1, 2006: Shadow Lake merges with Pleasantview Church.
• Sept. 21, 2008: Millard Bible closes.
• January 2009: Shadow Lake starts a satellite campus in the Millard Bible facility.
• 2009: Iglesia Agua Viva plants Iglesia Manatial De Agua Viva.
• August 2010: Stony Brook Church is planted in the Millard facility.
• 2011: Iglesia Manatial De Agua Viva begins meeting in the Faith Bible facility.

By Myra Holmes

What if an entire congregation could experience short-term mission together? How might that experience not only impact the culture they served but also transform the congregation and their community back home?
And what if the church taking on such a mission was not 50 people or 100, but 1,000?

“Sure it’s a crazy idea,” says Jeff Gowling, pastor of The Bridge Bible Church, Bakersfield, Calif. “It’s a radical idea. But it was God’s idea.”

It was on a short-term mission to Mexico over a year ago that The Bridge leaders began to feel God nudging them toward such a bold move. Gowling describes standing on a small amphitheater stage in Mexico, imagining the congregation worshipping and serving together there. That dream came to fruition Nov. 10-13, 2011, when about 700 people from The Bridge served in Ensenada, Mexico with what they called Adios 11-11-11.

Of course, the logistics of taking so many people into a different culture to serve were formidable. So designated teams tackled each aspect of the project to make sure it all stayed organized and on track.

Seeing God's hand at work

Kelly Geisler, who served as the administrative assistant for the Adios planning committee, was impressed by the massive organizational effort over about nine months, but she was even more impressed by these leaders’ continual focus on God. Leaders began each meeting on their knees. It was a blessing, says Geisler, to work with men and women who were so “God-driven.”

Scott Fults, who oversaw one of 10 ministry “zones” with several project teams in each zone, says he was pleasantly surprised by how well everything came together—so well, in fact, that God’s hand was clearly evident.

For example, Fults says, organizers hoped to have medical personnel near each project team serving in Mexico, but when the team assignments were finalized, they realized they had overlooked that detail. As they went back through the team assignments, they discovered that every team already included a doctor or a nurse.

Logistic teams could not have prepared for unusually heavy rains that provided a significant challenge on the final day, drowning tents and turning roads into mudslides. Participants whose tents were no longer useable moved into a large auditorium to sleep on the floor for the night.

Geisler tells how her team intended to return to Bakersfield that evening, but when roads became impassable, she was forced to stay with others in “The Barn.” “God had no plans for us to leave that night,” she says.

Although anxieties ran high as Adios participants waited for blankets, Geisler says most people remained gracious. Furthermore, the worship and communion that final evening was the highlight of the trip for her—“one of the most amazing things I’ve ever been part of.” The shared experience served to unify participants and give them a glimpse into the challenges that some of those they worked with experience regularly.

“That’s when you know that God has a plan,” Geisler says.

God's hand at work with cement, prison
God’s hand was likewise evident as the teams worked. Adios participants were divided into 41 teams that served in various ways in Ensenada. Most of the projects involved elbow grease and the simple willingness to serve: building, fixing, repairing, framing, roofing, painting.

One team doing cement work ran out of cement as they neared the end of their project. As they were praying for wisdom on how to proceed, a cement truck pulled up, and the driver offered some cement that was left over from his project at no cost.

Gowling tells of another team that worked on a kitchen floor for a Mexican prison. When the floor was complete, the warden held a small dedication ceremony. With unprecedented openness, the warden acknowledged his own belief in God, invited the team to share the gospel and welcomed them to return for future ministry. “You are now partners with us,” the warden told the team.

While the impact of 700 workers serving in Ensenada was significant, the bigger impact was the relationships that were built. Fults says that early on, organizers made a significant shift from thinking in terms of swooping in to do something for the local pastors and ministries, to asking what local ministries needed and seeking to partner with them. And when The Bridge asked, Mexican believers told them clearly that relationships were as important as any project they could do.

Relationships important to local leaders
As Bridge missionaries worked alongside Mexican believers, genuine connections were forged in spite of language barriers—“something that only God can do,” Gowling says.

Geisler’s team worked on adding space to the home of a pastor and his extended family. She says that instead of being saddened by the extreme poverty she saw, she was inspired by the graciousness and joy of the pastor’s family. In spite of the language barrier, she witnessed and experienced their happiness, their hospitality and their contentment. “I was humbled,” she says.

Eric Nielsen’s team built a small home for and with a partially-disabled single father, Roberto. When those torrential rains came, the team refused to stop their work—roofing, at that particular time. Roberto was visibly touched when he saw the soaked workers on his roof. “He could really see God’s love for him in all of it,” Nielsen says.

He adds, “We’ve created relationships there that will last a lifetime.”

Already, individuals and small groups of people from the Bridge have returned to Ensenada to serve and to build on relationships. Gowling says The Bridge will organize more formal trips back as well, and some are asking for an “Adios 12-12-12,” although Bridge leaders haven’t committed to that.

Relationships strengthened in church family
The Adios mission impacted relationships within The Bridge as well. As teams prepared together for the trip, lived together in Mexico and served side-by-side, bonds were formed that will not easily be broken. As some participants commented informally, “We’re brothers and sisters now for sure.”

Each night, Adios participants gathered for corporate worship featuring a key word or focus. The first night, the focus was “carte blanche,” a term referring to absolute surrender. Gowling challenged participants to give any unsurrendered parts of their lives to God. “I think a lot of our people did,” he says.

The second night’s word was “Jesus,” reminding participants to look for Jesus in those they served. The third night, “catalyst” challenged them to use Adios 11-11-11 to change the rest of their lives.

“Our biggest prayer for this trip was that it wouldn’t be just a weekend mission trip in Mexico, but that it would be a life transformation and a church transformation,” Gowling says.

Hoping for "radical" decisions in Bakersfield
While it’s too early to evaluate what kind of long-term transformation this trip began, Gowling hopes they’ll see increased involvement in service in their community, families united and loving in new ways, even people making so-called “radical” decisions that become the norm. He says, “We’re on the right track, but the success of this trip will continue to be lived out.”

One small example of such a “radical” decision: Nielsen says that after building a home and a relationship in Mexico, his family chose to go without a Christmas tree this year, donating that money to Roberto and his family instead.

To leverage the Adios experience for maximum transformation, Bridge leaders are building partnerships with ministries in Bakersfield and encouraging small groups—they call them “impact groups”—to get involved in local service. “Now all the hard work really begins,” Gowling says.

Gowling warns that an all-church mission trip isn’t for every congregation. Without God’s clear leading, it would be truly crazy. He advises those considering such a step of faith to pray first. “Be sure it’s God’s thing,” he says, “then jump in with both feet with reckless abandon.”

by Myra Holmes

It looked innocent enough. Sitting around a restaurant table, three blond American girls balanced spoons on their noses and made silly animal sounds, eliciting giggles from seven Vietnamese girls. But looks can be deceiving. Beneath the giggles, the hearts of seven girls opened a crack to their new freedom from the nightmare of sexual slavery while the hearts of three girls—and their parents—were flooded with pain.

Four years ago while traveling in Cambodia, the Bolthouse family—Bill and Laurie, then 11-year-old twins Madison and Meredith and nine-year-old Molly—came literally face-to-face with the injustice of human trafficking. The meeting was a turning point for the family, who attend Trailhead Church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation in Centennial, Colo.

“We’ve met them; we see them,” says Laurie.

The Bolthouse sisters were very quiet when the family returned to their hotel room following dinner. Then came a storm of tears. The wrong they had just encountered was overwhelming. That night the family prayed angry prayers. And they asked God, “What can we do? Can we do something more?”

Four years later, “something more” is coming to the big screen as Trade of Innocents, a feature-length film that the family hopes will put a face on the issue of human trafficking for a much wider audience. So that one more girl will find freedom.

When Bill and Laurie married some 22 years ago, they promised never to “fade into the obscurity of normality,” as Bill says. They wanted their life together to make a difference. Their dedication to living on mission has spilled over onto their daughters, now teenagers. “I want to hand our kids a heritage of being involved,” Bill says. “You can do this kind of stuff and have fun!”

Over the years, the family has served together in places like Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and India. So when Bill, a retired family physician, served short-term in Cambodia, the family naturally went with him. That’s where they became better acquainted with the work of International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights agency that advocates for victims of human trafficking, and met those seven newly rescued girls.

According to IJM, 27 million people are held in bondage around the world, forced into inhumane working conditions or into prostitution. That number includes children: Each year, 2 million children are exploited through the commercial sex trade. And it isn’t a problem only “over there.” Laurie points out that human trafficking is prevalent even in the United States; beneath the glitz of major events such as the Super Bowl or the National Western Stock Show, people are bought and sold.

“If you live in a major city anywhere in the world you are within miles of someone who’s locked in a room,” says Bill, “maybe a young girl who’s locked away and going to be raped.”

After their experience with IJM in Cambodia, the Bolthouse family learned about human trafficking, prayed and waited. Then friend and motion picture writer and director Christopher Bessette asked them to help produce a movie about the issue of human trafficking, Trade of Innocents: Justice Needs a Hero.

It was the right opportunity, and thanks to a successful family business they had the means to help. As is their habit, the Bolthouses embraced the mission together. This time it meant spending three months in spring 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand, for on-location filming. Listed among the film’s producers, they provided funds and creative input. They were closely involved in everything from planning to casting to costumes. The girls helped with office work and errands, filled in as extras and soaked up the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sitting in on the filming of fictitious scenes brought the reality of trafficking closer to home. Laurie says that even though she knew the scenes were contrived, even though the filming took place amidst crowds of film crew folk and even though no girls were ever in danger, “It can bother your heart.”

Sometimes Madison wanted to push the intensity of the experience and the issue far away, but resisted. “So many people are pushing it away when it really needs to come out,” she says.

Molly, who battled nightmares during the filming, says the experience “made me want to fight even more.” She hopes that Trade of Innocents will capture viewer’s hearts. “They have to face the fact that (human trafficking) really is real.”

The film offers resources and ideas for action, leaving next steps in the hands of each viewer. Imagine a girl locked in a room, waiting to be raped, says Bill. “This movie will hand you a key,” he says. “You can choose to do with that key what you want. If you put that key in your pocket and walk away, you become her jailer. But if you take that key and unlock the room through the opportunities available after the movie, you will be allowing that girl out of that room and giving her freedom. That’s why we’re making this movie.”

The plot of Trade of Innocents revolves around Alex and Claire Becker, a couple grieving the loss of a child when Alex takes a job in Southeast Asia as a human trafficking investigator. Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino plays Claire; Dermot Mulroney plays Alex. Viewers will also recognize supporting actor John Billingsley, who has appeared in over 100 films and television shows. Up-and-comer Trieu Tran joins the cast in the role of the villainous brothel owner.

Admittedly, it’s not a warm, fuzzy topic for a film. The subject matter alone may draw an “R” rating, although producers are hoping for “PG-13.” But even against the backdrop of incredible evil, the story offers hope and redemption. Bill and Laurie say Trade of Innocents is not a “Christian movie” in the sense that many people would think: There is no overt gospel message, no “praying grandmother character.” But they point out that the movie is very much in line with God’s heart for the oppressed, and, they say, Christians should be the first to embrace these themes.

“This is God’s story. It’s our story; it’s our kids’ stories,” says Laurie. “And we’re hoping it’s going to be the world’s story.”

The expected release date of Trade of Innocents is in early 2012 with broad distribution throughout the U.S. For the latest on release dates and local showings, see www.tradeofinnocentsmovie.com or search for the Trade of Innocents page on Facebook. 

PHOTOS: 

The Bolthouse family stands in front of a special set the film crew built  for the movie Trade of Innocents. It represents Angkor wat, a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. 

Two of the three Bolthouse sisters on the Trade of Innocents set. 

By Myra Holmes

On Christmas morning this year, as for the last dozen years or so, families from Laurelglen Bible Church (LBC), Bakersfield, Calif., will gather in the LBC parking lot for a bit of organization and some prayer, then scatter to several nursing homes to deliver gifts to seniors who might otherwise spend the holiday alone. They call it “Joy of Giving,” and it’s become a Christmas tradition for 150 to 200 LBC people.

It didn’t start that big, of course. It began as a small project of a women’s Bible Study group who desired to center their holiday on giving, not receiving. Dana Yarian, a member of that women’s group, was hesitant at first to participate: How would her family react? Would they willingly give up part of their Christmas day? “But once you go, that’s when you really catch the vision,” she says. “My family can’t imagine not going now.”

Joy of Giving really has very little to do with the gifts the LBCers hand out. The gift bags contain a few small practical items—socks, lotion, tissues—and a stuffed animal. The stuffed animal gives something comforting to hold on to, triggers memories of childhood and serves as a conversation starter. The bag is just an excuse to visit with the seniors, hear their stories and spend some time with them. And that’s the real gift.

Tim Hardy, care ministries pastor at LBC, says Joy of Giving is about presence, not presents: “The reason that we’re here is to give tangible love.”

Families often bring small children and senior-friendly dogs, both of which draw particularly joyful responses. LBCers are encouraged to pray with the residents, and Hardy says the seniors often reach out to clasp hands as they receive such expressions of love. He says that last Christmas, one senior received Christ during a visit by an LBC family.

Hardy says they’ve learned to focus their visits on facilities where residents tend to be, for whatever reason, forgotten and alone on the holiday. Currently, they work with four facilities, coordinating their visits with the activity directors. Privacy laws prevent the directors from giving out any names, so LBC provides gifts for every resident. Last year, they distributed gifts to and visited with about 500 seniors.

The LBC congregation has embraced Joy of Giving as part of their church Christmas tradition, donating the gift items, participating in a “packing party” to prepare the bags and praying for the Christmas morning interactions.

This year, LBC will be participating in Advent Conspiracy, an effort to think about Christmas giving in fresh ways, but Yarian says LBC already has a head start through Joy of Giving. She says the tradition is a perfect example of the true meaning of Christmas, when Christ gave himself as an expression of love. “He quickly pours that love back into our hearts as we pour into others,” she says.

By Myra Holmes

Think of it as a win-win-win: Young people gain help determining their call, local churches gain committed workers and the larger church gains a new generation of leaders.

Ministry Quest (MQ), now a program of Tabor College, partners with the local church to help identify and affirm high school young people with ministry leadership potential. MQ began as a program of MB Biblical Seminary, the Mennonite Brethren school for graduate-level theological training located in Fresno, Calif., under a grant by the Lily Foundation. But when the seminary came under the umbrella of Fresno Pacific University, the MB-owned school on the West Coast, MQ found itself a program without a home.

Wendell Loewen saw an opportunity. Loewen, associate professor of youth, church and culture at Tabor College, the Mennonite Brethren-owned liberal arts school located in Hillsboro, Kan., recognized the value of investing in the next generation of leaders and made a bid to bring the program to Tabor. Tabor embraced the vision, and, with the support of the U.S. Mennonite Brethren (USMB) Leadership Board, adopted MQ. Loewen now serves half-time as director of MQ for Tabor.

Steve Schroeder, chair of the USMB Leadership Board, says the Board considered leadership development a necessity, not a luxury. “Without it, we have no future,” he says. The Board also recognized MQ’s good track record and felt it was a quality program.

Ed Boschman, USMB executive director, says that the USMB vision—dozens of churches planted and countless lives transformed— will require a generation of leaders. “We have to start thinking about our nation as a mission field,” he says. “As a national leadership team, we must do everything we can to help our young leaders get that.”

So what’s a college doing with a program that targets high school youth? It’s a perfect fit, Loewen says. And not just as a recruiting tool, although it’s true that the college benefits from MQ alumni who then attend Tabor. More importantly, Loewen sees the program as a service to Tabor’s constituents, a good partnership with USMB and a chance to invest in the future. “We feel good about not only the potential students that could come our way but the opportunity to partner with the denomination as we look to the future of the church,” Loewen says.

MQ was known as an effective program when it was owned by the seminary, so Loewen says Tabor will keep the “heart” intact, with some new nuances. While the seminary focused on potential pastors and missionaries, Ministry Quest will now broaden the interpretation of ministry leaders to include those in any occupation. “We’re running with a broader understanding of ministry, mission and leadership,” Loewen says.

Although Tabor College is owned by Mennonite Brethren in the Midwest, Loewen says MQ will continue to view itself as a national program. He says Tabor values MQ as a “denominational service—a way to help churches all across the country think about tomorrow’s leaders.”

The components of Tabor’s MQ program will look nearly identical to the former program, with two “stages.” The first, “Charting Your Course,” explores the primary calling of Christians—vocation. The second, “Setting Your Sail,” explores how to live out that call individually—occupation.

The year-long program is bookended by retreats. Both students beginning the program and students concluding the program will attend the six-day intensive retreat simultaneously, setting up rich interactions between the two sets of students. The incoming students will listen to the call stories from others and explore what it means to be called. At the same time, those finishing the program will consider how they will live out their call and be sent out to serve. The first retreat for Tabor’s MQ is being planned for late June 2012 in Denver, Colo.

During each of the two stages, the MQ student will be mentored by a leader from their home church for 13 sessions. This “life on life” piece is key, Loewen says, because it secures the program back into the local church.

 MQ has no intention of taking students out of their local church; rather, the program aims to plant them back into their congregation with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to serve. In that way, the local church wins.

The second stage includes a significant mission experience, designed by the student. It’s a chance for students to get beyond the walls of their church, put their gifts to work and see God at work. It might be a short-term overseas experience or something more local—“something that whets their appetite and inspires them or urges them to want to go and do and be a part of what God’s doing,” as Loewen describes. Along the way, journaling and other assignments will help students process their learning.

The ideal MQ applicant will be 16 to 18 years old, with a growing relationship with Christ, already active in the church and looking toward service. Candidates must be nominated and affirmed for the program by their local congregation because, as Loewen says, it is the task of the local church to identify and call out leaders; MQ’s goal is to come alongside the church in that task.

Boschman and Schroeder both remember being nudged toward ministry during high school by someone in their local church. “That’s my story,” Boschman says. “I know it works!”

For Schroeder, a few words of affirmation after church were so significant he remembers the occasion in great detail even several decades later. It was for him the starting point for a lifetime of service. He says, “I think we can be doing that in our churches, and Ministry Quest can help with that.”

Loewen points out that the year-long MQ program is a starting point, not an end, for students who participate, since living out God’s calling is a journey with no end. For many, it will involve education. For others, it may be a job or other opportunities. “They see their life as a mission opportunity,” he says.

Students, parents or church leaders interested in applying or nominating can find information and forms at www.MinistryQuest.com. Loewen notes that the program is limited to 40 participants, and those spots fill up fast. “Apply sooner rather than later,” he encourages.

By Myra Holmes

Visual art is much more than pretty pictures to Oklahoma artist Dan Gibson, founder of Art Community for Christ. “My focus is trying to show our walk with Christ, our experience with him, our struggles and the things that are joyful,” says Gibson. “It’s about our daily walk with Christ.”

Gibson formed Art Community in May 2010 to encourage Christian artists to use their talents to bring honor to God. The community is part of Discovery Bible Fellowship (DBF), a Mennonite Brethren congregation in Collinsville, Okla.

Gibson says he has always been “into art” and pursued art as a side interest, often joining groups of artists for mutual learning and inspiration. But the groups didn’t have any kind of Christian focus, and after a while, he felt that lack keenly. He grew dissatisfied with creating for himself and began to ask what would bring more satisfaction. The answer: “I should use all my gifts and all my talents to glorify God.”

He approached DBF pastor Derk Madden with the idea of forming a community of Christian artists who would not only encourage one another artistically but also look for ways to serve and spread the gospel through their art.

The church leadership enthusiastically embraced the idea. They set aside an area of the church facility for the art group and helped spread the vision. Response from the DBF congregation has also been positive, as evidenced by affirming comments and valuable project suggestions.

Gibson says he didn’t know any Christian artists when he began to advertise the group and wasn’t sure who would come. But they did come.

About seven artists now meet each Tuesday evening, spread drop cloths and pull their projects out of storage to paint, draw and create. They always work on an assigned project—something they’ve agreed together to do. The advantage of working on the same project, says Gibson, is unity. “We’re all feeling the same vision.”
Artists are often independent souls used to working alone, Gibson points out, and so it is significant that they work together toward a goal. “It brings us together and we learn from each other,” he says.

Because he started the group without knowing who would come, Gibson says he didn’t know what level of skill to expect from the artists, but he has been pleasantly surprised. “Every artist is extraordinary,” he says, humbly adding that he considers himself one of the weaker artists in the group. In addition, he says, every artist has a heart for the group and a passion for spreading the gospel.

The artists each have a favorite style and medium—watercolor for one, pastels for another— but projects tackle a variety of both media and styles. “We all dabble a bit in everything,” Gibson says. In that way, the artists learn from and challenge each other: “Each person has a strength. That’s really great because we can teach each other.”

As they use their gifts, refine their talent and strive for excellence, the artists draw closer to God. Gibson talks about art that “expresses our love for Christ” and about “creating something God would delight in.”

While they work, the artists build relationships that also serve to draw them closer to God. “It’s never quiet in there,” Gibson remarks. They talk not only about the project at hand but also about their daily lives and their faith. They don’t open Bibles for formal study but encourage and challenge each other nonetheless. “We’re starting to lean on each other through difficult times,” Gibson says and calls the group a “family of artists.”

For this Art Community, the art is “for Christ.” Gibson says, “We don’t just keep it for ourselves,” but always ask how it might serve a greater purpose. Each project aims to serve or spread the gospel in some way. The artwork might be donated to further some ministry or sold to raise funds for a charity.

“Kwero” is a perfect example. This past spring, the artists invested four months in drawing and painting portraits of specific Ugandan orphans who are being given health care and education at an orphanage founded by Project Hope Worldwide, an outreach of Discovery Bible Fellowship. About 16 of these portraits were sold at an April 15 fundraiser, called Kwero, raising $7,000 for the care of these children. Gibson says giving orphans a second chance in this ways "displays someone who wants to be more like Christ."

At first, the Kwero project guidelines dictated a fairly uniform style, but as the artists began to work, the group decided to allow more latitude for expression. As a result, each portrait is unique and uniquely inspired, but the project as a whole has a common theme.

The artists enjoyed the project so much that, instead of doing just one portrait each, they found themselves working on several and giving extra time. And, as they worked, they connected with the orphans in a way that only an artist and subject can. “After a while, you become really invested in these children,” Gibson says. “I got to spend time learning about them and painting them.”

Gibson, artist Ceasar Condes and Project Hope Worldwide representative Kelley Compton had an opportunity to talk about the Kwero portraits and gather support for the orphans on local television. See the interview at http://www.newson6.com/category/121535/video-page?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5742823&flvUri&partnerclipid.

Next spring, the group hopes to have a booth at the Blue Dome Art Festival in Tulsa, Okla. Gibson says that, while art always expresses the heart of the artist, including the artist’s love for Christ, the meaning isn’t always obvious, especially with more modern styles. So as festival visitors browse, view the art and ask questions, the art can become a springboard to share the gospel. “That’s a way for us to talk about Christ and talk about our testimony,” Gibson says.

“The whole mission is to spread the gospel. If we can do that in the modern art style or by painting orphans, those are ways to reach people,” says Gibson.

For more on the Art Community for Christ and to see some of the Kwero portraits, like them on Facebook.

By Myra Holmes

As members of Bible Fellowship Church, a small Mennonite Brethren congregation in Minot, ND, talk about the helplessness of watching the waters sweep away hopes and about a faith that stands firm, snatches of a classic hymn come to mind: “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

For them, the hymn’s “whelming flood” is literal: The Souris River flooded Minot June 23 in the worst flooding there since 1881. At least 11,000 of the town’s 40,000 residents were evacuated, including seven families from Bible Fellowship, a congregation of only about 60. About 4,000 homes were flooded, including the parsonage. The Bible Fellowship church building, too, was flooded with about 10 feet of water.

But the facts don’t tell what it feels like to come home after the waters recede, to see the mold consuming a lifetime of belongings and memories. “Devastating,” says Val Keeney of Bible Fellowship. Floodwaters rose over four inches onto the main level of the home she and her husband spent 20 years pouring time and money into—the home they believed God had called them to use for hospitality and ministry.

Words on paper can’t carry the smells that linger—mold and decay mingled with methane and chemicals. The statistics don’t include the piles of soggy belongings on the curb that crop up as quickly as they’re cleaned away—piles that represent lives, memories and hopes.

Even those whose homes were on higher ground talk of an overwhelming sense of loss. One of those spared, Cory Nissley, says that when folks ask if the flood affected him, he tells them that when a big flood hits small community everyone is affected. “It’s hard to explain how bad the flood was and how it affected the whole town until you’ve been here and seen it,” he says.

Violet Vix, another Bible Fellowship member whose home was safe, describes the cloud of uncertainty that hung over the congregation as they met after the flood. And yet, she says, “We needed to be together.”

The facts also can’t tell how faith becomes a hope and stay when all else around gives way. “It takes you to that place to see if what you said is true,” Keeney says. “Do you really trust that God is who he says he is?”
Keeney has been drawn to the Old Testament story of Job, who believed in God before his trials but knew God deeply after. She hopes that her faith, too, will prove more firm after the flood. “At the end of this, I’m going to be a better follower of Christ than when I entered into it,” says Keeney.

Minot residents have a long way to go. The initial shock was quickly absorbed in the scramble to gut damaged buildings—including the church and parsonage—and inhibit the growth of mold. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), the disaster response agency supported by Mennonite Brethren, was among the agencies that responded. Volunteers poured in.

Again, a report of the numbers of volunteers wouldn’t begin to tell what that hands-on support has meant to Minot residents. Emotion rises to the surface as Duane Deckert, pastor of Bible Fellowship, talks about those volunteers. “It’s just incredible that people would come, give a couple of days to clean the muck out of people’s homes just because they love Jesus,” he says. “That’s when we really see God at work.”

Nissley, who took a turn at organizing the MDS volunteers, says those who have rolled up their sleeves have been an important witness in the community.

With the initial chaos of cleanup over and the harsh North Dakota winter just around the bend, Minot enters a new season of uncertainty. Rumors swirl of another flood coming in spring. Since few in Minot had flood insurance, too many are left without resources to rebuild, even if they want to risk it. And Keeney says that even if they had the money to rebuild, “I don’t think we have the stamina.”

Deckert says the church can offer hope when hopelessness begins to settle in. “That’s where MDS and the church come in: We can be the hands and feet of Jesus to people,” he says.

In order to better show the love of Christ to Minot, Bible Fellowship and MDS have entered a two-year partnership. Together they are rebuilding Bible Fellowship Church to the “bare bones,” a just-functional facility that will include a place for the congregation to worship as well as housing, showers and restrooms for up to 30 MDS volunteers at a time. Barring unforeseen obstacles, they hope to be using the building for worship and volunteer housing by November.

MDS’s two-year commitment is huge, says Deckert. While many relief agencies are pulling out, Deckert describes a valley still desolate, still devastated and still in dire need.

The two-year partnership with MDS will also give Bible Fellowship much-needed time to discern next steps. Rebuilding on their current site or relocating, perhaps to a growing part of town with new opportunities for outreach, are among the options.

As Bible Fellowship looks to the future, the continued support of the larger Mennonite Brethren family will help them stand firm. Deckert asks for prayer for “a hearing heart,” for unity and for obedience. “Prayer keeps us strong,” he says.

Because Bible Fellowship, like so many, didn’t have flood insurance and because they don’t qualify for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), financial support is also important. Donations to assist the Minot MB congregation are being channeled through MB Foundation (MBF), the U.S. Conference stewardship ministry, and can be sent to MB Foundation at P.O. Box 220, Hillsboro, KS 67063. Checks should be made payable to “MB Foundation” and reference “Minot Bible Fellowship Church Rebuilding Fund.”

Most importantly, Deckert says, come to Minot. Because the facts in black and white can never adequately portray the devastation of the flood, nor can words adequately show how solid is the rock on which they stand. To volunteer, contact the MDS office at 800-241-8111.

By Myra Holmes

When Steve Klassen teased the boy from the Gateway apartment complex about wolfing down seconds on lunch, the boy matter-of-factly told Klassen that he hadn’t eaten yet that day. He and his siblings, the boy said, had to choose either breakfast or lunch each day. Not both.

That’s why Klassen and others from Memorial Road MB Church (MRMBC), Edmond, Okla., spent their summer delivering lunch to kids in this apartment complex.

“These kids shouldn’t be going hungry,” Klassen says.

The Gateway apartments are only about three miles from the church geographically but might as well be a world away. While MRMBC is largely composed of white, upper-middle class folk, Gateway residents are mostly African-American and trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Although residents receive housing assistance, food stamps and help with utilities, Gateway community manager Ronda Derendinger explains that this assistance often doesn’t stretch far enough for simple things like clothing, shoes or school supplies for children. Each of the more than 200 apartments houses at least one child; some house up to seven. That’s a lot of kids. And they are too often literally hungry.

MRMBC’s involvement in a summer lunch program for Gateway fell into place so quickly that it’s clearly not the result of human planning. The idea first came from Donna Orrell of MRMBC’s outreach team who heard about another church serving lunches at a needy apartment complex in another city. Couldn’t MRMBC do something similar?

She and Kerstin Klassen, Steve’s wife, began researching the idea. They knew that the school district provided summer lunches to kids who qualify for the free and reduced school lunch program, but they quickly learned that a huge pocket of kids who qualify—like those from Gateway—have no way to get to the distribution site. So Orrell and her husband, Doyle, offered to pick up the lunches provided by the school district and deliver them to Gateway. It seemed a perfect plan.

But the school program, and therefore the MRMBC volunteers, had to comply with a plethora of government requirements. The day the rules required them to refuse a lunch to a boy with no legs, the MRMBC volunteers decided to take on the lunch program as a church project, not a partnership with the schools. From early June until the start of school Aug. 18, the church prepared, delivered and served about 80 lunches every weekday to children up to age 18 at Gateway—a total of 4,280 lunches over the summer.

The Orrells oversaw weekday distribution of the lunches. “I looked forward to going out there every day,” Donna says. This retired teacher clearly loved meeting and building relationships with those at Gateway: the grandmother who felt trapped as she raised five grandchildren, the teen mom who never smiled, the woman who was beginning to express interest in Bible study. While a part of her would be content to enjoy retirement quilting on her front porch, Donna says she belonged at Gateway this summer.

Soon after the weekday lunch program was rolling, volunteers began wishing for more time to interact with the kids and meet their families. So they expanded the outreach to include lunch and activities on Sundays. Wal-Mart provided discounted prices on fried chicken, and volunteers prepared appropriate side dishes ahead of time so that the meal was ready to go after Sunday services. In addition, volunteers offered a variety of activities; one of the most popular was reading Bible stories aloud. It was an opportunity for folks from MRMBC to get to know children and families from Gateway in an informal way.

“That really is the crux of what we want to do,” says Donna. “We want to feed children, but we want to establish relationships as well.”

Derendinger affirms the importance of the relationships built. She saw excitement and giggles as the children anticipated these visitors who would listen to them and call them by name. In home and school situations in which they are often overlooked, even these small gestures helped give the children the personal attention they crave. And exposure to a different way of thinking about things like education and work, she says, showed the children possibilities beyond life on public assistance. “It wasn’t just about the food,” Derendinger emphasizes.

The six-day-per-week effort took a sizeable volunteer force, organized by Kerstin Klassen. Significantly, some 30 children from MRMBC participated in one way or another, including the Klassens’ four young children. Kerstin says it gave their children an opportunity to put into practice lessons learned in Sunday school. The church’s small junior high Sunday school class also took the project to heart, giving their time, donating toys and even raising funds by selling lemonade. For children as well as the adult volunteers, Steve says, serving at Gateway was an exercise in putting faith into practice.

Funding came from a variety of sources: church members, corporate sponsorships and donations, even other local churches. An article in the local newspaper early in the project brought community-wide interest and additional donations so that MRMBC never had to solicit funds to cover the costs. “It’s been like the feeding of the 5,000,” says Kerstin.

It helped that those who planned the menus and shopped for the groceries, including Kerstin and Cheryl Devoe, worked hard to keep costs down to just over $1 per kid per day. For that dollar, weekday lunch menus were basic but balanced and nutritional: sandwiches, spaghetti, burritos or hot dogs.

Aside from the record-setting heat, the biggest challenge of the summer was dealing with the trash generated. After an early experience in which Styrofoam dishes clogged a pool pump, the church rallied volunteers to clean up trash, and Gateway increased efforts to teach children the value of cleaning up after themselves.

For both MRMBC and Gateway, the benefits of the summer experience far outweighed the challenges. Both hope the partnership has only begun. The possibilities are many: tutoring, GED help, parenting classes, Bible studies, automotive repairs and playground maintenance. “There is more here for us to do than feed kids in the summer,” Donna says. “We’re waiting to see what opens up.”