MESSENGER. In This Issue. Annual Assembly. New congregations. Pastor/Congregation News. Do You Know? SCC Mennonite Women. Executive Committee Activity

Transcription

1 MESSENGER Volume LXVIII No. 2 April-June 2015 #WeAreMenno: Rey de Gloria congregation tends needs of neighbors without documents By Janie Beck Kreider Editors Note: This piece was originally released via Mennonite Church USA's New Service< mennoniteusa.org/category/news/>. Reprinted with permission This is part three of four in a series featuring Mennonites working with immigrants. Projects featured in this series received grants from a special offering received at Mennonite Church USA s 2013 convention in Phoenix toward the DREAMer Fund. These projects were chosen as grant recipients because they have a strong history of working with immigrants in their communities, especially with undocumented individuals and families who suffer from inhumane conditions in detention centers and unjust treatment in working environments. We re just a small church doing what we can, says Lupe Aguilar, pastor of Iglesia Menonita Rey de Gloria (King of Glory), a South Central Mennonite Conference congregation in Brownsville, Texas. This is his refrain when speaking about the work of his community. We re not organized or incorporated. We don t have a creed. We re a church, and we do what we can. The congregation of Rey de Gloria formed in 1999 around a commitment to working with undocumented people and serving those who might otherwise fall through the cracks. They help people find housing, offering places to stay in the church or by hosting people in their homes. With the help of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), they offer health kits, clothing and food. They give people rides to work, help children get to school, take them to the doctor and connect them with the services they need. Anything you can imagine, says Aguilar. The majority of my church is undocumented, says Aguilar. So we have the undocumented helping themselves. Every summer they provide a free daycare service. Many kids who attend are U.S. citizens, but their parents are undocumented. The daycare provides breakfast, lunch and a snack before they go home, because they probably won t have a meal when they get home, explains Aguilar. [Editor's note: For the summer of 2015, Rey de Gloria has received a generous grant from The Schowalter Foundation to help underwrite the cost of this summer program.] Rey de Gloria members also teach carpentry to people who come to the community without a skill. They offer instruction in roofing, dry-walling and painting, among other things. One graduate of the program became a contractor and built a large shed behind his house where the church now meets. Difficult encounters Word has traveled about Aguilar and his small congregation, which has an attendance of 40 to 60 on any given week. People in the community know that this is a safe place to go for help, and they come asking for el pastor de Rey de Gloria. They call me that, says Aguilar. But it is not just me. We re working together. I ve got stories galore, he says, sharing accounts of violence, unjust treatment and heartbreak experiened by people he has accompanied and of the risks they have taken to survive. I was going down a long street close to my house, and there was a lady waiting for the bus. I stopped and noticed she was crying. I told her the bus wouldn t come anymore it was late. She told me she had worked that day from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m., and the lady had given her 10 dollars. After bus fare it would have been a profit of eight dollars. So I took her home and gave her 20 dollars. Somehow my name got around, and a woman contacted me from Sioux City, Iowa. She was undocumented, and her two kids were being detained near here; she had sent them across the border with a coyote. She wanted to come down to Brownsville to pick them up, so we went to pick up her kids. It was so dangerous to cross the river, and her children had crossed alone. (continued on back page) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me (Matthew 25:35-36). Lupe Aguilar, pastor of Iglesia Menonita Rey de Gloria in Brownsville, Texas. In This Issue Annual Assembly New congregations Pastor/Congregation News Do You Know? SCC Mennonite Women Executive Committee Activity SCC Calendar

2 Delegates get to know each other around tables. Annual Assembly Reflections By Bill Zuercher Moving forward: Intentionally Strategically Synchronized. Identity in Christ: being Overcomers (making) Noise. Abiding in Christ Loving Christ, loving others. About 120 persons gathered at Bethel Mennonite Church near Inman, Kansas, on June for the annual assembly sessions. Our principal resource person was David Maldonado, senior pastor of Iglesia Arca de Salvación in Fort Myers, Florida. He preached two sermons using texts from Revelation and the letters to the seven churches, with the overall theme, Return to your first love, reminding us that for many reasons, churches stray from their primary allegiance to Jesus Christ, and need to return to that as an act of obedience and faithfulness. In his second sermon, he used a PowerPoint display to bring clarity to the full meaning of the term missional, which appears above on the right. In a workshop session, David told the story, illustrated with pictures, of the origin and development of his congregation which is serving in a very troubled part of the city, with a majority of participants being undocumented persons. His winsome delivery, spiced with good humor and personal stories, won over his audience from the first. Linda Yutzy was recognized for her extended term as conference moderator, having agreed to serve an extra year because of the inability to find a replacement. Happily, Gary Wolfer did agree to serve as moderator-elect beginning in October of 2014, taking over the reins as moderator at the end of the delegate session on June 13. Gary is a member of Journey Mennonite Church. A primary issue for delegate consideration was the application for membership in the conference from two churches: New Hope Fellowship from Perryton, Texas (formerly known as Perryton Mennonite Church), transferring from Mountain States Mennonite Conference; and Pleasant View Mennonite Church in rural Goshen, Indiana, transferring from Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Both congregations were represented by several persons who related their stories, and the process they have engaged prior to seeking membership in our conference. Both were accepted into membership. Treasurer Jim Diller presented a budget that was intentionally unbalanced, providing for a significant increase in funds for support and encouragement of pastors, along with leadership development more broadly. Another factor was the provision for a new staff position in a halftime assignment. This person would give time Left: David Maldonado Right: Brad Shores & Ulises Arenas-Goossen and attention to the priority of congregational growth and vitality involving existing congregations; and giving initiative to new church planting opportunities through recruitment, coaching, support, encouragement and training of pastoral and lay leaders. Delegates approved a recommendation to expand the Executive Committee to increase its representational makeup. This will include a person appointed by Mennonite Women, and a member at large to help provide balance using several criteria. Mennonite Church USA and the various program agencies and institutions were represented, each of whom provided highlights from their respective ministries and services. Eight well-attended workshops were offered covering a variety of topics of interest. Worship teams from Bethel Mennonite Church added energy to the worship services, featuring the messages from David Maldonado. A time of focused prayer was scheduled prior to the beginning of the sessions on Friday afternoon, setting the tone for the significant times of worship and fellowship to follow.

3 Meet Our Two New Congregations New Hope Fellowship Perryton, Texas New Hope Fellowship Congregation Information: New Hope Fellowship 2821 S. Ash Perryton, TX Pastor: Robert Humphrey newhopeperryton?fref=ts Pleasant View Mennonite Church County Road 23 Goshen, IN Lead Pastor: Tyler Hartford Associate Pastor: Ron Diener New Hope Fellowship, formerly Perryton Mennonite Church, located in Perryton, Texas initially came into being from seeds planted in the area in 1908 when Mennonite settlers began breaking out the land and establishing communities. The efforts continued to grow and in 1943 two Sunday School groups from the community of Lone Tree, TX and Guymon, OK came together to form the nucleus of the our present church. In 1962 a merger of this group with Bethel Mennonite Church of Waka formed what the church is today. Through ministry and growth the congregation was able to purchase land and build the present facility, holding its first service there on December 16, Modern times and the oil and gas industries have made tremendous impacts on the community and created challenges for all denominations in Perryton. Over the years there has been a decrease in the number of Mennonite families in the area as most of the children of these families have moved away or attend other churches. Over the past decade Perryton Mennonite Church has both flourished and seen lean times as the congregation ages. Recently in the span of just a few months we lost six of our members, two who relocated and four who passed away. Four of the six were serving in official capacities with one of them serving as interim Pastor. In August 2014 a new Pastor was chosen and the long process of rebuilding a congregation from a nucleus of only eleven remaining members has begun. With no children or young people and the age range primarily in the upper 60s and above the challenge is arduous at best. It was decided that with the lack of Mennonite families in the area from which to draw, we would change the name of the church in an effort to make it more identifiable to the general public without changing the core values or doctrines. We felt this would also help our efforts of going after the many unchurched citizens in the community with an identity that is more open and accepting without immediate denominational barriers. The church is well known in the community for being a servant organization and the facilities are well utilized by outside groups that include the annual Hospice remembrance service at Christmastime, monthly Parkinson s Group luncheon, Delta Kappa Gamma meetings, the area Homeschool Co-Op for Thursday classes, theater classes and a performance venue for the Conservatory of the Plains School of Music and Fine Arts, and other meetings and functions as requested from time to time. Our mission is to serve the Lord and our community by sharing the New Hope found in a close relationship with Jesus and an immersion in His Word. Pleasant View Mennonite Church Jefferson Township, Indiana Pleasant View Mennonite Church was planted in 1942 as an outreach church in Jefferson Township, IN, just north of Goshen. In the years since, the congregation sought to be a lighthouse presence in its community. During the 1990 s, the area transitioned from rural to suburban as surrounding fields gave way to subdivisions representing hundreds of families. Our congregation of about 220 regular attendees has been working at finding ways to better connect with this bedroom community. Pleasant View places a high value on the worship experience as well as caring for members within our community, whether through our caring ministry program for Sunday school classes or through free professional counseling offered to all township residents. As the largest local public gathering place, Pleasant View is designated as the Red Cross disaster relief and blood donor site, an overflow location for local school events, a recreation center for community basketball and volleyball, and home to several other yearly outreach events. We are currently in a visioning process for new outreach initiatives and out of that process have begun exploring ESL classes and joint Bible studies with local Hispanic ministries. Easter at Pleasant View

4 Pastor/ Congregation News > Dale Ivy has resigned as pastor of Calico Rock Mennonite Fellowship effective July 26, > Darwin Hartman has completed his ministry at Pleasant View Mennonite Church near Hydro, Oklahoma, to begin as pastor of Pike Mennonite Church, Elida, Ohio in early July. > Kurt Horst, lead pastor of Whitestone Mennonite Church, is on sabbatical from May 1 to August 10. > Sandeep Thomas has changed his status as interim pastor of Argentine Mennonite Church in Kansas City, Kansas, to a longerterm appointment. > Eric Miller, Journey@South Hutch Campus Pastor, will complete his sabbatical leave on August 9. > Sheri (Saner) Zerger, JourneyKIDS Pastor Journey Mennonite Church, was married to Darrin Zerger on March 14, > Keith Miller, member of Pleasant View Mennonite Church, Hydro, OK, was licensed for task (prison ministry) on June 12. > Howard Keim, Hesston College President, is on sabbatical leave during the months of June and July. Cookbooks available from MennoMedia DO YOU KNOW? By Joyce Zuercher conference resource advocate What is the connection between SHINE children s Sunday school curriculum and cookbooks? That sounds farfetched, doesn t it? I have especially enjoyed teaching the last half of the SHINE spring quarter, Enough for All, and the summer quarter, Creation Care, partly because it s a break from years of teaching Bible stories in chronological order (very important, of course) to teaching Bible stories relating to a theme that is important and relevant, including some Psalms and prophetic writings. However, working with children on these themes has brought up a concern, a concern in which I am certainly not alone the disconnection of our children today with nature, God s creation. I have experienced it with first grade reading group children when, for example, reading an early science book, Shaping the Earth, together and getting blank looks when I asked them, What happens when you pour water on a pile of sand in the sandbox? Most of my Sunday school children have trouble thinking about their natural Kansas environment, let alone that of a desert or mountain. The experts say the cause is complicated, including the emphasis on virtuality rather than reality plus the amount of time spent with the technology, and concerns for safety, even in a small Kansas town. Which leads to the cookbooks! For several years MennoMedia has been updating Mennonite cookbooks, beginning with More With Less in 2011, Extending the Table in 2014, Simply in Season 10 th anniversary, and now the old standby, Mennonite Community Cookbook. Many of you (including myself) get recipes on line, and in fact some have told me they go to the net for all recipes! But a cookbook does some things better. The recipes are all tested, they are always in the same place, and you can pencil in comments for next time. They are also just fun to read! Any one of these cookbooks would make a great bridal gift. For the last several years I have been bringing a MennoMedia book sale table to SCC annual assembly but I didn t this year since assembly was close enough for Newton s Faith and Life Bookstore to bring a sale table, and Terry Graber was available to represent MennoMedia. On his table was the new edition of Mennonite Community Cookbook. What a contrast to my old, broken-backed stained copy! The iconic cover design made it look familiar, but it seemed more compact, perhaps with a slightly differently-formatted size, and the history and photographs included are fascinating. The comments I heard most were appreciative of the color photography, but measurements have also been updated no more dashes or dabs! To replace your old, stained and broken one you can order from MennoMedia on line, or pick one up at their area at the Kansas City convention.

5 SCC Mennonite Women Executive Board Haley Froese, Bev Regehr, and Jo Reed share about what they do for missions. SCC Mennonite Women By Carolene Jackson Greetings from the officers of South Central Conference Mennonite Women. We thought it would be helpful to list the current members of the executive board (shown to the right): Our committee is working diligently at encouraging partnerships with local congregations to meet needs in the local communities. We have an application to apply for grant money that may be used locally. Contact any of the executive board for more information. We want to partner with you!! Lord, lead me to the ones I need, and to the ones who need me! President: Carolene Jackson, Weatherford, OK bcjack5@hotmail.com Vice President: Dolores Banman, Hesston, KS Dbanman1@cox.net Secretary: Melissa Unruh, Hesston, KS jaymel@cox.net Treasurer: Myrna Cherry Hesston, KS, Cherry.blossom@cox.net Retreat Committee: Mary Unruh Pam Morris Adriana Stucky Kelly Reimer Friends of MCC: Twyla White Lois Leinbach Gift Discernment Committee: Susan Lamb Annie Gerber Nancy Peachey Bontrager Women in Conversation Retreat: Phyllis Weaver Women s Luncheon at South Central Conference: The women of the Bethel Mennonite Church hosted the annual women s luncheon during the South Central Conference annual assembly. A special thanks to Shirley Kroeker for making all the arrangements!! It was greatly appreciated. The floral arrangements on the tables created a lovely atmosphere for the meeting. There were approximately 45 women present. The South Central Conference Women also had a display table where we were able to not only have our materials present, but also materials from Mennonite Women USA. We want to thank each woman who attended. Dolores Banman gave the devotional, opened with prayer, and introduced the executive committee members. Myrna Cherry talked about the grant project we are encouraging local congregations to get involved in, then Melissa introduced the congregation contacts who were present. A highlight of the meeting was hearing reports from several of the Bethel women. Bev Regher, Jo Reed, and Haley Froese inspired us all to be willing to serve wherever the Lord calls us to go. We heard stories of what the Lord is doing here in the United States, and all over the world. They shared with us ways God s word is being spread. Their work included: handing out electronic Bibles in Africa to people who can t read, telling people about Jesus by wearing crazy hats, and working in orphanages in Central America. We left realizing that above all we are to be obedient to what the Lord is telling us, and serve him faithfully every day. Thank you ladies for your inspiring messages. It was a special time of fellowship among the South Central Conference Women. Upcoming event: We will be having a brunch August 29, 2015 at Whitestone Mennonite church. It will be at 9:00 a.m. In addition to the officers, we encourage each South Central Conference congregation to make sure a women s representative is present. One of our goals has been to make sure there is a current representative from each congregation. They are an important part of our South Central Conference Mennonite Women organization. Other upcoming dates: Women and Girl s retreat: Camp Mennoscah September 11-13, 2015 Sister Care Kansas: January 29-30, 2016 (tentative) Comforter Blitz: March 7-9, 2016

6 Executive Committee Activity The SCC Executive Committee has met twice since the last issue of the Messenger. Major items for discussion and action include: > Appointment of conference delegates to the Mennonite Church USA biennial convention: Gary Wolfer (Journey Mennonite Church); Kent Rychener (Hesston Mennonite); and Carolyn Richener (Hesston Mennonite) > Recommendation to expand Executive Committee membership (passed by delegate action on June 13) > Review of the budget > Preparation of the agenda for the delegate sessions at annual assembly > Preparation of a prayer for the annual assembly for congregational use on June 7 > Discussion of a possible new half-time staff position to oversee new church planting opportunities and church revitalization initiatives > Conducted a Skype-type interview with Pleasant View Mennonite Church (Indiana) leaders as part of the discernment process prior to applying for conference membership. > Heard an invitation for South Central and Western District Conferences to identify 15 participants in a Come and See Learning Tour of Israel and Palestine in April 2016 > Responded to a request from the Fountain of Living Water for financial support to assist in completing their new building #WeAreMenno: Rey de Gloria (Continued from Page 1) One woman was raped in front of her husband, and he was beaten to the point of death. They were sure it would happen, so she was taking birth-control pills. Another woman was raped and became pregnant; she had the baby, but it died. We had to bury the baby, so we found some money to prepare the body for burial. The baby was buried in a pauper s graveyard, where you have to dig the grave yourself. I distinctly remember how we dug the grave. I was down inside the grave, and I asked her to hand me the little box a small cardboard box the size of a Bible and she didn t want to let it go. It is a sad situation that repeats itself time and time again. Two girls from El Salvador gathered enough money to pay some men to help them get past the checkpoint 100 miles north of Brownsville. The girls were in a hotel room being abused by these men, and the men wanted more money. The girls called us, and we went in and got the girls and another boy who was there. The guys were drunk and didn t stop us. We were taken into custody by border patrol because the undocumented girls were with us. We were locked up by the patrol. Of course we were let go; we were not smugglers. The girls were deported, and we are still in contact with them. A call for compassion in action: Aguilar notes the visible and urgent needs of the undocumented people he encounters. They have such little access, he says. And yet, in Aguilar s experience, very few Christian congregations have been willing to lend a hand or support Rey de Gloria in their work. I have experienced a lack of sympathy from many in the church, he says. We see each other every day the documented and the undocumented. And there are so many of us who could help them, but don t Calendar June 30-July 5 MC USA Biennial Assembly, Kansas City, MO July 9 Executive Committee Meeting, Hesston, KS MWC Assembled Scattered, September 10 KS/OK Pastor/Peer meeting, Greensburg, KS Women and Girls retreat, Camp Mennoscah 19 Greensburg Mennonite Pork Supper 5-7pm November 7 Yoder Turkey Dinner January Sister Care Kansas (tentative) March 7-9 Comforter Blitz I came to the Lord at Iglesia Menonita del Cordero, Aguilar recalls. I was taught that I was supposed to serve. Every one of us has the right to dignity, he continues. More congregations and organizations should be working with the undocumented. Our Lord Jesus was undocumented in Egypt with his family. We are just a church that does what it can, he repeats. And there is work to be done. The mission of South Central Conference is to produce healthy missional congregations by resourcing, connecting and empowering them to be Christ in the world.