ICOMB consultation

A global family

It had been a typical gathering 173 family members from far and wide eating together, telling stories, sharing concerns, singing, praying and conducting family business.

Now the group was gathered for their closing supper and as the last-minute meal preparation took place, people were talking, laughing and hugging one another. Their fellowship was so enjoyable that when the table was ready, it took some time for the group to come to attention.

This wasn't a reunion of blood relatives this was a spiritual family gathering. The meal wasn't an elaborate dinner provided by waiters it was the Lord's Supper served by moderators from MB conferences around the globe.

The seven-year-old International Committee of Mennonite Brethren sponsored its first global consultation July 11-14 in Buhler, Kan. After four days of being together, it was apparent that the hope of consultation organizers had been realized members of the international MB family

had together taken a giant step forward in the process of becoming equal partners.

"These are our sons and daughters, our offspring of previous mission," said Edmund Janzen, ICOMB vice-chair and a member of the consultation planning committee. "But they're all now at various levels of maturation and want in at the table. They want to take ownership as

Anabaptists in their own right."

Formal and informal signs of a new level of worldwide cooperation were evident at Buhler.

For the first time, the ICOMB executive committee does not include two North Americans, nor is English the common language spoken by all those on the executive. The moderators elected Maximo Abadie of Paraguay as vice-chair and Ike Bergen of Canada as treasurer, and re-elected Harry Janzen of Brazil as secretary. Takashi Manabe of Japan will continue to serve as moderator. Given that eight of the 17 national conferences are in Latin America, the new executive committee more accurately represents the global MB family than did previous groups.

This past year, all but one national conference contributed the suggested 1% of their national budgets to ICOMB, reported treasurer Reuben Pauls of Canada.

Mbayanvula Roberson and Ndumda Gilbert of the Congo conference travelled for six days through four African countries and spent a night on airport benches in New York City to attend the consultation. "We knew that we are a family which is scattered all over the world," said Roberson in an interview with a local Kansas newspaper. "For such a meeting, we were very motivated to come."

"This week, Buhler, Kansas has become the nearest place to heaven," said Manabe in his welcome. "Not physically, of course, but spiritually because we are having a sweet, sweet fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord and are being spiritually united with redeemed people of various cultures and tongues."

The consultation included evening sessions open to the public and daytime sessions for registered participants. The latter included prayer and worship, a morning message and afternoon workshops. The theme of the consultation was "Signs of hope in a world of chaos", and speakers highlighted renewal through prayer, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, suffering, witness and anticipation of Christ's return.

The evening services each focused on the ministries of Mennonite Brethren on one of four continents. Special music included small ensembles from India and Paraguay, a Japanese choir and a German folk soloist. The congregation sang enthusiastically in Kituba following the lead of Congo delegate Nzuzi Mukawa.

Many of the testimonies emphasized the importance of the missionary work of the denomination. "In these days I have seen that I am a work of your labour," said Monika Wimmer of Austria, who became a Christian eight years ago thanks to MB missionaries.

Other speakers told of national conference church planting and outreach efforts. The Japan Conference, for example, includes seven evangelistic and two branch congregations and is committed to sending missionaries to other Asian countries.

While the celebration of evangelism past and present was evident, the stronger call each evening was for personal and corporate renewal based on a commitment to the Anabaptist vision.

In the opening address Sunday evening, Miguel Forero of Colombia said, "Those who have always been in a family do not know what it means not to have one. In the same way, those who have always had good doctrine do not know what it is like not to have it. I am referring to how valuable the Anabaptist doctrine is for me and for my brothers and sisters who come from a religious background but not a Christian one.…It is too bad that there are brothers and sisters who are ashamed to be Mennonite and Anabaptists and who would like to shed all vestiges of this identity."

Powerful sermons, by men chosen for their standing within their national conferences and their preaching skills, pointed to a shift within the denomination. "The vision and passion are coming from Latin America, Africa and Asia," said Edmund Janzen in an interview with a Kansas newspaper. "We're discovering that those people are deeply, deeply committed to the cause of Christ and the church. That doesn't mean we aren't, but they are particularly energetic, almost effervescent in their expression of faith."

The global Mennonite Brethren family was introduced to consultation participants during the opening service via the new ICOMB video, Our Global Household.

In addition to the evening testimonies and music, participants got a taste of the various national conferences thanks to displays featuring food samples; maps; pictures; audio, video and written materials; and dolls, woven baskets, paper-folded animals and other artifacts.

Prayer times were led by Canadians Lorraine Dick and Steve Klassen. Each morning, they led the group in first praying personally through 1 Peter 1:3-9. In small groups, the participants then prayed for the needs of the worldwide MB family and then for the outreach ministries of the

church.

The opportunity to aid one another prompted participants to contribute almost $4,000 towards ICOMB projects. The first offering benefitted the ICOMB relief fund, which has been used in the past to aid victims of flooding in Peru and an earthquake in Japan. The second offering was for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the third was for the ICOMB general budget.

Consultation planning committee members Janzen and Reuben Pauls of Canada were pleased with the degree to which participation in the consultation extended beyond the international committee members. Each national conference was asked to send a theologian, educator, youth worker and women's ministry representative to the consultation. ICOMB funds covered the travel and on-site expenses of two delegates per national conference. Only five of the 16 conferences represented had a complete delegation. A total of 45 official delegates were present. Registered guests came primarily from Canada and the United States but included a Japanese contingent of 35.

Two workshop tracks were organized, during which participants often sat together by language preference with one person serving as the translator. In spite of language barriers, many of these groups began exploring new avenues of cooperation.

Providing a smooth translation system was only one of the many ways the Buhler MB congregation graciously served their guests. Host committee co-chairs Betty Ensz and Ann Regier handled logistics, including receiving and sending 900 e-mail messages in the six weeks just prior to the consultation.

Members of the congregation housed their ICOMB guests as many as eight nights. For many hosts and guests, this meant developing their own unique communication system as they were often without a common language.

It was appropriate that the first ICOMB global event be hosted by the Buhler congregation. At a 1899 conference hosted by the Buhler congregation, North American MB churches incorporated as the American Mennonite Brethren Mission Union and established the first outreach in India. The Mission Union later became The General Conference of MB Churches.

The International Committee of Mennonite Brethren is unique within the larger Anabaptist community, said Mennonite World Conference executive secretary Larry Miller, who was a workshop leader, and also served as one of the French translators. Other Anabaptist groups, such as the Brethren in Christ, meet together internationally during MWC assemblies but these are only informal gatherings.

Edmund Janzen says that ICOMB leaders don't intend for the ICOMB gatherings to replace their participation in MWC. "The MBs are just one family member in the larger, extended family exploring our relationships in a new context."

While Mennonite Brethren are not the largest Mennonite group in North America, they are the largest Anabaptist denomination worldwide, with 239,284 members and 20,568 fraternally related members. CF

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