Sunday: Latin America Night

"The church (in Colombia) is growing," said Alfredo Beltran. "The missionaries have left the country, and the church is in the hands of the national leaders. We believe this is a good time to grow in spite of the economics and violence. Christians have a very good response to these problems."

Enrique Rodriquez of Mexico said, "We have eight 'almost' churches and lots of faith in the Lord. We are making plans to multiply the churches." The Conference of Christian Peace Churches of Mexico is the most recently organized national MB conference to join ICOMB.

The evening message was given by Miguel Forero of Colombia. With passion and conviction, Forero called for renewal among Mennonite Brethren who, regardless of their country, live in a world of chaos. "If it is true that we are winning so many people for Christ every day, why don't we see the influence of Christians on the culture?" he asked. He answered his first question with a second: "Is it possible that the message to the church of Laodicea is describing the situation of our church today? Dare we think that this apocalyptic message could be applied to the churches of the Mennonite Brethren?"

After reviewing ways in which churches experience chaos and noting

that many renewal movements began in chaos, Forero argued that returning to Jesus Christ is the way to renewal. "What other hope could we have than that which motivated the brothers and sisters from the south of Russia to renew their vision in the middle of a church that was decadent and mediocre? If our (MB) churches are to be the carriers of the hope which our world in chaos needs at the door of the 21st century, we have to return to our roots."

Latin America Night, moderated by Harry Janzen of Brazil, also featured music from the Paraguay delegation. National conference representatives participating in the evening were from Paraguay (Spanish and German conferences), Uruguay, Panama, Peru and Brazil. CF

Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 38, No. 15 Home Page